Epick Crom

Hi my fellow stargazers! Ok, I know it's summer for you northern hemisphere observers, but for us in the southern hemisphere we are in the middle of winter! Below is an observational report from last night, I hope it will be of interest to those in the northern hemisphere to give you a perspective of some of the southern sky objects visible at this time. Some should be visible from the UK. All observations carried out using my 10 inch dobsonian. Ok enough rambling from me and onto the report.. ARA NGC 6397: This is one of the closest globular clusters to us. Nicely resolved, hazy core surrounded by a ring of brighter stars. This is a unique feature of this globular. IC 4651: Large, scattered open cluster. I love how it glitters at low power (70x) NGC 6193 and NGC 6188: This object is a combination of open cluster (6193) and nebula (6188). Beautiful pair! NGC 6193 has a nice double star at its centre, HR 6187. The nebula NGC 6188 is large, detected it as a brightening of the background sky. This would look more awesome from darker skies than my bortle 6 backyard. Still a nice sight! SCORPIUS M 7: This is a stunning open cluster, one of the best in the sky. At 80x it is ablaze with brilliant blue stars! M 6: Butterfly cluster. Another beauty, does bear a striking resemblance to a butterfly! NGC 6441: This is a gorgeous sight. Tiny but bright globular cluster tucked close to a bright yellow star (HR 6630). OPHIUCHUS M 10 and M 12: Fantastic pair of globular clusters, M 10 the brighter of the two. M 12 showed an irregular shape. NGC 6572: The Blue Racquetball Nebula. Stunning high surface brightness planetary nebula. Featureless at higher magnification but exhibiting a green colour to my eye! M 62: Large, bright and well resolved globular cluster. I love this glob, lingered on it for 20 min trying out different magnifications on it. Comet C/2017 PANSTARRS: This bright comet is currently in Ophiuchus. I made out it's coma, with a hint of a tail at 171x. SAGITTARIUS NGC 6522 and NGC 6528: A magnificent pair of globulars, in the same field of view at 70x. The background is stunning here, countless stars towards the centre of our home galaxy creating a mottled effect! NGC 6563: A new to me planetary nebula. Saw it for the first time last night, it looks like a faint puff of diffuse light. Completely different to the Blue Racquetball that I observed earlier. This just shows that there are no two objects that look the same in the night sky. Every DSO is unique. I still had so much more I wanted to see but had to call it a night due to work. Really fantastic session for me. Until next time, wishing you clear skies and keep looking up! Joe

Observed NGC 6309 aka the Box Nebula for the first time last night. Located in Ophiuchus, this planetary appeared like a double star at low power, with one "component" hazy. Higher magnification revealed the nebula as a light blue elongated glow with a star close to it. A beautiful pairing! Joe

Congratulations on finding M56! I like framing it at low power as it sits in a rich field.

I can feel your excitement mate! Same thing happened to me a few months back when I went to a bottle 1 location. It blew my mind that the sky can get pitch black! I'm glad you saw M22, it was the first globular that I resolved into stars back in 2020 when I bought my first telescope, a 10 inch dobsonian. Spectacular! Wishing you clear skies. Joe

First observing session in a month due to extensive clouds and rain. Focused on Scorpius and observed: M4 : Nicely resolved with the central bar showing nicely. NGC 6441. This is a charming globular cluster, located close to an orange 3rd magnitude star. A beautiful sight with the two together. Antares: Had my best ever split of this double star, using 300x the faint green primary shimmered next to blazing orange Antares. One of the sights of the night! M7: Majestic open cluster, its main stars looking an outstanding blue colour. M80: Tight globular, not a hint of resolution thought. NGC 6302: Bug Nebula. Outstanding planetary nebula, looks more like a distant galaxy than a planetary! Bright and shaped like a squashed bug. NGC 6231: one of my favourite open clusters. Rich and bright. Reminds me of a bunch of grapes! NGC 6124. Another of my favs, large but rich scattering of stars in this open cluster. As is the season here, clouds and rain swept up at a moment's notice, ending my session. It was great to finally get some starlight ! Joe

Great report! M 7 is one of my favourite open clusters, it's so bright and bold!

Hey Peter. M 11 is a beauty, one of my favourite open clusters! Joe

Wow man, how do you capture such detail in your manual tracking dob? Absolutely outstanding!

Incredible results Kostas! Your images and animation looks like it came from a professional observatory👍. Great work

Wow, that is amazing! Thanks for sharing 👍

G' Day Magnus, I'm glad you got a few hours of observing! The weather situation down here is similar to yours, days of clouds and rain. Very nice reading your report and wishing you clear skies! Joe

Splendid shots Kostas👍. I love the terraced walls of Copernicus.

Hey guys, I saw this supernova last night, SN 2022 hrs in NGC 4647. It it rather bright, 12th magnitude as you mention and was easily seen in my 10 inch even at 70x. My first time seeing a supernova! Thanks @Littleguy80 for bringing it to my attention! Joe

Hey Pixies, welcome to the Land Down Under! Glad you saw some of our southern sights 👍

I got up early this morning in freezing temperatures ( 11c, don't laugh you UK observers this is freezing for us Aussies 😜) and observed the conjunction between Venus and Neptune. My best view was had using 120x using my new Celestron Luminous 82degree eyepiece. Very serene seeing brilliant white Venus and cool blue Neptune in the same field of view! They were 5' apart at observation.

Great description there Nick. Enjoy your holidays!

Yes, Corvus and the Antennae galaxies are higher up in the sky over here. The real killer for me is the light pollution, clouds at night appear white due to reflected light. M104 the Sombrero galaxy looks quite nice from my backyard, I can just make out its dust lane. The faintest galaxies I can see from my site are around 10.8 magnitude. Most galaxies I see in Virgo for example are faint smudges, the ones around magnitude 10.8 are barely detectable. I really need to get to a dark site soon😂. Happy hunting!

Nice report Kostas. Glad you got a session in. Funnily enough The Antennae galaxies have been my nemesis objects too, in my two years of observing they have continued to elude me. My latest failure to see them was 4 nights ago. Oh well, we will keep trying! Wishing you clear skies mate Joe

I hope your clear skies transpire 🤞

I feel your pain mate, I just HATE when that happens!

Well done bagging Mercury Kostas! There is something so mysterious observing elusive Mercury, knowing it's surface is baking in the intense solar heat. Wishing you clear skies.

Great report! I was not aware of this supernova. Thank you for the information, I will try to find it tonight. Wishing you clear skies.

Just had an early pre dawn session viewing the Jupiter and Neptune conjunction. They were 15' apart. The Galilean moons were strung out in a line with blue Neptune below them to the left. A wonderful sight!

Hi Kostas, Clavius sure is impressive. I love those craters within it that go from bigger to smaller in a curving arc😍

Enjoyable report Mark, thanks for posting!