Dark sky sketches

[Wiu-Wiu]

Some more results from my latest trip to our dark sky location. 

I was able to use the 18" Canopus on a Tom O. Equatorial platform, it is handling the scope very well. The stability makes all the difference in sketching at high powers. 

Unfortunately, seeing wasn't excellent, and high clouds must have been around too, as transparency wasn't quite good, either. 

 

 

NGC 6804 is a peculiar planetary, with an odd irregular galaxy look. 

2 dark indentations are seen (one big at the West and a smaller one to the east side), and a smaller patch of fuzziness is seen to the north of the nebula. 

The nebula is sharply edged at its north-east edge. It fades out broadly to the SouthWest.

 

Another peculiar planetary nebula is NGC 6778. At extreme magnification, this PN gets the appearance of an hourglass. A bright diagonal can be observed. 

 

This trio of galaxies is a lovely group.  At mag 15.2, NGC 318 was still seen with direct sight. 

 

Just East of the Coathanger (Collinder 399) is this small open cluster. At low magnification, its core has a rectangular appearance. 

When diving into the core, tiny specks of light appear, with darker areas creating gaps in the rectangle. 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Wiu-Wiu

[alan potts]

Nice sketches Dave, I see CLS stated on that planetry, is that the Lumicon filter I let you have and do you find it useful at all, I did on some targets, mainly galaxies.

Alan

[Wiu-Wiu]

Hey Alan,

Thank you! 

No, I used the Astronomik CLS on this one. The Lumicon is 2" and would probably have to be put in the front of the paracorr, as my eyepieces are mostly 1.25".

I did tackle the Horsehead  it's even visible with Alnitak in the same FOV, at dawn. 

(I'm not really happy with the sketch yet)

 

[alan potts]

57 minutes ago, Wiu-Wiu said:

Hey Alan,

Thank you! 

No, I used the Astronomik CLS on this one. The Lumicon is 2" and would probably have to be put in the front of the paracorr, as my eyepieces are mostly 1.25".

I did tackle the Horsehead  it's even visible with Alnitak in the same FOV, at dawn. 

(I'm not really happy with the sketch yet)

 

It's great that it is visible at all, difficult object even with this aperture, I managed it twice but that was maybe out of 20 attempts, I think you have to hit the sweet spot on power, I only had a 1,25 inch filter so rather limited my options.

Alan