Reports to follow when weather allows, hope to update this page often.
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26 April 2019.
Durban , South Africa.
Friday 26 April presented some clear skies over Durban. I was able to get a decent three hour observation under the belt before a bank of clouds slowly moved in from the south west and soon covered the skies bringing the session to a end.
Equipment used.
Orion XT8
25/15/9mm eyepieces used.
UHC and OIII filters.
Seeing was good with nice steady stars.
Transparency was above average.
At the start of the session the wind was non existent with a slight breeze developing toward the last hour of observations.
My first order of business was to try my hand at NGC 5236 better known as Messier 83.
I do not often get to see galaxies from my backyard and this one was well placed at close to zenith and a low magnitude of only +7.09 so I had a good shot at this.
After which I had a list that I had cobbled together earlier in the day that I was keen to explore. These consisted of a group of open clusters in Norma and Ara.
NGC 5236, Messier 83, Spiral galaxy in Hydra, Magnitude +7.09
Started my star hop in the eyepiece from the closest naked eye star Iota Centauri.
M83 shows as a small condensed ball with a brighter core and small halo. I cannot see any structure other than the small round smudge of light and bright core. It holds up well to magnification but appears dimmer in the 9mm and fares better with averted vision when using that high a magnification.
With this one in the bag my modest list of galaxies logged is almost up to double figures.
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| Chart from Cartes Du ceil |
Now to move onto my prepared list of targets for the session. All open clusters with one that is embedded in a large emission nebula.
I started from the closest naked eye star Gamma2 Normae.
The first two targets overlap each other and share a few stars.
The chart below indicates the field I was observing in, the charts are taken from Cartes Du Ceil. A link to the webpage for the software is under the "Useful links" tab to the right of this column.
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| Chart from Cartes Du Ceil |
Ruprecht 118, Open cluster in Norma, magnitude +9.80
For this target I needed to go all the way down to the 9mm eyepiece to get a proper look.
A can see five stars in a small grouping, three forming a triangle shape and two more toward the south west of those in my FOV.
The stars here range in magnitude from 11 through 13. The cluster is not well detached and seems to be part of the cluster NGC 6115 rather than a cluster of it's own.
NGC 6115, Open cluster in Norma, Magnitude +9.80
The same stars as noted for Ruprecht 118 are noted along with a smaller grouping of stars to the south east of that. Visually it seems more apparent as a cluster and combined with Ruprecht 118 it seems to form a much larger cluster, semi detached from the background.
This is a star rich area of the Milky Way. 12 stars are seen in total for this cluster.
And as before the magnitudes here also range from 11 through 13.
Ruprecht 119, Open cluster in Norma, Magnitude +8.80.
In the 25mm eyepiece this cluster only shows a few stars, increasing the magnification brings more stars into play as does the 9mm and then you need to pan around to see them all.
Not very well detached and almost blends into the surrounding star field. You need to take some time and study the field closely to pick out those stars forming this cluster.
NGC 6152, Open cluster in Norma, Magnitude +8.80.
Another cluster that is not well detached and well spread out. There are a bunch of stars on the left of this cluster that seem attached to this cluster and makes it seem larger than it is. The 15mm eyepiece best framed this cluster. the 9mm brings out quite a few more stars. Under high magnification at least twenty stars can be seen in total.
Collinder 307, Open cluster in Ara, Magnitude +9.19.
This dim collection of stars is best seen in my 9mm eyepiece. I only find six stars at magnitude 11.
This tiny cluster could easily be passed over without recognizing it as a open cluster, small compact and dim.
NGC 6167, Open cluster in Norma, Magnitude +6.69.
The brightest star here is HD 149019, in the 25mm eyepiece the cluster seems well spread out and not well detached. The 15mm shows several more stars and to my surprise the 9mm brings out a tight knot of stars at the heart of this cluster that I had not noticed at lower magnifications.
The next target is a two for one, NGC 6193 is the open cluster that is embedded in the emission nebula NGC 6188.
NGC 6193, Open cluster in Ara, Magnitude +5.19.
A bright cluster that is anchored by the bright variable star HD 150136. the cluster is well spread out and has many brighter stars in the group. The magnitudes here range from 6.9 through 12.5
A nice bright cluster.
Switching to the use of filters helps to bring out a hint at the nebula.
NGC 6188, Bright nebula in Ara, Magnitude +5.19.
Using both the UHC and OIII filters I can detect a slight brightening of the background here slightly below the star HD 150136.
Not a lot of brightening but enough to indicate the presence of the nebula.
Without the filters the nebula is not seen at all.
NGC 6200, Open cluster in Ara, Magnitude +7.40.
This cluster is not well detached from the background at all and I needed to study the field a bit to pick up the stars that make up this cluster.
A sparse smattering of stars that are almost lost in the surrounding star field. In a casual sweep of the sky you would easily miss this one.
NGC 6204, open cluster in Ara, Magnitude +8.19.
A semi detached cluster with 8 stars showing in my 25mm eyepiece. Increasing the magnifaction with the 15mm shows 9 stars and 11 stars are found in the 9mm.
HOGG 22, Open cluster in Ara, Magnitude +6.69.
A tight group of stars that seem anchored by the double star HD 150958.
A semi detached sprinkling of stars ranging in magnitude 8.5 through 12 that I can see. There are some dimmer stars in this cluster that are beyond the reach of my scope.
And that brings the list to a close.
At this point I elected to take a look at Jupiter and Saturn before the curtian of clouds swept them up.
SkySafari indicated the GRS was on the limb and I had to gaze at the planet for some time before I started to see it emerge from the limb of the planet. And only three of the bright moons were visible with the fourth behind the giant planet.
Next I went to Saturn which was still low on the horizon.
I could not clearly see the Cassini division, there was however some banding evident on the surface of the planet.
And that concluded my evening under African skies.
Thanks for reading the report and clear skies!
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April 12 and 15 2019.
Durban , South Africa.
Been a while since we have had some clear sky over a weekend! And this weekend presented clear skies over two evenings. Saturday night I opted to get to bed early and get up for a early morning Sunday session.
On both nights the Orion 8 inch scope and three eyepieces were used, the 25, 15 and 9mm.
The images are from Skysafari 6 Pro, a link to the webpage is on in right column of this blog under the "Useful Links " tab.
Sunday 15 April 2019.
This was a early morning session that started at 3AM and lasted through to sunrise.
There was a very gentle breeze with no Moon and a nice dew that was settling although it did not affect the session.
Again the scope was the Orion 8 inch and the 9/15 and 25mm eyepieces.
Seeing was steady and transparency slightly below par as the dew was making it look almost misty.
The main objective of this session was to grab Mercury in the scope since it will be above the horizon a hour or so before the sunrise. This is only possible to see from the Southern Hemisphere at this time, so not to be missed and this would be my first view of Mercury in the scope, I had only seen it naked eye before.
Saturn, Planet in Sagittarius, Naked eye planet.
I started the session with Saturn as it was getting close to zenith and we know how Dobs behave up at zenith!
The Cassini division was easily seen along with some banding on the planet. I also noted three Moons, Titan, Thethys and Rhea.
NGC 6864, Messier 75, Globular cluster in Sagittarius, Magnitude +8.52
This is a small condensed ball of light with a slightly brighter core, holds up to magnification well, also noted two close by 11th magnitude stars.
NGC 6818, Planetary Nebula in Sagittarius, Magnitude +9.39.
A tiny blue ball that holds up to magnification but remains a small blue ball.
NGC 6994, Messier 73, Open Cluster in Aquarius, Magnitude +8.89.
A small grouping of three stars, best seen with the 15 and 9mm eyepieces.
NGC 7009, Saturn Nebula in Aqaurius, Magnitude +7.80.
A small green/blue ball. There is a slight elongation and bulging, not entirely round in appearance.
Also holds up well to magnification and is easily seen when you have the correct star field in view.
NGC 7089, Messier 2, Globular cluster in Aquarius, Magnitude +6.46.
Another tiny puff ball of light with a slight brightness to the core but not by much. Holds up to magnification but with a dimming in the brightness.
NGC 7099, Messier 30, Globular cluster in Capricornus, Magnitude +7.19.
Has a brighter compact core with a nice extended halo. Using the 9mm eyepiece and averted vision it just starts to show a few individual stars. Also noted a slight elongation using the 15 and 9mm eyepieces to the overall shape of the cluster.
This observation would have been better made higher in the sky rather than as low as it was this morning.
Mercury, Planet in Aquarius, Naked eye planet.
The star of tonight's show!
In the 25mm it presents as a small disc with a slight hint at it's phase. When changing eyepieces I notice the unfocused image accentuates the phase, which is at half.
The 9mm eyepiece shows the phase clearly and has a nice bright Orange/ Yellow glow to it.
Using a moon filter helps to reduce the glare and make the phase more visible.
Absolutely stoked at having seen this planet in the eyepiece!
Venus, Planet in Aquarius, Naked eye planet.
This is a bright planet and fares much better with the Moon filter in place. Once the glare is reduced the phase becomes apparent, looks about a three quarters.
***
And that concluded the early morning session. My goal was achieved and the session declared a success.
I viewed the other targets while waiting for Mercury to rise.
At sunrise the toys were packed away and this astronomer went to bed a happy man.
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Friday April 12 2019.
Started out at about 21H00 and closed up shop at 02H00.
To get the session started I first checked out some my favourite targets to warm up and get dark adapted.
The transparency was affected by the Moon at quarter phase and still several degrees above the horizon, as the night progressed the Moon became less of an influence and was soon below the horizon. Seeing was average becoming better as the night progressed.
There was a very gentle breeze and some dew settled but not enough to end the session.
In short order I took a look at the Eta Carina nebula, IC 2944, NGC 5139 and the two Globular Clusters(GC) in Musca, the one was not visible in the early evening, maybe dark adaption coupled to the average seeing and Moon.
I finished the tour on NGC 5139 and from there headed to my first target, not anything new for the log books but worth a look.
NGC 5286, Globular Cluster in Centaurus, Magnitude +7.34.
A easy star hop from NGC 5139, this GC sits next to a bright foreground Variable Double star M Centauri.
The cluster has a nice coarse appearance with a bright core and well extended halo.
Virgo A, Messier 87, NGC 4486, Elliptical Galaxy in Virgo, Magnitude +8.67.
At the time I attempted this I was not sure of seeing it since I had the Moon at quarter phase about 4 degrees above horizon. I wanted to see this galaxy after all the hype surrounding the black hole that was imaged by the EHT at the center of M87.
The closest naked eye star is Vindemiatrix and from there it was a longish star hop in the 25mm eyepiece.
Once on the correct star field I noted with averted vision a small round patch of light almost like that of some smaller GC. There is a brightening of the core in the 15mm eyepiece and it even shows in the 9mm, I was rather surprised at this as usually these dim targets do not handle magnification well.
There are not many galaxies that show up through my LP here so this was a nice observation and something new for the log book.
Jupiter, Planet in Ophiucus, easily visible to the naked eye.
I did observations on Jupiter at almost hourly intervals as the Great Red spot(GRS) rotated across the Earth facing side of Jupiter.
With the first observation the GRS was just off the edge of the disc, the two equatorial bands were very clear, at higher magnification the bands had small bulges indicating the presence of the large festoons.
With subsequent observations the GRS had moved to the center and then across the face to the edge of the disc again.
Nice to see the GRS and follow it across the planet over the course of the observing session.
NGC 6397, Globular cluster in Ara, Magnitude +5.73.
The globular cluster is easily seen in the 25mm eyepiece and holds up well to magnification. Many of the brighter stars are easily resolved within the cluster. There is a nice central glow and halo, in the 9mm the glow is somewhat diminished.
NGC 6523, Messier 8, Lagoon Nebula and associated cluster, Bright Nebula in Sagittarius, Magnitude +6.0.
Due to much of my LP here this Nebula is visible but severely diminished in brightness. The cluster itself is easily seen and stands out well with a bright nebulous patch of grey light, the brightest being the patch surrounding 9 Sagittarii.
Always a pleasant view and worth a look any time it is up.
NGC 6441, Globular cluster in Scorpius, Magnitude +7.15
This is a small condensed ball of light in the eyepiece. This GC also sits close to a foreground star in HR 6630. There are no individual stars seen through all the magnification ranges, just a tiny fuzz ball floating in space.
NGC 6475, Ptolemy's cluster, Open cluster in Scorpius, Magnitude +3.29.
A magnificent cluster to view that easily fills the field of view(FOV) in the eyepiece.
There are many very bright members and they are well spread out and well detached from the background. The brighter stars seem do be more condensed toward the center of this cluster with dimmer stars in the outer regions.
NGC 6638, Globular cluster in Sagittarius, Magnitude +9.02
This is a small compact ball of light close to an 11th magnitude star HD 170398.
In the 25mm it is best seen with averted vision. Does not fare well under magnification.
NGC 6626, Messier 28, Globular cluster in Sagittarius, Magnitude +6.78
Small and compact cluster with a bright core and small halo of light surrounding that, the 15mm improves the views with a slightly brighter image, in the 9mm the core seems brighter but some of the halo glow is diminished.
NGC 6656, Messier 22, Globular cluster in Sagittarius, Magnitude +5.09.
A well spread out cluster with many individual stars seen, averted vision shows many more stars.
The glow seems to be uniform across this cluster with a subtle hint at a brighter core. In the 15mm eyepiece more stars pop into view and the central glow seems brighter, the 9mm shows a lot more stars with a grainy appearance behind those hinting at many more stars. The overall brightness seems reduced in the 9mm eyepiece.
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This concluded the observing session. I have only listed those objects that I made notes on over the two evenings, there were many more along the way.
Thanks for reading!
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March 17 2019.
Durban, South Africa.
At long last the skies relented and the clouds cleared for a few hours, enough to get the Orion XT8 out and cooling for 40 minutes before heading out to do some observing. Since the clear sky was rather unexpected I had no set plan in mind.
In keeping with the spirit of my weekly blog posts I decided to go after this weeks targets.
In keeping with the spirit of my weekly blog posts I decided to go after this weeks targets.
So on to Alph1 Crucis and Gamma Crucis for some easy doubles. A nice way to warm up and get dark adapted, well as dark adapted as possible with a 87% illuminated Moon.
Alpha1 Crucis, Acrux, Double star in Crux, Magnitude +1.27 and +1.55.
The primary star in this double is Acrux, at magnitude 1.40 it shines a bright, brilliant white in the eyepiece and the diffraction spikes from the spider vanes in the dob are bright and large!
Acrux is also the brightest star in the constellation Crux. The companion at magnitude 2.09 is easily seen even with low powered eyepieces. This is a easy double to pick up even with smaller scopes.
Gamma Crucis, Gacrux, Double star in Crux, Magnitude +1.64 and +6.45.
The primary here is Gamma Crucis A, a bright orange star that also produces very pleasing diffraction spikes, I love them!
The companion here is actually a optical double and not a binary. It shines with a nice yellow colour at magnitude 6.45. Again a lovely pair in the eyepiece.
From here I figured it would be worth taking a tour of some of my favourites.
NGC 3766, The Pearl cluster, Open cluster in Centaurus, Magnitude _5.30
This is a lovely grouping of stars and to my eye the two stars HD 306799 and V910 Centauri are the stand out stars here, both a orange colour that stand out well above the other scattering of stars that make up this cluster. With the Moon playing a role the stars here appeared more yellowish to my eye, the DSS(Deep sky Survey) image on SkySafari showed a lot more blue stars. It is a easy star hop from the Lamba Centauri cluster(IC 2944).
The cluster is well detached and easily recognized as a cluster with a nice large open grouping of stars.
NGC 3293, Gem cluster, Open cluster in Carina, Magnitude +4.69.
In a peculiar way this cluster reminds me of the more famous Jewel box cluster(NGC 4755). A nice collection of stars with a range of colours. Again this cluster stands out well from the background and is quite prominent in it's surrounding field. It is a easy star hop from the more famous Eta Carina nebula close by. And this also allows you to take a look at this nebula before heading for the cluster, I found it severely washed out by the Moon but this makes it a excellent time to seek out some of the smaller clusters hidden within.
As with all clusters that are star rich there is always a fine collection of triangle, box and other shapes to pick out as well a few asterisms. Sometimes your eye may see a tiny Crux hidden in there, this is the fun of Open Cluster observing. Take your time and study the field for a while and find all these amazing patterns and shapes, makes for a fun session.
As with all clusters that are star rich there is always a fine collection of triangle, box and other shapes to pick out as well a few asterisms. Sometimes your eye may see a tiny Crux hidden in there, this is the fun of Open Cluster observing. Take your time and study the field for a while and find all these amazing patterns and shapes, makes for a fun session.
What would a Southern sky observing session be without taking a look at the largest known globular cluster in the night skies in NGC 5139.
It does not disappoint even in the glare of the Moon. It still pushes through the Moonlight and LP with ease. Always a pleasure to see. At lower power the stars are not easily resolved, with medium to higher power the views improve with many individual stars coming through, the views are also diminished by the Moon glow. It's quite incredible to think of the thousands of stars in this huge ball! On Moonless nights they burst out and easily fill a 25mm eyepiece FOV.
And then to wrap things up I took a look at the Moon since it was up and demanding attention with it’s fierce glow. As always there are many interesting craters to examine along the terminator, sometimes the shadows make them seem like small detached islands, a nice optical illusion. And boy is that Moon bright, I briefly inserted the Moon filter but found it cumbersome when changing between eyepieces and since my dark adaption is ruined I left the filter out, retina burn!
I then put the cellphone up to the eyepiece and snapped a few shots of the Moon just for fun.
I cropped and touched them up a bit in Photoshop.
Hope you enjoyed the report and images, and until next time, clear skies!!
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