Cygnus west end

[Piero]

Surely not the best time for dso, but I was curious to spot some new targets. I have not observed much the area of sky located just at West of Cygnus. There are some very challenging open clusters which might be nice to see with a dobson. 

A target which is relatively easy to spot but of reduced size is the Turtle nebula. Again, a dobson owner under good seeing/transparency conditions might find this object quite interesting. I plan to repeat this session when there is no moon, and see whether I can spot some more stars in these clusters. 

Date 27/09/2015

Time 20:30-22:00

Altitude 12m

Temperature 14C (13 km/h)

Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing

Transparency 5 - Clear

NGC6210 Her Pln Neb 28x, 51x, 69x + OIII, 103x, 129x, 256x

Turtle planetary nebula. SB:5.9, Size:20x13". Although visible at 28x as a star without a clear border, this object revealed a ball shape only at 100x at least. This rounded shape was much clearer at 129x. Not an easy target to observe I suspect. I did not use the OIII filter at magnifications higher than 103x because of the very low exit pupils achieved with these eyepieces. It would be interesting to use an UHC at these high magnifications when there is no Moon.

Steph1 Lyr Opn CL 28x

Cluster associated to the star Delta Lyr. Beautiful, easily visible and rich in geometry showing many triangles.

NGC6791 Lyr Opn CL 28x, 51x

Star hopping from Delta Lyr. Only visible 4-5 faint stars with averted vision.

NGC6819 Cyg Opn CL 28x, 51x

The Foxhead cluster. Mag:7.3, Size:5x5'. I think I only saw three aligned and faint stars. 

NGC6866 Cyg Opn CL 28x, 51x

Invisible. To repeat with new Moon, although it might be likely require a bigger telescope.

NGC6811 Cyg Opn CL 28x, 51x

Hole in a cluster. I do not think I saw this cluster. Interestingly there is a nice asterism of stars next to it which is quite pretty.

Delta Cyg Dbl Star 28x, 103x, 256x

Rukh. I do not think I split this. I think it is at the limit of my TV-60 with 2.7'' (?) separation. There was a hint of anomaly on the South part of the first Airy ring, but I would not bet that that was a star. This was at 103x. At 256x this anomaly was still there but less obvious. 

Omicron Cyg Dbl Star 28x, 51x

Omicron 1 and 2. Omicron 1 and 2 are well separated double stars at 28x. Both are orange-ish. Omicron 1 forms a nice little system with a blue star. The two are visible and separated at 28x.

NGC6939 Cep Opn CL 28x

Star hopping from Eta Cep. It is located next to an asterism of stars reminding of a plough. I could not see this cluster though. 

Moon - Satellite 15x, 103x

Mountains at East. Nice low power view of a Full Moon (Phase: 100%). There will be a Moon eclipse within few hours. At East it was possible to see some 'mountains' on the border. These were very clear at 103x. Pretty view!  

[mapstar]

Well written report and thanks for pointing out quite a few nice targets

Damian