Canis Major and Pupis

[MalcolmM]

Spent an evening looking at clusters in Canis Major and Pupis, also taking in Hind's Crimson Star which really is a beautiful sight in a scope. 

I don't often look at this region as it's low, and also plagued by a bright sky glow from industrial lights!

However, it's quite rich in some lovely clusters, and purely by chance, having accidentally kicked the tripod while looking at C64, discovered a beautiful double with a striking orange primary, and what looked like a grey/white secondary. A bit of research identified this to be 145 Canis Majoris or 'The Albireo of Winter'. A first for me, and one I'll keep going back to!

Many of the clusters show lots of stars with that mottled haze in the background that hints of many more stars, just out of range. I would love to observe these objects from a darker site.

Here's my crib sheet cobbled together from resources online plus my observation of Hind's Crimson Star. 

FS60CB as a finder, dual mounted with a Mewlon 180C on a Giro Ercole on an Innorel tripod. 28mm Tak Erfle in the 60CB and a 32mm 85° Masuyama in the Mewlon.

Malcolm 

[josefk]

Lux finder 🙂 

 

Actually more seriously - i bet that was quite a nice combo for two different perspectives. I have the capability to dual mount but i hardly ever do it in reality - it can be a faff to manage two scopes versus the dew for one thing. 

Roll on spring!

 

Edited March 7 by josefk
added comment

[MalcolmM]

 

48 minutes ago, josefk said:

Lux finder 🙂 

 

Actually more seriously - i bet that was quite a nice combo for two different perspectives. I have the capability to dual mount but i hardly ever do it in reality - it can be a faff to manage two scopes versus the dew for one thing. 

Roll on spring!

 

Yes, it is a very extravagant finder

But it is nice, giving a different perspective on what you are seeing, and I couldn't bear adding a botch to the Mewlon in order to create a right angled finder!

Should have added in the report that I got all the targets except for C54. I tried star hopping to it from every which way, but I failed to catch it.

Malcolm 

Edited March 7 by MalcolmM

[Epick Crom]

14 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

Spent an evening looking at clusters in Canis Major and Pupis, also taking in Hind's Crimson Star which really is a beautiful sight in a scope. 

I don't often look at this region as it's low, and also plagued by a bright sky glow from industrial lights!

However, it's quite rich in some lovely clusters, and purely by chance, having accidentally kicked the tripod while looking at C64, discovered a beautiful double with a striking orange primary, and what looked like a grey/white secondary. A bit of research identified this to be 145 Canis Majoris or 'The Albireo of Winter'. A first for me, and one I'll keep going back to!

Many of the clusters show lots of stars with that mottled haze in the background that hints of many more stars, just out of range. I would love to observe these objects from a darker site.

Here's my crib sheet cobbled together from resources online plus my observation of Hind's Crimson Star. 

FS60CB as a finder, dual mounted with a Mewlon 180C on a Giro Ercole on an Innorel tripod. 28mm Tak Erfle in the 60CB and a 32mm 85° Masuyama in the Mewlon.

Malcolm 

Nice report @MalcolmM! Canis Major and Puppis are favourite hunting grounds for me being in the southern hemisphere. 145 Canis Majoris is the "summer Albireo" for us ☺️. Next to that beautiful double is NGC 2362, the stunning Tau Canis Majoris cluster. Did you get a chance to see it?

Funny you mentioned the "mottling" in Canis Major, this was the area I first noticed this phenomenon back in 2020 with my first scope. Puppis contains a lot of beautiful open clusters, I hope you continue to enjoy observing this rich region. 

 

Clear Skies

Joe

[MalcolmM]

8 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

NGC 2362

This is the one marked C64 in my crib sheet. I was actually looking at this when I knocked the tripod which brought the double into view! It was a lovely cluster despite the brightish sky.

8 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

continue to enjoy observing

I went out the next night to try and actually record my observations but a thin high hazy cloud prevented me being able to find half of them, and the half I could see were just smudges! 

Have you managed to see the little planetary embedded in M46 @Epick Crom?

Malcolm 

[Epick Crom]

Hi @MalcolmM, yes I have seen the planetary NGC 2438 that's embedded in M46. It's a lovely sight.

Cheers

Joe