Night of the Nebulas

[alanjgreen]

Viewing report from 21st Sept. 2215pm thru 0300am
Location: Cumbria
Equipment: 20" Dobsonian

The weather forecast had been predicting "clear" for the night of 21st for some time and as predicted it started to clear up from 7pm. The problem I have when it does this is deciding what time to start? - do you go out early when the seeing may be better (without moisture) or wait for later when the sky is darker.
As my targets were nebula, I settled on waiting until later. So I went out and took the cover of the scope (location in my roll off shed) at 8-30 and switched the fans on.

I waited until 10-15 by which time the temptation was too much, I could see the Milky Way across the sky and decided to get out there...

I collimated the scope (with the paracorr2 in) and rolled back the roof.

Setting up Nexus was a doddle and I seemed to get the alignment stars quickly centred in the eyepiece (for a change).

I performed a quick alignment check using Andromeda and was happy with the result.

Andromeda - Using the Ethos21, the galaxy looked large and the 2 dust lanes were clear. I traced them to the top edge but found the front most sections hard to find (unlike the other night). that's the problem with the early start, the sky is not quite dark enough. But at least it gives you time to get your eye in and pupils open!

M15 - Moved to a globular as the darkness is less important and was pleased with the view from the Ethos10, the centre was nice a bright and there were plenty of stars resolved. I wanted to move to M2 but having repositioned the scope the other week for the supernova, I was unable to get low enough from the scopes current location (Grrr!)

Stephans Quintet - This is a recurring target for me over several years as I try to get the elusive 5th galaxy of the bundle. Anyway, last night I managed to get all 5 but the last really needed some averted and concentration. Even then it only briefly came into view now and again.
I started with the E21 to locate the group then switched to the E10. With the E10 I could easily see the small galaxy near the tiny star (that's 1), the three main galaxies were easy and one was easily split into 2 separate cores of the merging galaxys (that's 3 more) but there was no sign of the lower galaxy further out.
I switched to the Ethos8 and this is when I started to glimpse the final galaxy (in & out of view) - that's all 5!
I tried the Ethos13 and was fine seeing the first 4 (incl. the 2 cores of the merging galaxys) but the 5th was a no.

Blue snowball pneb - I like to pop in for the blue snowball as I pass-by, it is a lovely bright planetary and with a little power resolves to reveal an off-centre dark hole. I tried a UHC but it made the view more difficulty to hold so returned to the unfiltered view.

Veil - I tried the Veil unfiltered and all the major sections were visible (20" is a lot of light) but added an Astronomik UHC (for a change) to see what it could do. The Veil was much improved with plenty of shading within the nebula strands on view and I enjoyed the extra field stars that are lost when using an O3 filter.
I did then change to the Astronomik O3 and this gave the best view, the nebula was much brighter and easy to see. Its hard to not revisit this object again and again...

Crescent - Up next the crescent, I decided to go with the UHC first. The view was excellent and the "jelly fish" was easy to find. I think I prefer the UHC view of this nebula to the O3, the extra stars add to the view.

North American & Pelican - Again, I started with the UHC and the N. American was clear and easy to trace around the outer edges. The gap between the two nebs was lovely and black. The Pelican too was showing its full extent.
I moved to the O3 but scored this as a draw.  

Cocoon - I started with the Astronomik Hb filter and the Ethos13 eyepiece. There was not much to see. I switched to the UHC and then the nebula could be dimly seen, dim being the key word there was still not a lot to see

Cave - After my success the other night, I returned to the Cave with high expectations (that were not met). I was using the O3 filter and E21, there was plenty of nebulosity around and I could trace long lanes around the area, but the sharp right angle I saw the other night was not to be seen.
I found the corner point but it took some time and patience. You could just make it out but it seems the conditions were not as good as before.

By now, I could hear the occasional drip of dew coming down from the ridge of the roof and a quick touch of the UTA revealed wet fingers! Dew had arrived...
To the naked eye, the Milky Way was superb overhead. I was really struck with the thick black areas running between the 2 arms and throughout.
I could not find M33 naked eye. I did bag it one night last week though, a further sign that conditions were good but not the "best".

Elephants Trunk - Onward to the trunk... I started with the E21/O3 combination and having found the centre triple star. I moved down to trace the trunk. As before the start and end sections were easy enough but there is a centre section that's much harder to follow. Looks like it has a kink in it and that throws my eyes off the dark path.
The trunk is centred around a trail of stars that are sharper than the rest and if you glance up and down then the nebula can be seen so you know you are in the right place.
Was the truck easy and in your face = no. Its there but you have to look for it. I switched to the UHC but found this to be harder still than the O3.

Iris - My first visit to the Iris, having forgot about it the other night! 21E/O3 combination used. I could trace a fairly large sausage shape but the bright section around the star didn't stand out for me. I switched to the UHC and the view improved. The nebula was brighter and the edges more defined. Another visit needed for sure...

Pleides - By now the Seven Sisters was up and in range so it would be rude not to take a look. The view in the E21 was breath-taking. The stars are so bright and sharp with a lovely nebula glow surrounding the large and mid-size ones. Beautiful. My old SCT view could not compare with this!

California - While in the area, I drifted over to the California which is a bit low, but once you are in the zone you cant stop easily!
I used the E21/UHC first and found the nebula easily. It is a very long nebula and the edges were not very sharp. I did try the O3 but found it not as good as the UHC on this target. I will need to come back as it gets higher in the sky.

Heart & Soul - I spotted these on the sky safari screen and could not resist a chance to see them in the 20" for the first time. I had a long history with these 2 nebulas in the 11" SCT and although I did see them, I was never happy with what I got!
I loaded the E21/O3 combination into the scope... "Wow", they were so much better with the larger aperture. The outer shapes of both nebulas could be traced easily from the eyepiece. I spotted 2 bright points within the Heart and wondered what they might be, a quick check of sky safari showed them as bright points within the nebula! (never seen those before). I went on the see all the other bright areas too. (Happy with that)
Feels like a big step forward on what has always been a challenging target for me
I swapped in the UHC but found the view not as good as with the O3.

Having spent the night on Nebulas, I completely forgot my favourite astronomical object - galaxies!
By the time I thought to visit the Fireworks galaxy and NGC6824 (with the supernova), they had moved out of range of the scopes location (with the shed walls in the way)
I did get to see M33 once again and although it did reveal a faint "S" shape and several of its NGCs to one side, the view was underwhelming to those I have had before so left me wishing I had been more on the ball earlier in the evening.

Never mind, next time I will prioritise Galaxies and make sure to be on them when the conditions are at the best.

I could see some thick cloud slowly approaching so I decided to head for the Double Cluster for my first view in the big dob... with the E21 this was another Wow moment. I managed about one and a half clusters in the FOV but the stars were so bright. The thing that stood out was the colours, the stars seemed much more colourful than with my old 11". I had a good look around and lingered for a good while as the cloud pulled overhead...

One other thing I noted was that its starting to get colder at night. I was glad that I had my thermals on but even with full fingered gloves on the metal truss poles of the dob are cold to the touch. I also had to go fetch a towel from the house to wipe all the dew of the UTA at the end of the night. Both my chair and desk were damp to the touch. I did leave the dehumidifer running when I left for my bed

 

So, please "Mr. Weather God" can I have another clear night before the Devils Orb rises to take my fun away for another 2 weeks! ...

Hope you find something useful above,
Alan

[John]

Great clutch of DSO's there Alan - nice report, I enjoyed reading it

[scarp15]

Very nice report and good read (the title, make a great retro 50's B movie). Personally particularly interested in your observation for IC 1396 and account for the Heart and Soul. The California will become engaging to observe when culminates (I use a  H-beta filter on this). Thursday night became and remained clear here to, good that you were able to take advantage. The build up of condensation always knocks me off guard to at this time of year, on my recent trip fortunately a breeze built up through the valley as I did not have my battery, hairdryer etc. Layers yep I was back up to four, the outer being my down vest, also sported my new down filled beanie hat for a time - whatever happened to Summer. 

[Littleguy80]

Wow is the right word. Fabulous report. You’re making great use of the aperture. I think your unfiltered view of the Veil is significantly better than my filtered view