Observing DSO's with 4" APO frac - 23rd Nov

[Mark at Beaufort]

With the skies clear later last night (after 10pm) I decided to use the 4" frac for a quick grab and go session. The sky was very transparent and when I could see Tau, Upsilon and Phi in Pisces which are all about 5 mag and other fainter stars nearby, I thought this would be a good test for showing what could be seen with a quality 4".

I started with the planetary neb - NGC 246 in Cetus could see the little triangle of stars and the ghostly image of the neb. EPs 13mm and 8mm Ethos.

Moved up to M74 and M33 both very clear. Tried to view M33 with the naked eye without success but very easy in the 9x50 finder.

Decided to have a look at NGC772 in Aries and had a ghostly image of the galaxy.

I know that M77 is often describe as the most difficult Messier object but in the Ethos it was very obvious last night. Tried to view the nearby Heschel 400 object - NGC 1055 but could not see it.

For many years I have tried to view NGC891 but only since I have had the 10" Dob have I seen it. Well last night with NGC891 being almost overhead I easily detected the galaxy. Perhaps as Herschel stated once viewed with a larger scope you can view faint objects with a smaller instruments. Really pleased that I saw this galaxy with a 4".

Moved over to Auriga and viewed the Messier objects but added NGC1907 star cluster. Tried to view IC405 Flaming Star Neb with the 35mm Panoptic and UHC filter - not really sure that I totally viewed it.

Finally ended the night with M1 a very clear view of this object.

Conclusion it is possible to view the brighter DSOs with a 4" scope but having dark and transparent skies help!!

Mark

[Doc]

Your skies must be very good, I struggle with almost all of these and thats with a 16" dob.

Well done Mark and a lovely written report.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Mick I most admit when I realised how clear and transparent it was last night I wish I made the effort and used the 10" Dob as well.

I am lucky with my skies because I look towards Wales with my east/west horizon and there is no light pollution. It also helped that my neighbours were away yesterday and Pam made sure the lights in the back of the house were turned off.

Mark

[ashenlight]

A lovely report Mark, it sounds like you had near perfect conditions those are some brilliant targets you've got there, think it just goes to show that although aperture is king, you need good conditions to get the most out of the size of your scope.

Thanks for sharing

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Amanda - the positive thing about my sky is that I only live a few miles from the Lucksall caravan site that we will be using for SGL5 next year. If we get clear conditions, for this star party, many members of this forum will be able to experience some truly lovely skies with only slight light pollution looking towards the north.

Mark

[ashenlight]

Mark, you are really lucky with your location I'll be at SGL5, so I can't wait to sample the skies.

[Talitha]

What an excellent session, Mark. I've always thought of 246 as being 'sparkly' because of the stars inside of it. Have you ever seen 247? It's a nearly edge on spiral galaxy about nine degrees directly below 246. Sometimes it's called the Exclamation Point Galaxy because the bright mag 9.5 star at the southern tip actually does make it look like an exclamation point.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Hello Carol

As you know NGC247 is number 62 in Patrick Moore's 'Caldwell' list and although I have seen 43 of Patrick's list out of the 67 visible from the UK this is one that I have not seen.

Now that you have pointed it out I must have a go at viewing with the 10" Dob before Cetus becomes too difficult. In David Ratledge's book on Observing the Caldwell Objects he suggests you need a 16" scope to view in the UK but in latitudes further south the object can be viewed in an 8".

Carol I am not sure of your latitude the other side of the pond but what is your take on this statement?

Regards

Mark

[albedo0.39]

Nice report Mark and really pleased you looked for some "off the beaten track" objects (I'm now going to have a look for 246 / 247 thanks to you anc Talitha)

See you at SGL 5

[Mark at Beaufort]

Sorry Carol I just noticed that your latitude is 45 degrees North so clearly NGC 247 will be 7 degrees higher than my position in the UK.

Since my previous thread I have looked at Steve O'Meara's comments on this Galaxy. Conclusion if I get a good clear horizon looking S or SW after the Moon has gone away in the second week of December I will have another go.

Mark

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Steve (Albedo0.39) - yes it will be good to see you and Doc side by side with those 16" Dobs. Lucksall has such a good southern horizon.

Let me know how you get on with NGC247.

mark

[MartinB]

I envy your skies Mark. I'm still haven't spotted NGC 891. I have seen M77 with an ED120. It's bright enough, just quite small.

[Talitha]

(Sorry for the late reply, my connection's been horrid lately.)

Here's what 247 looked like. TBH, i think it would be worth a try, definitely with a clean dark horizon. The transparency was 'average' on the night of the sketch, and the galaxy was in my worst light dome. Please give it a try if you can, i'm curious to know how low to the horizon this galaxy can be seen, and with what aperture. Good luck!

(For anyone else wanting to try, wait till about 5-6 Dec and look between 19:00 and 20:00 UT when the galaxy will be at it's highest altitude from the horizon.)

[Mark at Beaufort]

Carol I now fully appreciate why NGC247 is called the exclamation galaxy and your drawings are wonderful as usual. I imagine that the 9.5 mag star helps with star hopping so come early December I will hunt it down. I will use both the 6" frac and the 10" Dob and see how I get on.

I will post a report whatever happens. Thanks again for the info - hope the internet connection improves.

Regards

Mark

[albedo0.39]

That's a really nice drawing Carol - I must confess that I wander around my local hobby store getting closer and closer to the "brushes and pencils" section...

Inspirational

[stefski]

Great report Mark....I can't wait for Lucksall btw. As has been said already, you really do have great skies. I've been looking at NGC 246 recently with my Nx11 and have only seen a vague hint of nebulosity around the three stars. However, that could have been the ol' 'averted imagination'!

Stef

[Capricorn]

Not sure if you could find it or if it would be of interest but there was a posting on Cloudy Nights about the same thing about 2-3 months back. What could be seen through a 4inch refractor.

Seems to have come about by not having the time to set up a large scope and whoeever it was had started to list what they could see in a 4inch scope. No idea on the persons location so they may have had access to darker skies then most in the UK.

It made interesting reading.

[Talitha]

Thanks, Mark and Steve.

Mark, if the frac is on an EQ mount, just slide straight down the RA axis from ngc246 to reach ngc247... they'both at 00h 47m.