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Observing DSOs in Auriga

Mark at Beaufort

By Mark at Beaufort
in Observing - Deep Sky

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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Set up my 4" APO and the 6" Newt on the SkyTee dual alt/az mount last night initially to view Jupiter and watch Europa and its shadow transit.

Later in the evening made the decision to view DSOs in just one constellation - Auriga.

Clearly when you start to view objects you initially think of M36, M37 and M38 and I must say they looked great in both scopes although in the 4" frac with the 8mm Ethos EP each object was stunning.

There are some interesting Open Cluster within Auriga although some can be dim. Viewed the following clusters NGC1664, NGC2126, NGC1857, NGC1907 and NGC2281 starting with the 20mm Nagler, then switching to the 13mm Ethos and finally getting a close up with the 8mm Ethos. Each of these objects also appear in the Herschel 400 list.

I then viewed NGC1931 a small emission and reflection nebula which appeared with direct vision in the 6" Newt.

Finally two slightly difficult DSOs. The first was IC 410 with the associated cluster NGC1893. Used the 20mm Nagler with a UHC filter. Could see the nebulosity with the 6" Next. The second object IC 405 Flaming Star Nebula and again used the 20mm Nagler and the UHC. Much more difficult although I could detect something which appeared to give a boiling effect. Tried a H-Beta filter which blanked out everything although this is a recommended filter.

So you can enjoy viewing different types of DSOs with smaller scopes and I think for the money the Skywatcher 150PDS is excellent value.

Mark

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David Smith

David Smith

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Spent most of my last two sessions in Auriga hunting down DSO's. Am away from home at tonight so don't have access to my log but certainly saw NGC1907, 1664 & 1857 last night as well as the Messiers.

Have adopted a similar strategy in that I focus on a particular constellation for a few nights and hunt down all the DSO's I can find and then move on to the next conctelation.

David

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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I love Auriga. Its an amazing part of the sky.

I am a bit of a "star hopper". I dont normally have a single target in mind. I am much happier when slowly scanning the heavens with a 30mm EP and if i see something that catches my eye i will slowly increase the magnification until i get a desired view.

Obviously there are certain objects that i do try to track down and concentrate on and if i find them i will spend hours (if i am lucky) observing that single object.

I never plan an observing session. I just go out when i can and point my scope in any direction and see where it leads me. I love the freedom of this way of observing.

Many people will say that this is not a good way to observe, but to be honest i have stumbled across some amazing sights using this method..........most notabily the Ring nebula,the Sombrero and Black Eye galaxies and also the Leo triplet (although i only spotted 2 of those)

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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There's a nice planetary nebula near Beta Aurigae; IC 2149 is small at only 8.5 seconds in diameter but fairly bright at 11th magnitude.

Thanks for that I will have a look. I found the PN in my Uranometria atlas - as you say close to Beta and easily found going from Pi Aurigae.

Alan (Perrin6) what scope have you viewed it with?

Mark

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perrin6

perrin6

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Thanks for that I will have a look. I found the PN in my Uranometria atlas - as you say close to Beta and easily found going from Pi Aurigae.

Alan (Perrin6) what scope have you viewed it with?

Mark

My 350mm, but I'm sure you'd see it in your 10 inch, you'd need a highish power and it would help to locate it's exact position using astro software. My observation notes read (***spoiler alert***); 'small, bright bluish oval with central star'.

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ismangil

ismangil

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Great report indeed. That's a whole list of objects I have not yet seen. I have looked at many of these in my Sky Atlas 2000, but knowing you can pick them out in a 6" scope makes me want to have a go with the C8. Completely hazy sky here, unfortunately.

It may be a 6" scope but I bet those premium EPs helped a lot...

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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It may be a 6" scope but I bet those premium EPs helped a lot...

Which is exactly why I got myself a box full of those ;).

Last night I got the first couple of them, starting with what for me will always be the Kronenbourg Cluster (NGC 1664) which can be found as a fuzzy blob in th 15x70 bins. The 80mm F/6 with Nagler 31T5 showed it easily.

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Michael does that mean you have a lager in one hand and a Nagler in the other whilst observing this cluster? :)

Mark

Nah, I do not drink 1664, unless I am in France. Anyway, the 31T5, a.k.a. Terminagler a.k.a. Panzerfaust, must be held in two hands (unless it is in the scope).

A tot of malt whisky (distilled beer :)) after observing is my favourite.

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mdstuart

mdstuart

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Mark

Nice review. I must try that planetary...I like 2281 as its so bright...like jewels in my 17mm Hyp..

What about doubles in AUR..

14 AUR 5.1,7.4,14.6,224 yellow + blue Rating 4

26 AUR 6.0,8,12.4,267 yellow + blue Rating 4

Omega AUR 5.0,8,5.4,359 yellow + orange Rating 3

Otto Struve 147 AUR 6.6,10,43,73 yellow + 2 blue Rating 5

Otto Struve 147 AUR 6.6,10.6,46,117 yellow + 2 blue Rating 5

Psi 5 AUR 5.3,8.3,36.2,31 yellow + blue Rating 4

Struve 644 AUR 6.8,7.0,1.6,224 yellow + blue Rating 3

Struve 698 AUR 6.6,8.7,31.2,345 yellow + blue Rating 4

Struve 872 AUR 6.9,7.9,11.3,217 yellow + lilac Rating 4

Struve 928 AUR 7.6,8.2,3.5,133 white + white Rating 3

Struve 929 AUR 7.4,8.4,6.2,24 yellow + blue Rating 4

Mark

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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Thanks Mark for the suggestion on doubles. Last night clear and as the Moon was bright it seemed a good time to have a go at doubles in Auriga.

I checked your list against the Coldfield Observatory top 200 which I have started to observe.

Viewed all the doubles minus Struve 928 because it was not shown on my Cambridge double star atlas. I have since checked out its position in my Uranometria atlas.

In addition I decided to view two other doubles in Auriga. 41 Auriga at 6.2/6.9 with separation of 6" which was split. Theta Auriga I am afraid beat me - 2.7/7.2 separation 4". I was using the 4" APO with the Nagler 3-6mm zoom which gave me 236x max magnification.

Perhaps the scope is too small or maybe the secondary was lost in the diffraction rings.

Anyone had any luck with this double?

Mark

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