24" hammers the Wisp

[jetstream]

After reading about members wanting to try increased aperture I just had to drag out the monster dob, over 300lbs. Thankfully the surgeon put 4th generation plastic in my new joints lol!👍

The day was crystal clear, approaching darkness brought light high variable cloud- and the SQM-L indicated this going from 21.5-21.6 mag, a full quarter mag off a previous session. However there were nice spurts of vg transparency...

A fantastic view of the Wizard nebula in Ceph was a truly encouraging observation- this is a great object- giver a try! The 20APM and Lumicon OIII was in service for all the observations and did not (ever) disappoint.

Over the the Veil and the split in the Broom revealed the forks in its tips, an excellent sight as well as the bright twisted mass of the whole western Veil. A quick nudge brought the dob over to Pickerings Wisp... yeah, the Wisp, showing as bright as some sections of the Western Veil...

Many think the Wisp is just a faint triangle looking object, and it can be. Throw some aperture at it under dark skies and a transformation occurs- in the form of the twisted filaments as seen in the Veil itself. The patchy, filament filled triangle is there but follow it along and then very nice structure is culminated in the "half golf ball" feature and tonight showed a very bright streak at the top of it. A shorter bright horizontal spike also showed there. As I panned the Wisp I went slightly off and noticed a bunch more nebulosity on the right of it. There was nebulosity all over the place, what a rewarding sight.

I just tried to find an image with the half golf ball feature but not much luck- too much nebulosity buries what can be seen visually. A 15" can just start to show it under very dark skies and I'm interested in other members reports on the feature(s).

Piles more observed, from the little Veil, to Carolines Rose along with the Pacman. NGC7331 and all its fleas were a nice catch as was the Magic Carpet PN.  I noticed a whole bunch of dark nebs between Albireo and Sadr, I must research these to see if theyre listed. Of course the Crescent was observed as well as the IC1318 complex-and the "wall" in the NAN featured nicely... and... and...

It was a great evening.

Edit: just look up the dark ones- it was in the LDN 804 nest, a worthwhile area to try.

Edited September 27, 2021 by jetstream
LDN 804 nest

[JeremyS]

Sounds a brilliant night @jetstream 👍🏻

[Stu]

Fabulous session @jetstream! Well worth getting the beast out for. Makes you wonder what the views with the 24” would be like with that extra quarter magnitude on the SQM! Keep them coming 👍

[globular]

I love swooping the veil area. Even with my more limited 8" and 1.3° fov I get some fantastic views and often spend an hour or more soaking it up.  My eyes agree with you that Pickering's Triangle / Fleming's Wisp is often brighter than the Western Veil. I've found a lot of nebulous structure here.... keeping the scope moving over the area (rather than lingering on one spot) seems to help.

Is the 'half golf ball' this?....

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, globular said:

Is the 'half golf ball' this?....

Yes thats it but it doesnt look like the image much to my eyes. The half circle is very well defined, with structure and a defining "horizontal" bright streak at the "top" (newt view).  There is a mass of detail but not seen as in most images  (to me).

Have you seen it?

[jetstream]

5 hours ago, Stu said:

Fabulous session @jetstream! Well worth getting the beast out for. Makes you wonder what the views with the 24” would be like with that extra quarter magnitude on the SQM! Keep them coming 👍

Thanks Stu!

I had a view of Stephans Quintet under the very best conditions here that is burned into the brain forever- and I chase this view all the time. I was totally dark adapted, eyes rested and had superb transparency and darkness.

But once again I left the scope and sat in my lawnchair for the finale last night

Edited September 27, 2021 by jetstream

[globular]

3 minutes ago, jetstream said:

Have you seen it?

I've had a play with that area but never thought golf ball.... so no I've not seen it.

[jetstream]

1 minute ago, globular said:

I've had a play with that area but never thought golf ball.... so no I've not seen it.

Ive described it before as a partial "bubble" - just follow the funnel and it will reveal bits of it but most likely not the whole feature. One of the really interesting feature is those "Devils forks"- at the end of the Broom split tips.

Speaking of the Broom split- a 3rd short split can be seen easily- I just start imagining it in the 10" but the 15" shows it well.

[ItsmeMaw]

Wonderful report! Thanks for the information.

[Kon]

Great report and the amount of details with your big Dob must be amazing. 

17 hours ago, jetstream said:

Wizard nebula in Ceph

Did you see much structure to it? From your experience, would it be visible with an 8" Dob (with the OIII filter)?

Your Veil observation sounds amazing. I have not managed to be out in a while due to the weather but last time I could see really nice features on the Veil filaments almost twisting around (and for the first time I saw it without the OIII, although not enough details but faint nebulosity). I do not think i have spent much time at all on the Wisp since I am always drawn to the filaments but your report is given me some inspiration to try.

[estwing]

8 hours ago, jetstream said:

Yes thats it but it doesnt look like the image much to my eyes.

Ahhh...not just me then...or Steve or Damian....the amount of depth and intricate detail which with splinters forming an almost 3d image that photographs can't portray is one of the best things about using a big mirror in dark skies....I really struggle to find a better target in the night sky when conditions are right...great report mate.

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, Kon said:

Did you see much structure to it? From your experience, would it be visible with an 8" Dob (with the OIII filter)?

Thanks Kon, the Wizard can be a dazzling object, almost Flaming Star like- another favorite. It does show shades and light shade mottling. I can see it in my 200mm f3.8 no problem, so if you nail the eye illumination I'm sure you will see it. The image scale the 24" provides along with the illumination gives a really great view of it.

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, estwing said:

the amount of depth and intricate detail which with splinters forming an almost 3d image that photographs can't portray

Thanks Calvin, I 100% agree- the object does show as 3D and mesmerizes me everytime I observe it in a large dob. What amazes me is how aperture brings out the Wisp (and Veil)...so bright. I'm not sure the theories about image scale and eye illumination explain it fully. Its just plain old brighter in a big dob lol!