#42 2013 Observations: A Look Back

First, some statistics.  2013 had more observing nights for me than ever before, and also more observing time.  I shattered my old records from 1978 and 1992.  This past year I managed 59 outings and observed for a total of 185 hours.  Considering how cloudy and wet it was right through June (parts of April being an exception), if it hadn't been for better weather in August, September and October it would have been an average year at best.  Those three months were splendid, however, allowing me to begin and conclude observations in Lyra and Cygnus, and nearly complete Cassiopeia, too.  

Whereas summaries of Lyra and Cygnus can be found elsewhere in this blog, I will not go into great detail.  However, let me say that I eventually succeeded in finding every single NGC and IC object in those constellations with my Orion 12" scope.  Several objects took many attempts, mostly waiting for nights of near-perfect seeing.  I even eventually glimpsed the central star in M 57!  I am having similar success in Cassiopeia, where only nine objects remain for me to see.

Earlier in 2013 I had some success in Lepus and Monoceros, though winter observing is done from my back deck, looking into light polluted skies.  Some of the finest open clusters reside within the boundaries of Monoceros, and I hope to log them all some day.  In spring I have better observing site options, and made a good start in Leo and Bootes.  I am attempting the almost impossible task of seeing all the NGC in those constellations, too.  In Leo I have logged 23 out of some 370 objects, so there is still some work to do there.  I have observed previously in Bootes with an 8" scope.  Having only seen the brightest galaxies, I am returning for another look at those with the 12", as well as continuing on with all 260+ objects there.  Last spring saw me log 13 new objects in Bootes.  In late fall I am drawn to Cetus, even more challenging due to its low position in the south sky from my latitude of 42 N.  23 new objects were logged there.

For the year I managed to view 124 NGC objects new to me, along with 19 ICs.  A large number of objects viewed previously with the 8" were also reviewed using the new 12".  In addition, I do not overlook clusters from other catalogs, such as Collinder, Berkeley, etc.  Double stars and variables also get some attention from me.  However, the deep sky objects are my major interest, and I saw an impressive number of them last year.  From January through June I saw 79 deep sky objects, all from Lepus, Monoceros, Leo and Bootes.  However, from July through December I saw 315 of the little buggers!  My total deep sky object count for 2013 was just shy of 400, at 394!  If that sounds like a lot, it is.  If it sounds like I was hurrying, I wasn't.  Divide my 185 hours into how many objects I saw and it becomes apparent that I spent just less than half an hour per object, on average.

Besides seeing the central star of the Ring Nebula, what were some of my greatest successes in 2013?  Just getting back so deeply into observational astronomy was the main news story for me last year.  Not to mention starting an astronomy blog!  The experience gained with my newest scope, combined with the quality of Uranometria 2000 maps, means that I am probably a better object hunter now than ever before.  Even though I have an Intelliscope, I have always preferred star hopping.  Only in this way can an observer have a real sense of where he is and where he is going.  Besides, sometimes there are amazing discoveries to be made not mentioned on any chart.  The telescope's computer is great for sky tours of brighter objects, or for finding something obscure in a very dark part of the sky.  But mostly I begin at an object and go from there using charts and navigation skills.

I am eager to see what lies ahead for 2014.  I will soon prepare new constellations for this summer and autumn, while Cetus, Lepus, Monoceros, Leo and Bootes will keep me busy for many more seasons.  It's been a very slow start to the observing year in 2014, due to a severe winter that is reluctant to give up its grip, even in mid-March as I write this.  However, spring skies are on the way and I am eager to get back to work there.  If I have to pick one favourite object for the year, I will cheat and choose the Leo Triplet of galaxies.  I can't wait to see them again!

 

Mapman Mike  

#41 Monthly Summary #1, February-March 2014

It continues to be a long, drawn out winter of misery, unless you happen to like very cold air and plenty of snow.  There hasn't been much in the way of astronomy observations to report on until now.  I had a session on Nov. 30th and another on Dec. 27th that needs mentioning.  So far in 2014 I have managed three sessions, all of them very cold ones. There were none in January, two in February, and one to date in March.

In late 2013 I inched along in Cetus and Cassiopeia.  I only have about 9 objects remaining in Cassiopeia.  Cetus continues to prove difficult due to poor south skies, but I may have recently come across a solution for this (a somewhat distant site looks promising).

Winter 2014 brings me back to Lepus (another poor sky area for me) and Monoceros (somewhat better, as it is higher).  I am hoping to try my new dark sky site after next full moon to locate some Lepus galaxies.  I will now report on progress within each constellation.  All observations were with the 12" Orion Intelliscope.

Cassiopeia

IC Catalogue
oc 1805  Fine cluster with some nebulosity (using filter).  Large, with many bright members.

Other Catalogues
oc Cz 9:  2 brighter stars involved with small cloud of fainter ones.
oc Cz 10:  8 stars at 200x.  More impressive asterism almost adjacent.
oc King 4:  Decent group showing about 20 stars between 100x and 200x.
oc Mrk 6:  Bright stars, okay for smaller scopes, too.
oc Tom 4:  Not many stars, and all very faint.  12" resolves well at 150x.

Cetus

NGC Catalogue
eg 64:  Glimpsed at 125x.  Ghostly, oval, and requires a very good sky.
eg 102:  Very faint oval patch at 125x, though less faint than eg 64.
eg 191:  Easily seen, big and round.  IC eg 1563 attached.
eg 7821:  A "slash" galaxy, seen clearly at 125x and 150x.  Possible stellar core.

Lepus

NGC Catalogue

gc 1904 (M 79):  The official sighting of this object, which I have viewed informally many times, was the best view I've had of it from my light-polluted back deck.  It was an outstanding night with low humidity, and I could actually see the stars in Lepus with naked eye.  Wonderful globular!  Very bright at 60x.  More stars resolved with each increase in power.  I used up to 200x to steadily resolve about 20 stars, with many more winking in and out.  I also had my best view ever of Jupiter that night, watching the red spot transit.  It was Sunday, Feb. 23rd.  It was 21 F (-9 C).

Monoceros

NGC Catalogue

oc 2251:  Attached on the north end to oc Bas 8 (see below).  Elongated, perhaps crescent-shaped cluster, seen well up to 125x.  Medium large, with brightest star a lovely and close double.

gn 2261:  Variable R was seen easily tonight.  "Hubble's Variable Nebulae" is an outstanding sight in a 12" mirror.  I saw it best with no filter.  High magnifications work well here.

IC Catalogue

gn 448:  A poor object, seen best with sky-glow filter (though it is reflection-type).  Oval haze surrounding bright star 13 Monoceros.  Nearby is 14, a good double star.  It's in a line of three, pointing towards oc Bas 8 and oc 2251.

Other  Catalogues

oc Bas 7:  Immediately following oc 2251.  A faint, curving line of stars leads to the main body.  Reminds me of a mini Hydra.  Not noticed in my milky sky until 100x.

oc Bas 8:  Lovely orange and blue double near the center, the brightest one in this large group.  I counted 35 stars at 60x.  Easy to hop between it and oc 2251, which are attached on maps.  Obviously 2251 is much further away.

oc Tr 5:  Hopelessly faint stars (below mag. 17); all that can be glimpsed here is a very faint, large patch.  Even 18" telescopes will have trouble resolving this group, which is reportedly quite rich in stars.

Mapman Mike

#40 Monoceros Clusters, Part 1

     I still remember my first view of oc 2244 and the Rosette Nebula.  It was late winter 1971, and I lived in Sudbury, Ontario.  Sudbury is a very cold place in the winter, and observing usually did not resume until March.  I was using a 40 mm refractor from K-Mart, with a table top tripod sitting on a tv table in my front yard, beneath a street light.  At 15x I was blown away by what I saw!  It was my first major object of the season, and my first ever in Monoceros.  The cluster was surrounded by faint nebula and I could count several stars, recognizing the now-familiar rectangular pattern of the main cluster body.  It was so cold that night I had difficulty focussing, but finally managed to get a superb view, one that has stayed with me all these years.  Armed only with the tiny star maps included with Olcott's guide to the heavens, there was nothing else immediately nearby to see and I soon moved north to oc 2264.

     Readers of this column know by now that I like to begin near a pre-selected object and explore the nearby vicinity for other objects of interest.  After I have completed work on the main object, I enjoy sweeping the area immediately surrounding it.  However, even careful sweeping with a 12" scope, which is usually undertaken at low power, can easily miss other less conspicuous gems.  This article will search out other deep sky objects within very easy reach of oc 2244.

     Let me go astray for a moment and talk briefly about travelling.  Some people like to try and see all of Europe in ten days, and book their trip of a lifetime accordingly.  My own taste in travel is exactly opposite to this.  I would rather center myself for ten days in a great city, such as London, Madrid, Copenhagen or Barcelona, exploring a much smaller area in detail and making short excursions out of the city to nearby sites of interest.  Not surprisingly, this is also a preferred method for me of observing the sky.  Find a major site or object, enjoy its richness with various eyepieces, filters, etc., and then see what else is nearby.  Have you ever observed the Leo Triplet of galaxies?  This is a stupendous site in a scope 8" or higher, worthy of many revisits.  However, there are more than three galaxies of interest, if the neighbourhood is explored in a little more detail.

     And now back to oc 2244.  The cluster itself is wonderful (as we have already seen) even in a very small refractor.  In a really dark sky it is visible to the naked eye!  The emission nebula surrounding the cluster is visible in good binoculars (I am told) as well as small telescopes.  In the 12" it is seen best with a nebula filter (not the cluster, which lies at the dark center).  I see something that reminds me of high cirrus clouds, a mottled haze that deepens and thins as one sweeps the large circle surrounding the star cluster itself.  The nebula is given several NGC numbers, including gn 2237, 2238, 2239, and 2246, each representing a different area of brightness, and the whole nebula takes up a vast area of sky (80' x 60', or over 1 degree).  To me the brightest part is in the north, around 1 o'clock to the cluster.

     Immediately surrounding the main cluster and nebula are no less than seven other open clusters, providing enough challenge and entertainment for an hour or more of star hop observing.  On a cold March night it is a welcome project to see so much and not move the telescope all over the sky.  This article assumes you are looking at Map 116 from Uranometria 2000, all sky edition.  Five clusters are from the Collinder catalogue, one is from Dolidze, and one is from the NGC list.  I will briefly discuss each one, moving clockwise on the map.

Uranometria 2000 (old edition), showing the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros and surrounding deep sky objects.

     Immediately north and a tad preceding 2244 is oc Cr 97.  This large (30'), scattered cluster has few but bright members, highlighted by yellow variable star AX and double star Struve 926 (7.7-8.5/12"), which I see as bluish white and reddish.

     Slightly north of 2244 and considerably preceding is oc Cr. 92.  About one third the size of Cr 97, it still appears fairly large and scattered.  However, this one has a denser knot of fainter stars that surround a star of 8.5 mag.  As magnification increases more stars come out to play.  The cluster seems medium rich but has many mostly faint members.

     South from Collinder 92 is oc Do 22.  Nearly erased by the bright star 8, look north preceding from that star.  The cluster lies between it and a tiny group of stars that resembles a mini-Lyra configuration.  The area in and around Do 22 is rich in stars and fun to sweep.  Getting back to star 8 for a moment, it is a lovely double star all on its own (4.5-6.5/13"), which I see as ivory and lilac.  A 12.5 mag. star can be seen 94" away.

     Moving to the 8 o'clock position from, and much closer to, 2244 are two Collinder groups that share a border.  Oc Cr 104 is the smaller of the two, though it is not small.  A large field of relatively bright stars are interspersed with dense pockets of fainter ones.  Sweep back and forth from it to 2244 for lovely star fields that are part of no cluster but sometimes just as lovely.  Immediately south following 104, and overlapping it on one side is oc Cr 107.  At 35' in size, it is larger than 2244!  It contains two named variable stars (V731 and V 732), and the official star count of 30 only considers the brightest members.  There are many more faint ones.  I used several eyepieces here, from 43x up to 120x.

     Moving to the 11 o'clock position from 2244 we come to oc 2252, one of my favourite clusters in this cluster-rich constellation.  I have nick-named this one the "Star Trek" cluster, as to me it roughly outlines the insignia worn by Star Fleet members; at least it seems so at lower power.  There are about a dozen brighter members, and too many fainter ones to sketch well.  The central area looks like a little cloud puff at 60x in the 12", but resolves nicely as magnification increases.  100x and 150x gave fine views.  Watch for two distinct lines of stars that meet at the apex.

     Our final cluster is north following 2252, and is the largest of the entire group (45').  oc Cr 106 and the area surrounding it are wonderful for casual sweeping and getting lost among the stars.  The cluster itself has many widely scattered bright stars, along with two areas of fairly intense fainter patches.  The following end has one of these faint groups, and the north preceding end has another, near a brighter star.  Also contained in the cluster is V640, called "Plaskett's Star."  It is a binary system consisting of two giant stars, and is one of the most massive systems in the galaxy.

     Monoceros is a rich constellation for telescope users.  Eight neighbouring clusters, a very large nebula, and some very fine areas for casual sweeping at low power make for a rich visual experience. I hope you  enjoy your visit to one small part of this amazing constellation!

Mapman