The Eskimo Nebula and friends

[RobertI]

Had a nice relaxing session last night with the ED102-R. Sky was transparent but fairly bright. The main target of interest was the eskimo nebula. A very small bright planetary with a bright core and clearly defined dimmer shell. The magnification can really be upped on this one as it is pretty bright -  I was using magnifications from 160x - 200x. With such a small aperture I tried to tease out the best I could. I tried the OIII, UHC and UHCE (UHCE has greater light transmission designed for smaller scopes). I found that none of the filters really improved the detail visible, the UHC and OIII dimming things too much to be enjoyable. It's possible that the outer edge of the shell was better defined with filters, but it's just so bright without filters it didn't really improve the overall experience. I then thought I'd try the binoviewers, and I have to say it was probably the nicest view of the lot, encouraging a nice long look at 180x. Perhaps not quite so crisp as cyclops but nice and worth remembering for future brught planetaries. 

Also had a squint as some nice doubles and the rising Leo:

• Kappa Geminorum - a lovely double of 3.5 and 10.0 mag separated by 7.2". The secondary was a beautiful tiny faint dot in the frac, which actually disappeared with too much magnification, so a bit of backing off required.
• 38 Geminorum - a pair of 4.7 and 7.8 mag separated by 7.3", well worth a look.
• A galaxy triplet of M65, M66 and the much fainter edge on galaxy 3628. All three were nicely visible in the FOV at 70x, but I really yearned for a dark sky site to seem them at their best.

I finished by trying (again) to track down the Medusa Nebula - homed in on exactly the right area, worked out the size/orientation in the eyepiece, put in various filters, but just could not see it. Not surprising I guess with such a small aperture and brighish skies. Another one to add to my list of things to observe when I get to a dark site.

Edited January 30, 2022 by RobertI

[Kon]

Nice session. I was looking at the Eskimo as well last night with my 8" Dob, and the unfiltered views were much better. Likewise it took magnification very well.

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Nice session. I was looking at the Eskimo as well last night with my 8" Dob, and the unfiltered views were much better. Likewise it took magnification very well.

Good to hear you had the same experience and it wasn’t my imagination! I must try it with the C8 next time. 

[John]

Nice report !

I'm another who finds that I prefer the unfiltered view of the Eskimo nebula. I had a quick look at it last night with my ED120 refractor but it really shone a few nights back when I used my 12 inch dob on it at 300x plus

[Davesellars]

Nice session and mix of targets!

The Eskimo nebula would be a great target for your C8 where you get a lot more magnification on it which would be more likely to tease out the central detail.  It definitely doesn't need any filter.

Abell 21 (Medusa nebula) Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide has this needing an OIII filter but possible with a 4" - However, its reference is using a dark sky!   As it looks very diffuse I think this would be very difficult in anything above Bortle 4.  However, I'll have to try it next time with the 12" dob!

[RobertI]

9 hours ago, John said:

Nice report !

I'm another who finds that I prefer the unfiltered view of the Eskimo nebula. I had a quick look at it last night with my ED120 refractor but it really shone a few nights back when I used my 12 inch dob on it at 300x plus

It must have looked awesome through the 12”John. Did you manage to see any additional structure, or was it a case of bigger and brighter?

[RobertI]

9 hours ago, Davesellars said:

Nice session and mix of targets!

The Eskimo nebula would be a great target for your C8 where you get a lot more magnification on it which would be more likely to tease out the central detail.  It definitely doesn't need any filter.

Abell 21 (Medusa nebula) Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide has this needing an OIII filter but possible with a 4" - However, its reference is using a dark sky!   As it looks very diffuse I think this would be very difficult in anything above Bortle 4.  However, I'll have to try it next time with the 12" dob!

Thanks Dave. I’ll definitely get the 8” out for a look at the Eskimo and possibly try the Medusa again. I do want to get that 102ED to a dark site at some point though. 

[Epick Crom]

Enjoyable report! The Eskimo Nebula is one of my favourite planetaries.

[John]

15 hours ago, RobertI said:

It must have looked awesome through the 12”John. Did you manage to see any additional structure, or was it a case of bigger and brighter?

Yes, unsurprisingly, the 12 inch showed quite a lot more detail of the eskimo's "face" peering out of the "parka hood". Some structure within both which is simply not there with the 120mm scope.

 

 

 

[wookie1965]

Great session thanks for posting.