Thursday 15th February 2007

Southern Sentinel Observing Report

Thursday 15th February 2007

Date:

15th February 2007 (Local)

Time:

22:30 - 00:00 NZDT (UT +13)

Location:

Pauanui

120 Minutes from Home

Weather:

Mild with a Breezy Southerly Wind. High Contrast.

Seeing:

Limiting Magnitude 6.0, transparency 5/5, seeing 2/5

Moon:

No Moon

Equipment:

13.1 Inch Dobsonian, TeleVue Paracorr & Eyepieces & Lumicon Filters

Dave Ek Box and PalmDSC

Second night out at Pauanui.

The skies were completely different compared to Tuesday night. Very breezy from the South but still mild. Setup was sheltered from the south anyway and this would mean good contrasty skies and poor seeing.

Continued to work within a box of sky either side of the celestial equator, from Gemini through to Puppis, mainly taking in Uranometria Pages 94, 95, 96, 114, 115, 116, 134, 135, 136.

Observations as follows;

Object	Type	Magnification	Notes
NGC 2301	Open Cluster	114x	Bright open cluster with about 80 members. Has a bright orange double star with a white companion, in the centre.
M 48	Open Cluster	88x	Bright large Messier open cluster. 20 members brighter than 10th Mag. About 100 stars overall. Fills the FOV.
NGC 2539	Open Cluster	88x	Large open cluster. Has about 50 members and has a (5th Mag) star to the E of the cluster. Even in brightness.
NGC 2525	Galaxy	88x	Small faint round galaxy, even in brightness, near a line of 4 stars in a straight line.
NGC 2440	Planetary Nebula	88x	Small round PN which is conspicuous. Just to the W of a deep orange star.
NGC 2438	Planetary Nebula	88x	Ring shaped planetary inside M46 on the on the NE northeastern side.
M 46	Open Cluster	88x	Remarkable open cluster. Over 100 stars of even brightness. Has the PN NGC2438 on the N edge.
M 47	Open Cluster	88x	Large bright Messier OC, with 15 stars brighter than 10th Mag and some as bright as 5th Mag. Fills the FOV of the 22mm Nagler. Over 200 stars in all.
NGC 2396	Open Cluster	88x	Small and sparse open cluster. Has a orange member (8th Mag) in the centre. Herschel II Object.
NGC 2359	Bright Nebula	88x	Duck Nebula. Nebulosity to the N and E. Very distinct and beautiful. Irregular and bright.
Mel 71	Open Cluster	88x	Beautiful OC near some pretty good competition. About 100 stars that get more condensed toward the centre. Not GC like but quite rich.
NGC 2353	Open Cluster	88x	Compact bright cluster. Has a bright (5th Mag) bluish/white star on the S edge. Has about 20 stars of equal brightness.
NGC 2316	Bright Nebula	88x	Small nebuolous patch to the E of a triplet of stars. Herschel II Object.
M 50	Open Cluster	88x	Bright Messier open cluster, has about 50 members with 5 bright (8th Mag) members.
NGC 2343	Open Cluster	88x	Small open cluster with about 25 members. Has a orange double star on the eastern edge of the cluster.
NGC 2335	Open Cluster	88x	A small cluster with 25 stars. Has one bright member a bright reddish star in the centre.
NGC 2327	Bright Nebula	88x	Small nebulous patch in a starry field. Part of the larger IC2177 which is too faint to be seen visually.
NGC 2286	Open Cluster	88x	A sparse open cluster, just a bright knot of the Milky Way. No descript really. Hard to determine what is cluster and what is background field stars.
NGC 1888	Galaxy	88x	Small oval (3:1) galaxy, irregular in nature. Even in brightness.
NGC 2089	Galaxy	88x	Small galaxy, in a line of three stars. Has a core which is quite stellar in nature. A hazy spot.
NGC 2106	Galaxy	88x	Small galaxy, even in brightness, tucked inside a small triangle of stars. No other detail noted.
M 67	Open Cluster	88x	Bright Messier OC. At least 200 members of a even brightness. Has an 8th Mag orange star on the NE edge of the cluster.
M 44	Open Cluster	88x	Beehive. Very large and very bright Messier OC. Easily naked eye tonight. Needs a low power telescope to fit within FOV.
NGC 2613	Galaxy	88x	Edge on galaxy in a starry field. A elongated oval, possibly 4:1. Hint of a dark lane.
NGC 3918	Planetary Nebula	88x	Very conspicious round PN in a starry field. Bright blue/green.
NGC 3242	Planetary Nebula	88x	Ghost of Jupiter. Round and bright, just like Jupiter. Pale blue/green in colour.
NGC 3055	Galaxy	88x	A murky irregular galaxy with no core of note. Slightly oval.
NGC 2775	Galaxy	88x	A round, bright galaxy with a sharp core. No detail noted.
NGC 1981	Open Cluster	88x	Bright open cluster about a degree N of M42. has about 10 stars, bluish, which are brighter than 8th Mag, and about 10 others brighter than 12th Mag. Nebulosity from nearby NGC1977, spills into the S edge of the cluster.
NGC 1980	Bright Nebula	88x	Nebulous patch around iota Orionis. Half a degree directly S of M42. Conspicious and has about 10 stars brighter than 10th Mag in field. Refered as a OC as well, but it seems like a grouping more than a cluster.
NGC 1977	Open Cluster	88x	Large nebulous region half a degree N of M42. Nebulosity surrounds 3 bright bluish stars, which include 42 & 45 Orionis. Not difficult to spot around stars, but also visible between stars. Also named as NGC1973 and NGC1975. Full designation is NGC1977. Herschel II Object.
NGC 1975	Bright Nebula	88x	Large nebulous region half a degree N of M42. Nebulosity surrounds 3 bright bluish stars, which include 42 & 45 Orionis. Not difficult to spot around stars, but also visible between stars. Also named as NGC1973 and NGC1975. Full designation is NGC1977.
NGC 1973	Bright Nebula	88x	Large nebulous region half a degree N of M42. Nebulosity surrounds 3 bright bluish stars, which include 42 & 45 Orionis. Not difficult to spot around stars, but also visible between stars. Also named as NGC1973 and NGC1975. Full designation is NGC1977.
NGC 3115	Galaxy	88x	Spindle Galaxy. Long (5:1) with a bright core. Very bright in a non descript field.
NGC 2371	Planetary Nebula	88x	An irregular PN that needs more power to get a better view. Conspicious.

No issues with the telescope or any of the gear.

Worked the centre of the area planned, along with the Orion region around the Orion Nebula. Some of these regions are notoriously overlooked and paitence is needed to catch up with some of the lesser known objects especially around M42.

The area between Canis Major and Monoceroes is particularly rich with clusters, and nebulosity. This region needs to be revisited with OIII and UHC filters.

Packed up and inside just after midnight.

Paul Kemp

13.1" Reflector

Auckland, New Zealand

36° 55' 09 " South, 174° 43' 30" East

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