Sketch 1/1/2017 NGC 40 The Bow tie Nebula

[Moonshane]

I don't know Cephus that well and thought I'd try and track this down as it's a new NGC and Herschel object for me. Initially I was in the wrong place as I always find this area tricky to negotiate through the star maps for some reason.

When in the right spot, I then found the nebula reasonably easily with averted vision and spent some time sketching it which allowed me to dark adapt a little longer. A comparison of my sketch with online images etc confirms I had it. Quite non-descript with 5 inches of aperture and various neighbourhood lights on although it did 'puff out' with averted vision. The central star was obvious and the faint (12th mag) star emerged with about 127x magnification.

Worth seeking out if you have some aperture and decent skies.

 

[Stu]

Great sketch Shane, nice to see something a bit less common. No idea why it is called the Bow Tie neb though?

[Moonshane]

cheers buddy. No idea either why it has an apparent misnomer. Just realised it's also a new Caldwell object for my lists !

[Moonshane]

here you go. you need a 4 metre scope though

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

here you go. you need a 4 metre scope though

Ah, that makes sense now! Actually it makes yours look all the more impressive, given the aperture disadvantage you had!

[Moonshane]

yeah, discovery channel. what do they know?

[laudropb]

Very nice sketch Shane. I will have a go at fining this when the skies permit.