A Tale Of Two Sites - Part 1

2011 continues to be a sparse year for deep sky observing. As late as the end of June, conditions refused to improve - cold, cloudy, rainy, at least over new moon weekends, when most working folks can get out to dark sites and stay up all night. However, two occasions worked out. The first was the Golden State Star Party (GSSP), in far northeastern California, near the small towns of Adin, Bieber, Nubieber and Lookout. Thanks to Jeff Gortatowski for the great photo at right - Sunset at GSSP, with Mount Shasta on the horizon. Beautiful place!

That location is in what locals refer to as the Big Valley. If you're old enough, you have visions of Barbara Stanwick and her crew. But this large open valley, 20 miles wide by 100 miles long, is a real place, with unreal skies. We are fortunate to be able to spend several nights there each year, enjoying country/small-town hospitality, with cultured and bright inhabitant. If it is possible, they outshine the stars in their night skies. If you haven't been to GSSP, look it up for next year.... it is so well organized, with so many conveniences, its like camping in your own backyard, but with the best skies you can imagine.... and all your friends there too. Winner.

The other observing trip I've been lucky enough to go on was to the Yosemite area, a wonderful long term friend named Michelle Stone, and her husband Paul Plett - own property nearby. Several old time friends gathered for 2 to 3 nights, and had some amazing conditions under which to go deep observing. And, a day in Yosemite, relaxing up at Glacier Point, made the trip even more spectacular - the ultimate combination of Heaven and Earth (the best tenchinage, for my Aikido friends!). These observations, raw notes, are combined from several nights over both trips.

I hope to return to Michelle's for a few more nights over the upcoming new moon.

Before starting though, at GSSP I was set up near Dr. Alan Argawal, and Paul Alsing. Alan has a 24" f/3.3 Starstructure, and Paul a 25" f/5 Obsession. The idea was to set up close to some big guns - I observe with an 18" f/4.5 Obsession, and be able to "mooch" some views of challenge targets. Perhaps the most challenging target discussed by my regular observing crew, is Hickson 50. One evening, early on, when The Big Dipper was still in good position, several of us went to Alan and asked to star hop off of M97, to the nearby quarry of Hickson 50. With high magnification (someone will need to remind me what we were using - maybe an 8mm Ethos), in Alan's scope, a faint haze was visible. Several of us confirmed it. Then over to Paul's 25", with the longer focal ratio, the field revealed not only the haze, but what I can describe as "sprites" - pinpoint of light that came and went, within the haze. Two of us felt there were four sprites.

There were many great views at GSSP, but for me, Hickson 50 was the most impressive. Big scopes and dark skies. Works for me!

My raw notes:

Abell 75 Cep PN 67"x47" 14.5 21 26 23 62 53 33 PK 101+8.1 = NGC 7076 = PN G101.8+08.7

Visible with 20mm no filter. 12mm with NPB filter reveals annular disk about 2.7' and round.

Abell 77 Cep PN 67"x50" 14 21 32 10 55 52 43 PK 97+3.1 = Sh 2-128 = PN G097.5+03.1 = LBN 443

Barely visible both with and without filter, both 20mm and 12mm. With VHT filter there appears to be two arcs near a small triangle to the W, one to the N and the brighter to the S.

CRL 2688 Cyg PPN 24"x6" 21 02 18 36 42 00

3.5mm ultra wide Orion without filter reveals a bright embedded star to the N and dimmer star to S within a peanut shaped halo. Very obvious and bright. Stars are actually in bright knots, with dimmer halo surrounding entire N/S combination.

Abell 78 Cyg PN 113"x88" 13.4 21 35 29 31 41 45 PK 81-14.1 = PN G081.2-14.9

12mm w/ultrablock - mostly round, dim, even brightness across disk.. Filter helps, almost not visible without.

Abell 72 Del PN 134"x121" 12.7 20 50 02 13 33 28 PK 59-18.1 = PN G059.7-18.7

12mm w/ultrablock - almost round but slight e/w elongation. Stars involved, bright one at w edge. Solid, even brightness across disk.

Hickson 89A Aqr GX4 0.9x0.6 14.4 21 20 01 -03 55 20 MCG -01-54-012

7mm all three bright components viewed averted, B seemed easier than A. C would come in with a hint of D < 25% of time.

Abell 70 Aql 45"x40" 14.7 20 31 33.2 -07 05 17 PK 38-25.1 = PN G38.1-25.4

12mm 18" - entire disk shows without filter but NE section is clearly brighter. 7mm shows annularity and galaxy visible through NE edge of nebula.

Palomar 11 10.0' 17.3 19 45 14 -08 00 26

12mm 18" - obvious granular appearance and bracketed by 2 concave chains of 4 = mag stars each running N/S with a bright star nearby to the N. Using an NPB filter shows the entire NE triangular portion of the galaxy glowing in HII.

NGC 6822 15.5'x13.5' 8.8 19 45 00 -14 48 NGC 6822 19 45.0 -14 48 15.5x13.5 8.8 Sgr

Barnard's Galaxy has a low, irregular surf br, ~14' in length. Use OIII filter to search for 2 small HII regions at N end. 12mm 18" - elongated NE/SW and embedded in stars, there is a dark rift or two that run along the major axis and several HII regions embedded, most noticeably the two at the NE end of the object.

SagDIG 3.2'x1.5' 15.0 19 30 00 -17 41 00 SagDIG 19 30.0 -17 41 3.2x1.5 15 Sgr

The Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular is a difficult 3' roundish glow nestled in a rich Milky Way field. Very difficult to identify. 7mm 18" - oval glow between parallelogram of stars, elongated NW/SE and appearing almost annular - no doubt it is there.

I've manipulated the contrast and brightness in this image, in order to try bringing out the object. Its a tough one!

Abell 66 Sgr 295"x241" 19 57 31.5 -21 36 46 PK 19-23.1 = PN G019.8-23.7

12mm 18" - Pair of stars equal mag nearby to NNE. Planetary is large and perhaps elongated slightly N/S with slight annularity. Dim stars appear embedded in E edge - perhaps 2. Very faint, although occasionally the central area appears to brighten and negate annular feeling.

Sh 2-052 2 2 19 47 46.3 -23 05 15 See next entry - how many types of catalogs is this in!

Abell 65 Sgr 134"x34" 13.8 19 46 33.8 -23 08 12 PK 17-21.1 = UGCA 415 = MCG -04-46-001 = PN G017.3-21.9 = PGC 63654

12mm 18" - visible without filter, but UHC helps. Round and mostly even brightness, but SW edge seems brighter than rest of disk. Chain of 4 dim stars cup N edge, and 3 dim stars extend W from S edge, with E star touching disk.

ESO 461-007 1.2'.7' 13.3 19 52 06 -30 49 00
7mm 18" observed, aka Hickson 86A
Hickson 86A 1.2x0.7 13.3 19 52 08.7 -30 49 30 63753
Hickson 86B 0.5x0.4 13.8 19 51 59.0 -30 48 57 63748
Hickson 86C 0.4x0.3 14.9 19 51 57.3 -30 51 23 63752
7mm 18" observed.

Terzan 8 3.5' 12.4 19 41 45 -34 00 01

12mm 18" - forms an almost equilateral triangle with GSC 7434:401 and GSC 7434:31, but feeling is I'm seeing the core as it is relatively small and not all that difficult.

ARP 29 11.6'x9.9' 8.8 20 34 52 60 09 NGC 6946

Large core with two arms coming off to NE and swinging E. S of the 2 arms is fatter. Dimmer arm comes off S of core and swings tightly around to W. Large core has a gradually brighter center. Finally noticed another long arm, from WNW and winding around straight to NE.

Abell 71 Cyg 165"x150" 14.5 20 32 23.2 47 21 04 PK 85+4.1 = PN G084.9+04.4 = Sh 2-116

7mm 18" - very dim glow, no definition at all, surrounding a mag 13.5 star with more "glow around a mag 12.5 star on the edge. Extremely difficult. Dim star actually appears involved in a haze.

Sh 2-115 50 2 20 34 33.0 46 52 40

12mm UHC 18" - dim linear glow with some structure running E/W of two pair of stars to the S. Dimmer pair appears involved in nebulosity. OC Berk 90 is obvious at E of the two pair of stars.

Sh 2-112 15 2 20 33 50.2 45 39 35

12mm UHC 18" - easy to view this Sharpless around GSC49801. Nebulosity forms an arc through the star, running mostly N/S and arcing to the E, forming a J with most but thinnest section to the N. Bottom of J is most pronounced.[

AGC 2319 0.973 15.4 19 20.8 43 59

7mm 18"- CGCGs 230-9, 230-8, 230-7, 230-4

Sh 2-108 180 3 20 22 34.8 40 15 15 IC 1318

30mm 18" - nebulosity with dark neb veined throughout over large areas around Gamma Cygni, through into the North American Nebula. Outstanding views throughout the entire area.

Abell 69 Cyg 25"x22" 20.2 20 19 58.3 38 24 02 PK 76+1.1 = PN G076.3+01.1

7mm 18" - perhaps at most the southern arc of this planetary, very elusive.

Sh 2-105 18 3 20 12 02.4 38 20 59 N6888 = Crescent Nebula

12mm 18" UHC - spectacular view, wispy nebula with blue glow and blue stars. Internal knots inside western edge, northern and eastern edge very thick and distinct. Mottling throughout. Star embedded in northeastern wisp is very reminiscent of Veil Nebula's Witches Broom.

Sh 2-106 3 3 20 27 26.9 37 23 49

12mm 18' UHC - amorphous glow involved with dark veins interspersed in distinct star field just NNW of SAO 70038. Subtle, but there.

Sh 2-104 7 2 20 17 44.6 36 44 40

12mm 18" UHC - faint but distinct even nebulosity surrounding stars of Dolidze 4, elongated E/W, with a notch taken out of the NW edge.

A Tale Of Two Sites - Part 2

Sh 2-101 20 2 19 59 56.8 35 17 27

12mm 18" NPB - reminiscent of Crescent, but dimmer. Two bright stars embedded in W end of nebula. Brightest portion is to N and E of bright stars, Another bright section runs E of the S star of the pair. More nebulosity is to th S and W of the pair of stars, but much more subtle. This is a very good target.











Sh 2-100 4 3 20 01 50.6 33 30 41 N6857

7mm 18" NPB - planetary appears almost triangular, nearly as distinct without the filter. Elongated slightly NW/SE. But appears to have somewhat triangular shape, with a harder edge running N/S. Star embedded in nebula, but seems offset to the N, which may be an illusion due to a dim northern edge of the shell.











Abell 74 Vul PN 871"x791" 15.8 21 16 52 24 08 51 PK 72-17.1 = PN G072.7-17.1

Abell 74 is interesting in that I found it by mistaking CGCG 471-2 for an edge of it, no filter with 20mm. 12mm w/ UIHC filter gave great gain in smoothness and feeling of an object dark but large, around two bright stars and off of them to the west southwest, while the galaxy was invisible to the northeast.The planetarty is large and devoid of features, an almost uniform surface glowing as dimly as possible. Sometimes it appears as if there are the deepest knots in several places in the object.






N7769/70/71 Peg GX 5.4 12.0:13.8:12.2 23 51 06 20 12 00

NGC 7769 is bright and complex, having a stellar pinpoint bright core, inner and outer halo that appears a tilted spiral. It is an easy galaxy to see detail in. NGC 7770 and NGC 7771 are to its east southeast, both elongated in an east west direction with 7771 much twice the size of 7770 but equal with 7769. Views with 7mm. Excellent find from Miles Paul Atlas of Galaxy Trios. 7771 is long and thin with a bright inner region across much of its length, and a bright stellar nucleus - but the small galaxy appears intrinsically brighter. Estimate sizes at 3x2 for 7769, 4.5x1 for 7770 and 3x1 for the little one.




HCG 092A Peg Hickson 2.2x1.1 12.6 22 36 04 33 56 52 NGC 7320 Arp 319
HCG 092B Peg Hickson 1.9x1.2 13.1 22 35 58 33 57 58 NGC 7318B Arp 319
HCG 092C Peg Hickson 1.7x1.3 13.1 22 36 03 33 58 34 NGC 7319 Arp 319
HCG 092D Peg Hickson 0.9x0.9 13.4 22 35 56 33 57 59 NGC 7318 Arp 319
HCG 092E Peg Hickson 1.1x1.1 13.6 22 35 52 33 56 42 NGC 7317 Arp 319

Stephans Quintet - all members easily visible. Pair distinctly broken apart. - 7mm.







N7270/71/75 Peg Trio 6.9 13.9:14.6:14.3 22 23 36 32 24 00

All three galaxies show well in 7mm. Nice alignment of a pair of bright stars pointing at group, with one member on one side of a long arc of stars, the other two galaxies on the other side, with one of those being the last to show up.












Abell 78 Cyg PN 113"x88" 13.4 21 35 29 31 41 45 PK 81-14.1 = PN G081.2-14.9

12mm - very large, very difficult, very dim and even.















Jones 1 Peg PK104-29.1 12.1 23 35 54 30 28 00

Large mostly circular shell, looks at first like a faint U with thick uprights. But dim, think of dark nebula, but kind of a backlit glow. Northern edge seems brighter and thicker, especially toward the w.













HCG 099A GX 1.1x0.4 13.9 00 00 37 28 23 04 UGC 12897
HCG 099B GX 1.0x0.9 13.7 00 00 46 28 24 07 UGC 12899
HCG 099C GX 0.8x0.4 14.7 00 00 44 28 24 05 MCG +05-01-021

All three visible with 7mm - however, the pair were difficult to see individually.











HCG 093D GX 0.7x0.6 14.7 23 15 33 19 02 51 NGC 7553:


















HCG 094A GX 1.0x1.0 14 23 17 13 18 42 29 NGC 7578B Arp 170


















PK 94+27.1 K1-16 PLNNB DRA 1.9 m 14.2 99.9 18 21.9 +64 22

7mm barely visible partial disk with central star cent* variable DS Draconis















Abell 61 PK 77+14.1 = PN G077.6+14.7 PLNNB CYG 201" 13.5 19 19 10.1 +46 14 36

12mm OIII barely visible, round, several dim stars embedded near the center.















NGC 6813 SG 3.148 BRTNB VUL 3 m 99.9 99.9 19 40.4 +27 18

Dim star in an oval glow. Responds well to NPB filter..















Sh 2-84 EN SGR 15x3 19 49.0 +18 23

NPB filter 12mm faint glow between two bright stars. The "Little California Nebula" appears a faint, 4' shallow arc of nebulosity bracketed by two mag 8.5 stars. Located 25' ESE of mag 3.7 Delta Sagittae.

A Tale Of Two Sites - Part 3

PARSAMIAN 21 REFNEB AQL 19 29.007 +09 38 39

Tiny cometary nebula visible predominantly on one side of a dim star.















Abell 64 PGC 63630 = PK 44-9.1 = CGCG 397-005 PLNNB AQL 40"x27" 19 45 34.8 +05 33 52

Dim with OIII, roundish, distinct size but not large, just west of a pair of dimmer equal magnitude stars.













Sh2- 72 BRTNB AQL 25 m 99.9 99.9 19 03.8 +02 19

12mm OIII, large, fills most of fov, centered and most condensed around star GSC 466:1790, seems somewhat square. Mostly just a slight change in contrast.













NGC 6778 PK 34-6.1 PLNNB AQL 19 s 13.3 9.1 19 18.4 -01 36

7mm OIII, bipolar planetary, two bright knots very close together with black separation between. Dimmer roundish disk surrounds bright inner pair. Central star very dimly observable.













Sh2- 64 LBN 90 BRTNB SER 20 m 99.9 99.9 18 31.6 -02 05

20mm OIII - large very dim area of nebulosity surrounding three dim stars. Not much distinct.















Abell 48 PK 29+0.1 = PN G029.0+00.4 PLNNB AQL 43"x37" 17.2 18 42 46.9 -03 13 25

7mm OIII, very small and ill defined. At edge of vision, but high percentage of time "feel" there is a dim glow. Mostly round. Off two pairs of stars at right angles to each other.













PK 26-1.1 K4- 5 PLNNB SCT 20 s 15.7 99.9 18 45.6 -06 19

12mm OIII, very unusual shape! Linear and brightest section extends e/w and appears to get thicker to the w. Under, or n of the linear section a round glow comes and goes, appearing to "hang" below the linear glow.is a "bubble" to the w of the center of the line. Bubble appears annular.










Sh 2-060 BRTNB SCT 20 18 36 40.5 -06 42 04

12mm OIII, dim even glow surrounding a pair of mag 12.6 stars.
















NGC 6539 GCL 85 GLOCL SER 2.5 m 8.9 99.9 18 04.8 -07 35

12mm, large and dim, unresolved. In heavily obscured area.















Palomar 11 GLOCL AQL 8 9.8 19 45.2 -08 00

12mm, large in fov, coarse, resolved partially. This Palomar globular appears as a diffuse, irregular glow 4' SSE of a mag 9 star. Try to resolve at high power.














Abell 60 PK 25-11.1 = PN G025.0-11.6 PLNNB SGR 88"x77" 16.2 19 19 18.6 -12 14 54

Very dim oval haze with VHT filter and 12mm Nagler. Almost not detectable.















HGC085 CGCG 341-010 HCG DRA 14.4 18 50 18.5 +73 21 05

7mm Hicksons 85A and 85B.
















NGC 6826 PK 83+12.1 PLNNB CYG 27 s 8.8 6.9 19 44.8 +50 32

7mm obvious central star, darkened torus with some bright spots, surrounded by a bright almost round ring. H IV 73;Blinking Planetary;PK83+12.1