Epick Crom

Last night I observed an interesting planetary nebula in Gemini for the first time with my 10 inch dob, Jonckheere 900 aka J 900. What a fantastic planetary! It appears as a weird looking "star" at low power but transforms into a wide patch of nebulosity at high powers complete with a faint star very close by. If you haven't seen this one before I recommend you take a look at it. A real beaut!

Fantastic report Magnus! A very enjoyable read. Joe

Nice report Marvin👍 You have pipped my interest with Plasketts star, I have never heard of it before. Research time! Yeah Monoceros is a faint constellation but it contains so many riches! I love cruising it's complex star fields. Thanks for posting! Joe

G'Day Marv! I can certainly confirm that it is possible to see the nebulosity of NGC 1973/75/77 the Running Man visually. I have noticed it many times and also thought that maybe my eyepiece was fogging up ( quite rare over here). The sky was clear of hazy clouds. What I do when I suspect nebulosity around brighter stars is to observe a bright star with no know nebulosity and see if I get the same effect. In this case Canopus was free of nebulosity while going straight back to the Running Man area showed pronounced nebulosity which confirmed to me that it was real! My eyepiece was not fogged up by the way☺️ I believe you did see the real thing👍 Joe

I just had a look at the gigantic sunspot AR 3190, brought to my attention by @Mircea. This thing is huge, currently over four times the size of the Earth! I used my 10x80mm tripod mounted binoculars and used the projection method. A nice sight, thanks @Mircea👍 Joe

Thanks for your fantastic report 👍. Man I would kill for the view of the Double Cluster that you described! I too enjoy observing M77 and NGC 2301. Sounds like you had a great time at a dark site👍

Great job Mircea! I hadn't realised that some of the massive sunspots can be visible naked eye, I must have a look. Thanks for sharing 👍 Joe

The Crab Nebula M1 has always been a nemesis of mine, my previous best sighting of it was extremely vague at best. But last night I caught in along the meridian line and was treated to my best ever view of the supernova remnant. I could clearly see it with averted vision as a fuzzy formless patch. My love for it has now grown!

Seeing was excellent last night here in Perth. This enabled me to use 534x on Mars to great effect. I saw a very distinct white polar cap and several dark markings through my 10 inch dob even though Mars has now shrunk to 13". Im positive I saw Valles Marineris for the first time as well, so chuffed I am! Wishing you all clear skies

Thanks Kostas. I just love observing the clusters of the summer milky way (winter milky way for you)

Thanks Jeremy 👍

Happy New Year all! Last night I had a wonderful observing session on the first night of the year. Conditions: Seeing: Good Transparency: Very good Bortle 6 Orange zone backyard Instruments: 10x50mm binos and 10 inch dobsonian. The waxing gibbous moon was shining in Aries, but due to its northerly location did not interfere with deep sky to much. I started my session by having a good look at Sirius in Canis Major using my dob. At 267x I caught a glimpse of the Pup, directly "above" Sirius. A short distance away lay M 41 star cluster, which looked fantastic at low power.My 10 year old son was with me and enjoying the sight. NGC 2362 ( Tau Canis Majoris cluster) was observed next, what a beautiful cluster! My son said it was one of the most beautiful clusters he has seen so far. I nodded in agreement. The double star HR 2764 was close by so I panned over to it. Known as the "winter Albireo" (summer Albireo for us in the southern hemisphere) it's a wonderful colourful double. My son described it as yellow and purple, I saw it as gold and blue. Sky Safari Plus showed that asteroid Pallas was within Canis Major so I starhoped to it and observed it for the first time. Quite bright at 7th magnitude. My son and I also observed NGC 2360, another nice open cluster in Canis Major. A nice rich sprinkling of faint stars. I moved into Puppis to observe the trio of open clusters M 46, M 47 and NGC 2423. All three are fantastic, M 47 was dazzling, while M 46 and NGC 2423 are fainter but richer. After my son retired to bed, I switched to my 10x50mm binoculars to scan the low northern sky because Mirfak in Perseus was culminating at around 8 degrees above the horizon. My dob can't see that low down due to my fence and neighbours house. Scanning down from Algol to Missam then a bit lower until I saw a bright yellow star low down between the branches of my neighbours tree. Bingo! Mirfak and it's attendants in the cluster Melotte 20! What a wonderful sight in the binos. This is the furthest northern object I have seen so far at +49° declination. Happy with that observation, it was back to my 10 inch dob to see more open clusters in Puppis. NGC 2477 is one of my favourites, very rich and dense. It contrast nicely with another cluster near by, NGC 2451 which is brighter but more sparse. Lovely star colours seen in NGC 2451. NGC 2546 is a wonderful large open cluster near Naos (Zeta Puppis). This cluster has a nice asterism at its centre, looked like a man floating in space! I had a look at Asmidiske (Xi Puppis). I just love how this star has a curved loop of stars close to it in descending order of brightness. M 93 is a superb open cluster near Asmidiske. I spent a few minutes gawking at it, nice and rich. I ended the night by looking at globular cluster NGC 2298 also in Puppis. This is a small but reasonably bright globular with a dense core. I could resolve some stars at 370x. A great start to the observing year mainly focused on clusters. I will wait until the moon wanes to observe the fainter stuff. Wishing you all clear skies! Joe

Hi Kostas. Yes I am currently enjoying the west Australian summer, it is our clear sky season, unlike the east coast. I have been observing every night, not a cloud to be seen! I will post an observation report soon. All the best for 2023!

Wonderful report Kostas! I'm glad you got to observe a lot of nebulae, I know they are your favourite. Wishing you clear skies.

Keep trying Mark, I'm sure you will see it soon! It took me two years to finally see it, it was hiding in a diffraction spike! Once you've seen the Pup it becomes easier to see it again. Good luck! Joe

+1 for Sky Safari Plus! I still use version 6, haven't yet upgraded to version 7. It has revolutionised my observing. When I first started serious observing two years ago the upside down and reversed view through my reflector was difficult for my brain to wrap around. The moment I got SS Plus with its capability to match my view, everything became much clearer. Highly recommended!

G'day Doug! I love a good astronomical mystery and checked Sky Safari Plus. The double star you are referring to is indeed 65 Piscium, it's right close to the Andromeda border. Coincidently there is another double star, 65 Andromedae that's close to the Perseus border! Thanks to your report I will try to observe both tonight 😃

Ahh I think this is what I've been seeing recently too! It looks like a tiny white spot, not as bright or extensive as a polar cap. I was wondering why the polar cap was less bright and tiny compared to last opposition, now I now it was the polar hood. Thanks for that!

I had a good session observing Mars last night. Identified Syrtis Major for the first time. Also saw what looked like a tiny polar cap, Mars sure is looking beautiful at the moment!

You guys and girls are lucky there in UK to see that fantastic event! Excellent coverage of the occultation on here👍

You're welcome Paul. I hope you have fun exploring Eridanus! The beauty of some of these objects took me by surprise. I too had never really taken a good look at Eridanus either until that session. I'm currently picking constellations then observing anything of interest with them. I find this method very rewarding. Clear skies! Joe

Fantastic images of Mars Kostas👏 Your astrophotography skills are growing in leaps and bounds!

No worries mate, happy hunting!

Sorry to hear about the clouds Kostas, I hope you get some clear nights soon 🤞

Thanks Josefk. Be sure to check out NGC 1535, it's a stunning planetary. Wishing you clear skies!