[AZ-Observing] Re: Denizens of the Dark

Jones 1 is one of my favorite objects, don't know why...hmmm. Your first
paragraph hits the nail on the head: you would think this would be an
easy find, forming a nice shallow isoc triangle as it does with alpha
And and beta Peg, and just a bit SE of 72 Peg. The first time I ever
looked for it I found it right away, but ever after it has always been a
tussle and took many tries to find the pesky little guy. I like objects
that take every observing trick and every eyepiece and filter in the box
to wring out all that can be seen. Do you have a UHC filter? I had a
chance to compare it with an OIII Saturday and liked the UHC better. I
wonder if you could have seen more nebulosity in less than your allotted
30 minutes? You might want to look into it (pun intended). Perhaps
extremely dark skies favor the OIII, I don't know, but it would be a
good experiment with Jones 1 being a good subject. (For relief move over
to the Helix in Aqr!)

Speaking of Pegasus, an update to your and my observations of the galaxy
trio N7463-64-65 by alpha Peg is warranted. The little one in the center
off of 7463 is easily visible as a separate entity in my 14.5". I
believe you originally asked for any observations in smaller apertures,
so I'm disqualified here, and you're stuck with what I got FWIW! Anyway
the three show much more nebulosity than the CCD Atlas would have us
believe (another good reason we actually go observe rather than just
look at pictures).

Jack Jones
Saguaro Astronomy Club
Lunar List Awards and
Messier Marathon Co-coordinator
Phoenix AZ
spicastar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bill Ferris wheeled out:
>
> Jones 1
> Jones 1 is an obscure object. Not many amateur astronomers hunt this
elusive
> 15.1(P) magnitude planetary nebula. And among those who do seek it
out, many
> are foiled in their attempts to make an observation. Of course, the
key to
> making such observations is maximum contrast. Observing under the
pristine
> dark skies of northern Arizona, I am blessed to have that advantage.
>
> Jones 1 resides in Andromeda just north of the Great Square of Pegasus
> asterism. You'll find it about 7 degrees west-northwest of 2nd
magnitude
> Alpheratz. An 18-mm Meade SWA eyepiece fitted with an OIII filter and
paired
> with Tele Vue's 3X Barlow produced the view presented in my sketch.
The
> planetary is centered in the field. Initially, Jones 1 appears as an
> incomplete annulus. After several minutes, I notice two irregularities
in its
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hey, who are you calling an incomplete annulus? Wise guy, a real wise
guy.
:-)

> shape. the northern segment appears flattened, even slightly concave.
Also,
> the southern portion abruptly terminates where it merges with the
slender
> wisp connecting the two brighter segments. No nebulosity along the
eastern
> side is visible even after 30-minutes careful observation.


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