Wednesday 9th February 2005

Southern Sentinel Observing Report

Wednesday 9th February 2005

Date:

9th February 2005 (Local)

Time:

21:00 - 11:30 NZDT (UT +13)

Location:

Kumeu Observatory

30 Minutes from Home

Weather:

Clear Skies. Mild & Calm.

Seeing:

Limiting Magnitude 6.0, transparency 4/5, seeing 4/5

Moon:

New Moon.

Equipment:

13.1 Inch Dobsonian, TeleVue Paracorr & Eyepieces & Lumicon Filters

Last night we had an exceptionally clear evening in Auckland and the most active of the JOG members again met at the Kumeu observatory. No cloud problems tonight and the seeing improved as the night got on. Transparency was very good also.

Mark & Rachel were already at Kumeu along with Dave Moorhouse, who was setting up his 16 inch Binos, when I arrived at 8:30 PM. Martin arrived with his keys but minus his laptop…no kid to blame this time!! Guy arrived at about the same time.

Setting up was fairly quick under a steadily darkening sky and we were well underway observing by 10 PM. Olga and Kev turned up as well, with Kev bringing his 16x70mm Fujinon binoculars. Olga slept in the car for a good 20 minutes after they arrived.

Mark & Rachel had trouble with a cable on the Celestron so they we out of action in regards to the photography. Dave and Guy hit the February list with the Argo Navis and Martin and I used the computer in the observatory to find objects inside the Orion, Puppis & Gemini triangle.

The objects observed were as follows;

Object	Type	Magnification	Notes
M 46	Open Cluster	176x	An old favourite. M 46 is a spectacular object. Very nice to reobserve.
NGC 2022	Planetary Nebula	114x	Small round bright planetary nebula. Obvious in a starry field.
NGC 2237	Bright Nebula	88x	Rosette Nebula. Very clear and contrasty with or without filters. Large and detailed the nebula was also visible when observed through the finder with a UHC filter. Nebula is donut shaped with NGC 2239, the open cluster inside the dark part of the donut. UHC filter enhanced contrast. NGC 237 is the largest thickest part of the ring shape. Very impressive.
NGC 2238	Bright Nebula	88x	Rosette Nebula. Very clear and contrasty with or without filters. Large and detailed the nebula was also visible when observed through the finder with a UHC filter. Nebula is donut shaped with NGC 2239, the open cluster inside the dark part of the donut. UHC filter enhanced contrast. NGC 237 is the largest thickest part of the ring shape. Very impressive.
NGC 2239	Open Cluster	88x	Open cluster inside the Rosette. Large and bright this cluster is surrounded by the ring of the Rosette Nebula.
NGC 2264	Open Cluster	176x	Bright open cluster with a strong patch of nebulosity around 15 Monceroes. The nebulosity is reflection as the use of filters did not enhance the nebulosity.
NGC 2298	Globular Cluster	114x	Small Globular visible in the finder also. Compact, fairly bright globular about 6 arc minutes in diameter.
NGC 2359	Bright Nebula	114x	Bright Nebula in Canis Major. Called Thor's Helmet or the Duck Nebula. Easily visible without the filter. Filter enchances the irregularity of the nebula. This object is fairly bright and large, easily identifiable in the finder.
NGC 2392	Planetary Nebula	176x	Very strong central star. At higher power the nebula has two circular features. Nice object and contrasty.
NGC 2438	Planetary Nebula	176x	The beautiful ring shaped planetary inside M46 on the on the NE northeastern side. At higher power this object is very impressive with the contrast holding up at the higher power.
NGC 2477	Open Cluster	114x	A real beauty. For an open cluster it is just outstanding. This cluster has over 200 stars which range between 11th and 13th magnitude. An all time favouite.

Impressive views were had of the Rosette tonight, through a variety of different instruments. Low power views, with and without the UHC filters, were excellent through both the 13 inch and the 16 inch Binos. My 80mm Refractor also revealed a large portion of the Rosette ring, but only when equipped with a 1 ¼ inch UHC filter. Eskimo Nebula was also very nice but Saturn was plagued with boiling seeing. Very nice views of M46 also with a bit of high power observing conducted on NGC2438, the small planetary in M46.

Olga & Kev and I left at 11:30 PM and the others continued to observe. Dave Moorhouse will probably give you a run down on the harder objects he hunted down in the February observing list, independently.

A good social evening was had as well.

Cheers.

Paul Kemp

13.1" Reflector

Auckland, New Zealand

36° 55' 09 " South, 174° 43' 30" East

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