NGC 7009 The Saturn Nebula

[Cjg]

If the forecasts are correct (except Clear Outside, which differs completely to Yr.No & the Beeb) we should see clear skies tonight in Norfolk. 

Am hoping to see the Saturn Nebula in my little Tak, any advice from others who have seen / found it welcomed. 

I have a finder chart from free starcharts, but it looks a little tougher to 'hop' to.

Thanks,

Chris

[Littleguy80]

Yay for clear skies in Norfolk. Last night was unexpectedly clear too. I saw the Saturn Nebula from home about a month  ago. I seem to remember finding it fairly easily. My notes say it looked good with an OIII and needed averted vision for the Saturn shape to be noticeable. If you're at Seething I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding it  

I also had a go at NGC 7293, Helix Nebula, that night as it's close by to the Saturn nebula. That was much more difficult. I never managed a good sighting of it. It's surface brightness is quite low as it's fairly large. Could be another good challenge to try after NGC 7009 though

[Cjg]

Thanks Neil, yes, am planning to be at NAS, the Helix is usually in the trees (from memory), think it's close'ish to M30 which has eluded me, due to being so low! 

Good luck if you're out too.

Chris

[Littleguy80]

I've not seen M30 either but does look to be at a similar latitude. Pesky tree getting in the way  

Thank you! Fingers crossed I'll be out tonight. It's been more miss than hit with the weather lately. Last night was a unexpectedly clear night. Not complaining on that one though  

[Cjg]

On 27/08/2017 at 10:21, Littleguy80 said:

Yay for clear skies in Norfolk. Last night was unexpectedly clear too. I saw the Saturn Nebula from home about a month  ago. I seem to remember finding it fairly easily. My notes say it looked good with an OIII and needed averted vision for the Saturn shape to be noticeable. If you're at Seething I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding it  

I also had a go at NGC 7293, Helix Nebula, that night as it's close by to the Saturn nebula. That was much more difficult. I never managed a good sighting of it. It's surface brightness is quite low as it's fairly large. Could be another good challenge to try after NGC 7009 though

Thanks Neil, I managed 7009 after a lot of searching (and cussing) it's tiny in my little 'frac. Then 7293; which was lower and much much dimmer, used an O111 filter (without the O111, I would have missed the Helix) and the O111 was better than my UHC (just).  

I had an imager come and take a look, but I was better dark adapted, so he just saw a grey patch...M30 by comparison was easypeasy.

Despite dew heaters on scope and eyepiece, it got too damp and we packed up by about 3am. 

Too much moon now, for the next couple of weeks I think.

Chris

[Littleguy80]

11 hours ago, Cjg said:

Thanks Neil, I managed 7009 after a lot of searching (and cussing) it's tiny in my little 'frac. Then 7293; which was lower and much much dimmer, used an O111 filter (without the O111, I would have missed the Helix) and the O111 was better than my UHC (just).  

I had an imager come and take a look, but I was better dark adapted, so he just saw a grey patch...M30 by comparison was easypeasy.

Despite dew heaters on scope and eyepiece, it got too damp and we packed up by about 3am. 

Too much moon now, for the next couple of weeks I think.

Chris

Good job, Chris! What did you think of the 7009? Did it look like Saturn to you? I remember it took a bit of experimentation with magnification and averted vision to pick up the shape

[Cjg]

Was tough, I only have 3 inches of aperture to play with. Definitely non-stellar, slight hint of a more elongated shape perhaps, but that's about it. I spent around 20 minutes on it and swapped between the UHC and O111 filters. Of course having found it once it should be easier to find again (famous last words)...I enjoy hearing the "dob mob" describe it as bright and easy; for me, even with the dark skies at Seething, it's a faint little fuzzie!

With my 9mm, I only have 63 x magnification to play with, so if I get the opportunity through a bigger /  longer focal length scope at some point.

Chris

[Littleguy80]

 

Was tough, I only have 3 inches of aperture to play with. Definitely non-stellar, slight hint of a more elongated shape perhaps, but that's about it. I spent around 20 minutes on it and swapped between the UHC and O111 filters. Of course having found it once it should be easier to find again (famous last words)...I enjoy hearing the "dob mob" describe it as bright and easy; for me, even with the dark skies at Seething, it's a faint little fuzzie!

With my 9mm, I only have 63 x magnification to play with, so if I get the opportunity through a bigger /  longer focal length scope at some point.

Chris

I'd have to check my notes but I think I went up to 150x. I'm quite enjoying the challenge of using a smaller aperture scope. Eventually I'd like a big dob but I really want to see as much as I can with my current scope first. I think that'll give me a greater appreciation of what I can see with a more aperture

[N3ptune]

hello! @Cjg

I think it's a great pick you selected, the Saturn Nebula, I found it easy to locate at 40x and 80x were used to spend time on it (good power), there was too much wind and turbulence for me to put more power.  I was impressed by it's turquoise color, beautiful color, the nebula was a bit better with my narrow passband filter. I didn't noticed the Saturn shape unfortunately only a small ball of light.

If you want Cjg, you can try the cat's eye nebula in Draco, similar, but it's much harder to find, it took me +-5 attempts in 5 different sessions, it's small but it has a vivid color, a rewarding object to locate. I had to search at 55x / 80x to locate it.

If this can be interesting.

(;

[Cjg]

Hi Neptune,

Thanks for the tip about NGC 6543; I find that one much easier to find and observe.  Perhaps because of it's height from my location, it's almost an all year round object, whereas NGC 7009 is much lower and so a narrower window each year to find and view?

Having found NGC 7662, too, I'm going to try for NGC 6826, the Blinking Planetary next. Though with the Moon being up, not for a couple of weeks. Both should give great views with your 8 inch.

Good luck, 

Chris

[N3ptune]

12 hours ago, Cjg said:

Hi Neptune,

Thanks for the tip about NGC 6543; I find that one much easier to find and observe.  Perhaps because of it's height from my location, it's almost an all year round object, whereas NGC 7009 is much lower and so a narrower window each year to find and view?

Having found NGC 7662, too, I'm going to try for NGC 6826, the Blinking Planetary next. Though with the Moon being up, not for a couple of weeks. Both should give great views with your 8 inch.

Good luck, 

Chris

I had so much difficulties finding the cat's eye.. oh boy. Great if it was an easy one for you.

The blue snowball and blinking Planetary are very very nice too, especially the blue snowball 7662. Ill look at them again has soon has I can. (:

[Cjg]

It's the one time that the chart from Freestar charts doesn't help that much, but once you've found it once (or twice) it's quite straightforward - I use the stars in the "pan" of Ursa Minor to point to roughly the right part of the sky and usually after a minute or two I get it...with a frac, it's definitely better if you're seated, otherwise it's a strain on the knees / back etc..I've photographed my Pocket Sky Atlas and starred the line I take...hope it helps!

Good luck, in your 8 inch it should be a nice sight!

Chris

[andrew63]

Just observing the Saturn Nebula Chris - actually looking at asteroid Florence, which is in the same low power field of view. It's quite bright even at x19 with a slight blueish tint.

 

andrew

[Cjg]

All the clouds and rain here tonight, congrats on seeing Florence, a good spot with the moon being up and bright.  Are you using a filter?

I may have another attempt on the weekend.

Chris

[andrew63]

No filter in the 4" F5 - but at 19x it was not stellar and looked a bit flattened at x38. Florence is moving noticeably in the space of 5 minutes.

 

andrew