Can't find or see NGC 7814 Caldwell C43

[Davidbrianbest]

I'm trying to find NGC 7814. 

I've been at it for two nights and its driving my nuts.

First I'm using an Orion 12" Truss Tube Dob with an ES 30 mm eyepiece and a shroud to cover the truss section.

I'm on a dark site with good seeing and I'm using 66 year old eyes.

Pegasus is over head I'm searching about three degrees over and one degree up from Algenib toward Markab.

I've research it and printed a bunch of pictures to match the surrounding stars, but so far no luck.

The magnitude of NGC 7814 is 10.6 the size is 5.5' X 2.3'.

I'm thinking maybe something is wrong with my scope. The mirror is two dirty or the collimation is out a little.

I was able to view NGC 7331 which is a magnitude of 9.5 and a size of 9.7' x 4.5'.

It seems to me my 12" dob can't see much past a magnitude of 10 which kind of sucks.

I've cleaned the mirror a couple of times in the past and it could probably use cleaning again.

Seems to get some kind of build up over time that shows up with a flash light.

I'll be trying again on Friday. This time I'll try using averted vision.

Anyone have any ideas about improving the light sensitivity of an older big dob?

Thanks

 

 

[ronin]

Skysafari shows it a bit closer to Algenib, sort of 2 up and just over 1 to the right towards Markab, so slight chance you may just be missing it. Not sure what the final field you will have on the scope. Skaysafari has it basically 2 degrees from Algenib on a 45 degree line. So 1.5 across and 1.5 up.

12" reflector and 66 year old eyes should be OK, also I wouldn't worry about the apparent build up as a flash light really makes a mirror appear bad when they are not. Might be a case of light pollution and it is simply lost. But I suspect it is a case of just getting it in the field and recognising it. I find M31 the same, easy to find once you know, until you know it is oddly invisible.

Will suggest try it a bit earlier or later when it is past ot not at the zenith, tracking anything with a dobsonian tends to be problimatic there. Movement kind of goes to bits.

[Davidbrianbest]

Thanks for the reply Ronin. I'll try the position you described and take a look at Skysafari.

I'm glad you don't think its a dirty mirror they are difficult to remove and clean without messing up the coatings.

The final field of view for the ES 30 eyepiece at 50x is 1.64 degrees.

[ronin]

Also meant to say that there seems little in Pegasus to enable easy navigation to C43 so printing out maps may not be of great benefit. Looking at Skysafari it is almost centre Algenib and move a distance of 2 degree at a 45 degree angle, very little (0) to use to star hop.

"Problem" of a 1.64 degree field is that if you center on Algenib then what you have is +/- 0.82 degrees. I tend to find that the assumption is that the firld valuse refers to center to edge. So in a way it is half what you may expect.

Don't know what you have as a finder but if a telrad with circles then check alignment and see what results that allows. SPM defined it as one of his catalogue so it should be apparent.

[Davidbrianbest]

I have a Telrad but was setting it to center on three degrees away.

I finally found the transparent sheet that goes with my SkyAtlas 2000. It has a Telrad grid on it.

When I place it over the chart I show C43 being about 5 degrees to the right and two degrees up from the line between Algenib and Markab.

That's two degrees from where I was looking. I'll attach the picture.

So maybe now I'll find it. I'll let you know. So it looks like you where right. I was just looking in the wrong spot.

No cheering yet, hopefully I'll be able to try again tonight.

[mdstuart]

Dave

7814 is harder to spot than 7331 as it has a lower surface brightness but it should be doable with your 12 inch so don't give up.

It's lovely when you see it under a triangle of stars.

This chart might help.

http://bristolweather.org.uk/galaxies/find.php?obj=NGC 7814

Mark

[Davidbrianbest]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the reply.

(Bright Giant it looks like your 2 degrees over and one up was about right. I was thinking the Telrad was four degrees from the center to the outer ring,

but its half that at 2 degrees.)

I finally found NGC 7814. I spotted it from my drive way with a street light just across the street. ( So it will look better from a dark site.)

I found it by setting Algenib on the outer ring at about five o'clock on my Telrad. (The Telrad needs to be center adjusted to my eyepiece. Its off a little.)

Then with a 9x50mm 5 degree finder scope, I pointed at a brighter star in the general region and then found a faint smudge that moved with the star.

I verified that the smudge moved with the surrounding stars and was able to return to it a few times. So I get to tick another box on my Caldwell list.

What I need here is a nice 16" dob and a small truck to drive it around with.  

Thanks for all the replies, it helps a lot to get a different perspective on the problem.