Fish on the Platter

[scarp15]

B144 is a large dark nebula embedded within the Cygnus Star Cloud. Resembling a fish on top of a platter, B144 is 6' x 3 degree and requires a wide field view. The lower part has the bright star Cygni 21 and the nebula is close to the X-ray source Cygnus X-1 a potential black hole. In a dark transparent sky it would make for a good binocular target perhaps best with 10x50 or rich field refractor. It is a target that I would like to clarify when with a bit of luck, next weekends new moon period provides an opportunity to venture out into the hills. The best I can muster with my current equipment will be a 4' or 4.2 degree field. The dense star clouds and its dark nebulae, as listed by EE Barnard, will make an impression on everyone seeking dark skies in the coming weeks.  

Here is a chart with the location of B144 complement of a Sky & Telescope article 'Shadow Play - Summer Time Dark Nebulae for Binoculars' by Bob King (picture one)

An image of B144 - thanks for this Neil - E E Barnard's Photographic atlas (picture two).

 

 

 

[Littleguy80]

Looks like a good widefield target, Iain. I can get up to 4.92 degrees TFOV so should have a good chance of seeing this under the right conditions. I was thinking, based on the top image, that this may be possible to see naked eye with sufficiently dark, transparent skies. I wonder if Gerry, @jetstream, as managed this?

[jetstream]

On great nights I see piles of sharp structure in the area, I'll have a good look to confirm B144 (or not). Dark nebs are a favorite of mine.

[Graham Darke]

Hi Iain,

I remember scanning this region with a friend and his 8 inch Dob about 15 years ago from Millshield, Derwent Res. We could make it out. I must try for it again with the refractor at low power. My 34mm eyepiece gives me about 29x and nearly a 2.5 deg field of view. 

[jetstream]

On 26/07/2019 at 10:29, scarp15 said:

Resembling a fish on top of a platter, B144 is 6' x 3 degree

Under good but not great skies last night I managed this with the MK1 eyeballs. I wasn't dark adapted totally and the MW showed nice structure- not near the level it can show here however. Its big and appeared about a thumb long and seemed to show in 2 directions. The MW split was obvious but I did have some extinction above the horizon a bit with stars in some directions.  I sat in an old broken wood lawn chair at the lakeshore, a favorite spot to use the eyes...

The real treat was the bright billowing clouds where M17 etc reside...

[Whistlin Bob]

Idly wandering through observing reports tonight and wishing it was clear when I came across this thread. I thought hang on- a few nights ago I was doing some wide field imaging whilst observing and caught this one 😁:

[scarp15]

Thanks for the continued responses, apologises I had a bit of catching up with some peoples comments on this thread. 

On 31/07/2019 at 22:29, Graham Darke said:

Hi Iain,

I remember scanning this region with a friend and his 8 inch Dob about 15 years ago from Millshield, Derwent Res. We could make it out. I must try for it again with the refractor at low power. My 34mm eyepiece gives me about 29x and nearly a 2.5 deg field of view. 

Hi Graham, I haven't been to Millshield for ages, expect that the SAS still meet there? That is interesting concerning the 8" dob observation. Scanning this region with my 16x70 binoculars from a hill top dark site two weeks ago, this dark nebula was quite distinct. With a 4.1 degree field, it required a bit of roaming to appreciate and comprehend the full profile. 

[jetstream]

Under better skies tonight the fish on the platter was very distinct naked eye. After using the scope I sat in a lawn chair on the ridge and stared at the brightly structured Milky Way- boy was the huge spur into Cepheus showing well tonight as was the black hole above Caph in Cassiopeia.

As a side note NGC 7331 showed very large, perhaps the largest yet and Stephans Quintet really responded to the increase in elevation as well as some good transparency. The 3 main galaxies show as brightish lobes and big, quite a sight really and I was using the Docter 12.5mm/24" dob.

[jetstream]

I would like to add my NELM, forgot to last night. I don't spend much time on this and usually use Ursa Minor- which is not near zenith- I must learn some new places to test for this.

A glance into the Little Dipper bowl reveal a flick of HIP 74818 which Simbad gives a V mag of 6.68.

I feel that it really will be a bit more and hopefully confirmed if I can find a source of stars in a constellation near zenith to use. I post this to reference my views, and can also say that the sky here gets better than this. Last nights level of darkness and trans will show tree shadows on my cars hood from the MW. It is also easy to see out there.