Nebula Night in Northumberland

[scarp15]

Friday evening and dark brooding fingers of black cloud straddled overhead and I was resigned to waiting patiently for the much anticipated clear skies that the BBC weather forecasting had predicted. One by one stars punched their way through when quite suddenly at approaching midnight the sky became magnificently clear. Almost immediately I was treated to an intermittent display of potentially early Perseid meteors, darting brightly among the spectacle, with the commanding presence of the Milky Way encapsulating Cygnus.

I eased my way into the session with a UHC filter and a look at M57 The Ring Nebula, before turning my attention to the North America and Pelican Nebula. The cloudy presence of both these nebula was highly distinct and so I drifted across to 68 cygni to see if I could tease out Sh2-119.  I could not but was eager to move on, a little below the NAN complex and I could detect nebulosity that would be IC 5088 The Cygnus Arc. Switching to an O-III filter, the Veil had an immediate impact with both strands and Pickerings Triangle floating within the field of view. It is always astonishing to view the Veil, this evocative object provides a thrill and sensation that epitomises the Summer. Onto The Crescent, this object viewed through larger scopes has been described as resembling a brain. I perceive it to be brain like in shape, yet more akin to a jellyfish in resemblance. Nudging the scope up a little to Sadre, I could detect much nebulosity in the vicinity. Turning my attention briefly towards Cassiopeia, I hunted for the Pacman nebula, which was faint but quite apparent. 

Next I wished to embark on a challenging quest to locate The Cocoon, which was riding high. I applied my H-beta filter with a 31mm nagler and carefully located the position and eased the telescope along in which I could just discern the Dark Cigar or B168. At the head was as I was expecting to find, a small rash which is an emerging cluster IC 5146 and embedded within this a faint puff of a cloud.  I checked and rechecked this was it for sure. 

After this I felt the need for a tour without filters. I swung the scope around to The Double Cluster and the Andromeda group, both naked eye objects and each richly filling the field of view in the 31mm nagler. Afterwards I re-attached the O-III filter and enjoyed a second visit to the Ring and Crescent, subsequently followed by The Dumbbell. Then I headed up to Cepheus to see if I could detect Sh2-132 I could not however instead I searched for The Fetus Nebula NGC 7008. A rather lovely planetary nebula and quite a distinct small hazy cloud at low power, the fetus profile becoming a little apparent at medium to high power. 

By now the sky was becoming a little lighter and although still quite perfect for observing, at 3am and having no tent to crawl into, I began, though happy and feeling revitalised, to tear down the equipment. Sky quality meter readings taken through the night ranged between 21.19 to 21.35, not bad for the time of year.

 

 

 

[jetstream]

Great report Iain!

Your description of the crescent matches mine well. If the trans opens up you will see the "brain" make an appearance, you will observe this yet, for sure. Glad you had a dark rewarding night Iain- congrats!

[FenlandPaul]

That's a great report, Iain.  Nebulae showcases of the Summer!  It sounds like you had the ideal skies to see them.

Paul.

[Piero]

Very nice report Ian! I was observing the Veil and North America last night under 20.6 mag and they already looked amazing to me. I can only imagine how they look like under darker skies and with increased image scale!  

Piero

[Davesellars]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this and great observations of those nebulae!  Some of which I've yet to study.  Many thanks for sharing the experience!

[JeremyS]

I enjoyed your report, Iain

Jeremy

[estwing]

Fantastic night and a lovely report nice to see people getting out and enjoying the darker nights...clear skies Iain