Observing Supernova Remnants: Jay's Challenge

[John]

Having had a really good session observing the wonderful Veil Nebula complex in Cygnus, I was browsing around the net and came across this recent and interesting article by the US observer Jay L Eads on how to observe other such objects. It contains a good section on the Veil Nebula and it's various sections as well as other objects, some more challenging, some a little less:

http://jaysastronomyobservingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-supernova-remnant-challenge.html

These catastrophic events do leave some beautiful objects for the deep sky observer / imager

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very interesting. I think I will need darker skies and a larger aperture to catch many of these

[Mike73]

Thats a great link John.

I was going to start a thread about Sharpless 2-91 as I tried for that on a few occasions but didn't spot it, I'm guessing I was looking in the wrong location and its pretty faint. We even tried with Swampthings 20" on Exmoor but low clouds were a problem that night!

There have been a few threads with people mentioning some really interesting objects recently, my 'to do' list is gonna be completely unrealistic if it keeps going at this rate! 

[scarp15]

Very interesting link lots to digest, as with Mike lots of mentioning of interesting objects in ongoing threads, perhaps several years worth of (good weather permitting) challenges.

[jetstream]

John, thanks for the link, those maps with the nebs overlayed are extremely useful. I see now that the Little Veil is huge.... and the map shows the possible brighter portions that might be visible and that I've been concentrating on the wrong spot lol!   The little chain of stars above 12 Cygni always draws me up there- on the wrong side of the star it turns out  The closeness of this brighter portion to the 4.6 mag star indicates I should use a narrow FOV...

And I should have concentrated on 9 Cygni more... another "bright" streak shows there on the map.

[swamp thing]

Was hoping for another go at Sharpless  2-91 this weekend but alas rain was all I saw.......

Great link John, thanks for sharing

[clarkpm4242]

Link bookmarked!  Thanks.

Think I've just got Cass A to pick off.

For those searching, Sh 2-91 is not too tricky compared to some of the others!

Good hunting

[Paul73]

Thanks for posting John.

Jay has put a lot of work into that guide. Interestingly, he details recommended equipment, but fails to mention LP/Sky quality. I suspect that his thoughts assume pristine dark sky.

Paul

[Lorne]

Very interesting link John. Had a look at the Veil on Saturday night from my local dark site - unfiltered, it was VERY faint, was a little disappointed as I seen it MUCH clearer from the same site a few weeks back, again unfiltered. Just shows how much the sky conditions affect us here in the UK. Also tried for NGC 7000 but none of us in the group had even a sniff of that, a trip to darker skies for that one methinks.

[jetstream]

Link bookmarked!  Thanks.

Think I've just got Cass A to pick off.

For those searching, Sh 2-91 is not too tricky compared to some of the others!

Good hunting

Hi clark, congrats on those fine observations!

I noticed in the links that some use really high mags with their OIII, is this your experience? My 10"/Lumicon OIII doesn't appear to be so flexible, but maybe a good UHC might help out. I have a 15" 1828 fl dob coming and even with this and my 21mm the mag is only 87x.

[clarkpm4242]

Hi

Magnification...

it really does depend on the object.

I think OIII is the default filter for most.  I would definitely up the magnification though.

Simeis 147 was very difficult.  Dark & pristine skies essential.

For observers a little further south I recommend the Vela SNR

Good luck.

[laudropb]

Very interesting post. Definitely one worth saving and reading again. Thanks for sharing

[PeterW]

SCool list. Just 91, 147 and cass A to go. I like the jellyfish, barnards loop is epic if the transparency is good.

I will try to nail the above soon on my annual dark cloud pilgrimage!

CassA looks a little small for my liking and maybe not very red either.",but worth a try.

Cheers

PeterW