Pythagoras, Schickard, then Sadr Region

[cloudsweeper]

9.55pm Tuesday, Moon (2 days to full) low, east of south, sky clear, Sun only just set.  I put the fine little ED80 Triplet to use for a change, partly to avoid being overwhelmed by the glare.

To the south - Schickard, near terminator - going from x80 to x120, six larger pits were seen (one on the rim), also a few smaller ones.  Seeing was variable, occasionally quite unstable.

Going north, Babbage was very close to the terminator, well lit, apart from the large crater in its floor.  But the best apparition was from Pythagoras, just above Babbage, and right on the terminator.  It was a flattened ellipse of darkness, except for a silvery sliver of light from the western wall, curving gently against the darkness beyond.  And there was a tiny pinprick of light from a central peak of Pythagoras.  A fine spectacle, quite prominent also in a wider view (x48 / 1.42deg) - very pleasing; not too bright for comfort.

To the east, Vega appeared, then Deneb and Sadr.  I took advantage of the widefield views, using x16 / 4.25deg.  In the view with Sadr was NGC 6910 (Inchworm Cluster).  I've seen it better under darker conditions, but by increasing mag (to x27) and therefore contrast, a few more fainter stars showed up as well as three clearer ones.

Star P Cygni (Revenant of the Sun) was close, described as a permanent nova.  It erupted about 400 years ago, and has undergone further outbursts since.  It is now irregularly variable, and is not believed to be a true nova.

P Cygni Cluster IC 4996 - another one which looked better in darker skies without a bright Moon.  (One clear, two faint stars only.)

Finally RS Cygni (variable Carbon star) - at mag. 7.6, it appeared quite dim, but its orange hue was very noticeable.

I finished after just over 1.5 hours - very pleasing, on a mild and clear evening.

Doug.

Edited June 23, 2021 by cloudsweeper

[John]

Nice report Doug

I found the moon rather wobbly last night so I didn't spend too much time on it. It was nice to be out and observing again though after a rather dull cloudy patch of weather here.