Studying the Eskimo Nebula

[Size9Hex]

A nice clear couple of hours before the fog suddenly rolled in. I explored a variety of open clusters around Orion and Monoceros - so much to see here from the brightest to the very faintest. First ever view of Hubble's Variable Nebula too which was a delight. A lovely curving comet shape.

The highlight of the evening was the fabulous Eskimo Nebula on which I spent plenty of time. It held up to the light pollution at home very well. I viewed this unfiltered preferring the view to the UHC. The sketch below is framed at 510x (great seeing in the near tropical conditions last night!), but shows the combined impression having observed with a range of EPs in the 10". I felt the target started coming to life at 255x, but 360x was the best with the shield shaped inner ring starting to become a bit more apparent. That said, different details were at their best in different EPs.

I made a few genuinely terrible sketches on paper at the eyepiece, using them as references to subsequently sketch it digitally. I think this shows the right impression, although the view in the EP was more subtle, particularly the darker regions in the outer disk. Interesting to subsequently compare to the Hubble image and see how different areas of the image appear visually. There are a couple of nice sketches on t'internet from absolute monster scopes (24" and 60") that look positively Hubblesque!

[scarp15]

Good session Paul focused on select seasonal objects and great that you got Hubble's Variable. Very interesting sketch, clearly making the most of a clear sky period and pushing the magnification, incredible reaching 510x on this subject.

[laudropb]

Very nice report and sketch.

[Size9Hex]

Thanks Iain. I think this is the second planetary nebula on which I've really pushed the mag. It's bright enough to take it without dimming out in the 10" so why not!  The seeing was great last night admittedly, but I've got a theory that even when it's not, you can sort of get away with very high power when using your (low resolution) averted vision.

[FenlandPaul]

That's a great sketch, Paul, and definitely shows the eyepiece impression (at least, the one you get after a long time of studying it).  I must get back into trying sketches as it's a great way to tease out the detail.  I got put off sketching as my artistic ability is near-zero so I prefer to try to describe what I see with words, but looking back in the future at sketches would be marvellous.

Paul

[jetstream]

Great report Paul , I find upping the mag on this object works very well too. In the 15" under good conditions I can see very fine radial filaments in the first shell with a 2 tone green (turquoiseish) showing, the outer differing slightly from the inner in color.

Keep at this object Paul, it will reveal more and more, I've spent many hours on this one and will spend many more.

[John]

Very nice report and sketch Paul

I've observed the Eskimo a lot recently (well, when the skies have been clear ) and agree that using high magnifications as well as observing it for some time, does help tease out the details.

One of the trends that I have noticed with my own observing over the past couple of years is more frequent application of high magnifications to a wide range of targets with some success. The page from the "rulebook" that says that UK conditions don't usually support more than 200x seems to have been torn out of my copy and thrown away !

[Size9Hex]

4 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

That's a great sketch, Paul, and definitely shows the eyepiece impression (at least, the one you get after a long time of studying it).  I must get back into trying sketches as it's a great way to tease out the detail.  I got put off sketching as my artistic ability is near-zero so I prefer to try to describe what I see with words, but looking back in the future at sketches would be marvellous.

Paul

Give it a go! My sketches at the eyepieces really were awful - there's no shame in it! I made half a dozen separate sketches at the eyepiece, each one focussed on getting a particular aspect (overall shape, the inner ring, the dark patches etc) nailed down. It looked a mess...

1 hour ago, John said:

Very nice report and sketch Paul

I've observed the Eskimo a lot recently (well, when the skies have been clear ) and agree that using high magnifications as well as observing it for some time, does help tease out the details.

One of the trends that I have noticed with my own observing over the past couple of years is more frequent application of high magnifications to a wide range of targets with some success. The page from the "rulebook" that says that UK conditions don't usually support more than 200x seems to have been torn out of my copy and thrown away !

Thanks John :-) Interesting about UK conditions. Rules are there to be tested :-) Since getting a barlow that opened up the possibility of crazy magnifications, I've only found it useful on the moon once, but have found it useful on DSOs (especially the brighter galactic cores and planetaries) a surprising number of times. I wonder if the atmosphere isn't supporting the high mag exactly, but that it almost doesn't matter with the low resolution of averted vision still being the limiting factor? What sort of targets are you finding you're using the very high powers on?

3 hours ago, jetstream said:

Great report Paul , I find upping the mag on this object works very well too. In the 15" under good conditions I can see very fine radial filaments in the first shell with a 2 tone green (turquoiseish) showing, the outer differing slightly from the inner in color.

Keep at this object Paul, it will reveal more and more, I've spent many hours on this one and will spend many more.

That sounds absolutely stunning! If only money was no object... not just for the big scope but also the house to store it in and the van to transport it in...! I'll definitely be back to this one from a dark site with the 10" though. The core held up well, but I felt the outer region could have gained a lot from a darker sky background. When I compare against the pitch black edge of the eyepiece, it's interesting to realise bright the sky actually is!

[John]

1 hour ago, Size9Hex said:

.... What sort of targets are you finding you're using the very high powers on?

 

Examples are Mars, the Moon, double stars, Uranus & Neptune to see their moons, planetary nebulae to see the central stars and discern more structure in the PN's themselves.

My 2-4mm Nagler zoom and other short focal length eyepieces get much more use than I thought they would

[niallk]

Great report + fantastic sketch  The Eskimo is a wonderful neb.