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Observing at Deep Creek Lake on Thanksgiving EveThe report: EP info for the 20":
9mm Nagler 282x with 0.29 deg FOV = 9N 31mm Nagler 81x with 1.00 deg FOV = 31N Abbreviations:
G – galaxy Dobservations: Observing report: 20" Obsession f5 location: In-laws driveway, Deep Creek Lake, Western Maryland weather: cold but clear and dry, turbulent atmosphere black bears: 0 There were lights across the lake about 1/4 - 1/2 a mile away. No neighbors were home (most are summer homes). I aligned the finders and header for Saturn. I was limited to <200x by turbulent sky and perhaps a hot mirror. Saturn was still "low" in the sky. Viewed with 22N and 31N. Bright, cassini division well seen. One dark band on planet. The Double Cluster, viewed through the 31N each appeared to consist ov over a hundred stars. Several showed color. Both fit in FOV. NGC 869 - older, 7200 ly distant, appears more compressed. NGC 844 - younger, 7500 ly distant, appears more open - scattered. Both these clusters are believed to have formed from the same cloud of dust. As they are 300 ly apart, that must have been one big dust cloud! Auriga: (OC and Nebulae) Aimed telrad at M38. I looked in the EP (31N) and was looking at NGC 1907 the cluster next to M38. This is a small but tight cluster. [It looks like a cloud of fairy dust in the 10" ... I mean there are a few (about 12) bright stars resolved with a back ground haze when seen in the 10". This is my token Walter Scott Huston reference] Nearby M38 is much larger and brighter. It is 25 ly across and m6.4 brightness. All of the messier OC's (M36-38) were easily seen in the Short Tube 80 (though not all at once!) so I headed over to M36, m6.0 OC, 14 ly across, 4100 ly distant. BRIGHT OC. M37 is m5.6 and 25 ly across. Stunning. Bright OC. rich. I wanted to find nebula IC 410 so I looked for NGC 1893 (the OC that it overlies) with the short tube and centered it in the EP of the 20. NGC 1893 is a m7.5 OC it is dimmer then the Messier clusters and its stars are linearly arrainged. I added the OIII filter to the 31N (thanks Mom). IC 410 is seen as an elogated arc of nebulosity which is brighter to one side. Using a hood helped to visualize this nebula. This and NGC 1893 were my new objects in Auriga. Gemini: (a trio of PN) My second target of the night was PK295+4.1 a m10.4 PN in Gemini. I missed this the last time out.Viewed with the 31N and 22N with OIII filters. Faint arc of glow (fainter then IC 410), slightly brighter at one end (less elongated then IC 410). NGC 2371-2 is a bilobed m 11.3 PN. I found it using the OIII+31N and could see that there were two lobes. With the 22N + OIII: there are 2 round lobes, one has a brighter spot towards one edge. No central star seen. 9N+UHC: similar to view in the 22N, 2 round lobes, one with a bright patch. NGC 2392 - the Eskimo nebula - a m 9.2 PN. 22N + OIII: large, round diffuse glow with a central round brighter area. 12N+OIII: Ithe inner component is moch brighter then the outer shell. 9N+UHC: similar to 12N. No hint of structure in the inner component is seen 9I saw some the last time out but the sky was much more steady), sky did not allow this much magnification. ORION: (more nebulae or go for the glow) As you may have noted, I had attached all my OIII and UHC filters to various objects and was seeking out nebulae and PN's to avoid the take the filter off, put it back on ritual. also the nebula seemed to be "popping out" and I didn't want to waste such a trans parent sky. M78 is a RN. I started with the 12N+OIII. It appeared very dim. it was centered about 3 stars. Remembering that it was a RN I removed the OIII filter and the nebulosity brightened significantly. It has one shrp curved margin. The other margins seemed to just "fade out". It has a "fan" shape. In the same EP field is NGC 2071 another RN, it is much dimmer and smaller. M42 - viewed with 31,22,12N. I spent a long time here, looking at the detail. Dark lanes, bright areas, green. GREEN. Bright Green. [aka: the Thundering Herd or The Marshall University Nebula] Never before have I seen green in the nebula. Around the trapezium it was bright green superimposed on whitish grey. Once I saw the green it appeared obvious. I could follow dimmer green light out into the less bright areas surrounding the trapezium, the color faded away in the dimmer areas. I was amazed, dumbfounded, and astonished. Seeing made views through the 9N and 12N less then ideal so I stuck with the 22n and the 31N. Only 5 stars were seen in the trapezium, even after recollimation. M43 is bright, smalled and next to M42, another EN/RN. I kept going back to the Trapezium area of M42 to see if the green was still there. WOW! NGC 1977 faint glow ?RN, IC434 - very faint glow, extended in a linear fashion. Horse head? No WAY! NGC 2024 brighter, I'm now sure if I saw structure or not, it looks better in Jeff Ball's photo . Monoceros: The Rosette nebula a ?EN overlies the OC 2244 (m4.8). I'd seen this last full moon and wanted to revisit with the 22N+OIII. Large diffuse nebula. Absence of glow over central part of the star cluster. Gemini: I had seen Hubble's varriable nebula the last time that I was out so decided to visit it again. it looked beter without the OIII so i assume it's a RN. Viewed with 22N. Looks like a comet or a triangle with its apex on a star. It was late so I decided to turn fron nebula to Messier OC's of the winter milky way. (aka mining diamonds in the sky) M41 - a rich bright OC in Canis major, m4.5 M 44 - binocular/finder scope object. In the 22n the stars were bright but widly spaced giving a sparse appearance. this is an object for the 4" refractor set, who elso has enough FOV to do it justice? Cancer, m3.1 OC M 79 - bgight GC in Lepus, bright central condensation, stars are well resolved at the edges. M48 - a moderately rich OC witha linear arrangement of stars, Hydra, m5.8 Monoceros: M47 - a sparse but bright OC. better in the finder. Another '4" object'. m4.4 M46 a m6.1 OC, dimmer in finder but rich OC through the scope. bright. the PN is obvious without the OIII. OIII improves visualization of the PN M50 a m5.9 OC - a haze behind resolved stars in the finder. A rich tight OC in the scope NGC 2393 - a small sparse OC Dragging with fatigue, not wanting to relinquish the dark clear sky, I reluctantly put the scope back in the truck. I entered the house at 4AM Tally:
PN 4 This made up for the 7 and 1/2 hour trip (usually it's 4-5 hours) up through Pre Thanksgiving traffic.
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