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

A new object report from summer nights. 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 small spiral galaxy in a poor star field so it stands out clearly. The galaxy is less than one tenth the size of the eyepiece, so at this magnification, it is quite small in apparent size. What I see is a typical spiral galaxy with a bright nucleus. It does not appear to be fully facing the Earth but slightly tilted, about thirty degrees. Near the nucleus I begin to see a complex structure, like a kind of swirl in the nucleus that may be a reflection of its arms. The arm structure looks to me like a kind of elongated S, but very elongated, typical of barred spiral galaxies, however the magnifications are still low to get good details of the galaxy. Nevertheless at these magnifications I can see few details, just the nucleus stands out as very bright, its oval galaxy shape and inclined view. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). With this eyepiece I get a very beautiful view of the galaxy. I am amazed by the row of stars on which the galaxy seems to be resting, even one of them is very close to the nucleus of the galaxy which makes the whole especially beautiful. I can clearly see a point source of light surrounded by the bright nebulosity of the background galaxy and the nucleus, also very bright, right next to it. This image alone is worth adding more magnification to the telescope. Also now the structure of the arms is more evident, although I still find it difficult to define it properly. I mention in my voice notes: ‘arms look like to rotate on themselves in that kind of whirlpool, but I appreciate it with great difficulty’. The nucleus also does not seem punctual but elongated, typical of barred galaxies. It is tremendously bright compared to the rest of the galaxy. In addition, between the nucleus and the zone of the arms I can see a darker region that gives it more beauty but makes it more complex and difficult to describe. They are a kind of dark patches on the sides of the nucleus, or as a drop in brightness to the right and left of the nucleus. Those patches are more evidences when you see the increase again in brightness by the existence of the arm of the galaxy. These dark patches do not surround the nucleus but are only on the two sides of the nucleus. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). This eyepiece narrows my field a lot but the resolution I observe is very good. First you can see some more stars of our own galaxy, fainter that is within the galaxy itself and that highlights its beauty. The contrast between the nucleus and the area of the arms is spectacular and keeps you with your eyes fixed on the object trying to get more details of that intricate shape that resists me. I perfectly observe the barred shape of the nucleus and the two dark areas on the sides of this bar, the most complicated thing is to identify where the arms of the galaxy end and where they begin and if they are one or more. I get the impression that there is a single arm on both sides of the central bar. One that starts in the right zone and turns around the south of the galaxy passing through the line of stars of our galaxy and ending almost perpendicular to the core bar. And another arm that starts in the left zone of the nucleus and turns north to end at 15 o'clock. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). With the 100º apparent field from the Ethos I again enjoy a much wider view of the galaxy and the black background. It becomes more evident the spiral shape of the galaxy and the vision of some arms in the outermost and faintest part of the galaxy, however I can not identify any new detail, but it is a beautiful view. The row of stars in our galaxy, the very bright nucleus, the barred zone that extends the central part of the nucleus, the arms that show beyond this dark zone. It is a real marvel to observe this galaxy in peace and quiet. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). This is the best view I get on the details of the galaxy. First I am very struck by the area near the nucleus. The spiral arms arise, not from the nucleus itself, but from a darker area that I define as a band of dust that ‘surrounds’ (it is rather to the right and left but it is difficult to determine its limit) the halo of the nucleus. It is from this not very bright area that a pair of arms emerge and wrap around the galaxy giving it that beautiful swirling shape. To try to explain it a little better, looking at the galaxy from the outside to the inside I see in its southern zone, the first dimly bright arm, then a slightly less bright area that shows that it is an arm and then three stars of our galaxy forming a line on which M109 rests. It follows a slightly darker zone and then again a not very bright zone, to, suddenly, fall in brightness (this is the dark zone or the band of dust that surrounds the nucleus), and above it, a very bright halo containing the elongated nucleus of the barred galaxies. I don't know if I have been able to explain it well, but the galaxy is not very wide because it is tilted with respect to us and everything is compressed. Anyway, a very beautiful view at good magnification and with a good sky. A delightful pleasure. Sincerely the best view of the galaxy. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). I can't see the galaxy clearly, I think that the fatigue of the day has taken its toll on me, a pity, and I can't focus properly. I have also lost a lot of brightness and I have lost the area of the arms, seeing practically only the nucleus of the galaxy, now clearly elongated (barred galaxy). If anything I see some remains of these arms as arcs surrounding the galaxy. Too bad I am tired from this day of observation. Clear and dark skies, Israel

Thank you @ED Splitter and @daz I've been in holidays those days and I was in Bath and I had the opportunity to visit William Herschel home at Bath. What AMAZING experience!! I was in the backyard in which Uranus was discovered!!! INCREDIBLE. I was wowed by the place. Sorry for the offtopic but I've just come back from England and I am still in awe of the experience (what a country my god!!)

Great Zeta, quite happy my cards are useful for you. That's the idea. Thank you for your feedback.

A new object report from summer nights. 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 field of M17 is beautiful. There is a lot of stars in it and they are of different magnitudes with many of them of significant brightness, particularly in its southern region. The nebula is of medium size occupying one fifth of the eyepiece. Its shape is well known, it always reminds me of a swan with a very curved neck. Its brightness is high and therefore very evident in the eyepiece, with the body of the swan shining brighter than the rest of the object. However, thanks to the extra aperture of my telescope I discover new structures of much lower brightness. Going into the details of the nebula, the first thing I describe is the brightest area. It is beautiful in the eyepiece, with black rivers that divide it into different sections, these dust clouds of the nebula can be seen with smaller apertures as I remember having seen them before. The neck of the swan is also beautiful, very bright but here comes the first difference with smaller telescopes. The end of the swan's head reminds me more of a seahorse's head, i.e., it extends straight towards the end and also ends with a straight perpendicular line. It also ends in two bright bluish stars, which look totally spot on giving additional beauty to the image. I like what I am seeing so much that I decide to describe it by tracing the shape of the nebula. I start with that flat ‘snout’ of the swan that I don't remember seeing, but there is still more, I go up the snout and get to what would be the head of the swan, where the nebula makes a beautiful 180º turn, the famous OMEGA. Above the head there is a reddish star, a star around which I observe more cloudiness, which would be the ‘crest’ of the swan (what a mythological animal I am getting). The neck continues down towards 6 o'clock and before reaching the swan’s body it is cut by a cloud of dust that crosses it from one end to the other. Then begins the body, which is not uniform but has at least two other rivers in its interior that breaks its uniformity. All of them very marked. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). The 22mm allows me to confirm everything I have described above and leaves me glued to the eyepiece for several minutes. What a beautiful image. The nebula gains in size and contrast without losing any of its characteristics so its beauty is enhanced. The swan's tail is the faintest cloud I see of the whole set but it still catches my attention because of its subtlety. However, it is the body where I spend more minutes enjoying the calm vision. In particular there is one area that stands out to me because it is a very bright patch. I think it stands out so much because it is delimited on the north by the river of dark dust that separates body and neck and on the east by another black river not as intense as the previous one but equally evident. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). WOOOOOOOOW!!! I am so amazed when I place the 14mm eyepiece that for a second I think I am seeing another different object that has been placed there as if by magic. The first thing is that the nebula fits perfectly in the eyepiece, even the tail, but not much more. It occupies almost half of the eyepiece. This increased size makes it possible to observe with a comfort that is appreciated. I start, as with the 31mm eyepiece, with the snout of the seahorse. I find it beautiful because it is so elongated and thin, but it is also tremendously complex, with many stars inside it and with some inlets on the edge of the nebula that looks towards the neck. Moreover, the neck is especially beautiful in that area, as its inner edge ends abruptly in a very black region. It is a delight to follow the edges of the nebula in such a contrasting way against the starry background. The ridge nebula is now much more obvious and larger, clearly separated from the head. It also appears as a kind of V, narrower at the part approaching the head and wider outward. Perhaps it is an illusion caused by the star where this nebula is. I continue along the inner part of the neck (the opposite of the crest), which is a beautiful black, and I reach two stars just before the river that prevents the body and neck from joining. But it is at the foot of this river where I discover a new detail that surprises me. In that area of the body there is a trident, or as we speak of an animal, a paw with three hooves. Like the footprint of a lion but with three toes instead of four. These areas are delimited by two dark channels. Behind them (around 3 o'clock) is the patch of brightness that surprised me so much in the 22mm and a new faint river that generates a new bright zone at 6 o'clock from the one described above. The body of the nebula continues without further variation but this part of the ‘footprint’ is tremendously complex with the nebula receding before dark inlets. It is quite a beauty to force the averted vision to bring out the details hidden in that area. I remain spellbound for a few more minutes with the faint region of the tail, without being able to get more detail than that beautiful arc that expands the size of the nebula. I do not want to finish the description with this eyepiece without highlighting the amount of brightness variations that I observe in the nebula. It is not only that there are regions of dust that appear as black rivers dividing parts of the nebula, but also that the nebula shines with different intensity in different areas. All this makes it very complicated to describe, but it is amazing to look at. A marvel. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). I am amazed at how the nebula continues to allow magnification without losing any of its beauty. Up to 216x I am able to observe all the details I have already described but at a larger size and with better contrast. It is really amazing. What a splendid view of a star-forming emission nebula. In this eyepiece I also distinguish some details in the wings. Specifically in its final part that I delimit with a bright star under which I see a kind of dark bay that retracts the wing. The footprint area and the junction of the neck are spectacular with this eyepiece. There are two very bright stars at the very edge of the neck, then comes the black river so marked with this eyepiece that you can clearly see how neck and body are separated. Just across this black river, on the other bank, there is a third star, also beautiful at the source of the footprint cloudiness. And a little further downstream, at the end of a new black river perpendicular to the previous one, there is another faint star, but clearly remarkable among the faint and complex cloudiness of the track. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). I don't improve so much with this eyepiece jump. The nebula looks a bit bigger but it is also true that I have lost a bit of contrast. I reconfirm the previous descriptions but I can't discover anything new. But in spite of everything I spend several minutes to enjoy this beautiful image of M17 and its very complex structure. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). I could never have imagined the surprise I was going to enjoy seeing deep space objects at such high magnification. I had always thought that getting to such magnifications was a waste of time as the object would blur and I would see nothing. I could not have been more wrong. It is true that I am over magnifying but I don't care. The edges of the nebula are spectacular. The snout and crest I almost missed, but the amount of detail seen in the swan's body is amazing. Focusing first on the image of the edges, you notice how there are no straight areas, something that is deceiving at low magnification. The area more at 6 o'clock at the base of the nebula, is blurred in space with some incoming and outgoing as slight waves. There is also a brighter V-shaped central region of the nebula, and it is at the top of this V where more voluptuousness is observed. Surprising. But it is in the footprint area where I don't know what adjectives to use. First that the footprint reminds me more of the Flame Nebula NGC 2024, with those three regions divided by bands of dark dust. Perhaps also because of how faint it appears compared to other regions. The brightness in the 3 o'clock region of the footprint is wonderful, full of gradients, with ups and downs of brightness in different parts, as well as dark inlets and faint outflows. It is an amazing region for the amount of detail that can be seen in the interior of the nebula, not only at its edges, but within the nebula itself, with different brightnesses. It is very difficult to put words to what I am seeing because it is so complex that I can hardly describe it, but simply indicate that it is very worthwhile to reach these magnifications and dive into that region. Finally, I would like to make a special mention to the part of the omega that turns on itself. The inner part of the omega is BRUTAL. The black where it ends is so deep that it looks like the nebula has been erased or abruptly cut off. This contrast is beautiful and it is worth to be hypnotized by this bright and black region, so differentiated. A real gift. Dark and clear skies

Thank you so much Gordon. I have to say that my dob and my dedication comes from a great visual team we have in Spain managed by Angel Huelmo, one of our best visual stargazers (if not the best). He is the one that inspires me and push me to go ahead with this project. Thank you again, best skies, Israel

A new object report from my last getaway just some weeks ago. 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 field of M20 is rich in stars, but the nebula is so striking that one hardly notices what is around it. It is so large that it occupies more than 1/5 of the eyepiece, and its shape is round with non-uniform edges.In the telescope it is so bright that it stands out clearly, and it is enough to have some observing experience to see the black rivers that divide the famous lobes of the nebula. As a detail to highlight there are three stars that are clearly defined in the center of the nebula, just at the edge of one of the lobes. These stars can be used to observe the river much more clearly. Also striking is the reddish star at 6 o'clock in the nebula as there is undoubtedly a fainter cloudiness surrounding it. It is a cloudiness that I don't recall ever having observed visually and I am struck by its subtlety. I can't help remembering the beautiful images of this nebula in astrophotography with those two very different colors (red and blue). I do not see any color although I clearly distinguish the nebulae as two regions of different brightness. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). With the 22mm it is a wonderful thing. It is spectacular to observe the black rivers in its interior. The four zones of the nebula are perfectly distinguishable, well actually there are three of them (those corresponding to the north, east and south region of my eyepiece) that are very well appreciated and the fourth is a little dimmer because the river that divides it is smaller. It is the one that corresponds to the position of the 7 o'clock in my eyepiece. Nevertheless, all of them can be observed comfortably with this eyepiece. As an extra detail, I distinguish not three but four stars in the central region of the nebula. It is a particularly beautiful area because it is very bright. By magnitude difference I first observe two stars clearly, both very bright. Then at 5 o'clock from these stars there is another star, much fainter but also easily observed. The most complicated to observe is the star at 12 o'clock from the first two stars. It is very hard to detect it and I have to use both averted vision and the old trick of hitting the eyepiece so that when it vibrates briefly my eye detects those areas with brightness variation. Thanks to these techniques I can verify the fourth star. In order to represent this grouping of stars I use a photograph attached to the card. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). This eyepiece never ceases to amaze me, the field has been totally reduced and the nebula now occupies practically the whole field, it is splendid. I confirm again the four stars that I saw previously in the most central part of the nebula. But what I focus my attention on most is the shape of the black river that divides the various areas of the nebula. I am very impressed by the deep black it shows, in contrast to the nebula it is beautiful, especially in some specific parts. I describe in my voice notes: The black river starts in the southern region and goes deep into the nebula to the area where the already described four stars are located. You can see perfectly how these stars are in the cloud and the river turns towards 1 o’clock, surrounding these stars, in a beautiful curve or ‘meander’, very marked. Soon it turns again, this time to the left with a contrast also amazing, I think it is the most beautiful thing you can see in the nebula. And then the river continues separating into two branches, one at about 10 o'clock and the other at about 7 o'clock. The hue of the river is jet black, blacker than the background of stars I observe around the nebula. To top off the impression, inside the river itself, near the bright stars where it makes the first turn, there is a pale but clearly visible star, inside the river itself. Mind-blowing. I insist that it is especially in the first part of the river, that which is in the area furthest to the right of my eyepiece, that has the blackest contrast. Simply marvelous. A river of black ink. Above the fainter nebulosity to the south is still visible with this eyepiece and perhaps has a cradle shape. I don't appreciate much more detail but it's still there. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). What a wonderful image! The contrast of the nebula has increased tremendously since I observed it with the 31mm. In this first eyepiece, the nebula was evident but pale, with the 10mm it is incredibly contrasted with the river that delimits each region as its main feature. In addition to all that I have already expressed (that in this eyepiece is only confirmed with greater detail, ease and beauty) I discover a new feature. In the central region of the nebula there are a pair of stars that are clearly visible. The second of these, the one that is more positioned to the north of my eyepiece serves as a reference for a new dark branch that seems to separate the central nebula into two parts. I cannot confirm if this dark line really divides the nebula because it is clearly visible in the region closest to the four stars that I have already described, like a protrusion that enters the nebula to split it in half. As I look along it I can see that it narrows and I cannot confirm if it connects with the other side of the river or not, really causing the division of the nebula into a central island. Sometimes I get the feeling that it does lead to a break and sometimes it does not. So I can't confirm this 100%. More amazing detail from this eyepiece is the beautiful contrast between the black river and the edges of the nebula. I can't think of a better example to express myself than pyrography. For those of you who have practiced it you will have been amazed at the deep black that is achieved with enough pressure on the wood that it also pulls the wood back leaving the original layer elevated above the one that has been pyro-etched. I had the same feeling when I saw the rivers of the Trifid nebula. The black is such that it appears to be an abyss rushing into the depths of the nebula, causing the bright area to emerge like the edges of a cliff. I reemphasize again in my voice notes the difference in intensity of the river in the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock region. In the 3 o'clock region, where the four stars are, the degree of darkness of the river is extreme, while in the 9 o'clock region it is black but distinctly paler and does not contrast as much against the edges of the nebula. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). I think the view was better with the previous eyepiece. By switching to the 8mm, although I have gained in size I have also lost a percentage of light that makes the image, in general, pale. It is also reduced in size, as the fainter areas outside the nebula have disappeared. Anyway, this eyepiece serves me to verify everything already observed, even in the faint cloudiness surrounding the bright star at 6 o'clock I confirm the 5 o'clock zone with a pale glow and a new region of stellar dust that divides the nebula. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). It is worth going to these magnifications even though it may seem excessive. The magnification is so high, and the apparent field so small, that the nebula is not fully visible in the eyepiece and I have to use the motors to go all the way through it. The brightness of the nebula has been significantly reduced as well as its contrast, leaving only the brightest areas visible. But this is enough to get a different image of the nebula, or to be more precise, a more detailed image. For example, the central area of the nebula is now separated from the rest of the southern lobe by a small channel that is wide in the 3 o'clock zone but narrows as it goes deeper into the nebula and ends up joining the dark river in the opposite section. The edges of the nebula are now impressive, they are full of inlets and protrusions, like inlets or headlands that make the river banks very irregular. In particular I pay attention to the area of the four bright stars, with the fifth star already outside the nebula in the black river itself. This area is very beautiful because of the strong contrast between the nebula and the stellar dust cloud, with also a widening of the dust cloud that splits upwards towards 12 o'clock and turns towards 9 o'clock. This area is wonderful and leaves me for several minutes stuck in the eyepiece with the faint star shining alone in the middle of the dark dust cloud. At these magnifications I am also able to differentiate the two edges of the nebula, the edge that forms part of the lower lobe is smoother, melting away before the river of stardust, while its opposite edge, that of the lobe on the right are cliffs plummeting from a zone of brightness to a totally black area. In addition I see more individual stars on the smooth bank below, some of them again within the river of stardust. It's gorgeous, and I have a hard time imagining the nebula as a whole as I focus on specific regions. I can't believe I'm looking at the same object I observed with the 31mm, it's as if I'm diving into the nebula and that makes it change completely. Before it was an important but faint nebula, now it is a world of different clouds with a multitude of details difficult to describe but differentiated here and there. Two different worlds without a doubt when observing the same object at low and high magnification. When I look at the region on the left the nebula disappears at the edge of the eyepiece without really appreciating where it ends. This region, along with the central island, is totally different from the area on the right. Here the river of stardust is narrower, with a shallower black and some patches of cloudiness here and there that I mistake for stars but identify as cloudiness as I don't see any pointillism. The central island of the nebula has two very distinct areas as well, the southern part has a similar brightness to the lobe from which it is detached but cut with a narrow black thread of stardust. However, the northern region of the island seems to be diluted, extending into the river of dust that appears clearly when contrasted with the southern edge of the northern lobe. It would even seem that the island extends with a pair of concentric arcs, like ripples that go into the dust river. Finally I turn my gaze to the nebula around the star in the south of my eyepiece. I clearly distinguish how the zone of greatest brightness is at 9 and 3 o'clock from the star, appreciating no cloudiness between the star and the Trifid nebula. However, the 3 o'clock region rises to join the nebula. I also note the separation of the 5 o'clock triangular region by a black thread that I associate with another band of stellar dust in that nebula. Now everything is larger but the contrast is so low that I must spend more minutes observing to confirm every detail but there are certainly those differences in brightness with respect to the background of stars. It is very useful to perform the exercise of looking from the bright star to the Trifid and the other way around, to perceive that in that region there is nothing but stars (and no other cloudiness) as opposed to the area of the 3 o'clock where there is a pale cloudiness.

You are right. Barnard Objects are very complex to observe, they are clouds of stardust, the most famous is the inkspot B86 and Barnard 142 y 143 (which create a dark 'E' in the sky). Here you have a good list of those objects: http://www.jouscout.com/astro/belmont/belmontn.htm But please take a look also at the sketch of B86 drawn by the great Jeremy Perez http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000581.html Clear skies...

Hi all! A new object report from my last getaway just one week ago. I'm quite happy to share my observation reports here but I'm also feeling I'm saturating the forum with them. Please if these reports are a nuisance let me know and I'll stop sending here. 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). M9 is at the base of a dark nebula or Barnard 64 that is visible in the 31mm eyepiece. The field is very rich in stars but there is a region starting at 11 o'clock and extending towards 9 o'clock where the stars disappear. The quality of the sky is not enough to see this area darker than the sky background itself, so it does not stand out as in other occasions I have seen a Barnard object in better skies. However, it is evident the lack of stars that delimits this region of stardust. And it is curious to see both objects in the same eyepiece field. Regarding the size, the globular cluster is quite small, not surprising since it is 26,000 light years away from us. In the eyepiece it does not occupy even 1/10 of the eyepiece field. Its shape is typical of globular clusters, a compact sphere of stars, mottled. That is to say, it is possible to intuit what stars are in its interior without being able to resolve them completely. And regarding its magnitude it is a faint object although it stands out clearly in the eyepiece mainly because of the concentration of stars. There are no different brightness levels but it shows a fairly uniform appearance. Or rather, some stars of the outer halo are resolved, but almost all the brightness comes from the central area of the cluster in which individual stars are intuited. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). The cluster has increased considerably in size, making it much more pleasant to observe and allowing me to describe it much better. Its shape is still totally spherical, no change in this aspect. But its brightness and the stars that are resolved has changed quite a lot. I am now able to see stars all over the object, not only on its outermost edge. It is true that the wind has calmed down and helps to see more detail in the core of the cluster. In particular I see in its 12 o'clock region a couple of stars that are very well resolved and there is also a row of stars approaching them. It is great to be able to differentiate so well the stars that make up the cluster. Also I love their punctuality and slightly more golden color that makes them stand out like gems in a cotton cloud. Using the averted vision I can make the fainter areas of the cluster appear and disappear, always leaving the stars fixed. With this set I also observe a curious row of stars at 7 o'clock that slightly modifies the shape of the cluster, breaking its round shape. In spite of its small size, it is interesting because of the number of stars that I can resolve without much effort. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). It is great to be able to fit the object with this eyepiece as it begins to take on a significant size. In order to delimit the innermost part of the cluster I use a couple of asterisms that catch my attention. The first is at 1 o'clock, a series of three stars in a line. The second is at 10 o'clock a pair of stars very close together. And at 7 o'clock the aforementioned row of stars. In addition to these stars I am also able to resolve others in the center, and with them I am able to perceive curious shapes. These shapes are due to an accumulation of brightness by slightly brighter stars in the very center of the core. The one that strikes me the most is the elongated f-shape or mathematical integral symbol that runs through the core of the object from north to south. By playing with the averted vision the object begins to lose its uniformity and appears as a multitude of individual stars grouped towards its center. The averted vision also allows me to perceive the different levels of brightness in the stars inside the globular cluster itself. And perhaps that is one of the things that strikes me most about globular clusters of this type, namely that they are easily resolvable. Their lack of uniformity in the nucleus. It is very complicated to describe but in the end it is to be aware that that cloud of brightness is actually thousands, tens of thousands of individual stars occupying a minimum space. It's mind-boggling. I am able to count up to twenty individual stars in its interior. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). Note that I don't want to confuse you, the cluster is still small in the different eyepieces, even in this eyepiece it doesn't occupy a quarter of it, but it allows you to resolve the stars so well that it really catches your attention and seems bigger than it really is. With this eyepiece I simply confirm everything I have already described with the 14mm without providing more details. Simply the observation is much more comfortable because the object is bigger and the field available to me is wider, but the details are the same, with nothing else to emphasize. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). Undoubtedly, M9 requires high magnification to show its inner beauty because when I go to 270x I discover new details. I realize that the uniform spherical shape of the cluster that was present with the 31mm begins to disappear, to be replaced by a disjointed grouping of stars of different magnitudes that draw bright shapes and fainter gaps. To try to describe the object better: it is a globular cluster with a large outer halo of the same size as its central core, in which stars are resolved to the innermost part of it. The stars are grouped in rows or curved like arms protruding from the brightest region. So many of them are resolved that dozens of different magnitudes can be counted. Its spherical shape is appreciated but it is far from being a cluster with a high degree of uniformity. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). Wonderful how the object has changed with these magnifications. It is one of the globular clusters that is most grateful to reach high magnifications because it allows to identify the stars more clearly. Now I see a peculiar star formation that reminds me of the head of a praying mantis, just in the north of the globular cluster, with three stars very close together. That part is the northern end zone of the integral symbol I saw before. And now, I see its southern part much more curved and clearly separating from the center of the core. Finally, in the innermost part of the cluster I see how the stars are separated from each other by a dark line. I also count dozens and dozens of stars around these brighter areas. It is amazing to be able to resolve stars so easily in so many parts of the cluster. I think tonight's seeing must be pretty good as you can really still see the stars very punctuated even at 480x. It is magnificent how I was able to get so deep into the cluster and get information from it. Amazing, honestly.

Malcolm. Get as much juice out of those skies as you can, look for Barnard objects, I think with your Tak76 and good skies it could be something wonderful to enjoy big fields with dark patches here and there. Have a very clear skies, I'd like to read your next report.

Hi all! A new object report from my last getaway just one week ago. I'm quite happy to share my observation reports here but I'm also feeling I'm saturating the forum with them. Please if these reports are a nuisance let me know and I'll stop sending here. 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). How beautiful M4 looks with large apertures! It has always looked interesting when I have seen this object with other apertures (smaller than 10") but without being able to get much detail out of it. Like a very faint cluster from which one sensed a subtle beauty but with the impression that I could get more of it if I had more aperture. This is the case. The object changes a lot with this telescope. Even with the 31mm it takes up much of the eyepiece field, I think more than a fifth of the entire field Despite being an cluster it has a very beautiful shape because it is very balanced and, even having stars of different magnitudes, there is not so much variation between them. And as the object is composed by hundreds of stars the details are multiplied throughout it. I am struck by a kind of straight line of stars with higher brightness that runs through the core of the object from north to south. To the right of this line (in my eyepiece) there is a sort of grouping of stars forming a Y, and above it and the line of stars in the center there is a pair of brighter stars of a reddish color that also captures my attention. Moving on to look at the outermost part of the object I am attracted to the sort of ‘arcs’ of stars I see at both 7 and 5 o'clock. Most of the stars have a cool, white or blue hue with a few exceptions of a slightly redder color. Nagler 22mm (98x - 50’ - 4.7mm). What a spectacle! The object increases its beauty and also the difference between the magnitude of the stars is increased. The center of the object continues to attract my attention with this row of stars running along its entire length. The two pale red stars at 1 o'clock are very beautiful, submerged among so many white/blue stars. Also very striking, is the large number of stars that can be resolved. The cluster does not look like an undefined gray cloud that sometimes accompanies clusters. On the contrary, a multitude of stars can be defined on everywhere, as very faint but independent points. That view gives the whole a beautiful and charming appearance. They say that beauty is in the symmetrical proportion, probably that is happening to me with this object, the number of stars, their distribution and balance in the different magnitudes makes the object beautiful, plain and simple beautiful. It is a pleasure to spend the minutes contemplating each star individually, seeing how it is part of this set. It is difficult to explain the pleasure that produces this feeling of beauty to be contemplating an object so easily resolvable while showing a clear structure of the whole. A beautiful image with the 22mm. Delos 14mm (154x - 28’ - 3mm). Woooow what a beauty! I lose a bit of color in the stars, they all pale equally and appear more homogeneous in color, but in turn more and more individual stars of lower magnitude are resolved. Also this eyepiece has 72º of apparent field and that encloses the object making the impact on your mind even greater as all your attention is focused only on the object itself. It is the center of the object that captures your attention the most but it is worth looking at the outermost stars and the arcs they form. In particular in the 8-9 o'clock region I see a couple of very beautiful concentric arcs of stars, also a branch of stars coming out from the innermost part of the cluster, at about 7 o'clock, making a kind of hook. And in the 5 o'clock area there is also another arc of stars clearly separated from the more central region of the cluster. It is a pleasure to enjoy this spectacle. Ethos 10mm (216x - 27’ - 2.1mm). Although with the 10mm the image is even larger and the details are easier to see, the reality is that I don't get much more than I had enjoyed with the 14mm. It is much more pleasurable to observe with 100º of apparent field and I think the stars look a bit brighter and more punctual although maybe it is suggestion. In any case I think M4 is going to become one of my favorite clusters and the image offered by ALL eyepieces is captivatingly beautiful. Ethos 8mm (270x - 22’ - 1.7mm). This eyepiece does bring me new impressions. First, the central line now appears ‘broken', disconnected between the northernmost part where several stars of the same magnitude are seen, and the southernmost part. In the center of the line, stars of similar magnitude to the rest are seen and therefore the line appears to be broken. The famous Y of the 3 o'clock region in the central part gains prominence and now it reminds me more of a tilted V. The contrast I am gaining in the object object is more and more striking. It impresses me because gives me the sensation of seeing the stars brighter than before, as if I were gaining light instead of losing it (which is absurd). But this is how my brain tricks me by gaining contrast. The space between the stars also increases. As in many occasions I have the feeling that the object has changed with respect to what I saw at low magnifications. Obviously it is still M4, and it is still a cluster but now I am so focused on the center of it that it is difficult to pay attention to the outer parts. A marvel. Delos 4.5mm (480x - 9’ - 1mm). I think I'm overdoing the magnification here. Although this eyepiece allows me to quietly enjoy the inner parts of M4, it doesn't captivate me as with the first eyepieces (or even the 10mm). I still enjoy that row of stars now totally broken in its central part, and what catches me the most is the famous Y transformed into V that now seems to me a small reflection of the constellation Taurus. I will highlight it with a drawing. The focus of the stars is also very complex with this eyepiece and makes the object loses some of its beauty by not being able to see point stars. It is also true that the object has long since passed its meridian and therefore is already approaching the horizon adding layers of atmosphere between its light and my telescope. However, it was worth going up to these magnifications to have a different vision of it. M4, a beautiful cluster.