During an abbreviated session Friday night I managed to spend some quality time with Hercules.  M92 was my first target.  The junior globular in this heroic constellation is one of my favorite globular clusters to view.  Friday night I used magnifications of 80X, 208X, 260X, and 320X.  All of those magnifications gave very nice views.  As stars resolve at higher magnifications in many globular clusters you begin to see arcing strands of stars sweeping across the face of the cluster, or trailing out and away from it.  M92 has those also, but in it I tend to see a greater percentage of more angular lines of stars which gives the core of M92  a more geometric look.  For the first time Friday I saw two parallel lines of suns forming a small ‘=’ in the core.  I thought that was very cool.

Also in Hercules is a much shyer globular cluster, NGC 6229.  This one is almost 100,000 light years away, and is tough to resolve.  The core of 6229 is not as condensed as are the cores of M13 and M92.  Its light seems spread more evenly, but there is a looser halo in which I could see some graininess at 208X and 260X.

The planetary nebula NGC 6210 was my final target of the evening.  Also known as the Turtle Nebula, this planetary appeared as a tiny, bright, robin’s egg blue oval at 80X.  At 208X there was just a hint of a faint outer halo.  Additional magnification, up to 320X, and the use of UHC and OIII filters didn’t reveal any further detail.

Good Morning Terry,

I too have always enjoyed M92 and if it weren't for its more splashy neighbor I think it would get more attention.

Just three objects?  Was this a planned excursion late at night with limited time and running on low energy reserves or did the weather get you?

Or does hot tubbing astronomy seem preferable to the usual kind?

Just wondering is all,

Enjoy your day,

L

leo731:

 

I too have always enjoyed M92 and if it weren't for its more splashy neighbor I think it would get more attention.

I was guilty of skipping over M92 and viewing that splashy neighbor, until an observing buddy turned 16" LightBridge to it one night. Now, I'll hit M92 even on nights when I don't view M13.

That's another grand report Terry, thanks again for the views!

leo731:

Just three objects?  Was this a planned excursion late at night with limited time and running on low energy reserves or did the weather get you?

No, the plan was for an extended session into Ophiucus, and the weather was excellent, but I took sick and had to cut the observing short.  I also squandered a great night Saturday recuperating.

leo731:

Or does hot tubbing astronomy seem preferable to the usual kind?

 

While the Bubbling Cauldon Observatory does have its attractions, I still prefer a scope's larger eye.

I was sorry to read that your evening was ruined by illness.  Hope you are on the men and back at it soon.

As you know, sometimes one doesn't need a big eye to enjoy the stars, but it is nice to have when you want it.

Take Care,

L