After the ceremony to dedicate Clyde Tombaugh's telescope Wednesday, Rancho Hidalgo developer Gene Turner collimated his 30-inch telescope's optics. He then aligned the go-to drive, and we were ready to observe. It was clear, but Venus set in a haze, so we knew high-level cirrus clouds could pose a problem throughout the night. That wasn't going to stop me. I emerged from the house with a notebook containing my target list.
Editor's note: Michael shot a video of Turner setting up the 30-inch telescope during his last trip to Rancho Hidalgo.
After confirming his alignment with the Orion Nebula (M42), we headed for my first target, a galaxy cluster in Andromeda named Abell 347. I wondered aloud what we'd see with the high cirrus noted earlier. Not to worry. Through Gene's "finder" eyepiece, a Tele Vue Panoptic with a focal length of 27mm (yielding 143x), I counted a dozen galaxies. The brightest, NGC 910, glows at magnitude 12.2. We saw a brighter core, but not much detail. Other bright galaxies in this cluster include NGC 848 (magnitude 13.1), NGC 914 (magnitude 13.0), and NGC 909 (magnitude 13.7).
Happy to have started out with a successful find, Gene directed the go-to drive to the next object on my list, NGC 1000. Why NGC 1000? Because I like round numbers. And I thought that this magnitude 14.6 galaxy, also in Andromeda, would give the scope a real test. Not even close! Even through the 27mm eyepiece, NGC 1000 sat in the center of the field of view surrounded by four other easily seen galaxies.
After viewing several nice planetary nebulae (IC 289 in Cassiopeia, IC 351 in Perseus, NGC 1501 in Camelopardalis, and more), we headed to the low-lying constellation Fornax. Planetary nebula NGC 1360 appeared huge (it's 6.4' across) with a brilliant central star (magnitude 11.4). Spiral galaxy NGC 1398 was a nice sight despite being only 15° above the horizon. We easily saw the central bar, but the diaphanous spiral arms eluded us even through the large scope.
Our last target in Fornax was the NGC 1399 Group, also known as the Fornax galaxy cluster. NGC 1399 shines brightly at magnitude 9.4. Three other galaxies in the cluster also appeared bright, and we noted several fainter ones in the field of view. Included were NGC 1387, NGC 1404, NGC 1382, and edge-on spiral NGC 1381. Again, detail was lacking because of how low this group sat and because of the thin cirrus.
The Crystal Ball Nebula (NGC 1514) in Taurus was next, followed by the Raspberry Nebula (IC 418) in Lepus. I was anxious to view this object through such a large aperture. Through smaller scopes, the reddish color has hinted its existence to me. The 30-inch Starmaster, however, revealed this planetary nebula in all its crimson glory. It appeared red at every magnification. At 321x, it displayed an interesting optical phenomenon: When viewed with direct vision, IC 418 appeared red. Viewing it with averted vision, however, changed its color to white.
We next viewed the tiny emission nebula NGC 1985 in Auriga. This object measures only 42" across and glows at magnitude 12.7. Following that, Gene swung the scope over to Orion where we observed planetary nebula NGC 2022. This object was a small, round blue ball. Gene inserted a 12mm eyepiece, increasing the magnification to 321x. I said: "You probably can't see the central star." Its magnitude is only 15.8. He replied, "Yeah, it's right there." And, indeed, a minute or so later, I confirmed his find.
We viewed many other objects through the night. Memorable sights included Hubble's Variable Nebula (NGC 2261) in Monoceros. This object, which I'd last seen through a 4-inch refractor several years ago, appeared as a brilliant wedge of light. It's a reflection nebula associated with the star R Monocerotis, a magnitude 10.4 star also easily seen.
Up to Lynx we went where we encountered the Intergalactic Wanderer (NGC 2419). This magnitude 10.3 globular cluster lies some 300,000 light-years from Earth. It's so far away that, even through the 30-inch Starmaster, we couldn't resolve many stars. The bright, amorphous glow, however, made a pleasing sight.
Another gorgeous object we observed was the Double Bubble Nebula (NGC 2371–2) in Gemini. This twin-lobed planetary nebula appeared as two close disks with a 15th-magnitude star between them. The Double Bubble appeared bright through the 30-inch, and it took high magnification well. Both Gene and I noticed that one of the bubbles appeared slightly brighter than it's counterpart. This object has several other names, including the Gemini Nebula (because it's in the constellation of the Twins) and the Peanut Nebula. Pick the one you like best.
Despite the many fine sights we saw, I didn't even come close to exhausting my target list. I'll cover some of those in my next blog.