Saturday 20th October 2007

Southern Sentinel Observing Report

Saturday 20th October 2007

Date:

20th October 2007 (Local)

Time:

03:00 - 05:00 NZDT (UT +13)

Location:

Kumeu Observatory

30 Minutes from Home

Weather:

Clear, Mild Morning with no Wind.

Seeing:

Limiting Magnitude 5.0, transparency 3.5/5, seeing 4/5

Moon:

No Moon

Equipment:

13.1 Inch Dobsonian, TeleVue Paracorr & Eyepieces & Lumicon Filters

Argo Navis with Skymap Pro v11

Probably a moment of deparation...I decided to do a morning observing run in Spring. Anything could happen weatherwise. I haven't been out since 20th August, and that was under a first quarter Moon.

So the plan goes like this. Get out to Kumeu at about 8pm, set-up the scope, get everything working and put the telescope under it's big cover and go to bed. Get up at 3am, get out and do some morning observing. Brave.

No major plans to observe anything in particular, but I am keen to try hooking the Argo Navis up to the Laptop with Skymap Pro v11. All the interface was working before I went to bed, so I am looking forward to some computer assisted observing once again.

Observations as follows;

Object	Type	Magnification	Notes
M 74	Galaxy	98x	Messier Galaxy with a strong core and faint halo. Fairly large and slightly more oval than round. Low surface brightness so therefore easily overlooked in the field.
NGC 660	Galaxy	98x	Moderate sized galaxy with a faint 3:1 halo with a strong core.
NGC 665	Galaxy	98x	Small galaxy which is fairly difficult. No real detail or features. Even in brightness.
NGC 706	Galaxy	98x	Small compact with no real features or detail. A 13th Mag star sits right next the halo of this galaxy.
NGC 821	Galaxy	98x	Small galaxy with a strong core. A quite bright 10th Mag star sits right next to this galaxy. Quite conspicious.
NGC 742	Galaxy	98x	A small galactic pair. No detail, however NGC742 is fainter and smaller and the two galaxies are definately separated. Both are fairly faint.
NGC 741	Galaxy	98x	A small galactic pair. No detail, however NGC741 is brighter and the two galaxies are definately separated. Both are fairly faint.
NGC 718	Galaxy	98x	Small round galaxy with a distinct core. Moderately faint but noticable.
NGC 428	Galaxy	98x	Faint slightly oval galaxy with a small core. Makes the apex of a isoceles triangle with two 9th Mag stars.
NGC 357	Galaxy	98x	Faint galaxy with a small core, no other features or detail noted.
NGC 246	Planetary Nebula	98x	Large planetary nebula. Round and motley. Difficult without filters but once the UHC or OIII is used, this object is very detailed. Nice.
NGC 247	Galaxy	98x	Bright elongated oval galaxy, with no real detail noted, despite size and brightness. Well framed at this power.
NGC 253	Galaxy	98x	Sculptor galaxy. This galaxy is detailed and is heavily mottled. Adverted vision pulls allsorts of detail which is just too difficult to describe verbally. Nice and contrasty.
NGC 288	Globular Cluster	98x	Big loosely concentrated globular cluster with about 300 resolved members. Definately Type 10.
NGC 134	Galaxy	98x	Bright galactic pair, NGC131 & NGC134. NGC131 is a 5:1 edge-on galaxy, very even in brightness with a slightly condensed core, but no mottling.
NGC 131	Galaxy	98x	Bright galactic pair, NGC131 & NGC134. NGC134 is small and slightly oval and is about the same brightness as the centre of NGC131. No detail.
NGC 55	Galaxy	98x	Large bright oval galaxy. Significantly brighter on the westen end of this galaxy. Very irregular and motley.
NGC 779	Galaxy	98x	A 3:1 edge on spiral with a strong core. It has no other detail of note. Bright and conspicious.
NGC 908	Galaxy	98x	Large easy oval galaxy, with a significant brightening of the core but not stellar. Possibly a bit of irregularity. Nice object.
NGC 1187	Galaxy	98x	Fairly large galaxy, slightly more oval than round. This galaxy has a stellar core. Faint halo, suggest spiral structure. Good object for more aperture.
NGC 1325	Galaxy	98x	Faintish edge-on (3:1) galaxy. A star is involved in the halo and is near the condensed core of this galaxy. Another star is involved in the outer halo.
NGC 1232	Galaxy	98x	A large galaxy with a strong core and a very large faint halo. Clear evidence of irregularity so it suggest that spiral arms should be visible with higher power or greater aperture.
NGC 2100	Open Cluster	98x	LMC Observing. Bright compact LMC cluster SE of the core of the Tarantula nebula. Unresolved and probably a globular cluster. Easy for all apertures.
NGC 2074	Bright Nebula	98x	LMC Observing. Part of Henize 158, a 13 arcminute region directly S of the Trantula. NGC2074 is the brightest patch of N 158, a 3 arc minute oval patch. NGC2074 is the brightest patch of nebulosity that is within half a degree of NGC2070.
NGC 2060	Open Cluster	98x	LMC Observing. Small cluster involved in a knot of the Trantula. Strong nebulousity, difficult to see the individual stars. 5 arc minutes from the core of the Tarantula.
NGC 1637	Galaxy	98x	Round fairly faint galaxy with a tenuous halo but a strong core. No irregularity noted, but sure to be a face-on spiral.
NGC 1407	Galaxy	98x	Bright pair of round elliptical galaxies. Very similar in brightness with NGC1407 being a touch larger. These two galaxies are conspicious and look like a pair of headlights.
NGC 1400	Galaxy	98x	Bright pair of round elliptical galaxies. Very similar in brightness with NGC1407 being a touch larger. These two galaxies are conspicious and look like a pair of headlights.
NGC 1300	Galaxy	98x	Nice bright face-on spiral galaxy. Has a strong bar and a hint of spiral arms. Much irregularity. Conspicious.
N 164	Bright Nebula	98x	Henize 164. 1/2 degree E of the Tarantula and 8 arcminutes N of NGC2100. Faint but noticable.
N 158A	Bright Nebula	98x	LMC Observing. Part of Henize 158, a 13 arcminute region directly S of the Trantula. A small faint patchof nebulosity N158A 10 arc minutes to the NE of NGC2074.
N 158	Bright Nebula	98x	LMC Observing. Henize 158. This is a 13 arcminute region directly S of the Trantula. The brightest patch is a 3 arc minute oval patch. This patch is NGC2074. The next brightest patch is unclassified but is close to the centre of N 158. A small fainter patch N158A is 10 arc minutes to the NE of NGC2074. There are two NGC clusters involved within this object, but I did not notice these.
N 157CW	Bright Nebula	98x	Heinze 157CW. Small patch of nebulosity on the SW edge of the FOV. Brightest patch of nebulosity on the S and W edges of the Tarantula.
M 43	Bright Nebula	98x	The Orion Nebula. Logged for completeness. Haven't logged M43 for nearly 4 years.
M 42	Bright Nebula	98x	The Orion Nebula. Logged for completeness. Haven't logged M42 for nearly 4 years.
NGC 2482	Open Cluster	98x	Open cluster which has about 35 to 40 members oven even brightness. Really just a starry knot in the Milky Way. All members no brighter than 11th Mag. Loose making this object a Type 3 open cluster.
NGC 2392	Planetary Nebula	98x	The Eskimo. Has a very strong central star. Nebulosity strong and condensed. Good contrast.
M 38	Open Cluster	98x	Bright but loose Messier open cluster with over 100 stars. Type 3 and even in brightness. Most stars fainter than 10th Mag. Low down on the N horizon.
M 36	Open Cluster	98x	Compact Messier Cluster. There are about 60 or 70 stars involved. Cluster is probably Type 2 being more compact and condensed than the nearby M37. Brightest stars are about 9th Mag.
M 35	Open Cluster	98x	Messier Open Cluster. Has about 200 members of even brightness.
M 1	Supernova Remnant	98x	The Crab looks like a large galaxy with irregularity in the halo. Despite this it is very even in brightness. Clear and contrasty this morning.

Some old favourites were observed tonight, also some LMC Observing was conducted. This is a little strategy to systematicly observe the LMC, bit by bit every time I am out and the LMC is high. Did the 1/2 degree around the Tarantula tonight ending with Heinze 158.

NGC1407 & NGC1400 were good, like two headlights steering at you, from within a starry field. NGC 1187, NGC 1325 & NGC 1232 are worth a look if you have some serious aperture.

My Quikfinder was dead, left on from the last night I was out. What a pain. I am going to replace the broken one with a new one. Cannot change the batteries easy enough. No other issues, 1 battery set change on the Argo, must get the 12V wired up before I get out next.

Cloud rolled in at 5am, just as twilight started. Pretty lucky really.

Packed the Telescope up and headed home and arrived just on 6am.

Paul Kemp

13.1" f5 Reflector with Argo Navis

Auckland, New Zealand

36° 55' 09 " South, 174° 43' 30" East

-- The Southern Sentinel --