ET cluster from late August

[Talitha]

With summertime activities dying down, there's finally time to get my sketches scanned and on the computer... they've been stacking up since March.

Here's ET (NGC 457). I get a kick out of detecting lots and lots of faint stars so i used the 8" SCT, but ET can be seen with less aperture, so give it a try with whatever you've got... it's lots of fun.

Satisfaction guaranteed, or double your money back. :)

[AztecastroMcJ]

very nice

cant seem to see E.T tho ?

James

[barkis]

Excellent as always Carol.

ET defeats me too, but I can see the Owl resemblence.

Ron.

[jgs001]

Excellent work Carol.. I'm with the others... I don't get ET... but a little Owl ...

[Breakintheclouds]

You're right about smaller apertures: I view this very happily with my 5" scope. This has quickly become a favourite object. The first time I saw it I had no idea what to expect, and let out a genuine 'Wow!' when it swung into the eyepiece.

[Talitha]

Here you go.. with those long arms, he almost looks like a little monkey.

Isn't it odd how we see different things? The first image i ever saw of this cluster had ET's arms drawn in... maybe that's why i've never seen an Owl. It definitely looks a lot better with a wider fov, though.

[jgs001]

Ok, I can kinda see it with the arms drawn in Carol...

[AztecastroMcJ]

yeh can see it now

very long arms

James

[Andrew*]

It'll always be an Owl for me. Love this cluster, and really really love this rendition - superb sketch.

[Talitha]

Thanks, everyone.

[steppenwolf]

This is a lovely sketch and the first time I have seen an explanation for the 'over the pond' naming of ET. Now you should do a version annotated to look like an owl !!!

[gliderpilot]

This is one of my favourite objects too and shown very well in your excellent sketch. This is readily seen in my 15x50 binos and it is a lovely sight with nearby ngc457. I always think of it as a stickman with big yellow eyes!

Mark

[Talitha]

Thanks, Steve and Mark.

Maybe i'd need to back down in power to see the Owl? The eyepiece used for that sketch (32mm) gave me the lowest available power for the f/10 SCT. I suppose the 6.3 focal reducer would have helped, but for some reason it gives me eyestrain headaches (and if i pan too quickly it makes me nauseous, lol).

But... i recently purchased an f/5 120 achro and will try another sketch when the cloudgods let me. TBH though, i've never seen the Owl in the formation.. anyone care to draw him in so i know what to look for? Thx!

[stefski]

Nice one Carol....I'm with you on this one. I've never seen the owl here, it's definitely ET!

Stef

[Talitha]

Thanks, Stef.