[nswnra] Observations last night
- From: Paul McGuiness <prepress@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: nswnra@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:10:55 +1100
Hi gang.
Underneath is a report on last night. Really excellent session with a
lot
of good objects bagged. The Argo really helped a lot.
OBSERVATIONS 24-3-2011 - PLANETARY NEBULAE
TELESCOPE: 12" DOBSONAN
EP's: 9mm NAGLER with 2" O-III (167X), 5mm NAGLER WITH 2" UHC (300X)
TRANSPARENCY AND SEEING: 7-8 out of 10.
WIND: Virtually calm, DEW: Nil. MOZZIE MEANNESS: Low!!!
The explanation for the PN Classification system is explained here:
http://www.blackskies.org/class1.htm
Measurements were taken from this site:
http://messier45.com/cgi-bin/dsdb/dsb.pl
NGC 2440 - PN - PUPPIS
RA: 07 41 55
DEC: -18 12 32
SIZE: 74"X42"
MAG: 9.4
CLASS: V(III)
Fascinating PN with an elongated central region, very bright. Averted
vision revealed the outer halo running at a different orientation. I
would like to see this one in darker skies.
NGC 2438 - PN - PUPPIS
RA: 07 41 50
DEC :-14 44 07
SIZE: 73"X68"
MAG: 11.0
CLASS: IV (II)
Fairly large, pretty circular grey coloured PN plotted against M46.
The O-III showed a clear annular appearance. One star near the centre.
NGC 3132 - PN - VELA
RA: 10 07 01
DEC: -40 26 11
SIZE: 84"X53"
CLASS: IV (II)
The famous "Eight Burst" was very bright and oval shaped. Using the
5mm with the O-III showed a darker area around the central star. -
this one is apparently not the one lighting up the PN, but a faint
companion.
Some info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3132
NGC 2899 - PN - VELA
RA: 09 27 03
DEC: -56 06 23
SIZE: 120"X60"
In the eyepiece this one appeared as a large faint slightly oval disc.
Observation reports I have seen mention knots and irregularities, that
i cannot honestly say I saw, so this is another one for darker skies
than suburbia.
NGC 2867 - PN - CARINA
RA: 09 21 25
DEC: -58 18 42
SIZE: 27"
CLASS: IV
This PN is a very bright, tiny disk with sharp edges and a beautiful
bluish colour.
NGC 3242 - PN - HYDRA
RA: 10.24 46
DEC: -18 38 33
SIZE: 45"X36"
MAG: 7.8
Very bright elliptical disk surrounded by a soft, fainter outer shell.
Striking light turquoise color. I will certainly keep studying this one.
NGC 4361 - PN - CORVUS
RA: 12 24 30
DEC: -18 47 05
SIZE: 114"
CLASS: IIIa(II)
MAG: 10.9
This PN appeared faint in the eyepiece, but it was in a pretty light
part of the sky, and the moon wasn't far away. A bit elongated. I
didn't note the central star, but it should be visible. I will have
another look when it is better placed.
NGC 2792 - PN - VELA
RA: 09 12 26
DEC: -42 25 31
SIZE: 13"X13"
MAG: 11.8
CLASS: IV
This small PN was quite bluish in colour and had a suggestion of
annularity.
NGC 2867 - PN - CARINA
RA: 09 21 25
DEC:-58 18 42
SIZE: 27"
MAG: 9.7
CLASS: IV
This was a tiny disk with a distinct bluish colour, needing the 5mm to
see it properly. It's no wonder discoverer John Herschel thought he
had a new planet!
Some more info: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/N/NGC_2867.html
NGC 3699 - PN - CENTAURUS
RA: 11 27 57
DEC: -59 57 29
SIZE: 70"
MAG: 14
I couldn't believe the magnitude of this one and would have noted it
as a possible misidentification, but the Argo had been picking up all
these PN's with excellent accuracy. Luckily I had the O-III on all the
time or I might have passed it over unseen. The same goes for a couple
of others on this list. It appeared an a very faint, ghostly disc. no
real details were seen, but I'm very pleased to pick it up.
NGC 3211 - PN - CARINA
RA: 10 17 50
DEC: -62 40 16
SIZE: 16"
MAG: 11.8
CLASS: IIb
This was another fairly bright, bluish coloured disc, evenly
illuminated. Nice star field once I unscrewed the O-III for a look
without it. The UHC also worked well with this and didn't cause the
starfield to suffer anywhere near as much as the O-III.
NGC 3918 - PN - CENTAURUS
RAL: 11 50 17
DEC: -57 10 57
SIZE: 19"
MAG: 8.5
CLASS: IIb
This is one of my favourite PN's, the Blue Planetary presents as a
beautiful vivid blue disk with no interior details. the surface
brightness is very high. I always think that this PN "belongs" to Crux
rather than Centaurus.
Lastly were NGC 4594 (Sombrero), the beautiful NGC 3293 (Carina), and
Omega Cen. These last just finished off an excellent and rewarding
night at the eyepiece.
Thanks for looking. Cheers, Paul.
Regards
Paul McGuiness
prepress@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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