Inside M33 plus a few others with the dob

[Size9Hex]

A few bits and bobs with the 10" dob last night. I've been using just the 4" refracter and the binos recently, so it was fantastic to see those big scope views again! Hope everyone else had some good skies too.

NGC 604 nebula inside M33. 80 to 180x, with higher mag helping to coax it out of the sky a little more easily. Bright irregular patch. Retained its brightness quite well at 180x. What a thrill to see to this. Check out the Wikipedia page for some more information and Hubble photos of this truly stunning piece of the universe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_604 
 
NGC 6802 open cluster in Vulpecular. Small and faint hiding in plain sight next to the Coathanger. Not well visible at low mag, with 180x proving good. Resolved a few stars from it with averted vision, but overall impression of an unresolved glow with a somewhat elongated rectangular shape and pinched in the middle. Some lovely colours seen in the Coathanger with 10" aperture too!

Pelican. 50x, UHC and Oiii. UHC revealed a better view. First time I've seen this nebula in many attempts. A dark swathe (no nebulosity noted) stretching from 57 to 56 Cyg brought contrast to the view and allowed me to see a brighter swathe parallel to this to the NW. A fainter swathe of nebulosity to the SE of the 56-67 Cyg line also noted. The look-away-look-quickly-back approach helped and also slowly planning across the field.

M57 Ring. At 50x, I could briefly hold it in direct vision before it fizzled out. No colour detected. At 180x and 250x (which it took well), elongated ellipse NE to SW. Three main shades of nebulosity noted: A dim central pool brighter than the surrounding sky. Outer ring very bright on NW and SE flanks (i.e those on the minor axis). Intermediate brightness on NE and SW regions of the outer ring (i.e. those on the major axis). The outer ring was at its widest here, appearing less well defined and almost an impression of the central pool overflowing the sides of the object. Beautiful.

M27 Dumbell. Really nice! Best at 180x with 250x proving too aggressive. Brighter in the SW lobe than NE.  Different views in UHC and Oiii, and I preferred UHC which revealed the wide and fainter wisps of the outer envelope to NW and SE away from the main brighter central dumbell. Between these wisps and the core were two darker regions very reminiscent of the eyes in the Owl nebula, but much easier to see. Central star glimpsed I think plus another brighter star on the rim of the outer halo.

M71. A delightful surpise of the evening. Attractive glob with a pronounced arrowhead profile.

[Davesellars]

Some really great descriptions, Paul.   Well done on capturing NGC 604!

[laudropb]

Very well written report.

[Knighty2112]

Nice views you got. Well done!

Hoping to snag a few targets tonight's if the sky is clear.  

[Size9Hex]

Thanks @Knighty2112, hope you get some good skies up there. Forecast clear down here, but we've just had a shower so who can say...!

@Davesellars, not sure if you've seen NGC 604 yourself, but it's definitely worth a go if you haven't. I assumed it would be absolute beast to catch, but that assumption was just based on how hard I've always found M33. In fact it was a nice bright (but small) patch; Almost the opposite of so-large-and-low-contrast-that-you-look-right-through-it M33. Very doable in the 10", and I'd guess feasible in something a fair bit smaller too.