2 May: Bag of Treats in Sagitta

[Special K]

Great session tonight which began where I had finished off last night in Virgo, which was my first shot at Mankarian's Chain. M87 was visible last night, and I was able to easily spot M84 and M86 tonight. Piling on the mag didn't tease out much more detail but am satisfied that I've landed two more galaxies. There is a tiny little suggestion of where the Eyes are located (NGC4435 & 4438) but not enough to claim having seen them.

Thirsting for something bright to look at after straining to see those galaxies, I headed for Mel 111. This is a nice cluster to browse and certainly takes a lot of twisting of the knobs to take it all in as it is so dispersed! Meanwhile the Summer Triangle had all come in to view and I spotted Sagitta's arrow which reminded me of some plans that were abandoned last autumn. Starting with Gamma, I headed due north and dropped right onto The Dumbell Nebula. What a refreshingly bright planetary this is! Various mags were employed but it seemed at its best with the 12mm. The UHC filter worked really good on this and gave a ghost like appearance. It really came to life! Back at gamma, I trawled west for NGC6886 & 6905 but didn't spot them at first glance.

Brocchi's Cluster was the next target and quite easy to find by twisting the RA back from gamma (getting better at this type of navigation......and saving money not having a Go-To!). Then it was time to take on a double and Zeta Sagittae is actually a triple star system. I didn't know that at the time so moved on after seeing the faint red companion. Delta Sagittae is a very impressive red, being a spectral class M. This was worth several looks and is like a small Betelgeuse!

I finished off with the globular M71 and searched in vain for H20 which is supposed to be just south of M71. Great mixed bag of treats tonight with two new galaxies, The Dumbell, a Globular, several clusters, another double, and a lovely M Class.......oh, and several satellites skirting across my FOV! I would have bagged Saturn too as a final gesture but it wasn't quite in view yet. Next time!

[Black Knight]

A very enjoyable report. It sounds like you had a great time tonight

[Sam]

Wow, you've brought back some really neat memories of my time in the UK, this is a fantastic part of the sky to look at. I miss the Dumbbell Nebula, it's such an awesome object to visually observe.

[ronl]

A very good report, I agree with you about go-to, it's much more satisfying doing things

manually, and you learn more too, plus twisting the knobs as you put it is much more

fun, pity you didn't bag Saturn, it's a mesmerizing planet to view, I follow it for hours,

probably everyone's favourite.

Enjoy and Clear Sky's

[Mattscar]

Very interesting to see someone with the same scope mentioning a UHC Filter and how it brings things out. Always useful to know

I'm also glad I didn't get the goto, I feel so much better about learning things for myself and the skill of finding things rather than just punching some numbers into a keypad. Im sure it works for some, but since I start my knowledge of constellations has more than tripled.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice report. I have spotted H20, but beware it is hard in such a rich star field. Low magnification is best as magnification "dilutes" it. NGC 6905 is not that hard, but is best spotted with UHC filter. Note that it is much smaller than M27 and M57. High magnification is needed for NGC 6886. It has high surface brightness but at first glance it appears stellar. It is really much more "planetary" in appearance, like a stationary version of Uranus or Neptune.

[cotterless45]

Nice report. Was out until 2.30 , it was great to see Cygnus rising high and Altair rising. Had a look at M56, M39, M71 and the glowing

M57. Spotted NGC6905, the Blue Flash and NGC6826, the Blinking Planetary. Both easy to pick out due to their colour and disappearance with direct vision.

Packing up I spotted the rising Pegasus and Andromeda in the north west.

Nick.

[andrew63]

That's a good night you had. It's a lovely rich region to view at wide-field.

andrew

[Special K]

Thanks all for the warm replies!

Very nice report. I have spotted H20, but beware it is hard in such a rich star field. Low magnification is best as magnification "dilutes" it. NGC 6905 is not that hard, but is best spotted with UHC filter. Note that it is much smaller than M27 and M57. High magnification is needed for NGC 6886. It has high surface brightness but at first glance it appears stellar. It is really much more "planetary" in appearance, like a stationary version of Uranus or Neptune.

Interesting information, Michael, I'll give these another try soon using that advice. I couldn't even find a picture on the Internet of H20, so didn't know what to expect. Often it is obvious but not in this case so I aborted!

[Double Kick Drum]

Great stuff!

Virgo is the constellation that just keeps giving. Hard to believe that the year has gone so quickly that Cygnus and Vulpecula are now rising up for viewing after midnight.

[KevUU]

That's good going, and a nice report, thank you