There's always something new

[Littleguy80]

December is traditionally a bad month for observing for me. Christmas preparations don't leave much free and this December the clouds have seldom cleared. It was a little before 11pm last night when I noticed the skies were clear. I felt a bit uninspired as to what to observe as I fancied finding some new targets. A quick scan of SkySafari's 'Tonight's Best' landed me on the planetary nebula NGC1535 in Eridanus. Planetary nebula are among my favourite objects to observe so I headed outside. My dob is being stored in the garage as it's normal place in the house is now occupied by a Christmas Tree. The dob and I were both happy to see each other and I held it a little tighter than normal as I carried it out to show some affection. 

I decided to start with a more familiar target to reacquaint myself with the dob. A few weeks back, I observed Hind's Crimson Star. At that point it was brighter than I'd seen it previously and showing more orange as is classically seen with carbon stars. It has dimmed noticeably since and taken on a deeper red colour. Not the traffic light red I've seen in the past but quite striking. I'm not sure on how quickly it transitions from maximum to minimum brightness so it was a pleasant surprise to see a noticeable change. I star hopped my way onto NGC 1535 using the RACI finder scope. At lower power (60x), the planetary nebula was noticeably non steller. It's central star could also be resolved fairly easily. Not unlike the Eskimo nebula. At 120x and 240x, some finer detail can be seen too. A really lovely target.

Now I was back to my problem of what to observe. It occurred to me that NGC 1535 may be on the RASC NGC finest list and, sure enough, it was. I have a SkySafari list of this list. Looking through the targets on that list, I noticed quite a few galaxies in Ursa Major that I hadn't seen. The dob was repositioned to observe Ursa Major. As a tester, I went after Mirach's Ghost, NGC 404, to see how well the galaxies were showing. At 60x, under my suburban skies, it was an easy spot and gave me the confidence to push forward with the galaxy hunt. NGC 3184 was the first target and a very tricky customer. The 10mm Delos left me with a perhaps. The 9mm BGO, a faithful servant for finding those harder to spot targets, was more suggestive but not definitive. I returned to the Delos and this time it seemed clearer. I made a note to try this galaxy at my local dark site. NGC 3877 is an edge on galaxy near the star Al Kaphrah. Keeping Al Kaphrah outside of the field of view made this galaxy much easier to observe. NGC 3941 is more face on and compact and was found comparatively easily. The 10mm Delos was now a permanent fixture in the focuser and proving the ideal choice for galaxy spotting. A brief pit stop at M109 on my way to NGC 4157. This was another edge on galaxy which showed up really well. NGC 4088 was nearby and is a really interesting galaxy, having an unusual shape. Averted vision really helped with exploring this. This was the most memorable of the galaxies seen. NGC 4605 rounded off the tour of NGC finest galaxies in Ursa Major. I returned to the tricky NGC 3184 and found my eye was more attuned and observing this was a little easier now. 

I had a crack at splitting Sirius without success. The pup star remains elusive. All in all it was a really nice session and a reminder that, despite a few years of observing behind me, there are still plenty of fresh targets to be observed.

[scarp15]

Lovely range of winter targets Neil, NGC 1535; Cleopatra's Eye, an absorbing planetary to observe. Hope that you are able to restore the dob back indoors post Christmas. Good performance again with the 10mm delos and in gaining some new targets. See if the weather shapes up over the weekend, at least on the east side.    

[Littleguy80]

13 hours ago, scarp15 said:

Lovely range of winter targets Neil, NGC 1535; Cleopatra's Eye, an absorbing planetary to observe. Hope that you are able to restore the dob back indoors post Christmas. Good performance again with the 10mm delos and in gaining some new targets. See if the weather shapes up over the weekend, at least on the east side.    

Thanks, Iain. Yes, the dob is only out in the garage for the festive period. The Delos has been a great buy. I've sold on the Lunt XWA 9mm now. I wasn't missing the extra FOV and the improved optics of the Delos have made it a favourite.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Enjoyable report Neil. Hereford has been really poor for clear skies recently and using the 12" Dob. If I get a clear spell I often just grab the 150P or Heritage 130P.

Anyway some great targets. I checked that I observed NGC 1535 in January 2010 I think a return visit is required.

[Littleguy80]

3 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Enjoyable report Neil. Hereford has been really poor for clear skies recently and using the 12" Dob. If I get a clear spell I often just grab the 150P or Heritage 130P.

Anyway some great targets. I checked that I observed NGC 1535 in January 2010 I think a return visit is required.

Thanks Mark. It's great that you've got the Heritage scopes to take advantage of the clear spells. NGC 1535 is well worth a visit. I was surprised it hadn't made it onto an observing list before now after I saw it.

[Mark at Beaufort]

2 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

NGC 1535 is well worth a visit. I was surprised it hadn't made it onto an observing list before now after I saw it.

Neil it is included in Steve O'Meara's - Hidden Treasurers number 24. Steve O'M calls it 'Cleopatra's Eye' as Iain stated above.

[Littleguy80]

On 18/12/2020 at 17:58, Mark at Beaufort said:

Neil it is included in Steve O'Meara's - Hidden Treasurers number 24. Steve O'M calls it 'Cleopatra's Eye' as Iain stated above.

Another nice planetary for you, Mark. IC289 which is also on the RASC NGC finest despite not being in the NGC! It’s a 13 mag PN in Cassiopeia. I found it this evening using a UHC filter and averted vision. Good challenge to find this one. 

[wookie1965]

Well done Neil for me its Clusters, planetary nebula are a bane in my light polluted sky tried many times for NGC404 without luck some nice galaxies there I have not seen quite a few of them since I sold my 8" still regret that. 

[Littleguy80]

6 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Well done Neil for me its Clusters, planetary nebula are a bane in my light polluted sky tried many times for NGC404 without luck some nice galaxies there I have not seen quite a few of them since I sold my 8" still regret that. 

Thanks Paul. Interestingly I find planetary nebula hold up pretty well from home or even when the moon is quite bright. The challenge is normally spotting them due to their size. Are you tempted to get another 8” or similar?

[Mark at Beaufort]

9 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

Another nice planetary for you, Mark. IC289 which is also on the RASC NGC finest despite not being in the NGC! It’s a 13 mag PN in Cassiopeia. I found it this evening using a UHC filter and averted vision. Good challenge to find this one. 

Thanks Neil. I have a list of the 100 best PNs of which I estimate that 67 are visible from the UK. I looked at my observing log and I can see that I have viewed 42 of these. However, IC289 has not been observed, as yet, so I really must have a go. I note that there is a sketch of it in the Interstellarium Deep Sky Guide. I have no idea why I have never gone looking for it so your post is much appreciated.

[wookie1965]

3 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

Thanks Paul. Interestingly I find planetary nebula hold up pretty well from home or even when the moon is quite bright. The challenge is normally spotting them due to their size. Are you tempted to get another 8” or similar?

I am very tempted but I would only use it when at star party`s  so its not worth it, with that fewer observing nights I just use the Tal or the Meade 127.

[Littleguy80]

2 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I am very tempted but I would only use it when at star party`s  so its not worth it, with that fewer observing nights I just use the Tal or the Meade 127.

Makes sense. There’s always the option of something like the Heritage 150 for a bit more aperture but in a more manageable package. 

[wookie1965]

2 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

Makes sense. There’s always the option of something like the Heritage 150 for a bit more aperture but in a more manageable package. 

I had a 150p sold that to get the 200p if I win some money I would get a big goto dob.