Another session in Perseus, Cepheus and Cassiopeia

[Piero]

Another session mostly spent travelling between Perseus, Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Some of the targets were too demanding for my telescope and I believe would be much more suitable for a 200mm aperture telescope. Anyway, I am very happy to have spot the Blue Snowball and NGC7160 in Cepheus, an open cluster which I found really pretty.   

Thanks for reading, 

Piero

Date 10/09/2015   

Time 20:40-22:30   

Temperature 13C (8 km/h)   

Seeing 2 - Slight undulations

Transparency 5 - Clear   

NGC225 Cas Opn CL 28x 

Sailboat Cluster. A bit sparse group of dim stars. Nice target.

NGC129 Cas Opn CL 28x 

Nice bright-ish target for a small aperture.

NGC7235 Cep Opn CL 28x 

Revisited again. I could see four packed stars.

NGC7160 Cep Opn CL 15x, 28x, 69x 

Really pretty open cluster. Two major stars inside a little casket of dim stars. Gorgeous. 

NGC7686 And Opn CL 15x 

I was a bit disappointed with this target, as I was expecting something brighter and relatively large, whereas it was neither of those features. Interestingly 4 degrees North of this cluster, there is a nice star cloud which to me is much more pretty.

Asterism including the star "8 And" 15x 

Near the border between Andromeda and Lacerta, there is this unrelated group of bright stars which points to Andromeda with a little chain. All these cover a field of view of about 4 degrees, ideal with a Pan24 and TV60. The star 8 And is almost at the end of this star tail. Nice wide field view.

NGC7662 And Pln Neb 15x, 51x, 103x +/- UHC or OIII 

Blue Snowball. This planetary nebula was visible without filter at 15x. It appeared as a blue-ish fat star. At 51x and 103x it was obvious that it was a planetary nebula. Both UHC and OIII filters helped, although they were not required. The blue colour was visible. A few times when averted vision was used, I had the impression that there was a hole inside. No other detail was visible.

NGC1528 Per Opn CL 15x 

Still quite low on the horizon, so it was not really appreciable. It will be an interesting target in the next few months.

NGC1545 Per Opn CL 15x 

As for NGC1528.

NGC752 And Opn CL 15x 

Also called C28. Really nice open cluster at the right of Almaak. Many dim stars were visible.

M34 Per Opn CL 15x 

Lovely open cluster at the left of Almaak. This is quite packed.

NGC891 And Galaxy 15x 

Also called C23. This target was just spottable with averted vision and jingling the telescope. Only a very faint little cloud.

NGC744 Per Opn CL 15x 

Tiny open cluster (11') located at West of the Double Cluster. Compared to the latter, it is almost insignificant. 

NGC957 Per Opn CL 15x 

Like NGC744, this is another small open cluster (11'), but located at East of the Double Cluster.

NGC1027 Cas Opn CL 15x 

This open cluster is located at East of the Heart Nebula. It is quite interesting to see as it is made of bright and dim stars and its size is more than adequate for small telescopes.

[estwing]

so much going on around here...wonderful, thanks for sharing...

[laudropb]

Another very impressive list. I am just about to go out and give this area a go. Sky is quite clear but I am not too sure how good the seeing is.

[Helix]

Hi Piero,

I just observed The Blue Snowball in 3" Takahashi and it is not easy target, especially if someone wants to see beautiful cold blue colour and a hint of structure. Well done. Very nice report indeed.

[Piero]

Hi Piero,

I just observed The Blue Snowball in 3" Takahashi and it is not easy target, especially if someone wants to see beautiful cold blue colour and a hint of structure. Well done. Very nice report indeed.

Hi Tatyana, 

I think the Blue Snowball is a pretty target although a telescope of medium aperture is required (200mm at least I would say). I use Stellarium in a tablet put inside a red cover in order to maintain dark adaptation as much as it is possible. With this, I can get the position of targets quite precisely even at low power (15x). Finding the snowball was somehow easy because it formed a triangle with other two stars. At more than 51x the shape of a little blue ball was visible to my eye. I am not sure about the hole in the centre I saw with averted vision. Although I had the impression of seeing it a few times, it does not really corresponds to images. I preferred not to push the magnification beyond 103x (0.6mm exit pupil), because I did not catch much more detail in the step up between 51x and 103x, apart from an increase in size (which was still minute). 

The blue colour appeared similar to the blue of a star. I guess the reason why I saw it was because I was viewing it at low power and therefore the object appeared very compacted. 

How did it look like with your Tak 3" tonight?

[Helix]

Hi Tatyana, 

I think the Blue Snowball is a pretty target although a telescope of medium aperture is required (200mm at least I would say). I use Stellarium in a tablet put inside a red cover in order to maintain dark adaptation as much as it is possible. With this, I can get the position of targets quite precisely even at low power (15x). Finding the snowball was somehow easy because it formed a triangle with other two stars. At more than 51x the shape of a little blue ball was visible to my eye. I am not sure about the hole in the centre I saw with averted vision. Although I had the impression of seeing it a few times, it does not really corresponds to images. I preferred not to push the magnification beyond 103x (0.6mm exit pupil), because I did not catch much more detail in the step up between 51x and 103x, apart from an increase in size (which was still minute). 

The blue colour appeared similar to the blue of a star. I guess the reason why I saw it was because I was viewing it at low power and therefore the object appeared very compacted. 

How did it look like with your Tak 3" tonight?

Hi Piero,

As you said it looks very compact, stellar like and it's loosing its distinct cold blue colour or I will say it is brightness. The nebula is still blue but much dimmer.

I saw the dark area in the centre with direct vision at 71x but it is difficult to hold it in focus. As far as I understand the dark area formed due to contrast between inner bright ring of gas and dust created by explosion and 'empty' (it is not empty of course) area in the centre, or less condensed area.

My friend just bought his Takahashi and he is not sure yet what can be seen through 3" aperture. To find manually The Snowball is not a big deal but recognise it on the background of stars sometimes a challenge for small aperture owners My friend allows me to play with his new 'toy' for benefit of both of us. My smallest telescope is 10". I call it 'grab and go' . 3" is like a microscope for me but I enjoy it a lot. I advised my friend to read your log to get idea what could be or could not be seen through similar aperture.

Tatyana:)

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report. Loads of stuff spotted