6/24/08 Tuesday, 22:30 EDT

Equipment: 130mm f/8 long tube reflector, 26mm and 6.4mm plossl (39x and 159x, respectively).

The sky was fairly clear for NJ (I could see magnitude 4.5 stars with averted vision, and approx. magnitude 4.3 stars directly at maybe 45 deg. up from the horizon) so I took a stroll out with the telescope and setup in the front yard.  My wife got "Turn Left at Orion" for me for Father's day so I thought I'd put that book through it's paces.

First, I took a look at M57 Ring Nebula since I can find that easily now between Sulafat and Sheliak in Lyra.  Again, in my scope, I could make out that it was circular extremely faint cloud in the 6.4mm EP (159x) and could see that it was darker in the middle at the threshold of my averted vision.  I think if I had a darker sight, clearer skies, or more aperature I would be able to see the ring properly.

I flipped open "Turn Left at Orion" and paged around the summer constillations and found M27 (Dumbbell Nebula).  I had tried to find this nebula in the Fall of 2007 when it was in the West and wasn't able to find it.  I believe "Turn Left at Orion" recommended starting at 12 gam Sge, the pointer star in Sagitta and going due North (I'm writing this report 2 days after the fact, and I do not have the book with me at present).  I found this nebula easily.  With the 26mm plossl (39x), it looked like a faint cloud.  With averted vision, I thought I imagined the dumbbell shape associated with it.  I was just very excited to finally have found this nebula.

According to "Turn Left" Brocchi's Cluster was North-West from the two tail feathers of Sagitta (5 alf Sge and 6 bet Sge).  I centered the two tail stars in the scope (I cover about 1.3 deg. True FOV with the 26mm EP and these two stars fit together nicely in the field).  I started moving North-West and I came across some bright stars, but I later realized the cluster is too large to be seen in 1.3 deg. FOV.  I think I saw the "hook" in the "coathanger" but didn't see the "arms".  I did not have binoculars with me to verify that this was what I saw.

I turned to Cygnus in "Turn Left at Orion" and NGC 6826 (the Blinking Planetary) looked interesting, so I found the "wing" stars of Cygnus (1 kap Cyg and 10 iot Cyg).  Both these stars are magnitude 3.8 so I had no trouble seeing them.   The third star in from the "wing tip" (13 tht Cyg) was a tough one to see being at magnitude 4.5 I could just barely see it through averted vision.  I did manage to get the scope centered on 13 tht Cyg and here's where the diagrams in "Turn Left" really helped.  As I moved east from 13 tht Cyg is a double star to hop to (16 Cyg and a companion) and NGC 6826 is in the same FOV just a bit further East.  NGC 6826 indeed does look fuzzy through averted vision and looks like just a star through direct vision, but it is very small.  Even under 159x (6.4mm plossl EP) it looks small - smaller than the Ring Nebula.  I was very happy to have found it.  I would love to see this planetary with bigger aperature and more magnification (and less light pollution).

Later, I re-visited Jupiter in the South-East.  I could see 2 main cloud belts (just north and south of the equator).  3 moons formed a small triangle on the right, and one was far off to the left.  I could not make out the Great Red Spot.

-StarNerd

StarNerd:

NGC 6826 indeed does look fuzzy through averted vision and looks like just a star through direct vision...

You have actually looked at the central star (10.6 mag) through direct vision. So you likely have another "first" - a planetary's central star! 6826's name comes from the fact that you just see the CS through direct vision and then, looking through averted vision, the nebula suddenly shows up as a tiny, fuzzy disk.

Here is my description through my 15 inch, limiting mag 5.5mag, seeing 9 (1-10 with 10 best):

Very bright bluish disk with bright central star (10,6mag). No details at 131x magnification. At 342x the edge of the slightly oval disk appears as a thin ring. The center of the disk towards the CS appears smooth with no mottling. Observing with averted vision I had the impression that there is an outer fainter shell surrounding the bright disk. Beautiful object at high magnification. I did not have the impression of a "blinking" nebula, both the nebula and central star were always clearly visible (direct and averted).

Try NGC 7027 - another very bright PN in Cygnus.

ngc2438:

Try NGC 7027 - another very bright PN in Cygnus.

I see it on the chart.  This one is looks to be brighter than NGC 6826.  NGC 6826 is magnitude 10.2, NGC 7027 is magnitude 9.1 so I should be able to see that easier.  I should be able to see 62 xi Cyg East and a little bit South of Deneb, center on 62 xi Cyg and go maybe 1.8 degrees due South and a bit East and I should be able to see it.

I'll give it a try.  Tonight looks hazy and humid, though, you wouldn't know anything about that in Thailand would you...

Thanks for the tip.  I'll post when I give it a try.

-StarNerd

And 3 more very bright planetaries for small scopes:  NGC 6543 in Draco & NGC 6818 in Saggittarius and NGC 7662 in Andromeda. All 3 are small (~20") but have very high surface brightness - good for urban skies. Have a good hunt!!

PS: Oh yeah - the humidity... it's a sauna here. Two good things about the climate: No frozen limbs and I never need to let the mirror cool down - actually, sometimes it must heat up when I store the scope in an air-conditioned room (72 F) and take it out for a session and it is 84 F outside at 10pm...

Well, I was outside at about 10:30pm EDT and 62 xi Cyg (magnitude 3.7) was just barely visible, so the seeing is pretty bad.  I got it centered in the scope and went about 1.5 FOV South and a tiny bit (maybe 0.25 FOV) East and didn't see anything.  (FOV = 1.2~1.3 deg. for my 26mm EP)  But, again, the seeing is bad with the haze, so I decided to pack it in for an hour and wait for it to climb a bit higher in the sky out of the haze.  I went back out at around 11:30pm EDT and high clouds had rolled in.  Deneb was totally obscured.  Vega was visible but clouded over, so I decided to give it up.  I'll try again on a clearer night.

ngc2438:

And 3 more very bright planetaries for small scopes:  NGC 6543 in Draco & NGC 6818 in Saggittarius and NGC 7662 in Andromeda. All 3 are small (~20") but have very high surface brightness - good for urban skies. Have a good hunt!!

I will definitely check those out as soon as I get clearer skies.

ngc2438:

PS: Oh yeah - the humidity... it's a sauna here. Two good things about the climate: No frozen limbs and I never need to let the mirror cool down - actually, sometimes it must heat up when I store the scope in an air-conditioned room (72 F) and take it out for a session and it is 84 F outside at 10pm...

Whew.  I have no right to complain.  It's 74 F and 69% humidity here tonight

-StarNerd