Friday Night in Devon - 19 Sept 2008

[asteria]

Hi All - a better night generally this evening, with good, clear dark skies to the west. East washed out with the moonlight and LP.

Got round most of the same things as last weekend, but here are some highlights:

With Pi Hercules as the reference star (the red one in upper shoulder!), wind off some RA for:

M13 - a very nice sight even at low magnification tonight, with more contrast with a darker sky.

Back to Pi Hercules, wind on some declination, for:

M92 - again much improved this week, with a more clearly defined clump of stars.

Now I'm familiar with the location of these two, I think the next step is to have a go through the MAKCASS with a higher magnification.

Using Albireo as the reference for further investigations, I tried to track down:

The Coathanger - looked great in the eyepiece, with well-defined stars

And the on to Delta Sagitta for:

M71 - I tried and tried for this, moving back and forth between Delta and Gamma Sagitta but no joy! Back to the drawing board!

Starting at Gamma Sagitta, wind on some Declination, for:

M27 - a first look at this planetary nebula. The Dumbbell, as it's called, was easy tonight. A modest smudge in the eyepiece, but quite noticeable, and recognisable in terms of its shape.

Time to check out Gamma Cyg to track down:

M29 - a delicate open cluster just south of the reference star. Easy to find and a satisfying target amongst the rich fields of stars in this part of the sky.

A quick look at Alpha Cyg, Deneb, a beautiful star and very bright. By now the scope was performing beautifully with stars showing good definition. I wound on a little RA to see if I could see:

NGC7000 - a large area of nebulosity, the North American Nebula. Umm. I'll swear the sky lightened a bit, but this one would probably difficult to claim. It probably needs some sort of filter to see it clearly.

Back to Albireo - by now this pair were looking absolutely beautiful, probably the best I've ever seen. They make a glorious pair - gold and blue. The air was very clear and still by now and the two stars just seemed to hang in the sky.

Another attempt to track down:

M56 - but no joy. I couldn't seem to pick out this globular cluster, although I am sure I was in the right area. Maybe I need a more detailed chart.

Somewhere along the way I found:

M57 - the Ring Nebula, a great planetary between Beta and Gamma Lyr. Couldn't find it last week, but with the sky so clear now, the Ring was clearly visible, even with the low magnification, as a delicate smudge hanging between the two stars. Nice!

All the best.

Ed

[lunator]

Ed

Very nice report.

The sky was better last night. M71 can be a tricky target. I have found it requires more magnification then you would expect to be seen clearly.

Cheers

Ian

[asteria]

Hi Ian - thanks for reading the report. It's also good to have the tip on M71. I think I will probably have a go for this with the MAK. This may give the magnification required.

Let's hope for a good sky tonight.

All the best.

Ed

[Andrew*]

Excellent report - very much enjoyed it! Good object choices too

Andrew