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Meade Lightbridge Observing report as of 3.7.2010 (EMS)

Doc

By Doc
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Doc

Doc

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3.7.2010

Meade lightbridge 16" F4.5 FL1829mm

EMS Dark site at Sawley

No moon until later

Warm clear evening.

Seeing Mag 4.2

In attendance at the East Midlands Stargazers dark site was Doc, Oshb5, Ibbo, Baz Senior, brantuk, PhilJ.

I arrived at 21.00 and started to set up my equipment, the skies were still a little cloudy but you could see some lovely clear skies coming in. By 22.30 it was significantly dark to be able to start observing. The plan tonight was objects in the low constellations of Scorpius and Saggatarius, I'm unable to see these from my garden so hopefully will be able to add a few Messier objects tonight.

The first object to be found in the rich hunting grounds of Sagittarius is the globular cluster known as M22. This bright cluster contains about 70,000 stars of which 32 are known to be variable. At a distance of around 10,000 light-years, M22 is one of the nearer globular clusters. It is nearly 200 light-years in diameter and is notable for containing a very faint planetary nebula which I did not see. The 28 Uwan was letting in to much light and making the M22 look dimmer, best view was with the 7 Uwan inserted giving me x261, the globular came to life and I could easily resolve many stars. M22 is mag 5.1 and has a Sbr of mag11 and is 24' in diameter.

Moving about 1° to the right of M22 I came across another fine globular cluster this one smaller at 15' in diameter and slightly dimmer at mag 6.9 that is M28, a tight globular cluster of several thousand stars. It lies about 19,000 light-years from Earth and has a diameter of around 75 light-years. Through the 7 Uwan the cluster in my eyes looked slightly oval but quite a few stars were resolved.

Staying in the constellation Sagittarius I went hunting for the loose open cluster M23. This cluster lies about 2,150 light-years from Earth and contains about 150 stars of magnitude 10 and fainter. It stretches over a distance of about 20 light-years in diameter and has a total visual magnitude of 6.9. This looked best in the 1.26° FOV of my 28 Uwan, this is a very impressive open cluster and is about 30' in diameter and it contain at least 100 stars that I could see, all of these mostly dim mag 10 stars, a very pretty cluster.

Next was the Sagittarius Star Cloud also known as the M24, which by all accounts is not really a true deep sky object. It is actually a cloudy patch of stars in the Milky Way. The area is framed by dark patches of dust, which gives it the impression of being a separate object. M24 has a total visual magnitude of 4.6 and is 95'x35' in area. This is one awesome open cluster even though there are only about 40 stars, this is a great cluster to observe and looked spetacular in my 28 uwan, it sits right in the heart of a spectacular star field of hundreds of fainter stars, there is an arc of dark nebulosity just North of the cluster.

Not far from M24 is the much smaller M25, this is actually a little hard to see as it seems to be engulfed by the mighty M24. It contains about 60 stars, one of which is a known Cepheid variable. This cluster is located about 2,000 light-years from Earth and has a diameter of around 23 light-years, and shines at mag 6.5. There is one striking yellow star amoung the many dimmer white stars, this is a very pretty and interesting open cluster.

Staying in Sagittarius next was M18 is a small open cluster of about 20 stars, It lies about 5,000 light-years away with a diameter of about 17 light-years. The cluster contains only 12 fairly bright stars, and the cluster is rather loose in appearance. Through my 16Uwan I could detect some blue stars and a few orange/yellow ones. A very pretty even though loose open cluster.

Next one was the highlight of the night, and was met by loads of gasps from many eager astronomers that looked at it. I used the 16 Uwan in conjunction with the Baader O111 filter. The object was the Swan Nebula M17. Located about 6,000 light-years from Earth, this is an area of active star formation. The amount of contrast I achieved with the O111 filter was lovely and the shape of the swan clearly stood out. It was amazing sight and one I will never forget.

Keeping the 16 Uwan and O111 filter in I headed for the Lagoon Nebula M8, a beautiful cloud of gas illuminated by a 5.9 magnitude star inside. The nebula is about 150 light-years in diameter and lies about 5,200 light-years from Earth. M8 is a stellar nursery where many new stars are being formed from the great clouds of gas. The O111 filter was fantastic on this as well and I could easily make out the overall shape of the Lagoon and could even detect a dark lane going through it.

Over to The Trifid Nebula M20, is probably best known for its three-lobed appearance. The dark areas are lanes of dark dust that obscure the nebula's light. This diffuse nebula is very large, and is located about 5,000 light-years from Earth. It is illuminated by a hot 7th-magnitude star located deep within. Keeping the 16 Uwan and O111 filter in myself and Ibbo could easily detect two of the three dark rifts going through the Triffid Nebula. The O111 filter really made this object pop out and I was so peased to have seen it.

Next was M16 an open star cluster and cloud of hot gas about 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. It contains a diffuse nebula and several dark dust lanes known as the Eagle Nebula. The name comes from the shape of the nebula, which resembles a flying eagle. The stars in the cluster formed from the gasses in this nebula, and new stars are still in the process of forming. Through the 16 Uwan and O111 filter I could easily detect the nebulosity even though it did not resemble an eagle, I could detect plenty of knots and gaps within the nebulosity, a very impressive nebula and pleased I can finally mark it off my list.

Next I headed for the constellation Scorpius and the globular cluster M4, at a visual magnitude of 5.6 I should have spotted this but for some strange reason it eluded me.

Even more strange was that I easily found another globular cluster M80, also located in the constellation Scorpius This cluster has a diameter of around 90 light-years and is located roughly 36,000 light-years from the Earth. This cluster was the site of a nova in 1860, which completely changed its appearance for several days. Shining at Mag 7.2 I could easily resolve many of it's stars and overall I really liked this little globular. I then returned to M4 but still was unable to find it.

It was now 01.00 and the clouds had started rolling in, so I called it a night. I had found 11 new Messier objects and the best thing was, I shared my views with many people, some who have never seen or observed through a large dobsonian.

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russ

russ

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Fantastic report Doc. So thats the 12 new Messiers. ;) Great news you got a good night for a dark site visit. And a really good haul of objects. You made the best of the southern horizon.

Awesome detail in the report.

I just hope we get the same luck with the weather next weekend.

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philj

philj

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Good report Mick. I was impressed with just how good the southern horizon is at the site, ideal for all these low south objects. Thanks for showing us the Swan Nebula, never seen it before and I was really impressed as to how bright it was, mind a 16" LB helps here:D

Philj

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Doc

Doc

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Great report. Sounds like a fantastic night - wish I'd been there. Thanks for taking the time to include some information about the DSO's, very interesting.

I like including as much added information as I can, I know it helped me when I was starting out, and it makes for a more interesting read I think.

I'm glad you liked it.

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brantuk

brantuk

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Nice report Mick - it was a smashing night for us especially as I'd left my handset at home - we really appreciated the looks through your dob thanks - it's a beast!

Didn't we also see M57 or was it M27?

Anyway - looking forward to our next session ;)

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Doc

Doc

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We also saw both M57 and M27 but I've seen them loads of time so thought I wouldn't list them again.

I'm glad you enjoyed the views as much as I did Kim.

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