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Taurus clusters 21/7/15


Tweedledee

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Last night I went to bed and just could not get to sleep, so I came down stairs about 12.30am without switching any lights on so I could have a look outside. The sky was beautiful, it wasn't cold, and the milky way was visible, so I decided to do a bit of observing. Ended up finally going to bed at 4am after a very enjoyable session. Pity I was up for work at 6.30am, so a bit tired today.

A while ago I posted the following about an area of sky I like...
http://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.org.uk/topic/8240-observe-taurus-in-the-summertime/

So I decided to start off with some clusters in the now forgotten summer constellation of Taurus Poniatovii.

I had some great views of lots of stuff in different optics. Had the 2.1x42 bins, 10x50 bins, 15x70 bins and ST120 on the AZ4.
The 2.1x magnification of the little 42mm Vixen bins with its 25 degree true FOV, was ideal for bringing out the all the dim naked eye stars of Poniatoskis Bull along with lots of other stars below naked eye visibility.

 

A couple of the star clusters where visible as fuzzes in the bins. With the 15x70s IC4665 The Summer Beehive looked lovely, though a little less spectacular than the winter beehive M44. It spans over one degree and is a pretty but sparse gathering of 6th to 8th magnitude bees centred about 1.5 degrees NE of mag 2.75 Cebalrai, Beta Ophiuchi. The ST120 and 17mm Ethos framed it nicely bringing out more stars.

Globular cluster Messier 14 took a bit more finding in the ST120 and was not much to look at but a small fuzzy blob at about 8th magnitude even at higher magnification.

In the ST120s 4 degree wide field with the 25mm 100 degree eyepiece, all the 4th to 5th mag stars of the V shaped bulls head could just be seen together at the same time. These along with some fainter stars make up the gigantic sparse cluster of Melotte 186. This size of object was much better framed in the wider view of the 10x50s.

Next, NGC6633 seven degrees away was bright and seen in all the binoculars, but as a denser cluster than the others nearly half a degree across it was a superb and impressive sight in the ST120 at all powers. In the 15x70s, it has the look of an arrowhead.

NGC4756 is 3 degrees from NGC6633 and is a degree wide sparse hazy group looking less visible than its 5th magnitude suggests. A wide field view shows these two as a less spectacular double cluster.

Back toward the left horn of the bull are two interesting asterisms visible in the same view of binoculars and the ST120. LeDrew 7 is a half degree oblong patch of stars of a dozen 8th mag and fainter stars also known as the HD167392-group. Credited to RASC astronomer Glen LeDrew of Ottawa, Canada. Pointing to this group is the cascade of Renou 37 aka HD166990-group. This is one third of a degree long string of eight 8th to 10th mag stars in a nice almost straight line. They make a intriguing and unusual sight.

After Taurus, I had a scan around at the usual stuff all around the sky using all the equipment for differing fields of view. I spent most of the next hour or more with the various bins, especially the little Vixen 2.1s which showed my backyard sky just like you'd love to see it naked eye from a really dark site. It shows so many more stars than naked eye yet they are so small, lightweight and easy to view through, you think they are not there.

Some of the other things I enjoyed in both the 15x70s and ST120 included...
Dumbell Nebula Vulpecula
Collinder 399 the Coathanger cluster Vulpecula
Markov 1 asterism in Hercules
Messiers 11, 13, 15, 26, 29, 31, 33, 39, 52, 81, 82, 92, 103
NGC6210 Cygnus
Double cluster, NGC957 Perseus
Kembles Cascade and NGC1502
Stock 2, 5 and 23 Pazminos cluster NGC663, 457 Cassiopeia
Stephenson 1 cluster Lyra
Trumpler 2 Perseus
Melotte 20 Perseus

When I finally came in, I had a look in my Interstellarum Atlas, had a chuckle when I noticed a planetary neb in Taurus Poniatovii called the Condom Nebula! Yes, it is labelled exactly as that in my atlas, but I knew it was far too faint for my equipment. :lol:

What a lovely session, that I really didn't mind losing sleep for.

 

 

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That's a superb session there Pete, you covered a lot of objects. Funny how things turn out. I remember hearing that a single sleep through the night is not what we humans are really tuned for and that we slept all hours of the day and night. That's my excuse for kipping on the sofa anyway. Have a look at this, it's an interesting read.


 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783


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Cheers Martin and Martyn.

I will study that article later thanks.

My article in the OP gives all the background to these intriguing objects.

Just in case you think I'd been on the whisky and misread that nebula, well I did have a wee dram, here's a pic of the atlas. See bottom left corner of the first one :)

 

20150722_070315.jpg

20150722_070335.jpg


Edited as I couldn't get the pictures in with tapatalk on the phone.

Edited by Tweedledee
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Fantastic report Pete, loved reading it.


 


I'm intrigued by this condom nebula, did you see it that night? 


 


I've searched through google and nothing on it. According to interstellarum it's beside Abell 47 are they one and the same? 


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Nice report Pete.

It's been a while since I had a session like that.

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Aha, another insomniac :-)

If you cant sleep its always best to do something else other than lie there wishing you could sleep.

Nice bag you got there, I went through this region awhile back when Sky and telescope did a resume, I dont recall the Condom Nebula being mentioned but if I remeber correctly Abel 33 was in there and I remember the diamond ring photo

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I think you might see that planetary in a 16" from a dark site.

I think Abell 47 is a bit too far south for us.

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I think you might see that planetary in a 16" from a dark site.

I think Abell 47 is a bit too far south for us.

 

Look at your first link to instellarium it shows Abell 47 next to Condom nebula so it's too far south it's in Sepens caput.

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When I searched Abell 47 in Stellarium, it took me to the southern hemisphere, not Serpent Caput. So I assumed that Interstellarum had got the number wrong. Yet Wickipedia shows Abell 33 looking like a blue condom. So I'm confused on that one now :)

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The pic of the Condom Nebula according to Google images is Abell 33 a different planetary in Hydra. But it does look like a condom. I found a pic of Abell 47 in Serpens, the one we are talking about. It also looks like a condom, but then so do a lot of them :)

This site has lots of Abell...

http://www.deepsky-visuell.de/Projekte/AbellPN_E.htm

Perhaps someone could locate a better image of Abell 47.

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I've just had a quick online search to put some logic around the reasoning, other than it actually resembling a 'rubber'

con, maybe short for constellation and dom is a meaning for freedom so.....

freedom nebula? it sounds better anyway lol

Edited by M__
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Can't find one Pete.


 


As you say loads similar looking condoms but not the one we want.


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At 17 arcseconds across I suppose it won't be possible to find an image much more detailed than the one on the website above. Unless Hubble has imaged it.


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It is an elusive one Mick. I don't think it is really worth bothering searching for, especially from the back yard :lol:


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What ever gave you that idea  ;)

It's one of those that needs a good imagination and averted vision, and even using those techniques is barely perceived only some of the time in your average 20" light bucket on top of the mountain.  :rolleyes:

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You had a great night Pete!

I bet you still couldn't get to sleep after that mega session!

I enjoyed reading your report, it was easy reading, loaded with facts and an inspiration.

I need to look up some of those NGC numbers... and Mellotte, Trumpler, Stephenson, Markov... Phew!😗

In fact your list reminds me of another list! The trumpton crew, Pugh, Pugh, Barney Mcgrew, cuthbert, dibble and Grubb! 😄

I also went out that night with my 11x80 bins and enjoyed the mild weather and the joy of looking around the Milky Way, I had a squint at M27 and M31 too!😄 but I was tucked up in bed by 00.40pm, so good on you!

Cheers!

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That lot is too faint for my kit but I like to Messier around on clear nights when I can't sleep. I process old images when it's too cloudy.

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