Whole lotta Rosetta

[domstar]

Wanna tell you a story...

What to do on a SSW facing balcony when Orion gets too low to enjoy those crisp tight doubles? The answer is always open clusters. Having failed at the Rosetta a couple of times now, this was my target for the evening. Thanks to @Littleguy80 I was sure of the hop from the unjustly neglected (tonight) Christmas Tree. I remember reading that it was the first open cluster to be aged by measuring which stars had turned into super-giants. (please correct me/ remind me of the details).

I found the Rosetta easily, and screwed in the UHC to my rarely-used 32mm Badder plossl. It's got a narrrow field of view so I use my 2 inch 30mm Aero for widefield. At first I thought I was imagining the nebulosity but the longer I observed, the more convinced I became. It ain't exactly pretty (in a 4 inch) ain't exactly small..... But I definitely saw it. More like a donut slightly greyer than the background and more obvious on the left of my refractor view as a starless ring.

Very satisfied, I moved to catch M47, with the beautiful twin stars in the middle. I saw the far superior M46 partially covered by tree branches. Then to Cancer and to M67, a lovely cluster- by far my favourite of the two Messiers in Cancer. As I increased magnification, the stars winked out until I noticed high clouds around. I packed up with enough time to spend the evening with my wife. Just before we turned in I looked again outside. Leo and a falling Gemini got me excited about the nights to come.

Thanks for reading.

[Littleguy80]

Awesome, Dom. I’m so happy you go it. It’s a great achievement with a 4” scope. Sounds like a really nice session. 

[domstar]

Thanks, yes it was a lovely session. The tripod legs were just a bit higher so viewing was more comfortable for that object. Thanks for the help. It makes a big difference if you're sure you're in the right place and it's possible. Otherwise I would've overlooked it.