Julien Lecomte's Blog

I was only able to attend the first two nights of CalStar, an annual Star Party that takes place at Lake San Antonio in California. The first night (Thu, Sep 17), the transparency was mediocre (when I called it a night, around 2am, Jupiter was surrounded by a bright halo…). Therefore, I used that first night to focus on bright easy objects. The second night (Fri, Sep 18) was much better with an NELM of 6.7 in UMi. Seeing on both nights was about average. However, the high temperatures during the day caused my (thick) mirror to take many hours to cool down, even with the fan on (and I made the mistake of keeping the shroud on…)

Among the highlights, I was able to see Uranus (easy) and M 33 (hard) naked eye, as well as catch the two brightest satellites of Uranus with my scope. Dave Cooper and Peter Natscher also shared some superb views in their scopes (respectively an AP 6″ apo refractor and a 24″ F/3.7 Starmaster dobsonian telescope)

I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations I had during the day with fellow observers. That’s why I’ve come to love star parties. Even if the weather is not so great, it’s always a fantastic opportunity to learn new things.

Below is my log for both nights. Most objects are from the Herschel 400 list. From now on, I will start mixing in Herschel II and Herschel I objects in my observing routine, in addition to some objects from Alvin Huey’s awesome free guides: “Selected Small Galaxy Groups” and “Selected Galaxy Trios” (which I had printed and coil binded at Fedex Kinko’s) Cheers!

Location: Lake San Antonio [Elevation 1082 ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

NGC 7142 OC Cep 21h45m25.3s +65°49′26″ 10.0 mag 08:40pm
Very inconspicuous group of about 40 moderately faint stars over a milky background. Slightly elongated WNW-ESE. A few brighter stars delimit this cluster on the north and east sides.

NGC 7331 GX Peg 22h37m33.1s +34°28′14″ 10.2 mag 09:00pm
Elongated 3×1 NNW-SSE. Fairly bright core region surrounding a bright stellar nucleus visible at 217x and 305x during brief moments of better seeing. The halo is rather dim compared to the core. It extends about 6′ along its major axis. The western half of the galaxy looks darker, due to the presence of a dark lane. Very faint superimposed star about 2′ SSE of nucleus. NGC 7335, NGC 7337 and NGC 7340 were easily detected. NGC 7336 was not detected. I did not search for nearby NGC 7325 and NGC 7326.

NGC 6210 (Turtle Nebula) PN Her 16h44m54.4s +23°47′05″ 9.7 mag 09:25pm
At 95x, this planetary nebula appears bright, almost stellar, and exhibits an obvious blue color. At 217x and 305x, the color is a bit washed out. At those magnifications, this planetary nebula appears round and very uniform, about 10 to 15″ in diameter, and seems to be surrounded by a slightly larger and rather faint envelope (unless this is scattered light). I did not detect a central star.

NGC 6572 (Blue Racquetball) PN Oph 18h12m35.8s +06°51′28″ 8.0 mag 09:40pm
At 95x, this planetary nebula appears bright, stellar, and exhibits an obvious blue color. At 217x and 305x, the color is a bit washed out. At those magnifications, this planetary nebula appears very uniform, roughly 10″ in diameter, and seems surrounded by a very faint envelope about 3 times the size of the nebula (unless this is scattered light). I did not detect a central star. There is a faint group of a dozen stars 10′ west.

NGC 7217 GX Peg 22h08m20.6s +31°24′39″ 11.1 mag 10:35pm
Bright, round non stellar core surrounded by a larger, relatively bright uniform halo. Faint superimposed star less than 1′ NNE of the core.

NGC 7814 GX Peg 00h03m47.1s +16°12′11″ 11.6 mag 10:50pm
Moderately bright and large. Appears roundish at first, progressively brighter toward its center. At higher magnification and with careful examination, a faint halo extending NW-SE can be detected. The bisecting dust lane obvious on photographs was not seen.

NGC 7448 GX Peg 23h00m34.6s +16°02′10″ 12.1 mag 11:00pm
Pretty small, moderately bright, elongated 2×1 NNW-SSE, faint nucleus seen intermittently at high magnification. Suspected the detached segment that makes this galaxy peculiar to be at the northern tip of the galaxy.

Mayall II (M31-G1) GC And 00h33m20.0s +39°38′04″ 13.7 mag 12:20am
Appears faint and stellar, thus requiring a very detailed chart to find! Forms a very tight triangle with two field stars. In order to confirm the observation, I sketched a few field stars along with the position of the presumed globular. The result is very close to the sketch published by Sue French in the December 2005 issue of Sky & Telescope’s Deep Sky Wonder column. I believe that excellent seeing and high magnification are essential to see the non-stellar nature of this target.

NGC 205 (M 110) GX And 00h40m56.5s +41°44′30″ 8.9 mag 12:30am
Fairly large and bright, elongated 2×1 NW-SE, gradually brighter to a stellar nucleus.

NGC 891 GX And 02h23m12.6s +42°23′30″ 10.9 mag 12:45am
Moderately faint, elongated roughly 6×1 NNE-SSW, about 12′ along its major axis. The dust lane splitting this galaxy in half is clearly visible only through the central bulge. Several fairly bright stars are superimposed. Peter Natscher’s 24″ scope showed the bisecting dust lane much more clearly, along with some mottling.

NGC 7293 (Helix) PN Aqr 22h30m12.6s -20°47′05″ 6.3 mag 12:55am
Large, fairly dim, best seen using a UHC filter at low power. The ring structure, very slightly elongated NW-SE, can easily be seen. The NW and SE portions of the rim are clearly dimmer. A few superimposed stars, including what appears to be the central star, can be seen inside the ring over a faint background.

NGC 7662 (Blue Snowball) PN And 23h26m24.4s +42°35′30″ 8.6 mag 01:30am
At 95x, this planetary nebula appears bright, stellar, and looks slightly bluish. At 217x and 305x, the center region of the nebula appears darker, and an elliptical ring oriented roughly E-W can be detected. What I failed to see is the lumpy texture of the ring, beautifully documented in the October 2009 issue of Astronomy Now’s Drawn To The Universe column.

Friday, September 18, 2009

NGC 6822 (Barnard’s Galaxy) GX Sgr 19h45m32.4s -14°46′43″ 9.4 mag 08:30pm
Large (roughly 15′ x 10′), elongated NNE-SSW, extremely pale, very easy to miss when sweeping the area, which is probably why this galaxy was missed by Herschel and was discovered so late (Barnard, 1881). There are a few superimposed stars throughout. A couple of small knots (probably HII regions) were seen using a UHC filter (although I did not note their position) This galaxy is part of the Local Group of galaxies.

NGC 7027 PN Cyg 21h07m25.2s +42°16′47″ 9.6 mag 08:50pm
Small, bright, exhibiting an obvious blue color, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, rectangular in shape, slightly wider on the NW side. A faint outer envelope, about twice the size of the nebula, was suspected (unless it could be scattered light)

NGC 6503 GX Dra 17h49m20.4s +70°08′46″ 10.8 mag 09:15pm
Fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 3×1 WNW-ESE, fairly uniform with only a slight brightening of the core region. Detected a very weak nucleus or superimposed star.

NGC 7023 BN Cep 21h01m45.3s +68°12′26″ mag 09:40pm
Fairly dim nebulosity, roughly 2′ in diameter, around V380 Cep (mag 7.4). Dim patch around 2 to 3′ south of V380 Cep (photographs confirm the presence of this extension). A UHC filter makes the nebula disappear, confirming its reflective nature.

NGC 7479 GX Peg 23h05m28.0s +12°22′45″ 11.7 mag 10:20pm
Moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 5:2 N-S, weak fairly large core. Moderately bright (mag 12.9) superimposed star at the northern end, slightly dimmer (mag 13.7) star about 1′ SW of the center. Suspected some mottling in the core. This galaxy is actually a barred spiral. The arms should be visible under better conditions and with a slightly larger scope.

NGC 7078 (M 15) GC Peg 21h30m28.0s +12°12′47″ 6.3 mag 10:25pm
Fairly large, very bright, very intense core, resolved throughout. Located about 7′ SW of a bright (mag 7.6) star.

NGC 7099 (M 30) GC Cap 21h40m57.3s -23°07′56″ 6.9 mag 10:35pm
Moderately large and bright, well defined core, well resolved throughout. The SE region looks darker. Quite a few brighter stars are visible in the halo.

NGC 404 (Mirach’s Ghost) GX And 01h10m01.9s +35°46′21″ 11.2 mag 11:00pm
Located about 7′ NW of Mirach (Beta And), a mag 2.0 star exhibiting a beautiful golden color. Moderately bright and small, round, gradually brighter to a fairly bright stellar nucleus best seen at high magnification.

NGC 628 (M 74) GX Psc 01h37m15.2s +15°50′11″ 9.7 mag 11:35pm
Fairly bright and small core embedded inside a large round faint halo showing hints of mottling at higher magnification. Very faint superimposed star within 1′ ESE of the center, slightly brighter one about 1.5′ ENE. Spiral structure better seen in Peter Natscher’s 24″ scope.

NGC 7606 GX Aqr 23h19m37.3s -08°25′42″ 11.7 mag 12:10am
Moderately large and bright, elongated 2×1 NNW-SSE, fairly bright stellar core, uniform halo.

NGC 7727 GX Aqr 23h40m26.2s -12°14′02″ 11.6 mag 12:20am
Fairly small and bright, small round intense core, round uniform halo. NGC 7723 and NGC 7724 nearby.

NGC 7723 GX Aqr 23h39m29.4s -12°54′15″ 11.9 mag 12:25am
Fairly small, moderately faint, moderately bright stellar nucleus surrounded by a fairly uniform halo elongated 3:2 NE-SW. Located about 20′ ENE of a bright yellow double star. NGC 7727 and NGC 7724 nearby.

NGC 253 (Sculptor Galaxy) GX Scl 00h48m04.1s -25°13′53″ 7.9 mag 12:45am
Very easily seen along globular cluster NGC 288 in 9×50 finder scope. Very large and bright, elongated 6×1 NE-SW. The core region is large, bright, and shows some obvious mottling (seen even better in Peter Natscher’s 24″ scope). Numerous fairly bright field stars are superimposed.

NGC 247 GX Cet 00h47m39.8s -20°42′11″ 9.7 mag 12:55am
Pretty large, moderately faint, elongated 6×1 N-S, very weak central condensation. Fairly bright (mag 9.5) star at the southern tip, moderately bright (mag 11.6) superimposed star about 7′ S.

NGC 288 GC Scl 00h53m15.8s -26°31′34″ 8.1 mag 01:00am
Very easily seen along galaxy NGC 253 in 9×50 finder scope. Fairly large and bright, fairly uniform, well resolved throughout.

NGC 613 GX Scl 01h34m47.8s -29°21′46″ 10.7 mag 01:10am
Moderately large and bright, elongated 3×1 NW-SE, fairly bright small round core. Hints of two spiral arms, one starting at the NW end, bending towards the W, and a symmetrical arm starting at the SE end, bending towards the E.

NGC 7793 GX Scl 23h58m22.3s -32°32′00″ 9.7 mag 01:15am
Moderately large, fairly faint, elongated 4:3 E-W, faint almost stellar core.

NGC 524 GX Psc 01h25m20.5s +09°35′35″ 11.4 mag 01:30am
Bright, fairly small. Intense core surrounding an almost stellar nucleus. Fairly bright round halo. Brightest member of the Shakhbazian 40 group.

NGC 1023 GX Per 02h41m02.8s +39°06′23″ 9.6 mag 01:35am
Moderately large, fairly bright, small bright round core, halo elongated 2×1 E-W. Two faint superimposed stars about 1′ W of the center, and one faint superimposed star about 1′ E. The companion NGC 1023A was not seen.

NGC 488 GX Psc 01h22m19.2s +05°18′41″ 11.1 mag 02:00am
Fairly small and bright, bright round core surrounded by a halo very slightly elongated N-S.

NGC 185 GX Cas 00h39m32.8s +48°23′36″ 10.2 mag 02:15am
This is a satellite of M31. Fairly large, pretty uniform, large faint core surrounded by a halo elongated 4:3 NNE-SSE. Located in a crowded region of the milky way. Could not detect the dust patch seen on photographs.

NGC 278 GX Cas 00h52m39.9s +47°36′20″ 11.5 mag 02:30am
Fairly small, pretty bright, fairly bright stellar nucleus, round uniform halo. Located about 3′ S of a bright (mag 8.8) field star.

The Input Prompt pattern consists in prefilling a text field with a prompt as a way of supplying help information for controls whose purpose or format may not be immediately clear. In the browser, this pattern is most often implemented by dynamically modifying the value property of a text field element via the focus and blur event handlers attached to the text field, as shown in this example (live demo):

CSS:

.hint {
  color: #999;
}

Markup:

<input type="text" id="sbx">

JavaScript (based on YUI 3.0.0):

YUI().use('node', function (Y) {

    var sbx = Y.get('#sbx');

    Y.on('domready', function () {

        sbx.set('value', 'Search');
        sbx.addClass('hint');

        Y.on('focus', function () {
            if (this.get('value') === 'Search') {
                this.set('value', '');
                this.removeClass('hint');
            }
        }, sbx);

        Y.on('blur', function () {
            if (this.get('value') === '') {
                this.set('value', 'Search');
                this.addClass('hint');
            }
        }, sbx);

    });
});

Note: the code is intentionally implemented inside a domready event handler to work around issues related to form field caching.

The main problem with implementing this pattern using the value property is that the default text is used if the form is submitted while the input prompt is showing. Trying to work around this by testing the content of the text field when the form is submitted makes the default text impossible to use as a value. Another side effect of this implementation is that most developers will forget to attach a <label> element to the text field, leading to a confusing experience for screen reader users as they lack the necessary context to understand the purpose of the control.

A better implementation of this pattern consists in using a <label> element and positioning it on top of the text field it is attached to. Here is an example of this implementation (live demo):

CSS:

#container {
    position: relative;
}

#container label {
    position: absolute;
    top: 4px; *top: 6px; left: 3px;
    color: #999;
    cursor: text;
}

#container label.offscreen {
    left: -9999px;
}

Markup:

<div id="container">
    <label for="sbx" class="offscreen">Search</label>
    <input type="text" id="sbx">
</div>

JavaScript (based on YUI 3.0.0):

YUI().use('node', function (Y) {

    var sbx = Y.get('#sbx'),
        lbl = Y.get('#container label');

    Y.on('domready', function () {

        sbx.set('value', '');
        lbl.removeClass('offscreen');

        Y.on('mousedown', function () {
            setTimeout(function () {
                sbx.focus();
            }, 0);
        }, lbl);

        Y.on('focus', function () {
            lbl.addClass('offscreen');
        }, sbx);

        Y.on('blur', function () {
            if (sbx.get('value') === '') {
                sbx.set('value', '');
                lbl.removeClass('offscreen');
            }
        }, sbx);

    });
});

As always, I am looking forward to reading your comments and answering your questions in the comments section of this blog.

A lot of people showed up for some stargazing at the overflow parking lot at Henry Coe state park. The conditions were pretty good overall:

• Light winds coming from the north west
• Temperature in the high to mid 60s
• Good seeing
• Average transparency

While waiting for the sky to turn dark, I pointed my scope toward Antares, which was showing a fairly clean split while still high in the southern sky. The dim companion, a white dwarf, was located just to the west of the red giant.

I then spent most of the evening tracking down some bright targets from the Herschel 400 list. Among the highlights, the Saturn nebula (NGC 7009) was showing a lot of details (see description below)

Before wrapping up around 1am, I looked at Jupiter. The view was absolutely incredible, although the wind proved to be a bit of a problem with my light weight scope. The great red spot was more colorful than I can ever remember. Its color used to be a very delicate pink mixed with a little bit of gray a few years ago. But this time, it was definitely orange. A lot of tiny details could be spotted throughout the bands, and even in the polar regions! What a view to behold!

Here are my observations. Overall, it was a good night, and I’m glad I went out. Cheers!

Location: Henry Coe state park [Elevation 2600 ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

NGC 7128 OC Cyg 21h44m19.3s +53°45′39″ 11.3 mag 09:30p
About 15 moderately bright stars within an area roughly 4′ x 2′ elongated NE-SW. The brightest star, located NE of the cluster, shows a nice orange/reddish color.

NGC 7086 OC Cyg 21h30m49.2s +51°38′39″ 11.6 mag 09:40p
About 50 moderately bright stars within 10′.

NGC 7062 OC Cyg 21h23m50.4s +46°25′18″ 8.3 mag 09:45p
About two dozen moderately bright to moderately faint stars located within 5′. Slightly elongated E-W.

NGC 7006 GC Del 21h01m58.1s +16°13′44″ 10.6 mag 09:50p
Small, faint, small fairly bright core, fairly faint halo, unresolved.

NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula) PN Aqr 21h04m44.6s -11°19′22″ 8.3 mag 10:30p
At low power (95x), this planetary nebula appears small, fairly bright, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, and exhibits a delicate blue/green color. At higher magnification (217x and 305x), the center of the nebula appears very slightly darker. Faint extensions show up on both sides of the oval disk, terminated by a tiny slightly brighter knot. The extension on the ESE side seems to slightly bend toward the NE. Finally, during brief moments of better seeing, a ring elongated 2:1 appears inside the nebula. The central star was not detected.

NGC 6940 OC Vul 20h34m52.3s +28°19′09″ 7.2 mag 10:45p
About 80 stars within an area 25′ x 10′ elongated WNW-ESE. Orange star in the center.

NGC 6885 OC Vul 20h12m27.3s +26°30′35″ 5.7 mag 10:50p
Sparse cluster of roughly 20 fairly bright stars within an area 20′ in diameter, centered around 20 Vul (mag 5.9) Another open cluster, NGC 6882, is embedded inside NGC 6885.

NGC 6882 OC Vul 20h12m13.2s +26°50′35″ 10:50p
About 20 moderately bright stars within an area roughly 10′ in diameter located about 10′ NW of 20 Vul (mag 5.9), and inside another open cluster, NGC 6885.

NGC 6939 OC Cep 20h31m44.1s +60°41′48″ 10.1 mag 11:10p
About 80 moderately bright stars within an area roughly 10′ in diameter. The southern boundary seems delimited by an almost perfect alignment of 5 brighter stars. Slight triangular shape, like an arrow moving west… Forms a superb couple with galaxy NGC 6946. Both objects can be seen within the 1.2 degree field of view of the Panoptic 27mm.

NGC 7160 OC Cep 21h53m59.4s +62°39′00″ 6.4 mag 11:40p
About 20 fairly bright stars scattered within an area roughly 5′ in diameter, centered around two very bright stars (mag 7.0 and 7.9) separated by about 1′.

NGC 7380 OC Cep 22h47m46.7s +58°11′00″ 8.8 mag 12:40a
About 30 moderately bright stars within 15′. Apparently, this cluster is embedded inside a nebula (Sh 2-142) but I did not notice anything, and since I was not aware of it, I did not think of trying a narrow-band filter.

NGC 7510 OC Cep 23h11m30.4s +60°37′22″ 9.3 mag 12:45a
About 20 moderately bright to moderately faint stars within an area 5′ x 2′ elongated WSW-ENE.

NGC 40 PN Cep 00h13m36.3s +72°34′28″ 10.7 mag 01:00a
Moderately large and bright, fairly bright central star, very slightly elongated NNE-SSW. Appears pretty uniform at first. With careful examination, the southern region of the nebula shows a slight darkening. The rim is fairly well defined, and slightly brighter than the disk itself. Superimposed star on the SSW rim.

I went to the D.A.R.C. observatory last Saturday to observe or re-observe a few Herschel 400 summer objects, as well as enjoy some eye candy under a dark sky. I was setup right next to Dennis Beckley and his classic Obsession 18″. Here is a summary of the weather conditions:

• Wind died down shortly after sunset
• Temperature in the low 70s
• Good seeing (6 to 7 on the Pickering scale)
• Average transparency (the light dome from Los Banos, which I use as an indication of the moisture content in the atmosphere, was fairly conspicuous)
• NELM 6.7 in Lyra
• Thin clouds started showing up around 1am from the east

Overall, it was a pretty good night, although not as good as what the D.A.R.C. observatory has proven capable of. Among the highlights of the night, I got to observe Triton for the first time. The Jupiter impact mark was seen very easily, and Jupiter’s satellites were resolved as tiny discs of different diameters. The “ink spot” (Barnard 86 located right next to OC NGC 6520) looked absolutely remarkable. Stephan’s quintet was looking pretty good in my scope, and was easy in Dennis’ 18″ scope. Finally, I really enjoyed looking at V Aql, a fairly bright carbon star of deep orange color with a tinge of red. What is interesting about this star, beyond its striking color, is the presence of planetary nebula NGC 6751 about 30′ SE. It is therefore possible to fit both objects within the same field of view in modest amateur telescopes (8 to 12″), portraying two stages of stellar evolution as the carbon star will eventually become a planetary nebula in a not so distant future.

On Sunday morning, I had an immense satisfaction when I looked at a DSS image of galaxy NGC 6217 (Arp 185), and noticed that my notes (see below) were absolutely right on! I find it absolutely amazing that such wispy details can be detected with such a small aperture under a good dark sky.

I cannot end this report without thanking Dr. Lee Hoglan for letting us observe on his property. Below is my log for the night. Cheers!

Location: D.A.R.C. Observatory [Elevation 1400ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times in PDT)

NGC 6217 GX UMi 16h32m15.6s +78°10′52″ 11.9 mag 10:15p
Small, faint, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, fairly faint stellar core or super imposed star. Very faint super imposed star about 20″ SE, another one about 2.5′ NW. Hints of two spiral arms, one on the N side going E, and another one on the S side going W. This observation was later beautifully confirmed with a DSS image.

NGC 6834 OC Cyg 19h52m37.2s +29°26′04″ 9.7 mag 10:30p
Seen as a tiny smudge in a 9×50 finder scope. Small grouping of about 30 moderately bright stars. One brighter star in the middle, with a possible slight yellow tinge. Located in a region with relatively few stars (dark nebula?) in an otherwise crowded milky way star field. For some reason, I found it hard to star-hop to…

NGC 6866 OC Cyg 20h04m16.1s +44°11′11″ 9.1 mag 10:40p
About 30 fairly bright stars within a region 15′ in diameter. Detected in 9×50 finder scope.

NGC 6910 OC Cyg 20h23m34.7s +40°48′37″ 7.3 mag 10:45p
Small group of about 15 stars, elongated 2×1 WNW-ESE (dimensions: 10′ x 5′) The two brightest stars have a yellow tinge. Located about 30′ N of Gamma Cyg (Sadr)

NGC 7044 OC Cyg 21h13m32.8s +42°32′06″ 12.0 mag 10:50p
Small compact group of maybe 50 faint stars (hard to get a reliable star count) scattered within a circular region of about 5′ in diameter.

NGC 6522 GC Sgr 18h04m14.3s -30°02′08″ 9.9 mag 11:00p
Fairly small, moderately faint, fairly well defined core, halo appears grainy. There is a moderately bright star located about 30″ E which probably does not belong to this cluster. Forms a beautiful couple with globular cluster NGC 6528 located about 15′ E.

NGC 6528 GC Sgr 18h05m28.3s -30°03′25″ 9.6 mag 11:00p
Fairly small, moderately faint, fairly well defined core, unresolved. Located at the NW edge of B298. Forms a beautiful couple with globular cluster NGC 6522 located about 15′ W. This cluster is slightly dimmer than its neighbor NGC 6522 (some of its light may be absorbed by B298?)

NGC 6818 PN Sgr 19h44m32.6s -14°07′45″ 10.0 mag 11:25p
Tiny fairly bright disk, almost circular (extremely slightly elongated NS) showing a delicate bluish tinge, especially at low power. At higher magnification, the center of the nebula appears very slightly darker. The central star (mag 15.0) was not seen. Located inside a small triangle of moderately bright stars.

NGC 6664 OC Sct 18h37m10.4s -07°48′17″ 8.5 mag 11:45p
About 60 moderately faint stars within 15′. This cluster appears slightly elongated N-S, and is located about 25′ NE of Alpha Sct, which has a fairly distinctive yellow tinge.

NGC 6712 GC Sct 18h53m37.6s -08°41′33″ 8.1 mag 11:50p
Moderately large and bright with a poorly defined core region. Many stars are resolved over a milky background.

NGC 6802 OC Vul 19h31m02.2s +20°16′59″ 11.7 mag 12:50a
Small (5′ x 2′) compact group of about 25 very faint stars, elongated N-S. Located just east of the famous coat hanger asterism (Cr 399)

NGC 6823 OC Vul 19h43m35.6s +23°19′27″ 7.1 mag 12:55a
About 30 fairly bright stars scattered within 6′ around a small group of 4 bright stars and a few fainter ones. Not very conspicuous in a crowded star field. Nearby nebula NGC 6820 was not seen (although I did not really look for it and thus was not using a nebula filter)

NGC 6830 OC Vul 19h51m25.8s +23°07′33″ 8.9 mag 01:00a
Very inconspicuous grouping of about 20 fairly bright stars.

NGC 6934 GC Del 20h34m41.3s +07°26′22″ 8.9 mag 02:00a
Relatively small, fairly bright, intense core. A great number of stars are resolved throughout at 217x.

Jim Harper, Stephen Migol and I met up around sunset at the overflow parking lot at Henry Coe state park. I had a pretty bad experience last time I went to Coe, back in January. However, this time around, the transparency was above average and we got some very decent skies. I did a zenithal NELM test in Lyra, and reached mag 6.2, which is not too bad given the amount of light pollution… The seeing was very soft early on, but slightly improved as the night went on. Temps were in the 60s. There was a fairly strong breeze all night long, which was a bit of a problem for my very lightweight dobsonian telescope. However, by using my car as a shield, I was able to somewhat mitigate the impact of wind gusts.

Henry Coe is the perfect location to get a lot of boring open clusters out of the way, or to do some narrow-banding. I worked in Sagittarius all night, and got some pretty decent views in spite of the light pollution emanating from Gilroy. I took off right around 1am, and was soundly asleep by 2… I’m not used to that anymore! Overall, a fairly decent night. See my log below. Cheers!

Location: Henry Coe state park [Elevation 2600 ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

NGC 6569 GC Sgr 18h14m17.9s -31°49′29″ 8.4 mag 09:55p
Moderately small and faint, relatively uniform. The halo takes on a grainy appearance at 219x. Located about 45′ E of smaller and fainter globular cluster NGC 6558, giving a nice comparison.

NGC 6624 GC Sgr 18h24m19.5s -30°21′14″ 7.6 mag 10:00p
Moderately small and fairly bright. Small intense core. Halo resolves in a great number of faint stars during brief moments of better seeing.

NGC 6520 OC Sgr 18h04m02.7s -27°53′20″ 7.6 mag 10:25p
The central region of this open cluster is made up of about 20 fairly bright stars, seemingly arranged in a circle of about 1.5′ in diameter around a pretty bright star with a distinctive orange tinge. A few bright stars are scattered around this area within 8′. Best seen at low power. Amazing contrast with Barnard 86 (a.k.a. the “ink spot”) located just to the west. I’m wondering whether B86 is located in front of or behind NGC 6520.

NGC 6540 OC Sgr 18h06m59.6s -27°47′38″ 14.6 mag 10:30p
Barely noticeable as a faint and tiny (1′) very unimpressive smudge elongated 2×1 E-W. About half a dozen stars are resolved at 219x. PSA says it’s a globular cluster, but it does not look like one and ST mentions it as an open cluster…

NGC 6553 GC Sgr 18h09m55.1s -25°54′26″ 8.3 mag 10:40p
Moderately large, relatively low surface brightness, surprisingly uniform with no obvious core! Appears very slightly elongated NW-SE? Fairly bright (mag 11.8) superimposed star on the NW side. Generally unresolved, very slight grainy appearance maybe? A few stars pop in and out of view during brief moments of better seeing (not sure whether these are actually part of the globular cluster)

NGC 6544 GC Sgr 18h07m57.8s -24°59′52″ 7.5 mag 10:45p
Small (about 1′), moderately bright with a tiny fairly bright core. About a dozen brighter stars are resolved at higher magnification. Surrounded by numerous moderately bright field stars. Both NGC 6544 and M8 should fit within the same field of view of the Panoptic 27, forming an interesting couple, although I did not think of observing both of these objects at once.

NGC 6514 (M 20) OC Sgr 18h03m19.2s -22°58′20″ 5.2 mag 11:10p
Fairly large (about 10′), bright, detected in the finder scope. Absolutely gorgeous at lower magnification with a UHC filter. The dark lanes that split this object in 3 lobes are very well defined. There is a double star in the middle of the nebula. Another nebula, about the same size, is visible, although fainter, slightly to the north.

NGC 6440 GC Sgr 17h49m29.5s -20°21′49″ 9.3 mag 11:15p
Pretty small (1′), moderately faint, moderately well defined core, unresolved. Forms a really beautiful couple with planetary nebula NGC 6445 located about 22′ NNE.

NGC 6445 PN Sgr 17h49m51.5s -20°00′47″ 13.0 mag 11:25p
Pretty small (about 40″), fairly bright, easily found even at low magnification (95x) Forms a really beautiful couple with globular cluster NGC 6440 located about 22′ SSW. At 219x with a UHC filter, appears as a ring very slightly elongated 4:3 NNW-SSE. Brighter arches on the NNW and SSE sides. No central star seen. Moderately faint (mag 12.5) star just 30″ WNW.

NGC 6568 OC Sgr 18h13m20.9s -21°36′10″ 8.6 mag 11:40p
Best seen at low magnification. About 50 moderately bright stars of comparable magnitude, scattered evenly within an area 20′ in diameter. At higher magnification, the stars appear to be forming “chain structures” surrounded by darker regions.

NGC 6583 OC Sgr 18h16m26.0s -22°08′02″ 10.0 mag 11:45p
Compact group made of about 2 dozen stars. Pretty faint, barely noticeable in a crowded star field.

NGC 6629 PN Sgr 18h26m19.8s -23°11′52″ 10.5 mag 12:00a
Careful star hopping is required to found this planetary nebula as it appears almost stellar, especially in below average seeing. Pretty bright, round.

NGC 6642 GC Sgr 18h32m31.4s -23°28′06″ 8.9 mag 12:10a
Small, moderately bright, tiny fairly bright core, halo partially resolved at higher magnification.

NGC 6638 GC Sgr 18h31m34.0s -25°29′25″ 9.2 mag 12:15a
Fairly small, moderately bright, comparatively large core. The halo takes on a grainy appearance during brief moments of better seeing.

NGC 6645 OC Sgr 18h33m12.6s -16°52′34″ 8.5 mag 12:20a
About 50 stars spread within an area roughly 15′ in diameter. Spotted in 9×50 finder scope. Curious oval dark region almost in the middle of the cluster.

I am pleased to announce that the YUI Compressor is now hosted on GitHub. Hopefully, this move will make the external contribution process more streamlined. Have fun coding!

I had decided to spend the night of Friday, June 19 in Redding, at the Best Western Hilltop Inn, in order to arrive rested in Adin on Saturday. On Friday night, I enjoyed a nice dinner with David Cooper, who was also staying at the same hotel.

The short drive to Adin on Saturday morning was uneventful, and I arrived at the camp site around noon, promptly setting up my tent on Uranus row. Since the weather outlook was not looking very promising at the time, I made the decision to leave my scope in the car. This turned out to be a smart move because Saturday night was wild, with lightning, heavy rain, and even hail! My small tent handled the elements remarkably well, and I remained dry all night, unlike a few others…

On Sunday afternoon, Rogelio, David and I visited the Lava Beds National Monument. This was a fun outing, although it was a fairly long drive (3 hours round trip from Adin) During the day, the weather forecast gradually improved, and the sky turned mostly clear after sunset. Because of a few high altitude clouds, the sky that night was not nearly as dark as it could have been. I got NELM 6.7 in Hercules.

Monday night was slightly better. Alvin and I both got NELM 6.9. This was still a bit disappointing. Under such dark skies, when the conditions are ideal, one can get NELM 7.5. Tuesday night was probably the best one. After a really hot day, I got NELM 7.0 in Hercules. The milky way looked absolutely gorgeous, all the way down to the southern horizon. The seeing was about average on all three nights, although it felt a little more solid on the last night.

I had put together a list of about 60 objects, most of which from the Herschel 400, containing mostly galaxies, nebulae and globular clusters. I did not want to observe too many open clusters from such a dark site, because those can be observed under less than ideal skies from the bay area. I ended up observing about 40 of those objects, leaving enough time for some free-style eye candy that I did not log. Some of the highlights include observing the central star in M57, as well as the nearby IC 1296 galaxy in Alvin Huey’s 22″ scope. The crescent nebula was also putting on quite a show through my scope using an OIII filter. Finally, seeing both arches of the veil nebula in one field of view through David’s 80mm refractor was really amazing!

This was my first out of town multi-day star party, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of all, it was really great to finally meet a lot of TACos in person. The food cattered by our host, the owners of the Frosty Acres ranch, was absolutely delicious. The shower truck was awesome! A big thank you to the GSSP organizing committee for putting together the star party, and to David Cooper, who shared his canopy, and saved me from getting burnt by the Sun…

Location: Adin, CA [Elevation 4200 ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

June 21, 2009

NGC 4736 (M 94) GX CVn 12h51m21.2s +41°04′14″ 8.7 mag 10:50p
Very bright, fairly large, very slightly elongated WNW-ESE. Gradually brighter to a relatively large, round and very bright core.

NGC 5195 GX CVn 13h30m25.2s +47°13′10″ 10.5 mag 11:00p
Bright stellar core surrounded by an assymetrical halo, fairly bright on the west side, very dim on the east side where this galaxy connects to M51. The nucleus is slightly off center to the south.

NGC 5248 GX Boö 13h38m02.1s +08°50′10″ 10.9 mag 11:10p
Moderately large and bright, elongated 2×1 NW-SE. Fairly bright small round core, surrounded by a halo showing hints of two far-flung spiral arms, the one on the NW side being the most obvious. Very faint (15.4 mag) superimposed star about 30″ N of the core.

NGC 5557 GX Boö 14h18m51.2s +36°27′06″ 11.9 mag 11:20p
Small, moderately bright, round halo, gradually brighter to a stellar nucleus seen using direct vision during brief moments of better seeing. Fairly faint superimposed star about 30″ SE.

NGC 5676 GX Boö 14h33m09.0s +49°25′04″ 11.9 mag 11:35p
Moderately bright and large, elongated 3×1 NE-SW, very uniform. Very faint stellar nucleus.

NGC 5689 GX Boö 14h35m51.9s +48°42′07″ 12.7 mag 11:45p
Small, moderately bright, elongated 3×1 E-W, fairly bright almost stellar core.

NGC 7000 (North American Nebula) BN Cyg 20h58m52.1s +44°24′33″ 4.0 mag 12:05a
[Using David Cooper's William Optics 80ED F/6.8 refractor + Televue Panoptic 27mm + Lumicon OIII filter] Very easily seen, fits nicely in the 3.5 degree field of view. Very reminiscent of photographs. The “central america” “north eastern United States” and “north western United States” regions are brighter. The “Florida” region is surprinsingly dim. The entire nebula is “peppered” with fairly bright stars.

NGC 6543 (Cat’s Eye Nebula) PN Dra 17h58m36.6s +66°37′54″ 8.3 mag 12:25a
Very small, very bright, elongated 4:3 N-S, blue-green color at low power (95x) Central star seen very briefly during moments of better seeing. The use of an OIII filter shows the central region a little darker.

NGC 6207 GX Her 16h43m26.3s +36°48′53″ 11.9 mag 01:15a
Small, moderately faint, elongated 3×1 NNE-SSW, fairly uniform halo. Bright stellar nucleus or superimposed star (photographs show that it is a 13 mag superimposed star, not the actual nucleus of that galaxy) Fits beautifully along M13 in the 1.2 degree field of view of the Televue Panoptic 27mm.

NGC 6229 GC Her 16h47m17.5s +47°30′42″ 9.4 mag 01:25a
Fairly small and bright, unresolved but appears “powdery” with a few stars coming in and out of view during brief moments of better seeing.

NGC 6781 PN Aql 19h18m58.0s +06°33′21″ 11.8 mag 01:35a
Fairly large planetary nebula. Fairly uniform, round. Southern rim is slightly brighter and better defined than the northern rim. The center region appears slightly darker.

June 22, 2009

NGC 5897 GC Lib 15h17m58.8s -21°02′51″ 8.4 mag 10:50p
Moderately large, fairly uniform, fairly low surface brightness. A few bright stars are resolved over a milky background at 95x and 169x.

NGC 3147 GX Dra 10h17m41.3s +73°21′25″ 11.3 mag 11:00p
Small, moderately bright, round, gradually brighter to a fairly large core. At 169x, the halo seems slightly elongated NW-SE.

NGC 5866 (M 102) GX Dra 15h06m47.6s +55°43′42″ 10.7 mag 11:15p
Fairly large and bright, elongated 3×1 WNW-ESE. Fairly large central concentration. Forms an equilateral triangle with two fairly bright stars (mag 7.7 and 9.2)

NGC 5907 (Splinter Galaxy) GX Dra 15h16m11.0s +56°17′44″ 11.1 mag 11:25p
Fairly large, moderately bright edge-on galaxy. Elongated roughly 10×1 NNW-SSE. Weak central concentration/bulge. Hints of a dark lane at 217x. Eastern half of the bulge appears brighter. Fairly faint star (14.5 mag) about 1′ WSW of bulge. Reminiscent of NGC 4565, although not as impressive.

NGC 5982 GX Dra 15h38m54.3s +59°19′35″ 12.0 mag 11:35p
Small, fairly bright, with a relatively large core surrounded by a halo slightly elongated E-W. Forms a beautiful trio with NGC 5981 and NGC 5985. The members of this group show obvious differences in morphology.

NGC 6451 (Tom Thumb Cluster) OC Sco 17h51m20.2s -30°12′48″ 8.2 mag 12:05a
Fairly small, composed of about 30 moderately bright stars. Overall shape reminds me of an arrowhead. A large dark lane splits this cluster in the N-S direction.

NGC 6755 OC Aql 19h08m19.4s +04°16′53″ 8.6 mag 12:35a
About 30 fairly bright stars scattered within 15′. Irregular shape, several dark lanes. Located about 40′ SSE of NGC 6756.

NGC 6756 OC Aql 19h09m12.3s +04°43′12″ 10.6 mag 12:35a
Very compact group of relatively faint stars (could not get a reliable star count) surrounded by a darker ring and a few moderately bright stars.

NGC 6826 (Blinking Planetary) PN Cyg 19h45m05.7s +50°32′47″ 8.8 mag 01:10a
Small, very bright, roundish, very slightly elongated WNW-ESE. Blue/green color seen at 169x. Fairly bright central star. Blinking effect noticed easily. OIII filter shows hints of an extremely faint outer shell (?)

NGC 6946 GX Cyg 20h35m06.8s +60°11′02″ 9.8 mag 01:25a
Fairly large galaxy with a relatively low surface brightness, elongated 3:2 E-W. Very weak, moderately large central concentration. Two spiral arms seen pretty easily E and W of the core. Situated in a rich star field. Forms a superb couple with open cluster NGC 6939. Both objects can be seen within the 1.2 degree field of view of the Panoptic 27mm.

NGC 7008 PN Cyg 21h00m51.0s +54°34′41″ 12.0 mag 01:40a
Relatively large and pretty bright planetary nebula. Appears elongated 2×1 N-S at low power. Using a higher magnification and an OIII filter, I can see 2 lobes positioned on a N-S line, the one to the north being the bigger and brighter one. Without the narrow band filter, the central star was easily detected, as well as a superimposed star to the ENE and 2 fairly bright stars located SE of the nebula. This object is also called the Fetus Nebula.

NGC 6905 PN Del 20h22m50.2s +20°08′04″ 12.0 mag 01:55a
Fairly small, moderately bright, almost round, very slightly elongated N-S. The disk is not perfectly uniform. The eastern portion of the nebula is brighter, while the southern and especially the northern regions are slightly darker. Fairly faint central star.

NGC 6118 GX Ser 16h22m20.2s -02°18′27″ 12.4 mag 02:05a
Moderately large, very low surface brightness, elongated 2×1 almost E-W, very uniform. Extremely weak central concentration detected at 169x. Fairly faint (15.2 mag) superimposed star located about 2′ E of the core.

June 23, 2009

NGC 5466 GC Boö 14h05m54.2s +28°29′25″ 9.2 mag 10:30p
Detected in 9×50 finder scope. Fairly large. Fairly uniform low surface brightness. Brighter stars resolved at 95x. A few more stars visible at 169x. Appears irregular in shape.

NGC 6171 (M 107) GC Oph 16h33m06.1s -13°04′30″ 7.8 mag 10:40p
Detected in 9×50 finder scope. Moderately large and bright. Best seen at 219x. Moderately dense, pretty well resolved.

NGC 6235 GC Oph 16h54m01.5s -22°11′38″ 8.9 mag 10:50p
Pretty small and faint. At 219x, a few brighter stars are resolved using averted vision. Appears slightly triangular in shape…

NGC 6284 GC Oph 17h05m06.3s -24°46′47″ 8.9 mag 11:00p
Pretty small and faint haze surrounding a moderately bright unresolved core. At higher magnification, a few stars are resolved in the outer halo.

NGC 6273 (M 19) GC Oph 17h03m15.7s -26°17′01″ 6.8 mag 11:05p
Spotted in 9×50 finder scope while looking for NGC 6284. Pretty large and bright, low surface brightness gradient. A large number of stars are resolved throughout at higher magnification.

NGC 6293 GC Oph 17h10m47.9s -26°35′42″ 8.3 mag 11:10p
Pretty small, moderately bright, intense core, outer region partially resolved at 219x.

NGC 6287 GC Oph 17h05m45.7s -22°43′22″ 9.3 mag 11:15p
Pretty small and faint, relatively uniform, located at the southern edge of a region devoid of stars (B51/B47 dark nebulae?) Takes on a powdery appearance at 219x, especially its eastern region, with a few stars coming in and out of view.

NGC 6304 GC Oph 17h15m10.8s -29°28′27″ 8.3 mag 11:20p
Pretty small, moderately bright, relatively uniform, unresolved at 219x, powdery appearance.

NGC 6316 GC Oph 17h17m15.4s -28°09′07″ 8.1 mag 11:25p
Very small, moderately bright, broad central concentration, unresolved. Located 1′ WNW of a fairly bright (mag 11.4) star and 1′ E of a slightly fainter (mag 12.3) star.

NGC 6342 GC Oph 17h21m46.0s -19°35′50″ 9.5 mag 11:30p
Very small, fairly faint, relatively bright core, unresolved. Located just 1′ NNE of a moderately bright (mag 12) star, and just south of B259.

NGC 6356 GC Oph 17h24m10.6s -17°49′24″ 8.2 mag 11:35p
Moderately large and bright, relatively bright core, unresolved (this object was low over the horizon when I observed it, so the bad seeing didn’t help)

NGC 6355 GC Oph 17h24m35.9s -26°21′48″ 8.6 mag 11:40p
Very small, pretty faint, relatively uniform, unresolved, apparently located behind a dark cloud.

NGC 6144 GC Sco 16h27m51.2s -26°02′42″ 9.0 mag 11:45p
Small, faint, right near Antares and M4. At 217x, about a dozen or so brighter stars are resolved over a milky background. Both M4 and NGC 6144 fit in the same 1.2 degree field of view generated by the Panoptic 27mm.

NGC 6369 (Little Ghost Nebula) PN Oph 17h29m57.6s -23°46′05″ 11.0 mag 11:50p
Pretty small, pretty faint, round, uniform, looks like an out of focus star at 95x. Delicate ring structure suspected, confirmed at 219x using a UHC filter. I did not see the central star. Northern rim looks very slightly brighter. Reminiscent of M57, but much smaller.

NGC 6401 GC Oph 17h39m14.3s -23°54′59″ 7.4 mag 12:00a
Small, pretty faint, almost completely uniform. Moderately bright (mag 12) superimposed star very slightly off center toward ESE.

NGC 6426 GC Oph 17h45m24.7s +03°09′56″ 10.9 mag 12:10a
Fairly small, surprisingly faint and uniform. Very weak central concentration. A few very faint stars pop in and out of view around the edge of the halo.

NGC 6517 GC Oph 18h02m24.5s -08°57′32″ 10.1 mag 12:15a
Small, fairly faint, small and relatively bright core, unresolved.

NGC 6633 OC Oph 18h27m44.9s +06°30′49″ 5.6 mag 12:20a
Best seen at low power (Panoptic 27mm) Easily spotted in 9×50 finder scope. About 30 bright stars of comparable brightness, along with many fainter stars, are scattered within about 25′.

On Tuesday morning, when I looked at the Clear Sky Clock, I noticed that the observing conditions were going to be ideal for that night: excellent transparency, good to excellent seeing, and no wind. Therefore, after much consideration, I decided to cancel my weekend trip to the D.A.R.C. observatory, and instead head to Lake San Antonio for a mid-week outing.

The drive to Lake San Antonio is rather long (2h20m) but fairly pleasant, especially the last 50 miles. The temperature was very comfortable (low 80s/high 70s), and the traffic was very light on Highway 101.

Once I arrived at the overflow campground, I was delighted to see that Jim Molinari had decided to join me. Jim brought his SpicaEyes 20″ F/4 dobsonian telescope (http://www.equatorialplatforms.com/spicaeyes.html) I had heard of this brand before, but had never seen one myself. All I can say is that it looks like a solidly built (all powder-coated aluminum) fine piece of equipment, with lots of nice accessories (primary mirror thermometer, no clutches to engage/disengage the tracking system, etc.)

I proceeded to setup my equipment, only to realize a few minutes later that a large number of ants were passing through the area. I quickly moved my scope a little further in an ant-free area. Next time, I’ll have to think about bringing some insect killer to spray around my observing mat.

“Diehard Rogelio” showed up around 10pm to image a couple of southern targets located barely above the treeline, too low to capture from the bay area.

Early on, the seeing was a little soft, but the transparency was good. The light domes from King City and Paso Robles were barely visible, and the sky was truly dark. I had brought with me a chart of the big dipper labelled with star magnitudes. I was able to see, using averted vision, a star of 7th magnitude. Unfortunately, my chart was not showing stars fainter than 7th magnitude, so I cannot tell for sure what the naked eye limiting magnitude was, but the sky felt a little bit darker than at the D.A.R.C. observatory (not much darker though, maybe one or two tenth of a magnitude…) The seeing improved a bit as the night went on, and became quite good, although not excellent, after 1am. The temperature dropped surprisingly low, down to 38F at 3:30am. Good thing I had brought warm clothes!

I kept very busy all night, and managed to observe all the Herschel 400 targets I had on my list. Besides my “boring” prepared list, I got to see the Centaurus A galaxy (a.k.a. the “hamburger galaxy”) for the first time. Although very low above the horizon, the dark lane splitting this galaxy in half was pretty well defined, showing faint patches inside. This galaxy must be spectacular when seen from the southern hemisphere!

I feel like my star hopping abilities are getting better every time I go out. I really enjoy matching what I see in the finder scope with Uranometria, and finding the object I am looking for right in the middle of the field of view of my 16mm Nagler eyepiece. It’s like a “human goto”, only slightly slower (and quieter!)

Jim had brought his MallinCam color video camera, along with a small LCD screen. It was really astonishing to see a real time “video” (using short 7 second exposures) of NGC 3628 and M 51, and compare with views through the eyepiece.

I called it a night around 3:30am, slept for a few hours, and took off shortly after sunrise. I was home by 10am. Overall, I was very pleased with the sky at Lake San Antonio. However, I won’t be going there very often for one night only, mainly because of the long drive. Also, if you factor in the price of gaz and the campground fees, it amounts to almost $60. Finally, I was extremely tired all day on Wednesday, making for some interesting meetings at work… However, I can guarantee I will be going to CalStar this year!

Note regarding observation logging: I feel like my logging is improving in coverage and accuracy every time I go out. When I prepare an observation, I don’t like to look at photographs of the objects beforehand. I feel like it may affect what I document in my log, and not necessarily in a positive way. However, when I enter my log into SkyTools, I really enjoy matching what I saw with actual photographs. Most often, it matches pretty well. Sometimes, it matches beautifully as in the case of planetary nebula NGC 4361 (see log below), and some other times, it does not match at all, in which case I mark the object as “re-observe”. I also enjoy looking at the magnitude of the superimposed stars I was able to see. One of them for example (see NGC 4697 below) is of magnitude 15.3. A month ago, at D.A.R.C., under exceptional conditions, I was able to go as deep as magnitude 15.6! Not bad for a rookie using a 12″ scope!

Location: Lake San Antonio [Elevation 1082 ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

NGC 2419 (Intergalactic Wanderer) GC Lyn 07h38m46.2s +38°51′45″ 10.3 mag 09:40p
Faint, round, unresolved, progressively brighter core at 95x. Remains unresolved, but starts displaying a mottled appearance at higher magnification.

NGC 2683 GX Lyn 08h53m16.7s +33°23′14″ 10.0 mag 09:45p
Moderately large, fairly bright, elongated 5×1 NE-SW, gradually brighter core. Fairly bright superimposed star (mag 13) 2′ NE.

NGC 2782 GX Lyn 09h14m41.9s +40°04′34″ 12.3 mag 10:05p
Very small, very faint halo, fairly faint small but non-stellar core.

NGC 3379 / M 105 GX Leo 10h48m20.5s +12°31′52″ 10.2 mag 10:15p
Moderately large, very bright, broad central concentration. Uniform roundish halo, only very slightly elongated E-W. Forms a beautiful triplet with NGC 3384 and NGC 3389.

NGC 4361 PN Crv 12h25m01.6s -18°50′27″ 10.9 mag 10:25p
Moderately large planetary nebula, fairly bright, easily spotted at 95x. At 169x, it looks round, very slightly elongated NE-SW. The central star (mag 11.5) was seen easily using direct vision. At high magnification, using a UHC filter and averted vision, I started spotting delicate variations in brightness. This nebula seemed to be made of two “bars” centered on the central star. One is elongated 2×1 E-W, and the other is elongated 3×1 NE-SW. This impression was beautifully confirmed by looking at a DSS image.

NGC 5054 GX Vir 13h17m30.1s -16°41′13″ 11.6 mag 10:50p
Moderately large, fairly faint, uniform halo, elongated 2×1 N-S, gradually brighter to a stellar nucleus. There is a really nice group of 5 galaxies 15′ WNW, forming a circle.

NGC 4856 GX Vir 12h59m52.7s -15°05′48″ 11.4 mag 11:00p
Fairly small and fairly bright, with a halo elongated 3×1 NE-SW. Broad central concentration. Moderately bright superimposed star 30″ SE. Very faint superimposed star 2′ NE.

NGC 4594 / M 104 (Sombrero Galaxy) GX Vir 12h40m30.2s -11°40′41″ 9.1 mag 11:10p
Fairly large, very bright, elongated 3×1 E-W. Dark lane crossing the galaxy. Northern half looks much larger and brighter, with a very bright broad central concentration. The southern half is barely visible. Fairly bright star just 2′ N.

NGC 4781 GX Vir 12h54m54.7s -10°35′27″ 11.4 mag 11:20p
Moderately large, moderately bright, elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE, fairly uniform, very slight brightening in the middle. Fairly faint superimposed star 2′W. Forms a tight couple with fainter and smaller NGC 4784.

NGC 4699 GX Vir 12h49m33.1s -08°43′08″ 10.4 mag 11:30p
Fairly small, very bright, elongated 3:2 NNE-SSW. Small elongated core. I thought I saw two broad spiral arms, but a DDS image shows that this spiral is tightly wound.

NGC 4958 GX Vir 13h06m19.7s -08°04′25″ 11.5 mag 11:35p
Fairly small, pretty bright, elongated 3×1 NNE-SSW. Fairly broad central concentration.

NGC 4995 GX Vir 13h10m12.0s -07°53′07″ 11.9 mag 11:45p
Fairly small, fairly faint, very uniform, elongated 4:3 E-W, tiny nucleus. I noted a very faint superimposed star 2′ E. However, a 2′ angular distance would not make this a superimposed star. Moreover, there is a very faint (mag 15.4) star about 1.5′ E, and another one (mag 15.4) only 30″ E. I’m not sure which one I saw.

NGC 4697 GX Vir 12h49m06.7s -05°51′19″ 10.1 mag 11:50p
Pretty bright, moderately large, elongated 2×1 ENE-WSW. Fairly large central concentration. Very faint superimposed star (mag 15.3) about 1.5′ E.

NGC 4546 GX Vir 12h36m00.1s -03°50′52″ 11.3 mag 12:15a
Fairly small, pretty bright, elongated 5:2 E-W, small non-stellar core.

NGC 4030 GX Vir 12h00m53.6s -01°09′20″ 11.2 mag 12:30a
Moderately large, moderately bright, appears round at first, with a gradually brighter core. Framed by 3 fairly bright stars (magnitude 11.1, 11.5 and 13.7) I noted hints of 2 barely visible spiral arms going counter-clockwise.

NGC 4666 (Superwind Galaxy) GX Vir 12h45m39.2s -00°30′57″ 11.5 mag 12:40a
Elongated 5×1 NE-SW, with an elongated core. Forms a nice field of view with much fainter and smaller NGC 4668.

NGC 4753 GX Vir 12h52m52.7s -01°15′13″ 10.9 mag 12:45a
Moderate size, fairly bright, elongated 3:2 E-W, gradually brighter core to an almost stellar nucleus.

NGC 5634 GC Vir 14h30m08.7s -06°01′17″ 9.5 mag 12:50a
Fairly small, pretty bright, located at the base of an isosceles triangle formed by 3 fairly bright stars. At 300x, using averted vision, this globular cluster appears slightly mottled.

NGC 4550 GX Vir 12h36m00.7s +12°10′03″ 12.5 mag 01:05a
Fairly small and bright, elongated 3×1 N-S, with a relatively large, elongated core. Forms a tight couple with NGC 4551.

NGC 4548 / M 91 GX Com 12h35m56.5s +14°26′35″ 10.9 mag 01:15a
Large, round and faint halo. Embedded in it is a bar elongated 3×1 E-W, with a bulge in the middle, corresponding to the core of the galaxy. No trace of the beautiful spiral arms seen in photographs.

NGC 4459 GX Com 12h29m30.1s +13°55′30″ 11.4 mag 01:25a
Fairly small, bright and round, with a relatively large core and a stellar nucleus. Located 2′ NNW of a very bright star (magnitude 8.7)

NGC 4689 GX Com 12h48m15.7s +13°42′33″ 11.6 mag 01:35a
Moderately large, very pale, very uniform, elongated 4:3 N-S. Tiny very faint nucleus glimpsed at higher magnifications.

NGC 4477 GX Com 12h30m32.3s +13°34′59″ 11.3 mag 01:40a
Very faint round halo, elongated core 2×1 N-S. Forms a nice tight couple with smaller NGC 4479.

NGC 4473 GX Com 12h30m19.0s +13°22′33″ 11.1 mag 01:50a
Fairly small and bright, elongated 2×1 E-W, sharply defined non-stellar core.

NGC 3945 GX UMa 11h53m45.8s +60°37′33″ 11.7 mag 01:55a
Small, moderately bright, round, with a relatively large and well defined core and a very faint stellar nucleus. Photographs show an outer ring elongated 2×1 NNE-SSW.

NGC 3665 GX UMa 11h25m15.7s +38°42′44″ 11.8 mag 02:00a
Small, moderately bright, round halo, elongated core 3:2 NNE-SSW, stellar nucleus.

NGC 4800 GX CVn 12h55m05.9s +46°28′51″ 12.3 mag 02:15a
Fairly small, moderately bright, elongated 3:2 N-S, gradually brighter core. Fairly bright star (mag 13.2) about 1.5′ W.

NGC 5005 GX CVn 13h11m24.4s +37°00′29″ 10.5 mag 02:20a
Fairly large and bright, elongated 3×1 E-W, with a bright elongated, fairly large and well defined core.

NGC 5033 GX CVn 13h13m55.6s +36°32′37″ 10.7 mag 02:25a
Fairly large, moderately bright, elongated 2×1 N-S, with a small, bright and well defined core. Fairly bright (mag 13.9) superimposed star 1.5′ N.

NGC 5273 GX CVn 13h42m35.6s +35°36′22″ 12.5 mag 02:35a
Fairly small, very pale, round halo, tiny almost stellar nucleus.

Although I knew there was a slight chance it might get a bit windy, I decided to observe at the D.A.R.C. observatory because I needed the darkness to observe delicate galaxies from the Herschel 400 list in LMi, Com and CVn. After a short and uneventful 1h40m drive from the south bay, I arrived at the D.A.R.C. observatory. The thermometer in my car was clocking 92F! The wind, coming from the north, was not terribly strong, so I proceeded to setup my equipment.

Early on, the seeing was pretty good, but the transparency was just about average as indicated by the light domes from Fresno, Hollister and Los Banos. The seeing remained good for the entire night, and the transparency got progressively better, yielding very decent images of deep sky objects. The wind almost completely disappeared and the temperature dropped from 92F to about 75F by 2am. It felt pretty good to observe in shorts and T-shirt. Only Rogelio was pesting against the warm and varying temperatures. It’s harder to cool a CCD when the air is warm, and the focus shifts as the temperature changes.

Since the night was short (about 4 hours of darkness), I kept pretty busy all night. I ended up logging 25 new objects from the H400 list, which makes it a good and productive night. Thanks again to Dr. Lee Hoglan for letting us observe on his property. Below is my log for the night. Cheers!

Location: D.A.R.C. Observatory [Elevation 1400ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

NGC 2859 GX LMi 09h24m53.7s +34°28′28″ 11.8 mag 09:45p
Small, moderately bright, with a small non stellar core and a round halo.

NGC 3245 GX LMi 10h27m51.1s +28°27′37″ 11.7 mag 09:53p
Fairly small, moderately bright. Fairly bright non stellar core. Halo elongated 2×1 N-S.

NGC 3277 GX LMi 10h33m28.1s +28°27′50″ 12.5 mag 10:05p
Small (appeared smaller than expected – about 1.5′) with a round, faint, broad core, progressively brighter toward the middle, surrounded by a very faint halo.

NGC 3344 GX LMi 10h44m03.2s +24°52′23″ 10.5 mag 10:15p
Fairly faint almost stellar core. Round, faint halo does not appear perfectly uniform. Two fairly bright superimposed stars, mag 11.2 and 10.4, located respectively 1′ and 2′ E of the core. Fainter superimposed star about 30″ SW of the core.

NGC 3414 GX LMi 10h51m48.5s +27°55′32″ 12.0 mag 10:25p
Small, fairly faint. Small core, progressively brighter toward the middle. Very faint round halo. Much fainter NGC 3418 located about 10′ N.

NGC 3486 GX LMi 11h00m56.0s +28°55′29″ 11.1 mag 10:35p
Elongated 3:2 E-W. Progressively and very slightly brighter toward the middle. Very faint nucleus.

NGC 3504 GX LMi 11h03m43.1s +27°55′19″ 11.6 mag 10:45p
Moderately bright. Small, fairly bright and sharply defined core. Halo appears elongated 2×1 NW-SE. Fairly faint superimposed star <1' ESE.

NGC 4314 GX Com 12h23m02.3s +29°50′33″ 11.4 mag 11:10p
Elongated 3×1 NW-SE. Fairly bright with a broad central concentration. Hint of a nucleus at 305x. Moderately bright superimposed star at the NW tip. Another slightly dimmer superimposed star about 1′ SE of the nucleus. Star of similar brightness about 1.5′ ENE of the nucleus.

NGC 4414 GX Com 12h26m56.9s +31°10′13″ 11.0 mag 11:20p
Elongated 3:2 NNW-SSE. Fairly bright halo, progressively brighter toward the middle. Bright, sharply defined nucleus.

NGC 4494 GX Com 12h31m53.9s +25°43′20″ 10.7 mag 11:25p
Round, fairly bright, progressively brighter to an almost stellar nucleus.

NGC 4559 GX Com 12h36m27.4s +27°54′27″ 10.3 mag 11:40p
Fairly large and uniform, only slightly brighter in the middle. Medium surface brightness. Elongated 2×1 NW-SE. Fairly bright (11.9 mag) superimposed star about 2′ E. Slightly fainter (12.3 mag) superimposed star about 2′ S. Did not notice a third superimposed star of mag 13.4, located about 2′ SE, seen on DSS image.

NGC 4565 GX Com 12h36m50.6s +25°56′06″ 10.1 mag 11:55p
Superb edge on spriral. Best seen at 169x. Very reminiscent of photographs. Dark lane easily seen, splitting the central bulge slightly to the northeast. The southwest “half” thus appears larger and brighter, sporting a fairly bright nucleus. Extensions spotted up to 8′ on either side of the core.

NGC 4725 GX Com 12h50m56.1s +25°26′55″ 9.9 mag 12:05a
At low power, this galaxy forms a nice trio with NGC 4747 and NGC 4712. Fairly large and bright. Elongated 3×1 NE-SW. Bright, fairly large core. Two superimposed stars located about 3′ E and 3′ ENE. The halo showed hints of an “S” shaped spiral, although photographs do not show evidence of that.

NGC 4143 GX CVn 12h10m06.5s +42°28′58″ 11.8 mag 12:15a
Fairly small and bright. Elongated 2×1 NNW-SSE. Almost stellar core.

NGC 4111 GX CVn 12h07m33.8s +43°00′50″ 11.7 mag 12:25a
Fairly small and bright. Elongated 4×1 NW-SE. Elongated core. Nice FOV with nearby double star and NGC 4117/4118.

NGC 4151 GX CVn 12h11m03.0s +39°21′14″ 11.3 mag 12:30a
Very bright stellar nucleus, surrounded by a very faint halo showing hints of spiral structure. Forms a nice couple with much fainter NGC 4156.

NGC 4214 GX CVn 12h16m09.3s +36°16′34″ 10.2 mag 12:40a
Fairly bright. Elongated 3:2 WNW-ESE. Appears to be irregular in shape. Although fairly uniform at first, some mottling starts to appear at higher magnification.

NGC 4258 (M 106) GX CVn 12h19m27.6s +47°15′09″ 9.1 mag 12:45a
Fairly large and bright halo, elongated 2×1 NW-SE. Very bright small nucleus. Obvious signs of spiral arms, especially to the north. The core region appears elongated NE-SW (possibly a central bar?)

NGC 4346 GX CVn 12h23m57.7s +46°56′34″ 12.1 mag 12:50a
Fairly small and bright. Elongated 3×1 E-W. Small elongated non stellar core.

NGC 4449 GX CVn 12h28m40.5s +44°02′28″ 9.5 mag 01:00a
Fairly bright and uniform. Appears to be irregular in shape. Elongated 2×1 NE-SW. Faint almost stellar nucleus. Faint superimposed star about 1.5′ E.

NGC 4485 GX CVn 12h31m00.7s +41°38′54″ 12.3 mag 01:05a
Round, very uniform, very slightly brighter in the middle. Forms a nice couple with NGC 4490.

NGC 4490 (Cocoon Galaxy) GX CVn 12h31m05.9s +41°35′32″ 9.8 mag 01:05a
Elongated 3×1 WNW-ESE. Broad diffuse core. Faint superimposed star at the eastern tip. Forms a nice couple with NGC 4485.

NGC 4618 GX CVn 12h42m01.8s +41°05′59″ 11.3 mag 01:10a
Appears to be irregular in shape. A brighter bar is readily visible, elongated 3:2 ENE-WSW. The halo extends to the south of that bar. Forms a nice couple with NGC 4625 located 8′ NNE.

NGC 4631 (Whale Galaxy) GX CVn 12h42m37.1s +32°29′27″ 9.5 mag 01:15a
Fairly large and bright. Seen in 9×50 finder scope. Elongated 8×1 E-W. Fairly uniform at low power. The eastern half looks larger. At 169x, the galaxy appears mottled. Forms a very nice tight couple with NGC 4627. Fairly bright superimposed star between these two galaxies. At low power, forms a superb view with nearby NGC 4656 (the “hockey stick” galaxy)

NGC 4656 GX CVn 12h44m27.0s +32°07′06″ 9.7 mag 01:25a
Very elongated NE-SW. Bends toward the east at its north eastern tip, hence it being called the “hockey stick”. At higher magnification, some mottling was detected. At low power, forms a superb view with nearby NGC 4631 (the “whale” galaxy)

Deep Sky visual observing requires very dark skies, far away from city lights. I live in San Jose, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. One might think I need to drive long distances to find friendlier skies, but fortunately, the situation is not that bad. Here are some of my favorite observing sites around the south bay.

Henry Coe State Park

Description: State park near Morgan Hill
Elevation: 2600 ft
Latitude: N37 11.250
Longitude: W121 33.016

This site is only a 45 minute drive away from my house, although the road is pretty narrow and sinuous for the last 10 miles. The light pollution is pretty bad, especially from the north east to the south east, so I only go to Henry Coe in summer to observe star clusters, and nebulae using a narrow band filter. If you get lucky, the fog sometimes rolls in and covers the cities to the north and the east. In those rare cases, it can get pretty dark up there.

Dinosaur Point

Description: Parking lot adjacent to the San Luis Reservoir.
Elevation: 648 ft
Latitude: N37 03.90
Longitude: W121 10.217

This is my favorite observing site because it is fairly dark (SQM 21.4 on good nights) and is only an easy 50 minute drive away from my house. The only conspicuous light domes are to the east and the north west. This site is for winter observing only (including late fall and early spring) The winds are pretty strong during the rest of the year.

D.A.R.C. Observatory

Description: Private observatory located off of Little Panoche Road, near Mercey Hot Springs
Elevation: 1400 ft
Latitude: N36 42.4800
Longitude: W120 51.08

This is one of my favorite observing sites. It is an easy 2 hour drive away from my house, and is a truly dark site (SQM 21.8 on good nights) I go there every opportunity I get!

Lake San Antonio

Description: A county park and reservoir, site of the annual CalStar star party.
Elevation: 1000 ft
Latitude: N35 49.22
Longitude: W120 57.50

This site is the darkest of local sites, but it takes almost 3 hours to get there. Mostly for spring and fall galaxy observing. It gets beastly hot in summer, and pretty cold in winter. It is also occasionally susceptible to fog.

GSSP

Description: Private property on which the Golden State Star Party is held.
Elevation: 4400 ft
Lat: N41 8.06221
Lon: W120 580675

Located near the small town of Adin, in northern California. I’ve heard it was about as dark as it gets. Since I plan to go to GSSP this year, I will report back on the quality of this site later this summer.