Hit And Miss Various Targets

[Epick Crom]

Hi my fellow stargazers! Had an interesting session last night hunting down various objects with various degrees of success! 

M67: Located this compact cluster in Cancer and as a bonus stumbled upon Omicron Cancri, a wide double!

NGC 2392: The Eskimo nebula in Gemini. Searched hard but was again not able to find it☹️.Oh well will try again and again until I nab it.

M 36: Had to work hard as its low down here but got it! Nice cluster.

NGC 3201: Globular in Vela. Fourth attempt at this object and successfully star hopped to it. Much fainter and spread out than I thought.

NGC 3132: Eight Burst nebula in Vela. First attempt to locate it and got it! Nice circular planetary nebula with prominent central star. Vivid blue colour, highlight of the night!

M78: Nebula in Orion still eludes me☹️

NGC 2419. The famous Intergalactic Wanderer in Lynx. A tough ask as this constellation is still really low but I had a go at finding it but was unsuccessful.

All in all a fun night was had, nothing like crusing the night sky hunting for objects and finding unexpected delights along the way! Clear skies to you all 👍

Joe

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Epick Crom

[Kon]

It sounds a pretty good effort and nice targets. I had a disastrous last night as well with many elusive targets. You will find them as you go along.👀

[Orange Smartie]

Sounds good!  I had a similar mixed night.

I actually did manage to see the Eskimo Nebula for the first time, although I had to have several attempts at it before I was sure I was looking at it.  Not that it was particularly dim, but it's so small that at first I thought I was looking at another star.

https://freestarcharts.com/ngc-2392

East/South East of Wasat you'll see 63 Gem.  Slightly SE of that you'll see another, dimmer star, with what looks like a companion star - switch to a higher mag and it'll look like a disk.  When you know what you're looking at, it becomes a lot easier.

Good luck!

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Orange Smartie

[Epick Crom]

Thanks Kon. It was one of those nights where I had more misses than hits. We will find those elusive targets eventually 🤞

[Epick Crom]

1 minute ago, Orange Smartie said:

Sounds good!  I had a similar mixed night.

I actually did manage to see the Eskimo Nebula for the first time, although I had to have several attempts at it before I was sure I was looking at it.  Not that it was particularly dim, but it's so small that at first I thought I was looking at another star.

https://freestarcharts.com/ngc-2392

South East of Wasat you'll see 63 Gem.  Slightly SE of that you'll see another, dimmer star, with what looks like a companion star - switch to a higher mag and it'll look like a disk.  When you know what you're looking at, it becomes a lot easier.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the tip mate! I'm still a bit unfamiliar with Planetary nebulae as I had never previously observed them before getting my 10 inch dobsonian a few months back ( I used 20x80 binoculars as my first observing kit). It sure helps when you know what to expect, the size of them etc.. I saw the Eight Burst planetary last night for the first time and it looked like a small hazy star at first. I will take your advice and search for the Eskimo again tonight. Thanks for the advice 😊 👍

[Orange Smartie]

It's the first I've seen - but if I can see it in my 6" dob, you should be fine with your 10.  Let us know how you get on.

 

[Epick Crom]

Will do Orange Smartie! The sun has just gone down now over here, skies are clear and I'm ready to go once darkness falls. Eskimo is first on my hit list tonight 🌙

[Zermelo]

13 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

M78: Nebula in Orion still eludes me

I'm (almost) sure that I saw this last night in a 6", which is the first time I've looked for it.  I saw the double star and a small patch of surrounding fuzz.

I'm intrigued as some sources describe it as easy to spot and quite notable. but then I'm suspicious that it's not mentioned at all in Turn Left.
I knew it was primarily a reflection nebula so I didn't try a filter, though I've since read that a UHC can make a difference. Next time.

[Jiggy 67]

Great report. I got M78 for the first time last night but it was very faint and diffuse, required a lot of work and a UHC filter . I agree with @Zermelo I was expecting more, it’s  quite a difficult nebula in light polluted skies. Like you @Epick Crom I had a go at the Intergalactic Warrior with no luck 😢 As a fan of globs it’s getting me down that I just can’t get this , it’ll have to wait for a darker skies area 😀

M42 was the best I’ve ever seen it last night though so not all bad

Edited February 11, 2021 by Jiggy 67

[SuburbanMak]

17 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Hi my fellow stargazers! Had an interesting session last night hunting down various objects with various degrees of success! 

M67: Located this compact cluster in Cancer and as a bonus stumbled upon Omicron Cancri, a wide double!

NGC 2392: The Eskimo nebula in Gemini. Searched hard but was again not able to find it☹️.Oh well will try again and again until I nab it.

M 36: Had to work hard as its low down here but got it! Nice cluster.

NGC 3201: Globular in Vela. Fourth attempt at this object and successfully star hopped to it. Much fainter and spread out than I thought.

NGC 3132: Eight Burst nebula in Vela. First attempt to locate it and got it! Nice circular planetary nebula with prominent central star. Vivid blue colour, highlight of the night!

M78: Nebula in Orion still eludes me☹️

NGC 2419. The famous Intergalactic Wanderer in Lynx. A tough ask as this constellation is still really low but I had a go at finding it but was unsuccessful.

All in all a fun night was had, nothing like crusing the night sky hunting for objects and finding unexpected delights along the way! Clear skies to you all 👍

Joe

 

Great report thank you - I too "discovered" M67 last night - great colour, really red/orange. 

[wookie1965]

Great read thank you I saw the "Eskimo Nebula" for the first time last night but I had the advantage of a goto mount. 

[Epick Crom]

Hi guys, an update, just finished a long session and found NGC 2392. Way smaller than I had imagined but now I know what to expect from planetaries should be more successful. Thanks for all the encouragement.