globulars, galaxies, and open clusters

[Piero]

Last night the sky was clear and I spent a few hours with my dob until 3am. Unfortunately, I didn't begin on time for Saturn, which was already behind a tree. Nevermind, more time for DSOs!  

Abbreviations: oc=open cluster, gc=globular cluster, glx=galaxy.

- Cassiopeia: NGC 281 (oc+neb), NGC 225 (oc), NGC 189 (oc), NGC 129 (oc), M103 (oc)

- Hercules: M13 (gc), NGC 6207 (glx), M92 (gc), NGC6229 (gc)

- Aquarius: M2 (gc)

- Pegasus: M15 (gc)

- Delphinus: NGC 7006 (gc)

- M31 (glx), M32 (glx), M110 (glx), NGC404 (glx) (*)

- M33 (glx), NGC 672 (glx), IC1727 (glx)

-  Perseus: M34 (oc), NGC889/869 (oc)

 

Now, the (*).

Below is a screenshot from Stellarium. The bright star at the top is Mirach (And). The Great Square of Pegasus is to the left, Perseus to the right. Moving East towards M33, I stopped at the 4 bright stars next to NGC 529. From there, I moved slightly south where NGC 513 is located. On AV there were faint grey small patches nearly everywhere. Tricky to tell what was what, really! In order to decrease the background sky also due to the present light pollution, I observed at 2mm exit pupil (150x). I will certainly spend more time on that region of sky.

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Piero

[Stu]

Nice session Piero, your scope is really working for you isn't it?

There are a heck of a lot of faint galaxies in that area so I guess that's what you were seeing? This chart is down to Mag 15.

[Piero]

24 minutes ago, Stu said:

Nice session Piero, your scope is really working for you isn't it?

There are a heck of a lot of faint galaxies in that area so I guess that's what you were seeing? This chart is down to Mag 15.

 

Thanks Stu.

Not sure how deep I can go given the light pollution. There were a few "fuzzies" in that area for sure though! 

[MarsG76]

Nice amount of DSOs bagged.

 

[mdstuart]

The Perseus Pegasus wall of galaxies runs right across that area. Rich pickings!

Mark

[Piero]

Yup! I look forward to a proper galaxy session! Lots of fun!

[Saganite]

Nice session Piero, and mine was almost identical, with my 00VX12L !

I started at about 10pm so did manage to catch Saturn though the seeing could have been better. The transparency however was very good but got gradually worse by 1.45 am.

[Piero]

Yeah, the seeing looked better than what it actually was. Said this it was a nice night for DSO hunting!

[Saganite]

You got M33 Piero, but I searched in vain. It can be elusive I believe.

[Piero]

13 minutes ago, Saganite said:

You got M33 Piero, but I searched in vain. It can be elusive I believe.

Yes, but my real challenge is to catch the huge nebula in M33: NGC 604 (my user image)! A real monster compared to M42. Hope to see it one day - with a filter of course.

[Stu]

33 minutes ago, Piero said:

Yes, but my real challenge is to catch the huge nebula in M33: NGC 604 (my user image)! A real monster compared to M42. Hope to see it one day - with a filter of course.

You should get that relatively easily with dark enough skies Piero. Pretty sure I saw it in my C8 but definitely in the 16" when at SGL10. Should be well within reach.

[John]

37 minutes ago, Piero said:

Yes, but my real challenge is to catch the huge nebula in M33: NGC 604 (my user image)! A real monster compared to M42. Hope to see it one day - with a filter of course.

You don't need a filter for NGC 604. I can see it with my ED120 without a filter. It's away from the core of the galaxy that is visible visually and next to a prominent foreground star:

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/triple-treasure-in-triangulums-pinwheel110320150311/

Nice report of your haul - thanks for posting it

[Stu]

Here you go, mentioned in this report from Devon. Mag 20.5 skies with the C8 Edge so should be a doddle with your scope.

 

[Piero]

1 hour ago, John said:

You don't need a filter for NGC 604. I can see it with my ED120 without a filter. It's away from the core of the galaxy that is visible visually and next to a prominent foreground star:

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/triple-treasure-in-triangulums-pinwheel110320150311/

Nice report of your haul - thanks for posting it

 

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Here you go, mentioned in this report from Devon. Mag 20.5 skies with the C8 Edge so should be a doddle with your scope.

 

Thank you, guys! I'll follow your advice.

[Piero]

Thinking about such a nebula were in our galaxy... What a beauty...! It would take a whole constellation!

Is there a "trapezium" in the centre? LOL!

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Piero

[Mark at Beaufort]

Great observing report. As regards NGC 604 have a look at the attached report. If you look at the photo you will see a bright triangle of stars on the left hand side of the photo. The two top stars point directly to NGC 604.

 

M33-Whitman.pdf

[mdstuart]

If you want a challenge in M33 look for the globular c39!

C39: This is the brightest globular cluster, located ~ 22 minutes southeast of M33's nucleus. It is easily visible in most deep-sky photographs and is plotted in the GSC as a "star". In the 50-cm, it was visible with direct vision as a slightly fuzzy "star" of 16th magnitude. The extended halo or envelope was < 2" in diameter. It was the only globular I observed that had a non-stellar appearance.

[Piero]

Ouch! That's a tough challenge!