National Forest Nebulosity; 29/11/11

[cotterless45]

Hope that you enjoy this, I was like a kid in a sweet shop!

The sky was crystal clear last night and I managed to get out of the wind, with a 200p Skyliner in our dark National Forest.Basic gear, 21mm Hyperion and 12mm Bst Explorer.A few wide angle low power eps.

Started off with Jupiter, with 2 moons very close and the Great Red Spot just leaving the scene. The scope was collimated to within an inch of it's life and there was detail in a very dark Southern band and fine bands right across to the N and S.

First look was Auriga open clusters, M38 with a small associated cluster 1907. M36, the smallest and M37 which is I think the nicest. These clusters were set out against a very dark sky and even at x60 you could see dark lanes between the stars and some nebulosity from IC405 , lit up by AE Aurigae.

Then over to Perseus and IC348 at the bottom end. At x60 the star was surrounded by nebulosity.Further up Perseus you could see the dark area of NGC1499, The California Nebua, using a UHC filter.The Pleides showed nebulosity , as this is our nearest cluster and is moving though another area of nebulosity.

Then onto M1 , The Crab Nebula in Taurus, this was quite expansive and filled have the fov at x60. There was a lighter region to the core, which I'd never seen before.It would even take x100. Given that this supernova remnant is expanding at 600 miles a second, it's worth seeking out.Just right above the bottom star of the Taurus triangle.Then onto a new one for me, NGC1514 an unusual planetary nebula in that the central star was brighter than the surrounding area of glow. I kept searching, until I noticed the glow factor.There were several other open clusters around the area including The Kite Cluster and NGC1758.

By now Orion was getting high you could see his arm and all of his bow , moving the Dob around , I had the terrible feeling of eyes upon me, looking towards a nearby concrete path there sat a fox, probably wondering what on earth I was up to!

Orion was expansive even at x30, you'll see how huge M42, a nursery for 2000 stars is, tendrils just keep filtering out into space.I could make out some of IC434 beside the belt, this area hold the Horsehead Nebula.Towards Beta, M78 was well defined even at low power.

Having been nebulized out , I sought out the easy to see multiple star group of Sigma Orionis. Easy to find and well worth exploring, just South of Alnitak .A,B,D and E were clear and by averted vsion and good luck, I managed C. This is an impressive group and travels together with Orion's belt ( Struve 761) and The Orion Nebula.

There was also a long list of clusters , many of which were now naked eye object in Cassiopeia. Packed in a about midnight, got followed home by a police car, no doubt wandering what a rocket launcher was doing in the back of the car. The Dob was angled up beteen the 2 rear seats!

Then up at 5.30 am, Saturn was superb in the East, being the left hand bright thing of 2 stars low down toward the South.The rings were wide open, probably more than my eyes! Mars was under Leo. I just a red disc, bit like a Strepsil. Best not bother getting up early just for that. Leo looked ace and there was the lure of the Virgo galaxies, before the neighbour's security light went on for first ciggie of the day.

What a lovely time of year and it only got down to 3 degrees, positively warm!!I'm tending to spend more time out in the dark than the light, my eyes look a bit red, must check for tooth growth!

Clear skies, Nick.

[Nosivad]

Nice report Nick. I thought I was going to get some observing done last night but it clouded up quickly as soon as the telescope was put outside. Todding sipical!