Twins And Rosette

[Epick Crom]

Hi my fellow stargazers! I was greeted by clear skies last night after sunset so I brought out my 10 inch dob to cool off while it got dark. Seeing was not the best, stars twinkling violently, but transparency was good. Another warm night of observing commenced!

GEMINI: I started my nights observing in Gemini. This is a lovely constellation packed with a variety of treats! I seeked out open cluster NGC 2266 first as I've never seen it before. Star hopping from Mebsuta ( Epsilon Geminorum) soon got me to the location. Fairly rich and faint cluster, it's stars sparkling at around 10th magnitude. Close to NGC 2266 I picked up comet C/2019 L3 Atlas. It was close to an attractive triangle of faint stars. Only the comets faint coma was visible at high magnification, I couldn't see a tail at all. From there I visited two familiar friends, M 35 and NGC 2392. M 35 looked spectacular, with fainter NGC 2158 nestled close by.  NGC 2392 the Eskimo Nebula was another spectacular object, this planetary looking good at 240x. Vivid colour and central star easily visible. I checked out Castor next and split it's components. This is another beauty in Gemini, wonderful double star. Researching about Castor reveals its actually a triple double!

Satisfied with my foray in Gemini I moved into Monoceros next. Hubble's Variable Nebula NGC 2261 was my first target there. Marvelous nebula with a fan shape. Beta Monocerotis was superb, splitting into three at 150x. What a beauty! I visited M 50 next. Nice open cluster with a distinctive heart shape 😍

My highlight came when I observed the open cluster NGC 2244 in an attempt to see the Rosette Nebula. The open cluster itself just about fills the view at 70x, but what I noticed it that the sky surrounding the cluster is darker than its surroundings. Slowly panning away from the cluster showed a brightning of the sky. Hipiee! I had detected the faint nebulosity of the Rosette! Wow it is very large. Now that I have more experience under my belt I can locate and identify it. It was impossible for me to see last year! Just goes to show that the saying in amateur astronomy that experience allows you to see more is so true! This was a wonderful way to conclude my observations. Wishing you all clear skies and keep looking up!

Joe

[Kon]

Nice report and descriptions and well done on bagging the Rosette!

[Kimboman]

Hi great report 

[Epick Crom]

Thanks Kostas! Yeah the Rosette is fairly large, I could clearly detect it's oval shape as a diffuse, milky brighter area. It's elevation at the time of observing really helped as well. Clear skies 😊

[Epick Crom]

Hi Kimboman and thanks. I just love observing the night skies, as we all do! Wishing you clear skies up north

[wookie1965]

Thoroughly good read thank you for posting. 

[Epick Crom]

3 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Thoroughly good read thank you for posting. 

Thanks Wookie! Hope you are better now!