venus and antares

I was hoping for a family outing tonight at the Peak, but the satellite showed cloud cover quickly moving in for tomorrow's rain storm, so we cancelled.  I stepped outside after sunset for a quick look at Venus through 8x56 binoculars.  Six degrees below it was a bright point, flashing red and yellow, which I at first took for a jet, but it didn't move.  It was Antares, flashing wildly as Sirius does in the low haze.  Had a look at Mars.

If there is a break in the clouds tomorrow night I need to look at Venus again; Saturn is very close to it now, and I didn't notice it tonight.

some doubles in delphinus

It seems last night was to be the only chance for the rest of the week and weekend to observe, so I went out with the 12.5-inch to try some relatively close doubles in Delphinus.  Seeing and transparency were predicted to be better than they actually were: Pickering 6-7 by my eye.  Plus, Delphinus was tipping too low to the horizon to have the best view.  I had some difficulty picking out dim pairs below magnitude 10 -- but the ones I did see were quite pleasing.  My program is to observe pairs of 3" or less, so I went in not aware of any wider companions in the systems.  All at 553x:

STF 2665: Main pair wide and reddish color, B about 3x fainter.  A third star half a FOV makes it appear as a long narrow triangle.  [AB 6.88, 9.55; 3.3".  The BC C is 10.80, and only 0.1" separated from B; so this was not seen.  The third star mentioned is a nicely placed optical pairing?  Stelle Doppie says there are four stars visible but doesn't show a D, or even a visible third.]

HU 1197: Not seen [7.5, 12.3; 1.2".  B star too faint to see, too close to A.]

STF 2673: Faint but well-split, ~3 disk separation.  B ~2 magnitudes fainter.  A is blue-green, B reddish; pretty.  [I saw the AB pair, 8.29, 9.75; 2.3".  There is a AC pair, 8.60 & 76.8", and even a CD, 11.43 15.6"] 

Ho 131: !! Yes!  Seeing needed to be perfectly still so that A's diffraction disappeared; then B would emerge from the dark as a very faint point to the NW, about 3 disks away.  Very nice observation!  [AB 6.97, 10.60; 3.5".  There are also AC and AD pairs, much more widely separated and even fainter.]

BU 987: Not seen.  [AB 6.80, 11.10; 2.6".  I did not try for AC, AE, or CD.]

1 Delphini: 1 disk split to the NNW when seeing stills.  A tough observation; but sure since it is round and faint point and does not disappear when diffraction stills.  [6.20, 8.02; 0.9".  There is a 14.9 mag C pair further out.  1 Del is a fascinating star that spins once in 0.9 earth days!  See http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/1del.html].

BU 664:  Not seen.  I do see a very faint star further out but it's too far to be a pair.  [AB 7.23, 12.70; 8.6".  There is a 13.6 mag C, but too faint for me to have seen last night.]

MR Del / AG 257: Uncertain.  I do see one pair, but the B is averted vision only -- blinks into view -- but is too far away to be the pair.  Getting too low for good seeing.  [9.49, 9.77; 1.7" ~2000 year period.]

BU 1208: Not seen; platform ran out of arc while trying to find this, so needed to reset.  [6.95, 11.0; 3.1"]

STF 2701: Well split orange-yellow pair, A ~1x brighter.  [8.32, 8.59; 2.1"]

STF 2713: Exactly same brightness, very wide split.  Must have formed exactly at the same time, of exactly the same amount of stuff.  Seeing becoming watery.  [9.8, 9.8; 4.9"].

STF 2718: Same brightness white pair.  [8.28, 8.39; 8.6".  A 9.02 star is bound to both A & B 167" out.]

STF 2720: Well separated, near equal magnitude, slightly orange.  [7.8, 9.9; 2.6"]

STF 2721: Nice!  Well split, slight orange A, reddish B, ~3 magnitude difference.  [7.8, 9.9; 2.6"]

STF 2722: Can stretch this into same FOV with STF 2721 edge to edge.  Wide split and nearly equal magnitude.  [8.32, 8.94; 7.5"]

STF 2725: Super wide, 1 magnitude difference; both faint yellow-white.  [7.54, 8.2; 6.1"]

observing last night

It had been such a long time observing I went out last night despite the poor seeing and worse transparency.  I also wanted to make sure mice had not intruded into the shed.  It is dark by 7pm so I was able to get 2 hours in, 7-8pm in Delphinus and then 9-10pm in western Pegasus, mostly checking out doubles, using the 12.5-inch.  Doubles mostly at 277x unless otherwise noted:

Beta Delphinus (BU 151, Rotanev): Bright white A and much fainter, widely separated B.  Rich field.  [Obviously an erroneous observation as the AB pair is currently 0.3" separation.  There are also C, D, and E components orbiting around the AB pair, so I may have seen one of these.   S.W. Burnham discovered the AB pair in 1873, while he was still a backyard ameteur, using his 6-inch refractor!  Pretty amazing, and inspiring.  101 light years away, 26.66 year period.]

Gamma Delphinus (STF 2727): Rich gold-yellow A, blue-white B, ~6" separation estimated by eye.  Very pretty pair.  [4.36, 5.03; 8.9", 2305 year period.  There is also an AD pair (but no C?) 109.4" separation discovered in 1998.]

STF 2725: Can be seen just stretching to edge of FOV with Gamma Delphinus; but not a comfortable view.  Near equal yellow-white stars, wide separation.  Seeing is not very good, a lot of diffraction.  [AB is 7.54, 8.20; 6.1", 2925 years.  There is also an Aa and Ab system, 0.1" separation, discovered in 2008].

STF 2738: ~1 magnitude difference, widely separated white pair.  [Sigh.  This is an optical triple system.  I saw AB, 7.51, 8.57; 14.9" -- proper motion indicates is an optical pair.  There is an AC pair which is also optical, and a BC pair which is also optical.]

STT 213: Bright yellow A, ~2 magnitudes fainter B, very wide separation.  Kind of a stab in the dark as I don't notice any other possible close pairing.  [Seems I was correct: 6.66, 9.22; 70.5"]

This last star is near NGC 7006, a globular cluster, which was fairly small, faint, loose concentration, not much brightening to the middle.  Appeared open-cluster like and needed to move the scope around to confirm, it was so faint.

Theta Delphinus: I paused in my star hop to have a look around.  Delphinus is in the Milky Way stream, after all, and even though I can't see the MW from my yard I often find lovely rich fields through the eyepiece.  Theta Delphinus turns out to be a bright orange star, likely a carbon but I can't find much information about it.  Pretty, though.

STF 2723: Seeing not supporting higher magnifications, though I should have tried anyway.  Either a very close near equal magnitude peanut shape, or a very bright A and a very faint B widely separated.  Shot in the dark.  [This time I might've been right!  AB is 7.01, 8.30; 1.2".  AC is 13.00, 36.1".  There is also a Aa, Ab system with 0.1" separation.]

STF 2690: Widely separated near equal white stars.  [This is a quintuple system.  The A, BC pairing was discovered in 1777!  By whom, since Struve was not born yet?]

ΒU 63 (1 Del): Not resolved if this is a close pair; night be one of the fainter stars about.  [The description is about right, meaning I didn't see the close pair: 6.20, 8.02; 0.9".  Burnham found the AB pair in 1872, and also found the AC pair in 1885, the C being 14.4 magnitude and 16.9 separation -- very remarkable since I think he was still using his 6-inch at that time.]

STF 2665: Nice!  Brighter A, white; very close B ~2", orange-red and much fainter.  Resolved when the scope stops shaking and the seeing stills.  [Quadruple system with three visible.  A,BC is what I saw, 6.88, 9.55; 3.3" separation.  Aitken found the BC pair in 1907, C being 10.80 and 0.1" separation.]

Ho 131: Suspected a very faint (averted vision necessary) B ~3" from an orange A, when seeing stills.  Used 553x.  [G.W. Hough, 19th c. American astronomer from New York.  Very possible I saw the AB pair, 6.97, 10.60; 3.5".  There are also AC and AD components, fainter and much further separated.  I hope he likes that someone looked at his star; last measurement was made 15 years ago.]

S 752: Widely separated white, near equal brightness.  [Complex quintuple system.  What I saw was the AC pair, 6.80, 7.30; 106.5".  The rest are closer in and 11 - 15th magnitude.  

As a change of pace, I moved the scope down to Mars, which has been making a bee-line through Sagittarius this last month and provided many opportunities for pretty pairings with various deep sky objects.  Last night Mars was NE of the teapot's handle (too bad it was cloudy a couple days ago, Mars passed close to M22).  Mars was visible all summer, and because it's relative motion is eastward in the sky is still in good position now, if further away from us.  I was still at 277x when I viewed Mars at first, which was slightly gibbous and with Syrtis Major jutting down; but the view was soft.  I switched to 71x and 1.1° FOV to see if any other objects could be seen.  No DSOs noticed but Mars was in between two reddish stars, spread fairly wide on either side, and in a pretty star field with many triangle asterisms.  Some of the fainter stars seemed to be reddish too.  I bet if the sky were darker and less moist the view would be spectacular and colorful.

S 798, Enif: Very bright, nothing close by.  Some stars wider.  [I thought this was a bad observation but I find AB is 2.53, 12.80; 83.2", and AC is 8.74, 145.4".  So some of the stars I saw were the pair, even though I didn't know.]

I tried for an anonymously plotted double star to the south of Enif, but it was not resolved.

STFA 56: The main pair was a fairly bright A, ~1 magnitude fainter B, widely separated.  However there were two other pairings in the view, making it look like a triple double: pointed at by the AB pair, a very close, faint red-orange pair of stars, and then further on a very fainy, tremulous pair a little more widely separated.  There are more stars in the view but they don't seem to be associated.  [AB is 6.18, 7.50; 38.9" and certainly seen.  The other two I can't identify.  I did a Declination sort in the Carro double star catalog, but don't find any obvious pair -- except for STT 443, 9.47, 9.67, 8.2", which might be the second pair mentioned.  A pretty view, and a mystery to be solved.]

M2 was close by, and since I hadn't seen it this season stopped for a look.  It was visible in the 50mm finder as a hazy star.  It is a compact globular cluster, dense core like fine sand in a pile.  Many faint stars resolved; averted vision reveals brighter stars across its face.  Seeing was becoming more poor.

STF 2809: Bright A, widely separated, ~2 magnitudes fainter B.  [Triple system.  AB seen, 6.22, 9.36; 31.1".  AC discovered in 1998 13.84 and 37.8" separation.]

STF 2909: Very bright white, equal magnitude, fairly close ~2".  Seeing is poor, stars are bloated and flaring.  [4.34, 4.49' 2.3"]

h 5529: Too-bright A -- if it's a close pair cannot resolve it; otherwise it's a faint nearby star.  [Option 2.  5.16, 12.20; 87.1".  There's an AC pairing discovered in 1980 which is an absurdly wide 999.9" -- does it mean the separation is not yet determined?  In any case, the AB at least is an optical double.]

HN 140: Pretty orange star, but where's the pair?  [Not surprising I didn't see them; B is 10.92 magnitude and given the conditions, with a thicker haze in the air, it would have been difficult to see it even with 61.9" separation.  There's also a C pair, and an Aa and Ab.]

STF 2944: Pretty close equal white pair, ~2.0", split.  faint blue C widely separated?  [AB is seen, 7.30, 7.68; 1.8", 1160 years.  There are three other pairings in the system, most should be visible.]

The seeing became worse.  The thick haze in the air scattered light from the rising moon.  So, having already filled several notebook pages, I decided to call it a night.  Seeing and transparency are to be average again tonight, but the rest of the week looks really good so I plan to get out more.

quick looks in the morning

I woke shortly before dawn, and before turning on any lights went to the back porch with my 8x56 binoculars for a look around.  Orion was past meridian but standing upright; I could see M42's haziness and the winding trails of stars between Alnilam and Mintaka.  Rigel sharp and clear.  Canis Major was leaping on its feet; I could not quite make out any clusters.  Aldebaran, with many more stars revealed by the binoculars.  Finally the just passed full moon, battered and covered with scars, wrapped in a gauze of cloud.

ngc 7331 from the back yard

I've only been out one night since returning from CalStar.  I wasn't feeling very well, and was tired, and it took me some days to recover.  Weather did not cooperate.  However, I did have the 8-inch out for a little while, looking at double stars and such, and I was able to see NGC 7331: a faint, small streak of light.  No dark lane, and certainly no companions; nowhere near as spectacular as it is in a dark sky with a large scope, but satisfying all the same.  Makes me look forward to the next new moon.  We've had some rain these last few days but the weather should clear during the week and I can observe again.

calstar 2016

It's been a week since CalStar ended, and I've finally finished transcribing my notes, from over 90 objects. It was nice time; a lot of observing accomplished and time spent with other observers.

I arrived in the mid afternoon. There weren't too many people there yet. I scouted around for a place to set up my tent first. A lot of the the more shaded areas were on steeper slopes or occupied with yurts. I eventually decided to pitch my tent underneath an oak tree on corner of the observing field, away from the common areas. This proved to be a good choice, as it was largely quieter allowing me to sleep, and the shade kept the tent comfortable all day. I rigged a heavy tarp over the tent to further shade it.

Next I set up my telescopes, then had some dinner waiting for it to get dark. I had fortunately chosen the end of the field where the other large dobsonians were. Steve G. was there, along with Jamie D., Mark J., and Carter S. Matt T., a very nice guy from Walnut Creek, set up next to me; on my other side were two Jeffs from the Santa Cruz club.

As it grew dark the first night I tracked Venus in Clara's telescope (10-inch f3.8 Springsonian) until it winked out at the horizon. When it was darker I saw Mars in the same field as M8 -- with a globular cluster in between. It was such a beautiful view -- someone made a 5 degree astrophoto which became the APOD for Oct. 6. The little scope was a joy to use, offering very beautiful views of the Milky Way, M31 and the IFN below M110, M42, and so on. The most vivid view I recall now was of the Sagittarius star cloud, criss crossed by wisps of dark nebulae. See plate 26 of Barnard's A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way (http://www.library.gatech.edu/barnard/) for an idea of what it looked like. This sort of view was exactly why I made this telescope (besides promising Clara I'd find a comet someday); I was very happy.

The first night's observing was a march through my AL H2 and PN lists, and I made good progress. Day 2 was spent chatting with other observers until 1:00pm, then reading and napping through the afternoon for more list observing that night; however I did permit myself some wandering to objects I noticed on the chart too. On the third day I needed to "get off the reservation," as it were, and drove to Cambria to walk on the bluffs above the ocean. I arrived back in the late afternoon but still could nap before dark. This final night I observed some galaxy clusters, especially in Pegasus and Cetus. The fun part about the non-list object is most of them are very interesting: Some Hickson Galaxy Clusters / Groups; Arp Peculiar Galaxies; a Palomar Globular Cluster, and even a galaxy from the notoriously difficult Shakhbazian catalog.

There they all are, in the 20-inch, galaxies mostly at 205x & PNs mostly at 333x. SQML was mostly 21.20 - 21.50 -- seemed to be some lingering extinction from the fires. Unfortunately my note taking was lazy -- I felt rushed by the lists. I will try to take better care in the future.

IC 4634 PN in Oph: Bright, small, bloated star. Blinks with OIII. Diffuse edge. No central star seen. Seeing did not support higher magnification.


NGC 6369: PN in Oph: Little Ghost. Bright blue green, bright central star. Fainter thick ringed shell, diffuse consistency with moderately sharp edges. OIII provided the best view


NGC 6445 PN in Sgr: Broken ring shape, like thick parenthesis. The arc to the north is wider and brighter than to the south; but the southern arc has a bright knot to the SE. The ring arcs are mottled and have a diffuse edge. No central star noticed. Responds well to both OIII and UHC.


IC 4670 PN in Sgr: Bloated star unfiltered; bright disk revealed with OIII and it blinks like a slow beacon. No central star seen; in a very dense field.


NGC 6537 PN in Sgr: Bloated star unfiltered, bluish color. Small but fairly bright. Not much revealed with higher power or filter


NGC 6567 PN in Sgr:  Small, stellar at 205x, non-stellar at 333x. Blinks with OIII; very bright middle, hint of very hazy thin shell. Hubble images reveal the red color, dual lobe shape with extensions looking like spider's legs.


NGC 6507 OC in Sgr: Two dozen bright stars with many fainter behind. Loose concentration; scattered triangle shape overall, roughly N-S, with many loops and bands coursing through. IV3m


Vy 1-2 PN in Her: Star with nebulosity unfiltered. With OIII it turns into a blue blinking beacon, but central star disappears. Small disk, defined edges.

NGC 6058 PN in Her: Central star appears unfiltered, with a bright ring shell with diffuse edges. Blinks slowly with OIII as a more even surface brightness disk, without central star. In a triangle of stars.


NGC 6166 Gx in Her: Moderately small, diffuse 4:2 core with very faint thin halo around it; orientated NE-SW. Fairly bright patch to the West is another galaxy, MCG+07-34-055. There are many other non-stellar / faint patches surrounding the galaxy, which I matched later from my sketch to Aladin: MCG+07-34-076, -048, -050, -056. This is AGC 2199, so no wonder!


DdDm 1 PN in Her: Best seen at higher power. Bright, very small non-stellar disk; bluish; blinks strongly with OIII. HST image shows the morphology as a orthogonal elliptical components in the central part surrounded by an extended halo.


NGC 6239 Gx in Her: Fairly bright, 3:1 NW-SE. Bright long core, well defined halo. Gives the impression of an inclined spiral. Stellar nucleus visible with AV.


NGC 6155 Gx in Her: Fairly bright, pretty large, brighter oval core NW-SE with no nucleus, diffuse edges.


NGC 5985 Gx in Dra: Astonishingly beautiful field, with three galaxies in view. 5985 is a large mottled oval halo suggesting spiral structure, 4:3 N-S, with a very bright nucleus. 5982 is to the WNW and is a fairly bright oval, small, 3:2 SSE-NNW, with a very bright nucleus. Further up WNW, in a row with the other two, is 5981, a long 6:1 faint streak NW-SE; its core brightens with averted vision.


NGC 6015 Gx in Dra: Large, fairly bright, 2:1 oval NE-SW. Slightly brighter core region and generally mottled halo suggesting spiral structure. The east side of the halo appears brighter.


NGC 6790 PN in Aql: Bright, small blue green disk, blinks with OIII


NGC 6181 Gx in Her: Stellar nucleus, bright oval core, mottled halo suggesting inclined spiral. Diffuse edges. In a triangle of stars.


IC 4593 PN in Her: Central star seen unfiltered, with faint cloud around it. With OIII and UHC a diffuse milky round halo appears, central star disappears


Sh 2-71 PN in Aql: Dim, fairly large roundish patch unfiltered. With OIII it is a diffuse irregular glow, brighter on north side -- horseshoe shaped with a long bean shaped darker central region. Central star flashes out with AV.


NGC 6741 PN in Aql: Bright, small disk with slightly diffuse edge, or very close-in, faint shell. Blinks strongly with OIII


NGC 6781 PN in Aql: Wow! Direct vision unfiltered as a pretty large, unevenly illuminated round glow with some thicker bands in the shell and on the rim. OIII brightens the shell and reveals stronger banding structure. A faint star flashed within the nebula but was not centrally placed.


NGC 6106 Gx in Her: Faint, small, oval; brighter core, diffuse halo, no nucleus. 3:1 NW-SE


NGC 6807 PN Aql: Stellar, small blue-green disk with faint shell, blinks with OIII.


NGC 6852 PN in Aql: Unfiltered is a moderately large, irregularly round faint glow in between two stars. The shell is brighter on the north rim making it "C" shaped. OIII gives good contrast gain. Very rich field of stars


Hu 2-1 PN in Her: Small, bright, stellar. Blinks slowly with OIII. HST image shows an elongated shell with bright looping streams of gas and is quite beautiful.

Sh1-89 PN Cyg: Small, clumpy bipolar nebula, bluish color, brighter to the NW. Elongated 3:1 NW-SE. No central star seen.


NGC 7048 PN Cyg: Appears as a fairly bright, moderately large smoky roundness direct vision unfiltered. The shell is mottled with diffuse edges; brighter sections to east and west of shell. OIII brightens the glow. No central star seen. Bright star to the SW.


NGC 7026 PN Cyg: Very faint glow, moderately large, elongated N-S, no central star. Seen with OIII only. In a triangle of stars.


NGC 7082 OC Cyg: Widely dispersed open cluster, with a dozen bright stars and a myriad of fainter stars behind (which may not be part of the cluster, it is a rich field). Brighter stars form a large triangle pointed north. [IV2p]


NGC 7067 OC in Cyg: Very small and faint mist of stars with a few brighter scattered in front. Not detached well. II1p


M 1-79 PN Cyg: Barely visible unfiltered as an irregular oval haze. Need OIII to brighten. Pretty faint, moderately large. Dark lane slices one third of the shell off from the rest to the SW. No central star.

NGC 7031 OC Cyg: Rather small, scattered cluster which nonetheless is detached from the dense surrounding field. There are about 25 stars with a wide magnitude range, some in strings and three pairs I see which could be close double stars. III2m


NGC 7027 PN Cyg: Bright, moderately large. Green, elongated 3:2 NW-SE disk. At higher power appears peanut shaped, with the NW lobe brighter than the SW. A diffuse hazy glow is around the whole.


Hu 1-2 PN in Cyg: Bloated star unfiltered; blinks with OIII. At 533x it began to elongate NW-SW; likely bipolar

NGC 7392 Gx in Aqr: Bright, moderately large, 2:1 WNW-ESE, slightly off-center bright core and almost stellar nucleus.


IC 5117 PN in Cyg: Very small, stellar, blinks blue-green with OIII


NGC 7377 Gx in Aqr: Bright core, stellar nucleus, 3:2 elliptical E-W; a distinctive trapezium of stars is to the SW


NGC 7600 Gx in Aqr: Stellar nucleus, bright large core, 4:1 ENE-WSW elongated faint diffuse halo. Edges fade imperceptibly to the sky background


NGC 7218 Gx in Aqr: Pretty large, fairly faint, diffuse halo, gradually brighter core. 2:1 NE-SW. Star in NE tip.


NGC 7541 Gx in Psc: Bright, large, long; 4:1 WNW-ESE with a bright large mottled halo suggesting spiral structure, with faint tips fading slowly. Stellar nucleus. NGC 7537 is closeby to the SW: fairly bright, small, with a bright core, tilted 3:1 WSE-ENE.


NGC 7562 Gx in Psc: Pretty bright, large oval core elongated 2:1 E-W with a faint halo fading gradually to the edges. 7562A was seen to the SE: small, very faint, round. Also in view is NGC 7557 to the NE, which is small, fairly faint, and 3:1 N-S.


NGC 7785 Gx in Psc: Pretty bright, small, 3:2 NW-SE, with a very bright compact core.


NGC 6596 OC in Sgr: 30 bright, widely dispersed stars in a roughly oval arrangement N-S. Many faint behind and in a rich field. Loose concentration. UHC showed some nebulosity in the general area. II2mn


NGC 6578 PN in Sgr: Very bright blue-green, blinks with OIII. Non-stellar bright disk no central star, hazy shell.


M 1-54 PN in Sgr: Very faint, fairly small, seen with OIII only. Irregularly round, fat ring shape with darker central region. No central star seen. Seeing did not support higher power

NGC 6717 GC in Sgr: Small, faint, but with glittering stars (part of the globular or just foreground?) in front of the milky core, which is generally raggedly round. Beautifully set next to bright star [Nu2 Sgr, 5th magnitude]


IC 4846 PN in Aql: Small, bloated star unfiltered. OIII blinks it strongly to a slightly larger green disk.


M 3-34 PN in Aql: Small, quasi-stellar, blinks blue with OIII

NGC 6814 Gx in Aql: Stellar nucleus, faint diffuse round halo. It is a Seyfert galaxy, spiral, seen face-on. No mottling or spiral structure detected.


NGC 6818 PN in Sgr: Blue-green, round to annular; small bright little milky disk, slightly hazy, in a triangle of stars.


NGC 6803 PN in Aql: Very bright, blue, stellar. Blinks like a beacon with OIII. Higher power bloats the "star" into a very small disk


Vy 2-2 PN in Aql: Non stellar at lower powers. With 333x and OIII, it is a bright green central star in a small round haze.

Cn 3-1 PN in Oph: Small, fairly faint, stellar. Blinks with OIII into slightly larger green disk, non central star. During blinking it actually disappears completely then pops back into view.

NGC 6548 Gx in Her: Bright round core, with the halo rapidly decreasing in brightness to elongated tips, 3:2 NE-SW. A second galaxy is in the field, to the SW, 3:1 NE-SW, small, fairly faint, with a just stellar nucleus [this is NGC 6549]


Pease 1, PN in M15 in Peg: Using finder charts from Doug Snyder's website, I quickly identified the trapezium finder stars, and from there the triangular arrangement of finder stars pointing to an unresolved, cone-shaped star mass at the NW rim of the core of M15. Seeing was not perfect but patient waiting while blinking with OIII revealed a very small, blue green point which flashed in and out of the field. I let M15 pass through the field 5 times and was able to glimpse the planetary two or three times on each pass. It is very small and stellar, easy to miss if you don't know exactly where to look.


NGC 6804 PN Aql: Unfiltered, pale green, central star in a rippling mottled shell; annular; faint haze around it. OIII enhances a little but loses the central star. Rim is brighter to the east. The shell is slightly elongated NE-SW.


NGC 7619 Gx in Peg: Several galaxies in the FOV and more seen sweeping the general area, it being the Pegasus I galaxy cluster. 7619 is bright large elliptical, with a bright core and stellar nucleus, with a faint diffuse halo, elongated 3:2 NE-SW. NGC 7617 was closeby to the SW, faint and small, elongated very slightly NE-SW.


NGC 7623 Gx in Peg: Bright, small, with a stellar nucleus, elongated 3:2 N-S. To its SW is a very small, very faint galaxy tending N-S elongation [this is NGC 7621].


NGC 7626 Gx in Peg: Bright, moderately large, round to oval with very thin diffuse edges. To its SE near edge of FOV is another galaxy, very faint and very small, a thin streak, seen mainly with averted vision [this is UGC 12535]. Comparing to my sketch later, I also saw 7611 (extremely faint, seen with AV, small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE); IC 5309 (very faint, very small, round to a little elongated but too small to tell the PA); NGC 7615 (very faint elongated patch); NGC 7634 (small but fairly bright core, rice shaped E-W elongation).


NGC 7742 Gx in Peg: Pretty bright, fairly large. Seems to have two nuclei, but one could just be a very bright knot. The core is disrupted and hints of spiral structure. Diffuse round halo.


NGC 7814 Gx in Peg: Large bright disrupted oval core with dark patches, stellar nucleus. Very large diffuse halo elongated NW-SE fades slowly, like M31's halo.


NGC 40 PN in Cep: Amazing view! Bright central star, with concentric green circles radiating around it. Pretty large, slightly elongated. OIII didn't help, UHC was better, but I preferred the unfiltered view anyway. Star on the SW rim.


DeHt 5 PN in Cep: Faint central star, blinks slightly greenish color with very faint large diffuse cloud around it with OIII

EGB 1 PN in Cas: Rather large but extremely faint glow, no central star, seen with OIII & averted vision only; difficult

NGC 7762 OC in Cep: Pretty; large, rich cluster, loosely formed but some greater concentration in the middle, mostly 9th magnitude stars but some mistiness behind it; elongated NE-SW in a bean shaped oval. II2m


NGC 604, M33-KNT in Tri: Bright, oval shaped haze at the tip of one of M33's arms, NE of the core. Easily seen.


NGC 410 Gx in Psc: Fairly bright, fairly large elliptical, elongated 2:1 NE-SW, with a bright large core and stellar nucleus. Other galaxies in FOV: NGC 407 to SW, a fairly faint small streak 4:1 N-S with a bright core; NGC 414 to the SE, small, faint, round; CGC 501.119 to the NE, small faint and round. I missed seeing NGC 408, which would have been a small hazy point just to the west of NGC 410.


NGC 672 Gx in Tri: Pretty large, fairly bright, stellar nucleus, slightly brightened core, diffuse halo elongated 4:1 ENE-WSW


Simeiz 22 PN in Cas: Very faint, pretty large very wispy crescent shape open to the NW. H-alpha filter has the best response. No obvious central star


IC 1747 PN in Cas: Unfiltered appears as faint, round disk with a slightly darker but not dark interior -- cell shaped. Moderately large. Blinks with and without OIII.


IC 289 PN Cas: Nice! Smoky round orb seen direct vision, grey-blue color. Thick ring structure with knots; central star is plainly seen. OIII brightens slightly.


NGC 499 Gx in Psc: Area crowded with galaxies! 499 is pretty bright, pretty large, with a bright oval core and faint halo; oval shape E-W. Also in field: NGC 501 to the SE, bright, small round, non stellar; NGC 498, to the norht, fairly bright, small and round; NGC 496 further north still: very faint, small, elongated 3:1 NE-SE, gradually brighter core; NGC 495 to the west, fairly small, fairly faint, elongated a little N-S. There are another couple smudges on my sketch which I'm trying to identify. [in fact there are at least 22 galaxies to be seen in this group, definitely worth a more patient return)


NGC 513 Gx in And: Pretty faint, small, oval shape elongated E-W; slightly brighter core


NGC 214 Gx in And: Pretty bright, fairly large, oval shape 3:2 SW-NE. Core is bulging and brighter, with gradually fading tips & diffuse edges. It is in fact an inclined spiral.


NGC 315 Gx in Psc: Fairly bright core, small elliptical 3:2 NW-SE.  I missed seeing some other small NGCs around it


NGC 2366, Gx in Cam: Large, pretty faint, elongated 3:1 SSW-NNE, with diffuse halo and almost stellar nucleus. There is a bright condensation just to SW of the nucleus which is bisecting the halo and is irregular in shape -- this is the KNT. To the east of this is another irregular small glow, which turns out to be NGC 2363


IC 5217 PN in Lac: Stellar, small, small disk blinks with OIII


Me 2-2 PN in Lac: Small, blue-green color; slightly bloated star blinks with OIII. The middle star of three in an arc.

NGC 7640 Gx in And: Long & beautiful inclined barred spiral, thick & substantial halo with some brighter patches (HII regions). 4:1 NW-SE, very large


NGC 7662 PN And: Blue Snowball. Blue, bright and round, moderately large. Bright bands looping through the disk, darker in the middle; diffuse edges, no central star.


Vy 2-3 PN And: Bloated yellow-orange star; very small even surface brightness disk blinks with OIII

NGC 7832 Gx Psc: Small, fairly bright, stellar nucleus, glowing halo, an inclined spiral 3:1 SSW-NNE


NGC 1360 PN in For: Bright, bloated star with large, diffuse grey glow around it, slightly elongated NNE-SSW. Glow is slightly enhanced with OIII.


NGC 125 Gx in Psc: Small, fairly faint, round, with a brighter large core and very thin diffuse halo. NGC 126 to the SW edge of field as a fairly faint oval / rice grain, NW-SE. very small


NGC 198 Gx in Psc: Stellar nucleus, bright round core, small; diffuse halo mostly round. Pretty small overall. End of a string of other galaxies: NGC 200 to NE, small, faint, a little elongated NW-SE; NGC 194, Small, faint, round, stellar nucleus.


NGC 718 Gx in Psc: Fairly bright, small, round glowing core, stellar nucleus. Diffuse, very faint large halo.


NGC 706 Gx in Psc: Faint, diffuse 3:2 glow, uneven brightness. Stellar nucleus. Next to star to north


NGC 741 Gx in Psc: 741 is a bright, oval elliptical 3:2 E-W, pretty bright core, almost stellar nucleus. On the east edge of its halo is NGC 741, like a small flame out the side of it: round, small, fairly bright.


NGC 428 Gx in Cet: Fairly bright, pretty large, 3:2 oval N-S. Halo is heavily mottled, seems to have a tail coming out to the north.


NGC 6518 Gx Small, obvious DV but relatively faint. Stellar nucleus, bright core; round; diffuse halo. Dense field. Close to a star to the west.


Zwicky's Triplet (Arp 103): Noticed on Interstellarum while star hopping to something else (Interstellarum calls it Zwicky's Triplet, but I find it also referred to as Zwicky's Connected Multiple System--which doesn't have the same ring to it). Seen as a very faint glow with three condensations. The brightest was very faint and round; on its SW edge there was a fainter knot; to the north of these two, some distance away and close to a star with an extremely faint small patch, seen with AV only. Researching this later, the brightest is mag 14.6g, next to it is 15.71, and the faintest is 16.2.


NGC 5989 Gx: Faint oval mostly N-S. Small, diffuse with an only slightly brightening core, no nucleus.


NGC 7463 / 7464 / 7465, Gx: pretty bright, pretty large, 3:1 E-W, even surface brightness. Just off the SE side is 7464: small, round, faint. Further ESE is 7465, pretty bright, small, 3:2 NNW-SSE, with a just stellar nucleus. There is a bright star to the west of the group; best kept out of view but can still see the trio with it there.


Pal 11: GC: Faint, but quickly detected with direct vision. Near a bright star to the NE. Four stars seen over the face (just foreground?) of the faint, fairly large glow.


HGC 96: Gx group: a: very faint, small and round; c noticed with patient AV as a knot in a's glow. B: small round glow, very faint. D: suspected as a non-stellar point with painful AV, but uncertain (17.13b)


HGC 100: Gx group: a: fairly bright glow, rice shaped E-W. B: fairly faint patch to the east of a. C: extremely faint, AV only small glow. D: suspected as a condensation / very small extrememly faint glow.


Stock 23: OC: Around 10 brighter stars arranged as a Little Dipper asterism, with four forming a parallelogram and others trailing off. No nebulosity; poor, no concentration. Not many stars in the area so fairly well detached.


NGC 2146 Gx: Dusty Hand. Large, fairly bright, comma shaped halo--very disrupted and mottled--3:1 NW-SE. Core brightens.


HGC 92 Gx group: Stephen's Quintet. Components b-d: split with averted vision when seeing stills. A: Brightest / largest. E: defined but very faint c. very faint. NGC 7320c was seen with averted vision, a very faint, very small rice grain, seend 75%


NGC 7315: Gx: Fairly small, fairly bright, round, core only. Core is disrupted; faint thin halo.


NGC 1385 Gx in for: Bright, pretty large, barred core, with wings of spiral arms coming out, most prominent is the northern arm; mottled halo orientated N-S.


NGC 1371 Gx in For: Bright, ball shaped core floating in spiral arms; large oval halo with spiral structure orientated 3:2 NW-SE. Beautiful


HGC 7 Galaxy group: a & b: small, faint but obvious; c: ill-defined glow, extremely faint, AV only. D: seen intermittently with AV


NGC 219 / 223, Gx: 223 is a faint, fairly small elliptical glow, 3:2 NE-SW. 219 is to the NW, faint, small & round.


NGC 307: Gx: Small, faint, stellar nucleus and nice inclined spiral halo, 3:2 E-W.


UGC 583 & 579: Gx: Both are small, very faint, roundish ellipticals. To the north of NGC 307.

Arp 308 / AGC 194: One double system of gx notice right away; two very small, fairly faint glows next to each other like a double star [NGC 545 and 547]. Another system to the WSW is fainter, also small and round [NGC 541]. I noticed four more very faint, very small round glows arcing away from this triangle to the south.


Arp 8: Gx Cet: Small, fairly faint, elongated NW-SE 3:1; seems to have a bright arm separated from it to the NW.

Arp 67 Gx in Cet: Extremely faint, very small, elongated, seems split. [In fact there is a HSB companion to the south and a second to the east in one of the arms -- the split I noticed may well be one of these]


UGC 842 Gx Cet: Shown as a quasar on Interstellarum. I have the impression of an extremely faint, very small elongated glow with a stellar nucleus. According to a paper online: "We confirm that the UGC 842 group is a fossil group, but with about half the velocity dispersion that is reported in previous works. The velocity distribution of its galaxies reveals the existence of two structures in its line of sight, one with sigmaV ~ 223 km/s and another with sigmaV ~ 235 km/s, with a difference in velocity of ~820 km/s. The main structure is dominated by passive galaxies, while these represent ~60% of the second structure. The X-ray temperature for the intragroup medium of a group with such a velocity dispersion is expected to be kT ~0.5-1 keV, against the observed value of kT ~1.9 keV reported in the literature. This result makes UGC 842 a special case among fossil groups because (1) it represents more likely the interaction between two small groups, which warms the intragroup medium and/or (2) it could constitute evidence that member galaxies lost energy in the process of spiraling toward the group center, and decreased the velocity dispersion of the system. As far as we know, UGC 842 is the first low-mass fossil group studied in detail." Fossil groups are believed to be the end-result of galaxy merging within a normal galaxy group, leaving behind the X-ray halo of the progenitor group.

IC 1639 / 1640 Gx in Cet: Steve has it not! 1639 is very faint, very small, round, stellar nucleus; 1640 is very faint, very small, elongated glow with stellar nucleus.

NGC 430 / 426 Gx in Cet: 430 is faint, small, round, bright core. 426 is to the SW, faint, small, 3:2 elongated NW-SE


NGC 450 Gx in Cet: Very faint large diffuse glow, with a bright almost stellar nucleus; broadly oval E-W. [There is a background Gx, UGC 807, off the NE rim of the halo, which I missed -- probably integrated with the rest of the diffuse halo. Worth a return visit!]


NGC 442 Gx in Cet: Fairly bright, moderately large elliptical, bright core, 3:1 N-S. Very close to bright star to the NE.


NGC 693, Gx: Fairly bright, fairly small, 2:1 WNW-ENE, impression of spiral arms in halo. Bright star to ENE edge of halo.


NGC 382 Group: I just have a sketch in my notebook of a "L" shaped trail of galaxies. The center is NGC 382 / 383 pairing, and out from it are NGC 386, 385, 384; and from the other side 380 & 379. I did not take notes on these, which is too bad; they all appeared fairly faint elliptical. The whole is also known as Arp 331. Next time, I will take notes!


IC 1205, Gx: Round, faint, near star. No core / diffuse halo, small


Shakhbazian 84: My first Shakhbazian object. @ 333x I noticed a very small, extremely faint curved glow in which I could detect two condensations, only with averted vision. It was a very tough observation, but exciting to be able to see it, and perhaps gives me a future direction to pursue.