Stephans Quintet

[jetstream]

Promises, promises- the weather forecast was wrong again- at least 2 of them with the third more accurate...supposed to be very high trans but it was avg then poor.

The first part of the evening was pretty good- not great but good for sky quality and after viewing NGC7331 and the fleas over to the Quintet I go and yes it is a Quintet! Very happy to easily see the 5 members. The object was a large triangle formation with another tight galaxy next to the bottom one and lower again and away a bit was a fifth galaxy very near a star. I used the 10mm BCO at 249x but 499x with the VIP added really woke things up here... this combo is excellent actually.

Chuffed to bits so they say lol!

A big puzzlement for me tonight- I Sky Commandered over to the Bubble nebula and saw a large .8 deg wide curved arc? I have not seen this before- has anyone else? I must revisit.

A new favorite for me is now NGC40 a great planetary- the Bowtie nebula. I was getting structure and segments of an annular ring I believe, using the 10BCO native at 249x and no filter, this one really will strut its stuff under better conditions and will be visited regularly.

The scope was the 24", EP's 20mm Lunt, 10BCO/VIP barlow and Lumicon OIII/UHC filters.

How has the Bubble nebula shown to other members?

[mdstuart]

That sounds amazing. I have seen the members of the quintet (just) with my 16 inch but never the bubble nebula!

That 24 inch scope is certainly performing. 

See how many globular clusters of M31 you can pick up.

Mark

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, mdstuart said:

See how many globular clusters of M31 you can pick up.

Great report Gerry, it's amazing what you are picking up even though conditions are not that good.

Excellent suggestion from Mark, that would be a good challenge. G1 is brightest I think, mag 13.7 and quite a distance from the core, a few others below mag 15 that I could see here.

[Paul73]

Good catch. I’ve had a load of goes at the quintet with my 16” Dob, but so far drawn a blank. To catch all 5 is going some. Think that I’ll leave the Bubble for those with bigger scopes and darker sky!

Paul

[Stu]

Not sure if this helps Gerry, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 degree circles overlaid on the Bubble. Couldn't see any larger structure in Skysafari, although that doesn't mean it is not there of course!

[clarkpm4242]

2 hours ago, jetstream said:

How has the Bubble nebula shown to other members?

I observed the Bubble many times when I had an 18" Obsession.  Usually from mag. 6.5 skies.

Very, very rarely did I get a 'bubble', most of the time just a short arc.

2 hours ago, mdstuart said:

See how many globular clusters of M31 you can pick up.

 

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Excellent suggestion from Mark, that would be a good challenge.

This has charts for the painstaking starhopping required

https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/ANDROMEDA_Atlas/frames.html

Another useful link.  Think I found about 2 dozen.  Was a bit obsessive though

https://www.astronomy-mall.com/Adventures.In.Deep.Space/gcm31.htm

Good hunting!

Cheers

Paul

[jetstream]

7 hours ago, mdstuart said:

That sounds amazing. I have seen the members of the quintet (just) with my 16 inch but never the bubble nebula!

That 24 inch scope is certainly performing. 

See how many globular clusters of M31 you can pick up.

Mark

Thanks Mark, the new scope sure does work well. With the 15" Stephans Quintet was a triplet with a possible 4th. What this 24" does is open the object right up- great separation and even separation between the cores of the harder ones, they are connected by a faint glow. Honestly its no talent of mine to see it like this, any half experienced, dark adapted observer would see it easily and in direct vision with this scope.

The 15" shows the Bubble, but not like this at all. This is what surprised me so much.

I have seen that large glob at the end of M31's arm with the 15", can't remember the name but I hope theres more in there!

I love this scope!

[jetstream]

7 hours ago, Stu said:

Great report Gerry, it's amazing what you are picking up even though conditions are not that good.

Excellent suggestion from Mark, that would be a good challenge. G1 is brightest I think, mag 13.7 and quite a distance from the core, a few others below mag 15 that I could see here.

Thanks Stu!

The 15" gets G1-I guess its called and I truly hope I can get more.

As far as the Bubble size, thanks for that info too. I just used the TFOV with the Lunt as a rough guide as it was a bit smaller than the field of it, so smaller than .8deg. Observing planetaries with this thing is is making me seek them out now! I never thought there would be so many with detail such as the Magic Carpet, Catseye and now the Bowtie, seems I like these now lol!

[jetstream]

4 hours ago, clarkpm4242 said:

I observed the Bubble many times when I had an 18" Obsession.  Usually from mag. 6.5 skies.

Very, very rarely did I get a 'bubble', most of the time just a short arc.

 

This has charts for the painstaking starhopping required

https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/ANDROMEDA_Atlas/frames.html

Another useful link.  Think I found about 2 dozen.  Was a bit obsessive though

https://www.astronomy-mall.com/Adventures.In.Deep.Space/gcm31.htm

Good hunting!

Cheers

Paul

Thanks Paul, last night went 6.4 NELM using 20 Umi so not the best really but nice. This is great info and is much appreciated- 2 dozen in there?! I never knew this- can't wait so see some of these suckers lol! I took a quick peak last night but between the poor trans ans emerging moon I called it quits then.

[jetstream]

@Stu question- in the center of M31's core there is a tight point of light- is this a glob I wonder? straight smack in the middle. Any other members opinion welcome too

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, jetstream said:

@Stu question- in the center of M31's core there is a tight point of light- is this a glob I wonder? straight smack in the middle. Any other members opinion welcome too

Looks like there are two, close together Gerry. G185 at mag 14.5 and Bol 124 at mag 14.7. This chart is down to mag 15.

[jetstream]

Perfect!

Maybe I should up the mag for these things? I must try some different things I think, maybe start with the zoom and fine tune with orthos or something.

[Stu]

14 minutes ago, jetstream said:

Perfect!

Maybe I should up the mag for these things? I must try some different things I think, maybe start with the zoom and fine tune with orthos or something.

Sounds like a good plan!

[Paul73]

I had a crack at the Quintet last night from OK, but not dark, sky (could only see 5 or 6 naked eye stars in the big square).Took my time perfecting the brief hop from Ngc7331 so that after 40mins. I was 100% certain that I was in the right place. Mag upped to 200x and gradually one possibly two little fuzzy patches appeared. I was delighted!

Granted. Visually it was heroically underwhelming, but it’s the first time that I’ve caught anything. So happiness was assured.

Paul

Edited August 26, 2019 by Paul73

[mdstuart]

Awesome..it is an achievement to see any of those faint galaxies.

Last night was not very transparent as you say. On a clearer night I am sure you will get to at least four.

Mark

[Whistlin Bob]

Great report. I've tried several times to see the quintet in my 14", but not a hint.

Trying to subdue my aperture fever...

[estwing]

On 23/08/2019 at 07:01, Stu said:

G1 is brightest I think, mag 13.7 and quite a distance from the core, a few others below mag 15 that I could see here.

Just caught this....excellent stuff Gerry ..glad you're enjoying the beast!!!.

@Stu...tbh mate its mighty disappointing...steve had to throw so much power at it and after a few hours it was a kinda...is that it??!!!....but sometimes it's the achievement of the bag?.

[Stu]

41 minutes ago, estwing said:

Just caught this....excellent stuff Gerry ..glad you're enjoying the beast!!!.

@Stu...tbh mate its mighty disappointing...steve had to throw so much power at it and after a few hours it was a kinda...is that it??!!!....but sometimes it's the achievement of the bag?.

I can imagine Calvin! I guess yes, in that instance it is just about seeing a glob around another galaxy, not about getting any majorly rewarding views. I could live with that I think

 

[ollypenrice]

A good read. Thanks. I'm a bit of a fan of the Quintet, having observed it and imaged it quite a few times. Of historical interest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Édouard_Stephan  I don't live too far From Marseille, a couple of hours by car, but you won't see much of the night sky from the city these days, alas! 

Olly

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by ollypenrice

[PeterW]

0.8degree “bubble”, could be the lobster claw sh157 that is not too far away and sort of loops round?

PEter

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, PeterW said:

0.8degree “bubble”, could be the lobster claw sh157 that is not too far away and sort of loops round?

PEter

There is so much nebulosity in the area... I have focused on the Bubble neb itself and am now getting hints of a short section of the actual Bubble. I thought the same thing Peter or that close by LBN but no. Can't wait for my clearest skies Peter, and to nail down the needed eyepiece for this one, I may up the mag a hair, f4 is so flexible. The 17.3 Delos is a strong contender, I might pick one up.

Thoughts? Does NV show surrounding nebulosity around the Bubble itself?

[GavStar]

2 hours ago, jetstream said:

There is so much nebulosity in the area... I have focused on the Bubble neb itself and am now getting hints of a short section of the actual Bubble. I thought the same thing Peter or that close by LBN but no. Can't wait for my clearest skies Peter, and to nail down the needed eyepiece for this one, I may up the mag a hair, f4 is so flexible. The 17.3 Delos is a strong contender, I might pick one up.

Thoughts? Does NV show surrounding nebulosity around the Bubble itself?

Gerry,

Does this nv pic of the bubble help? There does seem to be an arc close by...

Gavin

 

[jetstream]

1 hour ago, GavStar said:

Gerry,

Does this nv pic of the bubble help? There does seem to be an arc close by...

Hey Gavin, good to see you posting-great image- I wonder how big the brightest seen is? I also wonder how much Hb and OIII add to it if any.

[GavStar]

1 hour ago, jetstream said:

Hey Gavin, good to see you posting-great image- I wonder how big the brightest seen is? I also wonder how much Hb and OIII add to it if any.

The total fov of the image is about 1 degree which should help assess the size of the various structures seen. Nv isn’t useful for hb or oiii emissions but my understanding is that generally the ha emission is much stronger than hb.

Here’s an approx 5 degree view of the area around the bubble which shows some of the larger ha structures round it (including the lobster claw)