Faint Star Just Outside M57

[Red Dwarfer]

Evening everyone ,

Does anyone know the magnitude of the faint star just outside the Smoke Ring of M57 . Before the clouds rolled in tonight I was trying a new ES 8.8mm in the 200P and M57 looked really well at X 136 magnification , then the thought occurred to try it in the X 2 Barlow which gave a magnification of X 273 and , lo and behold , the Nebula was still clear but this time I could detect a faint star just outside it ( about 1 pm position ) 

Initially , the reason for trying this high magnification was to try and see the faint centre star but this was not possible tonight ... If I knew the magnitude of the peripheral star compared to the central star , then I`d know if it was possible to see the central star at all ( maybe in darker Winter skies ) 

[John]

It's magnitude 13.

I was observing M57 earlier as well and posted in this thread here which might be of interest:

The central star is magnitude 15.3. I had no luck with that with my 12" dob tonight. Got within half a magnitude though.

[Red Dwarfer]

12 minutes ago, John said:

It's magnitude 13.

I was observing M57 earlier as well and posted in this thread here which might be of interest:

The central star is magnitude 15.3. I had no luck with that with my 12" dob tonight. Got within half a magnitude though.

Many thanks for the info and link , John ... I screen capped it for future reference ...

I`m pleased with the magnitude 13 result and it`s not far off the magnitude of the 15.3 central star ... might just be doable under dark , clear Winter skies ... 

[Dave In Vermont]

If the star you're referencing is the one mentioned. Is it?

 

TheSkyX Serious Edition

Enjoy!

Dave

[Stu]

5 hours ago, Red Dwarfer said:

Many thanks for the info and link , John ... I screen capped it for future reference ...

I`m pleased with the magnitude 13 result and it`s not far off the magnitude of the 15.3 central star ... might just be doable under dark , clear Winter skies ... 

Nice catch  

Don't forget that the magnitude scale is logarithmic, each change in magnitude represents roughly x2.512 brighter or dimmer. The scale means a magnitude 1 star is 100 times brighter than a magnitude 6 star.

A mag 13 star is 8.3 times brighter than a mag 15.3 one, so it's actually pretty tough especially as it is set against the slightly higher surface brightness of the nebula.

[Red Dwarfer]

9 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

If the star you're referencing is the one mentioned. Is it?

 

TheSkyX Serious Edition

Enjoy!

Dave

Thanks , Dave ... flipped 180 that`s the one outside the nebula at 12.30 - 1 pm position . 

[Red Dwarfer]

6 hours ago, Stu said:

Set against the slightly higher surface brightness of the nebula

Yep , that guy John above couldn`t see it last night with a 12" Dob , so it will have to go down on the To Do List for further down the line ... it`s still great though to see those faint stars around the nebula , initially only with averted vision .