Israel Sevilla

Hi everyone! On the night of 25 January, I made a quick exit into the countryside to see c-2022 E3 comet and here is the result of that observation. This time was done with my 12" dobson. If you prefer to read it in PDF format in a nice dark mode and with the support of some images that helps me to explain better myself you can check it in the web: https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/comets/ Please take into account those images are pictures not sketches. As you can read in my web they have been gathered from public databases, and this one in particular from a friend of mine, Fernando Ordoñez. What I have tried (quite successfully, I think) is to reflect how the object shifts with the change of eyepieces. The images can become a composite of several to show a better result. Also I have added a fixed rectangle to show the effect of the apparent field of the eyepiece. I play a little bit with the brightness and contrast to show how your eyepiece field is darker at lower eye pupil, but you lose details in the object. I mean, if you try to find exactly the same picture in the web you are going to fail. It takes a couple of hours (sometimes more) to generate all the pictures to get the better result, plus an extra hour to write down my voice-notes. Panoptic 41mm (36x - 1º 54’ - 8.4mm). A very striking comet without being spectacular but a magnificent sight in the contryside. It has a very bright nucleus displaced towards the edge which is more defined. I do not see any color at the moment. The cloudiness surrounding the nucleus is spectacular with a very sharp arc and then blurring at 6 o'clock in my eyepiece. Playing with the averted vision and looking for contrasts on the black background you can see the tail. It appears as a very thin line not quite straight, and with a thickness of about one tenth of the front area of the comet. It is more easily discovered farther away from the comet as 1° and from there it can be traversed until reaching the comet itself. When this exercise is performed, you can see how the tail narrows as it reaches its junction with the comma and becomes a little better defined. Regarding its brightness, the tail is like an almost transparent smoke but appreciable in visual. I think the antitail is also noticeable since there is a little clearer contrast at 11 o'clock in the comet's nucleus. I have been a fool and I have not brought my pencils to draw it but it looks like a joy the truth. In the city it is a pale shadow of all the detail that is seen in the field. Delos 14mm (107x - 41’ - 2.9mm). The comet's motion is seen almost in real time. With this new eyepiece I notice that the brightest part of the comet, its coma, is not uniform. In the direction in which the comet is moving it is more elongated backwards than in the opposite direction. The view is magnificent, richer in detail although I do not see the whole tail. I have to go through it moving the telescope. The colleagues here have made a napkin calculation considering the degrees that has the tail (we believe that a degree and a half approximately) with which to be more or less the same distance to the sun must correspond to 4,500,000 kilometers of tail generated by a boulder of 14kms in diameter. SPECTACULAR. Ethos 8mm (187x - 32’ - 1.6mm). With the 8mm the view is sublime. I have lost some details of fainter brightness but the nucleus is no longer punctual but spherical. The coma is better appreciated, and the more elongated part (almost like a horn) now extends deeply on its outermost edge of the area towards which the comet moves. The tail is hardly visible, only the area closest to the comet. It is quite a show, even at this high magnification. Clear and dark skies

Hi and happy new year! Sorry for taking so much answering I was quite busy with my family. @NGC 1502 I did not know Trumpler 1 object, quite interesting. Thanks a lot!!!

Hi again guys! Here you have a new object report observed with my dob 18". If you prefer to read it in PDF format in a nice dark mode and with the support of some images that helps me to explain better myself you can check it in the web: https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/messier-catalog/ Please take into account those images are pictures not sketches. As you can read in my web they have been gathered from public databases, mainly from telescopes in Palomar Mountain, HST and Calar Alto (Spain). What I have tried (quite successfully, I think) is to reflect how the object shifts with the change of eyepieces. The images can become a composite of several to show a better result. Also I have added a fixed rectangle to show the effect of the apparent field of the eyepiece. I play a little bit with the brightness and contrast to show how your eyepiece field is darker at lower eye pupil, but you lose details in the object. I mean, if you try to find exactly the same picture in the web you are going to fail. It takes a couple of hours (sometimes more) to generate all the pictures to get the better result, plus an extra hour to write down my voice-notes. Nagler 31mm (70x - 1º 10’ - 6.6mm). The first view of the cluster is quite nice. M103 is in a very rich field of stars, of varying magnitudes, but it clearly stands out from the rest. It is a small open cluster, occupying perhaps a tenth of the eyepiece, with a rather characteristic triangular shape. It is bright and easily resolvable. Despite the small size in this eyepiece several tens of stars are perfectly counted. I highlight a very bright bluish white star at the end of it as well as another fainter reddish star inside. From what I have read they call it the ‘Christmas tree’ cluster. It's a nice allegory although to me it reminds me more of the StarTrek brooch, the one used in the series by touching it to talk to the ship. Maybe I'm too geeky. Regardless of the object that reminds one is a curious cluster because its shape is clearly triangular, with this star standing out at the apex of the triangle. The image is especially beautiful because, despite its diminished size, the punctuality of the stars and their significant magnitude makes them stand out and, certainly, its nickname does it justice because they could be imagined as the spheres of a Christmas tree, shining in the night. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). It is worth a little more magnification to enjoy this curious object a little more. The stars still look tremendously sharp at this low magnification and it is a beautiful image. Unfortunately, though, it doesn't have much more to show other than that quiet, beautiful image of a series of stars forming a triangle, which, at a quick count, I estimate to be about 20 or 30. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). I don't spend much more time on it although going up to 14mm has given me a pleasant surprise. As usual the object increases in size incredibly in this jump, occupying almost 50% of the eyepiece. The image is nice although simple, but the surprise has been the star that would form the ‘canopy' or ‘star’ at the top of the Christmas tree. The brightest of all, it has a much fainter companion. It is clearly a rather nice double star because of the contrast in brightness, however I am unable to differentiate the colors between the two. This is Struve 131 and I have to admit I am very bad at double stars, it must have a very obvious color for me to be able to identify their difference. It's something I need to work on more. It's a nice extra gift from the object because it's pretty dull to be honest. You don't need to work very hard to enjoy it, but hey that's also appreciated, of course after a few minutes of looking at it you're already thinking about the next object you want to jump to. And that's what I did. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). I didn't want to leave the object without going through the 10mm, it didn't bring me much but looking at 100º of apparent field is a different pleasure and thanks to the different colors and the punctuality of the stars it is a delight to stay a few minutes just contemplating something beautiful. To insist on pointing out something with this eyepiece I emphasize the curved base of the Christmas tree that reminds me of the StarTrek symbol and how beautiful is the contrast of colors of the stars with a deep jet black background. Clear and dark skies!

Hi everyone! David Knisely from CloudyNights has pointed me out that the external halo of the galaxy it is visible at low magnifications so a better image for the first eyepiece it would be the next one: Thanks everyone!

Hi again guys! Sadly this autumn visual astronomy has been very complicated in the south of Spain. We have suffered a lot of bad luck during our new moons with several cloudy nights. Fortunately, at the beginning of December I will be able to go out and capture new objects for my project. Also I have modified a little bit my web with the help of a very good friend of mine, and he has created dark mode cards so it is easy to read in your devices. Here you have a new object report observed with my dob 18" from this autumn of 2022. If you prefer to read it in PDF format in a nice dark mode and with the support of some images that helps me to explain better myself you can check it in the web: https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/messier-catalog/ Please take into account those images are pictures not sketches. As you can read in my web they have been gathered from public databases, mainly from telescopes in Palomar Mountain, HST and Calar Alto (Spain). What I have tried (quite successfully, I think) is to reflect how the object shifts with the change of eyepieces. The images can become a composite of several to show a better result. Also I have added a fixed rectangle to show the effect of the apparent field of the eyepiece. I play a little bit with the brightness and contrast to show how your eyepiece field is darker at lower eye pupil, but you lose details in the object. I mean, if you try to find exactly the same picture in the web you are going to fail. It takes a couple of hours (sometimes more) to generate all the pictures to get the better result, plus an extra hour to write down my voice-notes. Nagler 31mm (70x - 1º 10’ - 6.6mm). Despite the low magnification and the small size of the galaxy with this eyepiece you can already see that it is a very beautiful object with a lot of detail. It makes a nice play with a bright reddish star that seems to me to be to the north of the galaxy. The size of the galaxy in the eyepiece is quite small, I don't think it occupies more than a tenth of the eyepiece. It has a very bright, almost point-like nucleus and then a much fainter halo, all very round in shape, both the nucleus and the outer halo. With a little lateral vision one can see a difference in brightness between the outer regions of the halo and the inner ones. Clearly the halo is like a kind of ‘ring’ that surrounds a much fainter region until reaching the nucleus, which is extremely bright compared to the rest of the galaxy. That is, describing the galaxy from the outside to the inside, it would be, a slightly brighter ring surrounding the entire galaxy of a small thickness, perhaps 1/10 the size of the galaxy, then a much fainter region that also surrounds the galaxy to finish seeing a very bright central area, and very punctual. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). What a wonderful galaxy! Now I pay more attention to the nucleus of the galaxy, and when I use the averted vision I get more detail. A halo appears around the point nucleus that is brighter than the outer halo, turning the nucleus from a point into a small circle. It is not very big but compared to the point nucleus I saw before it has a good size. So the galaxy would be more like this outer halo with a slightly brighter ring on the outside and then a bright area in the center that is concentrated in an even brighter point nucleus. On the other hand the galaxy no longer seems to me totally round but somewhat oval on one of its axes. I keep adding magnifications to discover more details, especially in its central region which seems very interesting. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). Thanks to the higher magnifications the galaxy gains in complexity. The image of the galaxy grows and with it I confirm that it is not totally round but rather oval as if it lay on the background of stars between 12º and 22º (between half of 45º and half of half of 45º, that is more or less the scale I follow, 0º galaxy in front of us, 90º galaxy totally edge-on, and between those two extremes I wonder if it is half, or half of the half, to be able to describe it better). Now I seem to see even some kind of structure between the outermost part of the galaxy and the inner part, I think I see a kind of union between the outer zone (the ring) and the bright part of the nucleus. Like two very faint arcs starting from the outer zone and joining the bright nucleus. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). With this eyepiece the part that strikes me the most is the bright area of the core, previously it always seemed uniform but now I see a kind of dark arc, very close to the bright core that divides its bright area in two. It is as if it were a very narrow band of dust dividing the bright zone inside the nucleus. That is, the galaxy looks to me at these magnifications with the following structure from the inside out. A VERY bright, point-like, almost stellar nucleus, now a very narrow dark arc surrounding it, then continuing the bright zone in the center, which is followed by a fainter zone ending with a zone of brightness again (the aforementioned ring) in its outermost part, never as bright as the central zone but brighter than the part between the ring and the bright zone of the nucleus. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). With these magnifications everything described above is more magnified but I also lose the fainter parts. What strikes me most now is that band of dark dust, as it seems to me that it surrounds the nucleus, because I do not know if more than surrounding it is as if it were a parenthesis that encloses it. And also the core itself, that bright area gives a beautiful impression of pearl embedded in a sea of light. It is spectacular, as if it was sinking surrounded by an intense brightness that in a couple of places is cut by this dark area of the dust band, or what I guess will be a dust band. A very suggestive and beautiful image. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). At this magnification I have not obtained new details, I am quite tired after almost 6 hours of observation and the truth is that it is almost difficult for me to focus correctly. Clear and dark skies

A new object report observed with my dob 18" from this summer of 2022. If you prefer to read it in PDF format with the support of some images that helps me to explain better myself you can check it in the web: https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/messier-catalog/ Please take into account those images are pictures not sketches. As you can read in my web they have been gathered from public databases, mainly from telescopes in Palomar Mountain, HST and Calar Alto (Spain). What I have tried (quite successfully, I think) is to reflect how the object shifts with the change of eyepieces. The images can become a composite of several to show a better result. Also I have added a fixed rectangle to show the effect of the apparent field of the eyepiece. I play a little bit with the brightness and contrast to show how your eyepiece field is darker at lower eye pupil, but you lose details in the object. I mean, if you try to find exactly the same picture in the web you are going to fail. It takes a couple of hours (sometimes more) to generate all the pictures to get the better result, plus an extra hour to write down my voice-notes. Nagler 31mm (70x - 1º 10’ - 6.6mm). A very cute object. It is a globular cluster in a star-studded field, it is surprising how many stars are observed in the field itself. There is a brighter star almost at 12 o’clock that catch your attention. But, despite the multitude of stars in the field, the cluster stands out clearly. Yet I have to say that at this magnification it is still too small, not even a tenth of the eyepiece field. It is quite concentrated and has the typical spherical shape of globular clusters but with important arms extending from it. I mean, the roundest part of it is its central area, rather than its outer halo, which extends unevenly into space with different arms of varying length. It has two levels of brightness although not very evident, being more concentrated and intense the central part, with a greater brightness than the outer arms that seem dimmer. Some stars can be resolved, not in the core of the cluster but in its outermost zone. Not many, I count about ten at most. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). The view of the cluster is significantly improved and it is more beautiful with this eyepiece because it gains in presence. It has almost doubled in size, and although it is still small compared to the entire surrounding field, it is now easier to resolve the stars in the cluster and view it. I counted up to twenty individual stars in the cluster, reaching almost to the very core of the globular cluster. The field is still spectacular with dozens of faint stars chaotically distributed. Undoubtedly the most beautiful part of the cluster is its innermost one and, with this eyepiece, the arms are much more clearly distinguishable and appear more independent of the cluster itself. It is as if the cluster were actually a sphere of stars surrounded by several stars of similar magnitude but without being connected to the core. Something like a cloud of stars surrounding the cluster. This clear separation between stars of its outer halo and the core gives it a more beautiful appearance, because you can focus your eyes on these stars to find a different shape to the cluster. To me it looks like a kind of arrow because there is a series of stars to its six o’clock of which to the right and left there is none. Or maybe it is a kind of comet, with a tail. I like it, because the surrounding field in the Milky Way is spectacular. And although it does not seem an impressive cluster to the eye, the balance in brightness between the outermost and innermost part, and its concentrated size makes it very beautiful to observe. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). With the 14mm the cluster is easily resolvable and becomes much larger, occupying almost a quarter of the eyepiece. However, I lose that wonderful starry field that used to surround it, and it has also lost some of the cohesion that it showed at lower magnification. Now even in the very core the stars can be counted individually. Fifteen I can count easily, and twenty if I try a little harder. The outer arms have ceased to be so to become that cloud of stars that chaotically surround the cluster. Nor is this aspect so negative since, not being part of a specific grouping, one can look at the individual stars to enjoy them. For example at six o'clock there are two very close stars that attract attention, also at three o'clock and at eleven o'clock there are a little brighter stars delimiting what would be the core of the cluster. The minutes pass peacefully while you contemplate carefully what signs can serve to delimit the most central part of the cluster. A delight. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). In my opinion, this object really appreciates the added magnification. The brightness of the cluster has almost not diminished and now we can distinguish much more space between the different stars and observe them with more attention. I can not provide much more information than already described in the previous paragraphs because I do not discover any new feature that catches my attention, however I keep adding magnification because it is a pleasure to observe the same object from different magnitudes because the aspect it shows is different. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). The 8mm Ethos has not given me a better view. The cluster is a little larger but there is no significant difference to the previous eyepiece. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). Although the magnifications are very high, it is worthwhile to reach them because the image of the cluster changes quite a lot. Just as between 10mm and 8mm it seemed that the object did not show any difference, the jump to 4.5mm has given me a different view. Now it is difficult to see it as a globular cluster because its shape is no longer round, and the stars are very clearly differentiated. There are several double stars with very similar brightness, specially two pairs at 6 o'clock and in the interior of the cluster, stand out. In previous eyepieces there was always a sort of fainter cloudiness surrounding the cluster from the lower brightness stars that were not resolved. That faint glow has disappeared in this eyepiece and the object looks much easier to analyze as individual stars. So your idea of it changes in a way that almost makes you wonder if you are looking at the same object. Just seeing the same bright stars in the same places and similar structure is what confirms that you are seeing the same cluster but it is a very significant change. Despite not having much detail, the surrounding field at low magnification and the ease of resolving stars of significant magnitude in itself makes it an interesting object to observe. Clear and dark skies, Israel

Thank you Joe and Ivan. During this kind of excercise that I'm following with different magnifications I'm finguring out most of the objects show a very different view in low and high magnifications, it is quite incredible because it's like seeing 2 objects in one. Ivan, be careful, I've always been disappointed when I've tried to look at DSO from city. they are a pale shadow of you can get from better skies. And please, if you have time take a look at M15 this autum, it is one of my favorites globs, the contrast between the core and the outsides of the glob is AWESOME! https://theferretofcomets.com/wp-content/uploads/fichas/ficha_m15_en-US.pdf Clear and dark skies, Israel.

@sorrimen, @robertl, @josefk Thank you SO MUCH, I appreciate a lot your words and give me motiviation to keep on in this task. Rob, since now I'll add the description of the telescope at the start of the report, in my opinion it is a very good idea. All best for you guys, and clear and dark skies.

A new object report from this summer of 2022. If you prefer to read it in PDF format with the support of some images that helps me to explain better myself you can check it in the web: https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/messier-catalog/ Please take into account those images are pictures not sketches. As you can read in my web they have been gathered from public databases, mainly from telescopes in Palomar Mountain, HST and Calar Alto (Spain). What I have tried (quite successfully, I think) is to reflect how the object shifts with the change of eyepieces. The images can become a composite of several to show a better result. Also I have added a fixed rectangle to show the effect of the apparent field of the eyepiece. I play a little bit with the brightness and contrast to show how your eyepiece field is darker at lower eye pupil, but you lose details in the object. I mean, if you try to find exactly the same picture in the web you are going to fail. It takes a couple of hours (sometimes more) to generate all the pictures to get the better result, plus an extra hour to write down my voice-notes. Nagler 31mm (70x - 1º 10’ - 6.6mm). This object can never disappoint in any telescope as long as one observes it from a dark sky. It is a beauty, a gift of nature for our enjoyment. The field is very nice with few stars, some of them of an important magnitude standing out together with the object in the eyepiece field, as for example HIP81848 at 6 o'clock with a magnitude of 6.68. The lack of stars is appreciated because the globular cluster stands out even more. Also, it should be noted that in the field itself NGC 6207 is easily observed as an elongated blob, the galaxy that always accompanies this magnificent globular cluster. The size of the object is impressive, despite these low magnifications it already occupies perfectly more than 1/10 of the eyepiece. And its shape is always spherical with a multitude of arms that extend out of the cluster not in a straight line but in curves. The sensation of three-dimensionality is enormous as one is able to resolve stars even in the innermost part of the core. It is very bright, no averted vision is needed, it is completely evident. Two levels of brightness are also very clearly visible, one more intense in its interior and the other slightly less bright in the outermost part. The stars of the arms are of a similar magnitude to the stars that form the cluster and therefore the overall feeling is magnificent. As a detail, I would highlight the color of the stars that are resolved in the interior of the cluster. The tonality of many of them is reddish and they look like small rubies shining in a white cotton ball. It is beautiful. And one of the reasons is because its size in this eyepiece allows you to see it as a part of our galaxy, an amazing object floating in the immensity of the cosmos. Mind-blowing. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). How gorgeous and what a joy to be able to expand the previous view. The cluster has grown a lot and the infinite number of stars that are resolved in it makes your head explode. They are resolved all over the object with such a beautiful reddish hue and with an incredible punctuality that you don't believe you can be seeing such a punctual light source. It is at that moment, when you are focusing your gaze on the punctuality of the stars that you perceive the different gradients of the cluster itself. Its inner part much brighter and the outer ones gradually losing brightness, having clearly distinguishable brightness levels. In addition, the arms are a marvel. You can easily go through them, starting from the same point where they are born and follow them extending beyond the globular cluster. And you can also walk through them with your eyes as you count each of the individual stars, of similar magnitude, that form the arm you have decided to observe. It is as if the cluster is expanding in space, trying to reach far beyond its concentrated core. As if the stars wanted to escape the gravitational pull of that immense ball of stars. And there are hundreds of stars in those arms separated from their outer halo. And when one refocuses the view on the object's core to resolve each star in its interior, then even more stars appear as individual dots. Making the whole even more magnificent, more grandiose, almost without letting you breathe from the amount of stars you can count or intuit. In addition to the contrasts, the different level of brightness in the object, what leaves you frozen are the colors you see. Revealing the garnets of the stars inside, those small reddish grains with the white glow of the cluster itself and with the brutal contrast of a dark, black sky around it. It really is a stunning image. It is pure pleasure to enjoy this image. With the 31mm it was a shock to see it in that eyepiece because I did not expect to see M13 with so much brightness and at the same time with so much detail, in a not very large size. But now with the 22mm it is pure pleasure, as I said, as the cluster is much larger but equally delicate, with myriads of individual stars. I am so stunned by the image that I keep asking myself why I find it so beautiful and I think I must add something else to the description. The HARMONY. And that is that the object, despite its multitude of details, is very well-balanced. Yes, the stars that you resolve within are brighter than the background brightness of the cluster, but they are to such a slight degree that they do not break the whole but stand out as small treasures that do not dazzle the whole. The word that comes to mind is just that, a delightful harmony in their beauty. Outstanding. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). Woooowwww! What an overwhelming image!! The object has grown (well, and the eyepiece field has also shrunk from 82º to 72º) until it occupies almost a quarter of the eyepiece. Now it is impossible to observe anything other than the cluster itself. What strikes me most at this magnification is that I begin to see a kind of black rivers within the cluster itself. It is clearly visible using the side view and focusing on the 5 o'clock zone of the cluster. It takes me a few minutes to see it correctly. The first zone with little brightness that I observe and that I imagine as a dark river is the one that forms a kind of 7 but with the long bar of the number not vertical but inclined towards 5 o'clock. After a few minutes of observation I realize that there is another zone equally darker that starts from the same vertex of that 7 but towards 1 o'clock. And it is then, when seeing the set of these three streams when one can imagine the famous shape of the symbol of the Mercedes-Benz in the cluster. To be honest, it is quite evident, and this fainter area contrasts clearly using averted vision. Moreover, it is perfectly visible that it is not in the center of the cluster but on one side of it. It is very impressive because one does not expect to see something ‘dark’ inside such a bright object. It is your mind that generates a contrast that is spectacular. I mean, it is clear that I am not seeing something black but it is less bright than the rest that surrounds it, but my brain transforms it into black rivers meandering through the cluster. Unbelievable. I am hallucinating with the very different view I get of the object as I add more magnification. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). What a JOY!!! My brain is so getting used to the vision of those dark rivers that allows me, even without using the averted vision and therefore focusing the vision on resolving the stars inside the cluster, to continue seeing them. I describe in my voice notes that the rivers are not the same degree of darkness, the faintest, the least dark is the one that goes towards the interior of the nucleus towards 9 o'clock. The one that goes towards 1 and 5 o'clock are darker, have less brightness and stand out more in the cluster as a whole. With this eyepiece I still see a lot of field and the contrast with the black sky in the background is wonderful. A complex and very bright object with dark structures inside challenging you to observe it as best as possible. Quite a challenge and a pleasure. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). I never stop being amazed with each eyepiece change. A new river appears on the scene and the famous Y-shape that might remind you of the Mercedes-Benz symbol transforms into the peace symbol representing a dove's footprint. The new river appears between the two rivers that previously ran at 9 o'clock and 5 o'clock. It is fainter than any of the previous three but can also be seen. But there is even more in the 9 o'clock eyepiece area there is another dark line going into the cluster. It is fantastic to be able to see M13 at 270x as I am still resolving the cluster and the stars in it but it is so large that I can see it in zones. Diverse zones, with accumulation of stars here and there and lack of stars in other regions. It is mind-blowing. I can't wait to jump to the next eyepiece to see what new secret it reveals. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). BEYOND WORDS. I really don't know how to describe the wonder I am seeing. I simply have no words. It's as simple as that. I try again and again but I fall short in the description I make in my voice memos. But I'm going to try. The first thing is that the dark rivers have multiplied. Well, to be accurate it’s not that they have multiplied, it’s that I now clearly see clusters of stars between different parts of the cluster. Clusters of stars with perhaps half a magnitude less than those in the background, which makes them brighter and makes the background appear dim, although it is not. It is a bright ball that emanates light from all sides. Although overall it has lost brightness from the previous eyepiece, the object is so bright that I even appreciate that fading. But there is one thing that makes the image not so beautiful and it is the complexity of focusing at these magnifications. It is very difficult for me to get the stars to look totally spot on, but I get pretty good focus. When I get that focus that I am satisfied with, is when I notice the number of clusters of individual stars with 5 or 10 of them at most that are surrounded by areas of lesser brightness. The object has become a very complex structure that is very difficult to describe adequately. And I have never seen it this way before. It is mind-boggling to review the well-known Messier objects with an 18" because they really change completely. I think, in this card, I have made up for my lack of words to describe what I see with the image that I have managed to generate and that accompanies this description. I like to think you can see very well those slightly brighter, individual stars that stand out above the cluster itself; and how they are grouped chaotically in clusters of perhaps 4, 6, 9, 12 stars. And, on the other side, the thousands of background stars that give that overall fainter glow which create in your mind the image that the cluster is crisscrossed by several dark rivers. Breathtaking indeed. Clear and dark skies

Hi again!! Sorry for recovering this old post from the bottom of the forum but recently I have modified all my cards (specially those ones of galaxies). In a conversation with David Knisely in Cloudy Nights I have learnt about the use of gamma in pictures. I see myself as a medium-good visual stargazer but a TERRIBLE, BAD, POOR and CRAPPY astrophotograh because I am very bad in the treatment of the images. I don't have the knowledge or the patience to spend minutes with any software fiddling around until I get the image I want. So I follow a few simple rules to try to represent what I have seen in my telescope as best I can. So, the use of the gamma curve to reduce the brightness of the image has been AMAZING (thank you to David) and I have re-done my cards with this new treatment. I hope you enjoy them and they are a little bit more useful (if at some point they were). https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/messier-catalog/ Clear and dark skies, Israel

A new object report. This has been one of the most complex objects to add to a card, because it was complex represent in images what I saw in the telescope. If you prefer to read it in PDF format with the support of some images that helps me to explain better myself you can check it in the web: https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/messier-catalog/ Please take into account those images are pictures not sketches. As you can read in my web they have been gathered from public databases, mainly from telescopes in Palomar Mountain, HST and Calar Alto (Spain). What I have tried (quite successfully, I think) is to reflect how the object shifts with the change of eyepieces. The images can become a composite of several to show a better result. Also I have added a fixed rectangle to show the effect of the apparent field of the eyepiece. I play a little bit with the brightness and contrast to show how your eyepiece field is darker at lower eye pupil, but you lose details in the object. I mean, if you try to find exactly the same picture in the web you are going to fail. It takes a couple of hours (sometimes more) to generate all the pictures to get the better result, plus an extra hour to write down my voice-notes. Nagler 31mm (70x - 1º 10’ - 6.6mm). The star field is spectacular, being in the middle of the Milky Way is surrounded by many stars and yet the cluster stands out clearly above them all. It fills about a tenth of the eyepiece, is quite bright and I am not able to establish any definite shape. It is curious because at lower magnifications I have always seen this open cluster quite compact, and now I clearly see areas where there are no stars and it makes its shape very complex to describe. There is a star that always stands out in the interior of the open cluster that also has a different color from the rest, a little more golden, while most of the stars in the cluster have a cooler color, blue or white. However it is not very evident, at least in this telescope. It is true that you perceive that star as a warmer color but it is complicated for me to identify exactly the color tone. I rely on that star to describe the object. The 12 o'clock zone of that star is much richer than its 6 o'clock zone. I see a couple of 'pillars of stars’. The amazing thing with this eyepiece is the beauty of the whole. The cluster can be compared to the vast number of stars around it and it makes you realize how insignificant we are in the cosmos. I mean. for this magnificent cluster is but a small part in a field full of stars. And it is quite curious because that feeling is something that with higher magnification I never feel. At higher magnifications we get into the object and your attention is focused on the object itself losing that general vision of seeing it as a small treasure of space. Having that impression of contemplating the universe, not one object in it, but the whole, is something I only achieve at lower magnifications. On the other hand I also love being able to clearly differentiate so many individual stars in the cluster, even though their size is small in the eyepiece. It is a great starting point for further exploration. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). What a beautiful cluster, truth be told. But it is not because of its shape or the difference in brightness or colors of its stars. It is rather the opposite, because of the uniformity of most of the dozens and dozens of stars that are observed individually, with similar colors and brightness. And all this forming a unique set in a field surrounded by very beautiful stars. With this new eyepiece the object gains in size and makes it easier for me to observe, I keep insisting in my voice notes on the shape that has been drawn in my head to describe the cluster. Far from being geometric or spherical in shape, it is quite amorphous and it is these two very distinct pillars that catch my attention because between them there is a space almost devoid of stars. In addition, the main star is accompanied by several of a lower magnitude that form a sort of inverted C that is very nice to look at. The best thing about these low magnifications is how little it is affected by seeing and the stars look totally punctate, like diamond granules. Resolvable and individual stars of tiny size, almost like a point of light. I fix my gaze on the brightest star and describe in my voice notes the star at 3 o'clock and the two small ones at 5 o'clock, along with another star at 6 o'clock, and one more at 7 o'clock that makes the inverted C I mentioned before. I see other stars of a lower magnitude so I describe that the object in general is formed by a bright star, several tens with a similar brightness and, in a similar order of magnitude (i.e. another several tens) of much fainter but also resolvable stars. To get an idea of their size, I randomly take any grouping of stars and count them (about 10) and see how many of the same type there are, and with this I estimate that the stars of the same magnitude will be around a hundred. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). The 14mm never lets me be disappointed. As I said before, now the object gains in presence and I focus on it. I have lost the impression of contemplating the universe, now I only see M11, but it is beautiful. The shape is very strange, at least in the position in which I am seeing it. Now the two pillars remind me of an anvil-headed alien and a big-headed human shaking hands. In addition there is a grouping of several stars quite curious that forming the left heel of the human. Anyway, everyone's imagination has these things. In addition to imaginative games, the object is really beautiful for the number of stars that can be seen. It's nice to relax just looking at the stars, trying to see how far the eye can see. I think the lowest magnitude star I observe is one close to the two stars that are at 3 o'clock from the brightest star in the cluster. These two stars have a companion about 5 o'clock that is quite faint. I am not sure but I would say that is one of the lower magnitude ones that I can resolve without much complication. I move on to the next eyepiece so I can observe the object at a larger size but not expecting to discover anything new. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). I can't really contribute any more information than what I have already given with the other eyepieces. With the 10mm it is still beautiful to look at the object but I am losing brightness and it seems to me that I have lost some of the fainter stars. However, the stars that remain are much easier for me to differentiate and see the object as a whole. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). In this eyepiece, what strikes me most is the respect it gives to the color of the stars. I see now more clearly than in the previous eyepiece how the brightest star is of a warm, yellowish hue, while the rest of the stars are cold, of a bluish tone. The object now occupies almost half of the eyepiece, so I can distinguish the groupings of stars much more clearly. For example, what I have called the heel of the figure on the left in the eyepiece I can perfectly count five stars (four of the same magnitude forming a kind of rhomboid and a fifth fainter one at 11 o'clock of this rhomboid). It is this fact that impresses me to add magnification. I commented it at the beginning of this card. Now the object itself, the open cluster, is the protagonist of the view and your attention is focused on enjoying it in every detail. However, at low magnifications, the attention was divided between the object and the surrounding field. Conveying to you more general sensations and not so specific to the object itself, but to the whole. Despite not getting more information, I do get different feelings and for that reason alone I also divert my attention to this eyepiece and the next one to enjoy different experiences. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). It is a bit more of the same but now occupying 80% of the eyepiece. Although focusing is now much more complex and the seeing of this night has a much greater effect, the image is still amazing. The seeing is causing that the stars are no longer minimal points of light and become a small diffuse bead that blurs the image. However, being able to see the object TOTALLY at this size is wonderful because you don't have to strain to get all the information it gives you. I sincerely believe that it is worth jumping to these magnifications to enjoy this view, for the mere fact of ‘living’ the object in a different way. As a colophon I emphasize what I indicated in my first impression, M11 is a very beautiful open cluster because of the large number of stars of similar magnitude and colors. It is a good example of a cluster. Clear and dark skies to everyone

Of course @Mike Q. These cards are created under CopyLeft license, specifically https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ so you are free to download, copy, modify, whatever... if you do not make money with them 🙂 I'm very glad they are useful for you guys, it is my small contribution to the community because I have learnt a lot from others and it is my way to return something...

Thank you so much @wookie1965, @Marvin Jenkins and @Mike Q. I have been doing some maths and I think I will complete Messier catalogue at the end of 2025 😞 I have done 22% of the catalogue (25 objects) in around one year (indeed in 11 months), so please be patient 🙂 Best, Israel

A new object report. If you prefer to read it in PDF format with the support of some images that helps me to explain better myself you can check it in the web: https://theferretofcomets.com/index.php/en/messier-catalog/ Please take into account those images are pictures not sketches. As you can read in my web they have been gathered from public databases, mainly from telescopes in Palomar Mountain, HST and Calar Alto (Spain). What I have tried (quite successfully, I think) is to reflect how the object shifts with the change of eyepieces. The images can become a composite of several to show a better result. Also I have added a fixed rectangle to show the effect of the apparent field of the eyepiece. I play a little bit with the brightness and contrast to show how your eyepiece field is darker at lower eye pupil, but you lose details in the object. I mean, if you try to find exactly the same picture in the web you are going to fail. It takes a couple of hours (sometimes more) to generate all the pictures to get the better result, plus an extra hour to write down my voice-notes. Nagler 31mm (70x - 1º 10’ - 6.6mm). I begin my notes by indicating that it is 2:00 am in the morning, the image is AMAZING and I am totally happy with the purchase simply for seeing objects like this. I start by really emphasizing the subtlety of the image as, even though, I distinguish many details it is not something one observes immediately, it requires a bit of patience, averted vision and taking your time. The star field is nice with several stars of low brightness scattered randomly but without reaching the accumulation of the areas of the sky near the Milky Way. Even at these magnifications the galaxy appears as a large grayish cloud (however it is about half a degree in diameter so it takes up almost 1/3 of the eyepiece for me). In the voice notes I mention that it is a LARGE galaxy as few I have seen through the telescope, of a very homogeneous brightness although the nucleus appears slightly brighter. Obviously, it is all a matter of attention, but it is of such subtlety that it encourages you to look more closely. And, indeed, at this magnification you can already see differences in the structure of the galaxy. In addition, it transmits a sensation of a pinwheel that suits its name. Because, although it is still very subtle and difficult to observe, faint and less faint areas are already outlined, (especially in the outermost area) that transmits the feeling that the galaxy is spinning on itself. After adding minutes of observation I notice that the arms are now more evident and I count 4 or 5 of them, I am not very sure. This calls my attention because in spite of the low magnifications and the fact that I see the galaxy BIG, I see so much detail in it that it is impossible not to remember famous pictures of M101 showing its arms with so much detail and so clearly. Something that in visual, until this very moment, I had never seen, and really it is just pure joy to see such a beautiful image. But I insist that it is a matter of subtleties, you should not imagine, please, some arms clearly and intensely defined, it is simply a region that, when adapting the eye, you see that it is slightly brighter or rather, a little less dim than the rest of the galaxy. And it is then that you observe, self-absorbed, how in reality you are seeing an arm that extends around the galaxy, rotating around it, as if it wanted to sink it. And you keep looking and then you see another faint area to find another arm, which repeats the same shape but more external and more open. Then you look at the other side of the core and find the same, although here one of the arms is even more separated from the galaxy. It is simply beautiful. In addition some stars, dotted like pinheads, shine on the surface of the galaxy. Obviously they belong to our galaxy but it makes the image even more beautiful because, by resolving them completely, they do not lead you to confusion with the shape of the galaxy which is huge. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). A new jump and new surprises in the galaxy. It has gained in size until it almost covers the half of the eyepiece, I can still see the whole galaxy at a glance, but the background field is reduced. The arms are still resolving, I would even say that now more clearly than before (maybe my eyes are also getting used to the object), the nucleus, which now I can also distinguish more easily, seems to me elongated rather than round, but what really catches my attention are the structures that I begin to see in the arms. I repeat, please, that it is a matter of subtlety, nothing is totally evident, but by repeating the walk of the eye across the surface of the galaxy and always seeing the same thing, one is convinced that it is there. What I see are something like clumps or slightly brighter regions in various areas of the arms, in my voice notes I use the word ‘accretions’. Especially in the arm furthest away from the galaxy, which is about 3 o'clock in the famous clockwork distribution. This arm is the most striking because it moves farther away from the galaxy, that is to say, it surrounds it less, as if it were opening outwards. It is precisely in this arm where I see, at the end of it, a brighter area, with a brightness similar to the nucleus of the galaxy, perhaps a little less, but significantly brighter than the rest of the arm, which is more uniform. It is very curious because it is at the end of the arm itself. Consulting this region at home it turns out that it is NGC 5462, one of the famous H II regions of the galaxy. This region has led me to take an even better look at the arms and I think I can identify other similar areas (although not so obvious) but I do not write them down. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). I start my notes of the 14mm vision saying: ‘F**K what a beauty, MY GOD, what a spectacular sight!!!’ Then I remember the first encounter I had with this galaxy with my old Meade 90mm refractor with which it all began, in El Berrocal, Huelva, which I could not see it even with a shot. And in which I made the same mistake that all novices in visual astronomy: a galaxy of 7.8 magnitude, but if it must be SUPER BRIGHT, go for it. But all my happiness went away because I couldn't find it no matter how much I went through the same area, again and again and again and again and again. Now I am enjoying it with a 450mm and this changes a lot (of course my eyesight is not what it was and I notice it, but you can't have everything in life). The galaxy has gained in size until it almost occupies the ENTIRE eyepiece, and now the details of the galaxy are more and more evident and, therefore, it is more and more complex to observe and, without any doubt, more BEAUTIFUL. First the nucleus, now I see it more defined than before, and of course it is round (before it seemed to me a little more elongated) but it is that the arms come out from the nucleus itself. Thanks to these magnifications everything is much larger and, something that surprises me incredibly for not being used to such large apertures, the galaxy hardly loses brightness, I would even say that it actually increases it? (now I remember some email from Ángel Huelmo explaining that in reality what is increasing is in contrast and probably that is what I was discovering). These two factors added together (more size and more contrast) allow me to see PERFECTLY (again, it is a matter of averted vision and subtleties, but now it is much easier than before, almost as soon as I put the eye in the eyepiece) the structure of the arms, easily counting 5 of them and delighting me with the ‘gaps’ that exist between them that are thick enough to stop comfortably. On top of everything else, thanks to the magnification, the arms look VERY LONG, you can go through with your eyes from their birth and looking at every detail, how they extend, how they rotate on the galaxy itself and continue and continue. Something that leaves you almost breathless to know what you are seeing, which are millions and millions of suns spread on a surface with that shape. My head feels like it's going to explode with these thoughts, it's just AMAZING. I go back over the more open arm and I am delighted with the image of the outer bulge that also seems to fit perfectly with the shape of the arm, now more defined. But just before reaching it there is another region of equally bright but less intense concentration (NGC 5461 another region of H II). If I continue towards the interior of the galaxy, I pass by the nucleus and that complex structure with the birth of the different arms surrounding the galaxy. I continue a little more towards the outside, towards 9 o'clock, I see the somewhat fainter region between the arms, a new arm arrives with some condensation also in that arm (NGC 5453) but even more subtle, to continue with a large hollow space but less black than the previous one, and a new wider arm appears but also fainter that makes it difficult for me to know where the galaxy ends. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). The grace of this new eyepiece is that, in spite of having gained in magnification, I have not lost field (because compared to the previous one it has much more apparent field), so I enjoy the same image but magnified. I look at the nucleus and I am struck by its structure. I started commenting that the nucleus was subtly brighter than the rest of the galaxy and now I can even distinguish different regions inside it, it is incredible. First its most central part that I see totally spherical and small, then there is a small drop in brightness to return to a zone of equal magnitude to the nucleus itself. It is from this second zone that the arms start, which seem to me even longer than in the previous vision. I start to go through the open arm of the 3 o'clock and I notice how its total brightness has been reduced with respect to the previous eyepiece but it also makes me highlight much better the regions of greater concentration, now I see with total clarity the brightest end of it, but also that area before the 5 o'clock of the arm itself, that is if we start from the final bright area of the arm, more external, this is turning towards the south where the galaxy is, a few minutes to reach the point where the arm turns there is a new concentration of brightness dimmer than the previous and less extensive. It also draws my attention that the arms of the other zone of the galaxy (what would be the 9 o’clock of my eyepiece) seem to break or disappear in some areas, showing even more complex structures in the arms themselves. It is as if the arms are not uniform, but are made of patches with a faint background that gives it uniformity, but very very faint. I have a hard time continuing to describe it so I move on to the next eyepiece to get what I think will be maximum magnifications (but I was wrong) Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). I open the voice notes with this eyepiece with a high and accelerated intonation asking myself, which eyepiece is the best, because with each new magnification jump I see more details and I like it even more, even though I see it more faintly. With this eyepiece there is no background, I have gone INSIDE the galaxy itself, and I have to move the telescope axes to go through it. At the minimum speed of the motors, it is a pleasure to follow the structure of the arms that revolve around that clearly brighter nucleus and those hollows that help define the arms so well. The central region of the galaxy attracts my attention, since it reproduces on a smaller scale what I see on the outside of the galaxy. From the beginning of the arms I see how they rotate around the nucleus of the galaxy, I mean, the arm actually begins in the nucleus in the same area where it ends. That is, if it is an arm that one sees to the west of the galaxy, it itself begins in the western part of the nucleus, making a complete turn around the nucleus before extending to the outside of the galaxy. The same happens with the other arm but starting from different points and as one following the other until they clearly separate. I keep repeating how beautiful it all is, how precious I see it, and how magnificent it is to be able to add magnification and not stop seeing the previous to gain more detail. I comment again in my notes that all are degrees of subtleties of grays more or less intense but always faint, they are never something bright intense like a star, they are simply a little brighter areas that our brain highlights at the expense of insisting on observing, but when you see it is magnificent. And the good thing is that I am now seeing this sensation in a HUGE object and I can go around the galaxy at will. The size of M101 is surprising. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). I could not believe that at this magnification I could still see the galaxy with so much detail. Evidently I have lost brightness, but I am totally inside the galaxy, at this moment I have already spent more than 40min dedicated to the same object and at the end I will reach one hour as the observation time for M101. I have so many magnifications that going through an arm takes me a long time at minimum engine speed. And thanks to these magnifications I travel through areas where I do not see the galaxy to suddenly reappear the arm, and that leads me to a new discovery, well actually there are two. On the one hand in what was my western arm of the galaxy, that is to say the one that was at 9 o'clock from the nucleus, not the one that had this zone of brightness that I have described in different occasions but the another one, I had believed to see a zone of more condensation of brightness in the end of this arm. Now, at 480x, what I see is not only a concentration of brightness but two bright regions separated by a dark area in the middle that gives it the shape of crab claws, can you imagine drawing a crab with the two claws upwards, separating each one from the other about 135º? Well, something like that, they are two bright areas (please understand by bright something slightly brighter, although at this magnification is that it is almost the only thing you see of the arm because it has already been reduced to a darkness indistinguishable from the background sky), I said that these two bright areas are the ones that appear as two clearly separated ovals opening towards the interior of the galaxy, with a dark stream that separates them, AMAZING (NGC 5450 - 5447). The other discovery was due to an error, returning to the area of the condensation of the 3 o'clock arm, I went too far, it is difficult to follow the galaxy well at this magnification, especially when you lose some areas of the arms and I saw a bright region but that did not remind me of what I had already seen. It was another companion galaxy of M101, NGC 5477, a dwarf galaxy without a defined nucleus, I was also surprised by its size at these magnifications. Finally note that at these magnifications in the nucleus I lose some details but it still seems to me a beautiful region, it is more complicated to see where the arms are born, but the nucleus, or rather the central part of the galaxy, looks like a galaxy itself with small arms surrounding it, a beauty. Clear and dark skies to everyone

Thank you Rob