Better still .....

[John]

Further to last nights "Better than expected" thread, I'm at it again and with the 12" dob tonight because the skies are darker

I seem to be having a plantery nebulae session currently having observed the following:

- M57 "The Ring"

- M27 "The Dumbbell"

- NGC 7662 "The Blue Snowball" - nice structure in this one at 265x with two curved brighter areas visible within the disk of light - rather like a pair of old style brake shoes ! (think hub brakes and see photo below to see what I'm getting at !)

- NGC 6905 "The Blue Flash"

- NGC 6886 "The Tiny Slightly Fuzzy Spot" - I made this name up ! - it's a titchy planetary and easily overlooked - just 6 arc seconds in apparent diameter and easy to pass by.

I used this guidance by Phil Harrington to help get the last two mentioned above. Thanks Phil

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/column/phil-harrington-s/cosmic-challenge-ngc-6886-and-ngc-6905-r3066

Here is "The Blue Snowball" with those brake shoes (not my image !)

 

[David Levi]

Yes, indeed. What a difference a night makes, 24 little hours... It's was so much clearer tonight. I say was as some clouds have just rolled in with more cloud than gaps. I hope they move on. Before the cloud arrived I too was looking at M27, Dumbbell.

 

[John]

Still OK here - just a few wisps of cloud - maybe more to come from Wales perhaps ?

Anyway, I've managed to find a couple more planetary nebs, these in Aquilla, NGC 6803 and NGC 6804. The last is reasonably straightworward and a clear fuzzy spot at around 88x. NGC 6803 is another miniscule 6 arc second one and I found it rather a challenge even with my 12" despite Phil Harrington being able to see it with his 4"

Here is Phil's guide to finding these two:

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/column/phil-harrington-s/cosmic-challenge-ngc-6803-and-ngc-6804-r3064

 

[wookie1965]

Milky skies last night and this tonight not a happy bunny.

[John]

Sorry to hear that mate

Still OK here but more bits of cloud signal that the "end is nigh" (of my session )

Found the bright anfd easy to spot pale blue "eye" of the Saturn Nebula NGC 7009 (a rather out of focus "Saturn" if you ask me !) and while in that part of the sky had a peek at the rather faint globular cluster M72 and the vague handfull of stars that is M73.

The much brighter M15 globular cluster higher in the sky was very nicely resolved at 159x and 265x - had a "3D" feel to it

Lets see what these clouds are going to do .....

[John]

Just added Neptune and Triton. Not easy to get Triton tonight despite having quite a bit more aperture than last night. Triton is closer to the planet tonight (10 arc seconds vs 15 last night) and to the East of the planet so it trails it as it drifts across the FoV.

I'm always thrilled to get a glimpse of Triton though - the most distant rocky (icy) world that I've been able to see, so far.

 

[andrew63]

It's getting darker, although getting a bit hazy here - some nice objects John in the big scope. I have just seen asteroid Florence, although it was a bit in the murk and not that obvious at 38x. The charts were spot on though and I'd make it around 9th magnitude, but pleased to view it.

 

andrew

[David Levi]

I'm jealous of your telescope!  I've just failed to see M72 for the second night in a row. I'm looking at where it should be but only it isn't. M2 was great though. The clouds I mentioned earlier passed quite quickly but there's some more now and they look more serious.

[Davesellars]

Nice one John!  Good to see you're out enjoying the clear skies.  It's not too bad here now but the transparency looked rubbish earlier with plenty of high cloud and milkiness... I'm knacked anyway after last night.

[cotterless45]

Just in , after a lovely evening . Pleased to get M2, M17 and NGC7009 . Slightly Milky sky , but higher up and it was very useable. Hope you managed out,

Nick.

[John]

Thanks for the comments folks

Just finishing off this session with some galaxies. As well as the usual Andromeda trio of M31, M32 and M110 I've been browsing the E side of the Great Square of Pegasus and bagged:

NGC 7331, NGC 7332, NGC 7217, NGC 7448 and finally NGC 7479 just below Markab on the bottom right corner of the square.

Got out as far as 105 million light years but time to come in now. Very enjoyable evening 

I think I'll have to change my signature - things are getting used now !

 

[harrym]

Great stuff as usual - some overlooked objects as well as the classics. Skies were pretty good here (home) as well, at least higher up - NELM was 6.3. But after all the time I've spent observing with the 12" refractor, my 8" dob feels rather small!

I feel the Blue Flash is one of those objects where the extra 4 inches make a big difference. I observed it with the dob last night but couldn't see the distinct asymmetry and hints of filaments that I've seen with the 12". Judging by images it must be a marvellous object in a really big scope.

No sign of Triton last night but the NELM definitely wasn't 6.3 down there and the highest magnification I used was only 171x.

[Littleguy80]

On 8/28/2017 at 23:54, John said:

vague handfull of stars that is M73

I saw M73 a few weeks back. It seemed such a small object to be a Messier! 

[John]

5 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

I saw M73 a few weeks back. It seemed such a small object to be a Messier! 

When you think of objects that Messier missed from his list, such as the double cluster in perseus, it's suprising that vague gatherings such as M73 made it in

He did give more attention to certain parts of the sky I believe, presumably those where comets (his true quarry) were more likely to be seen.

[harrym]

Messier thought he saw nebulosity in M73 so he included it in his catalogue. But in fact his telescope wasn't that great. There are a few more open clusters in his list where he claimed to see nebulosity but there isn't any.

[John]

After a glass or two of good French wine perhaps you sometimes see a little nebulosity where it isn't ?