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Globular cluster fest…


NGC 1502

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On Friday night just gone, the skies cleared late evening.  With the moon not up until the small hours it was a good opportunity to grab some deep sky before June skies mean that it does not get fully dark at my latitude.

With my 10” Dob set up in the garden at 23.00 BST the sky looked ok even though full astronomical darkness was still an hour away.  I’d not viewed M10 / M12 for ages, took a few moments to find M10.  At 44x it was obviously a globular cluster, a hazy patch with a sprinkling of stars apparent. Some much more obvious stars around the periphery, guessing those are foreground stars.  Best view was 150x.  A short star hop to M12, at 44x obviously brighter than M10, no obvious foreground stars as with M10, best view, again 150x. Decided to wait until M14 was a bit higher later on.

M3 followed, apparently so much brighter at 44x, best view was 240x. GCs always seem to look better with the power pumped up👍
Could not resist M13/92.  After their dimmer cousins they both looked great.  M13 a very obvious ball of stars with those streams of stars radiating out, a digression was galaxy NGC 6207 just half degree away, a dim hazy spot borderline averted/direct vision.

Failed to find M14, maybe next time, didn’t try for GC M56 as I was keen to try my new-to-me Lumicon 2” UHC, that’s another story, a comparison with my Ultrablock.  But M27 sure looked great…….

Thoroughly enjoyed my globular cluster fest!!

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12 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

My favourite objects. It's that time of year for globulars and I'm looking forward to getting the 12" on them.


When you can many of us I’m sure would like a report on the StellaLyra 12”👍

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Update to opening post.  Didn’t think I’d get another chance so soon, last session I tried but failed to find M14.  This time I made a determined effort.  Using my 10” at 44x with a 1.5 degree field I swept the whole area.  On the third sweep a hazy spot slid into view….Messier 14.    At higher power it didn’t resolve into stars, stubbornly it remained a hazy spot, looking much like a galaxy.  But no bright galaxy is shown on my charts at that location, so globular cluster M14 it is.

I expect a larger aperture plus better skies is needed to resolve it into stars. But nice to at least observe it once more.

Ed.

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As I hadn't looked at M14 for many years, I included it and nearby globulars in my evening ramblings during a clear spell three nights ago. Very easy to find and quite bright, although no individual stars seen (5" mak).

Nearby M10 and M12 were visibly brighter, with some detail. Again, no trouble finding them.

NGC 6366 was much more difficult. It took 10 mins dark adaption and my black hood to spot it. Visibly vaguely circular, but no detail.

Chris

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