....and finally the Pup

[Nyctimene]

Wednesday evening ( Feb. 15) , I took out the 18" f/4.5 Obsession  once again (after a break of almost four months). Conditions at 19h 50m CET were sub-average (NELM 4.9 mag; SQM-L 20,47; seeing 2-3). First to Sirius; out of reasons unknown even to myself, I never had tried with real consequence to observe Sirius B up to now.  Having read the chapter on spotting Sirius B in Phil Harrington's "Cosmic Challenges", I tried to locate it in the East direction, but without success at first, due to the moderate seeing (and possibly some added mirror seeing). So I went over to M 42; always a great sight with the 18" and the 30 mmf 77° Wild Heerbrugg eyepiece, giving a field of 70 arc min.  With V=100X (Baader Zoom), the Trapezium components E and F were quite easy; the G star could not be made out .

The carbon star W Orionis showed its vivid deep orange colour distinctly; the nearby little galaxy NGC 1762  (12.7 mag) could not be seen (too small?)

Over to the Collarbone planetary nebula NGC 2022; an old favourite. With 170x, the slightly oval disc with darker center and some brightening of the north edge was quite obvious. The central star was too faint this evening.

Meanwhile the seeing conditions had improved, and Sirius was located at the meridian. So another try to spot the White Dwarf; after about 10 minutes of staring patiently with V= 250x the Pup got into view, for 1-2 seconds, disappeared again in Sirius'  glittering glare, and reappeared about 15 seconds later for another 2 or 3 seconds, at exactly the same location. This fleetingly appearance continued for the next 20 minutes; at that time, I had gotten really convinced, that I had spotted the Pup! Really proud about this (albeit with a rest of doubt; I'm no expert in splitting doubles, and will have to repeat the observation for reconfirmation).

I ended the session  1 1/2 hours later with some bright showpieces in the Blue Penguin (Infinity 76) - M 42, M 45, Hyades, M 35; with 15x a good substitute for bins. Afterwards, I celebrated the success with an excellent Grappa Chardonnay; encouraged to have a try on more "cosmic challenges"; and so to bed.

Stephan

[John]

Congratulations on getting "The Pup" Stephan

You description of it sounds just right - it does tend to "come and go" as the seeing changes. I find around 250x works well on it too.

[laudropb]

Very nice report and well done on getting the pup.

[chiltonstar]

Well done! The grappa was certainly deserved as it can be a tricky little devil some nights. (I prefer Grappa Stravecchio personally!)

Chris

[Paul73]

Nice write up. I must have a crack at the Pup before he disappears until next time.

NGC2022 is another new one for me.

Thanks

Paul

[FenlandPaul]

That's a great milestone, Stephan - congrats.  I've yet to capture it although to date attempts have been fairly casual.

The Collarbone is a great planetary - a real favourite of mine.

Paul

[alan potts]

Nice report, it is one that I have done now many times but my further south location only helps. It is more about conditions than anything and I have seen it with my 115mm APO without a massive amount of power. Well done. Now the snow is melting I am hoping to get out for the first time this year.

Alan