quick session !

[rory]

a brief outing and wanted to check out the only two objects that are listed in " illustrated guide to astro wonders" namely ngc 6934 a g/c and 12 gamma. a double star. the double was an easy split at x66 and at x170 shone like gold and silver coins. ive not really gone out of my way with doubles to date,but i can seewhy people enjoy them. easy find to being the tip of the dolphins hooter. in the lower part of delphinus i looked at the globular,unfortunatly very washed out due to local l/p so remained unresolved although quite bright.

in to vulpecula and ngc 6940. a large open cluster which i found easiest to hop from niebour cygnus's wing. three prominent stras form an arrowhead shape to point into the heart of the cluster, which has quite a condensed centre, with some nice long trails leading away.

before packing up went to cassiopeia for a scout around with no real target planned ,just wanted to scan the area with a low power view, and spotted ngc 457.,caldwell 13, sthe skier, the owl, e.t . i automatically see e.t so i stick with the e.t cluster. a stunning o/c which i managed a quick sketch. at x66 it was a nice size taking up a nice chunk of the fov.

session ended 23.40

------------------------------------------

date 18.09.12.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. NGC 6934 is a Caldwell object, and a very nice, if quite small globular. There are a few more objects well worth seeing in Delphinus: NGC 7006: another Caldwell list globular, an dtwo very compact planetaries: NGC 6891, and NGC 6905 (the blue flash). The latter two need a UHC filter to separate them from stars.

[Double Kick Drum]

Nice to see you building up the Caldwell collection. NGC 6934 is quite an easy one to find compared to some.

I'm sure with the extra magnification you can get with your scope compared to mine, NGC 6891 should come through well, if you do want to try Michael's suggestion. I found it quite tough to resolve due to its size.

Agreed that NGC 457 is one of the best clusters around.

Clear skies!

[rory]

thanks chaps. ive not kept a proper log of any objects apart from messiers.however im slowly amending my kit with a few additional e/p's and a filter. once done im also going to re think my logging method,which up to now has all been scribbled notes .

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I would start keeping a log. I have found so much more stuff in the skies, simply by setting myself new challenges. Keeps the hobby interesting

[Double Kick Drum]

thanks chaps. ive not kept a proper log of any objects apart from messiers.however im slowly amending my kit with a few additional e/p's and a filter. once done im also going to re think my logging method,which up to now has all been scribbled notes .

I keep a spreadsheet of the most obvious objects in the sky (under mag. 12), together with relevant details (Constellation, Numbers, Co-ords, Mag, S-Br, Size). I check off what I have seen, rate them and mark targets with 'TBA' (to be attempted). There are just over 2,000 objects listed, 500 of which I have either marked as targets (based on magnitude / surface brightness / maximum elevation) or have already seen. If you use Excel, it should make sense. It nicely compliments the note book which I recently started.

It is still a work-in-progress but you are more than welcome to use it.