[AZ-Observing] Observation Report from Friday Night, July 20
- From: "Chris Adamson" <adamsonfamily@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <AZ-Observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 11:23:56 -0700
At close to the last minute on Friday night (8pm), five of us decided to
drive 90 minutes or so to Eagle Eye. Around 10:30 when fully set-up, it
seemed well worth it. Skies were very dark and seemingly transparent
(except the light dome from Phx to the SE) and seeing was reasonable.
Unfortunately, after a couple hours, high spotty clouds moved in ruining the
balance of the night. As did a lot of flying insects! Accomplished my
objective anyway, bagging the last 3 objects for the EVAC200 and getting
some great views of Comet C/2001 A2 LINEAR.
One question from this session that maybe Tom or someone can answer. Night
Sky Observers Guide (and my observational guess, see below) show NGC6857 as
an Emission Nebula that looks like a planetary. Both the Sky, the Lorenzin
DB and the EVAC 200 list call it a planetary. What is it?
DATE/TIME (UT) : 05:30 to 08:00, July 21
LOCATION: Eagle Eye site N 33 45.200 W 113 16.667
SEEING: Early 5/10. I did not really test any close doubles to
get more specific here. Went down hill fast later in the night.
TRANSPARENCY: Early 6 out of 10 (please note this is a relative scale for
these sites within 90 minutes of Phx). Estimate limiting mag 6+. Did not
really search out the limit telescopically. Went down hill fast later in
the night.
WEATHER: 90's
EQUIPMENT: 16" StarMaster
Exact object stats listed (mag, surface brightness and size) are from the
Sky and/or The Night Sky Observers Guide (SB is surface brightness).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comet C/2001 A2 LINEAR, in Pegasus, is still visible to the naked eye
without too much trouble (estimate mag 6, maybe slightly brighter). The
best view was in the Pronto with 31 Nagler. The tail stretched somewhere
between a quarter and a third of the field, making it about a degree and a
half long. The tail seemed to be slightly offset from the sharp nucleus
(which in itself was surrounded by a large fuzzy cloud). At the time of
observation, it somewhere around RA21h38m46s, Dec +18d46'21".
NGC6811 Open Cluster in Cygnus (Cr402) is an interesting cluster in a rather
rich star field. No particular star stands out due to color or brightness
difference, but there are many chains and asterisms that you can have fun
with. At 66x, two of the circular asterisms to the NM and SE almost look
like spectacles with a bridge of stars to the north or, to use how my 6 year
old would likely describe it, Mickey Mouse ears! At 118x, it looks nicer
and better defined. Almost a starfish pattern (or bird with wings spread)
due to some obvious dark lanes that criss-cross through it (literally an
'X"). Mag 6.80, BR 9.88v, Size 13', Tr Type IV 3 p (not well detached from
surrounding star field, large brightness range, poor in richness: I
disagree with the 3 and p!). RA 19h38m16s, Dec +46d34'14".
NGC6857 Emission Nebula in Cygnus (H144) is an outstanding object that you
should check out. It looks very much like a planetary with a central star.
The Sky and the Lorenzin DB call it a planetary, but NSOG has it as an
Emission Nebula. At 287x, it is somewhat faint, sitting within a
quadlateral of four stars from magnitude 12 to 13.5 (actually slightly
offset to the SE star, which is the dimmest). The Ultrablock looks it look
even more like a planetary. It gets thicker and wider, giving it more
definition and allowing it to stand out more. The 13th magnitude 'central
star' still stands out easily. An outstanding and rich field all in all.
Mag ?? (maybe about 12 or so, though surface brighter would be lower), size
apprx 50", RA 20h01m58s, Dec +33d31'16".
NGC7008 Planetary Nebula in Cygnus (H192). Another outstanding and
interesting object that you should check out. The central star, at
magnitude 13.2, is solid with direct vision. Another star (or is it two)
sits on the shell. The shell itself has in interesting and string double
knot on the north end, and seems to disappear on the southeast side. The
O-III really brightens the knots and makes it easier to see them as two.
One of the more interesting looking planetaries I have seen. A couple very
faint stars are just to the west. A very nice contrasting double is on the
south end, one almost blue, the other gold, both around magnitude 9 and 10.
287x and 402x. Mag 13.0 (NSOG says 10.7v), size about 86"x69", CS 13.2v,
Type 3 (Irregular disk). RA 21h00m40s, Dec +54d33'15".
I spent a long time looking for IC5076 in Cygnus, as I did last week (the
last open item in my EVAC list). After not finding it again, I decided this
must have been a mistake in the EVAC list. IC5067, the Pelican Nebula, is
real close to IC5076, and I am now assuming that is what was meant. IC5076
would otherwise seem to be an extremely difficult challenge, much more so
than anything else on the list.
I looked around at a few other things, none seriously, but the weather and
bugs put an end to the session.
Thanks,
Chris
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