Hello Nova Herculis 2021

12-13 June 2021, 23:50 – 01:50 (BST)

Seeing: Poor

Transparency: Average / poor

Conditions: A breezy night with the occasional small patchy cloud passing by. Noticeably chillier than Thursday night. Also, some light condensation.

Nova Herculis 2021 (aka V1674 Her)

You wait ages for a nova to come along … and now another one appears, perfectly placed for summer viewing on the Hercules / Aquila border. I had the MSA (Millennium Star Atlas) bookmarked ready for this one (Volume III, chart 1222), but it turned out I didn’t need a detailed chart; the nova jumped straight out in the finder, blazing away at somewhere between magnitude 6.0 and 6.5. Through the eyepiece at 133x it appeared as an intense little point of light, dominating the surrounding star-field. Although there wasn’t much more to see, I spent a long time in the nova’s company. It’s fascinating (and a rare treat) to look at such an object and imagine the thermonuclear processes involved as a white dwarf leaches material from a companion star, culminating in an explosive eruption.

While in the area I also noticed an interesting grouping of four stars to the west: two 8th magnitude stars flanked by two fainter stars, all in a roughly east-west straight line.

NGC 6709, open cluster, Aquila

133x. Pretty cluster of moderately bright stars arranged in a rough zig-zag pattern. Fairly large and loose; as noted last year, the centre appeared somewhat empty of stars. Visible in the finder as a misty patch of light.

At around 1:10 I noticed a really bright flare from a satellite passing overhead (travelling south to north).

NGC 6755, open cluster, Aquila

133x and 171x. Faint spray of stars in a rough crescent shape, with a stream of fainter stars tailing off to the east. Brightest member on the western end of the cluster.

NGC 6756, open cluster, Aquila

Located about half a degree NNE of 6755 (plotted in the PSA but not SA 2000). 133x: An even fainter fuzzy patch, and also somewhat smaller than its neighbouring cluster. Faint stars popping out with averted vision. At 171x I could see a tight, elongated core of faint stars, surrounded by a broken almond-shape of brighter stars, like an eye. I imagine this cluster would look quite good under a properly dark sky.

Beta Lyrae, Lyra

133x. Bright white star with three companions forming a triangle around the primary.

Delta Cygni, double star, Cygnus

171x. Brilliant icy blue-white primary with a very close companion 2.4” to the south. (I’m glad I used the DeLite for this one.) Beautiful split between the two stars when the seeing allowed.

61 Cygni, double star, Cygnus

171x. Lovely pair of bright yellow-orange stars in a rich star-field (must revisit this one with the Ethos). The separation appears similar to Albireo, and (like Albireo) the split was just about visible in the 9x50 finder. Like Barnard’s Star, this pair is a relatively close neighbour to the sun at 11.4 light years.

As I’d started the session with a nova, it seemed appropriate to finish with one: a return visit to Nova Cassiopeia 2021, which appears to be holding steady at somewhere between 7th and 8th magnitude.

Zeta Cancri

2 March 2021, 19:30 – 20:30

Seeing: Poor – average

Transparency: Very poor

A cool night with a soupy haze that developed into mist and then cloud over the course of the hour. Only the brightest stars were visible to the naked eye; the Beehive Cluster (usually a good indicator of transparency at this time of year) wasn’t even visible with averted vision. I wouldn’t normally take the telescope out under such below-par skies, but I wanted to test the plastic milk-jug fix for the azimuth stiction (verdict: it still needs some work), and it was also an opportunity to revisit Zeta Cancri, subject of Phil Harrington’s latest Cosmic Challenge on Cloudy Nights.

Starting with something familiar, Rigel was an easy split this evening, compared to 12 January. Sirius however was dancing and swimming and hard to keep in tight focus. I returned to it a couple of times and viewed it at both 171x and 240x, and once or twice I did get a glimpse of something possibly glinting in its wake, but not to the point where I could I say I was confident of the sighting.

Zeta Cancri is a lovely triple star comprised of two very close stars (currently 1.2” apart) and another bright star following behind at a more comfortable 5 arcseconds. When the variable seeing allowed, Zeta Cancri A and Zeta Cancri B were cleanly split at 240x. The split was also visible (if not quite so obvious) at 171x, which is probably more testament to the sharpness of the 7mm DeLite than my eyesight.

I also had a look at the Gemini twins: Castor, a very bright double star; and Pollux, not a double star, but showing a distinct tangerine hue.

Nature note:

At least a dozen frogs in the pond – some mating, some croaking – and several clumps of frogspawn.

Open Clusters in Cassiopeia

21 – 22 September 2020, 21:45 – 01:00

Conditions: Mild to begin with, but soon turning chilly. No wind. Condensation increasing over the course of the session.

Seeing: Average
Transparency: Poor

Again, with a couple of hours to spare before Mars reached a usable altitude, and the transparency no better than the previous night, I filled the time by touring some of Cassiopeia’s many open clusters.


M52, open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Rich, vaguely delta-shaped cluster with a bright star on the eastern corner.

Also of note: between 21:50 and 21:55 BST, while looking at this cluster I spotted an unusually slow-moving satellite of about 8th or 9th magnitude, winking into view every three seconds. It was travelling west to east, and passed just south of M52, taking about a minute to cross the field of view. Later, when I was back indoors, I used a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation to estimate it was on a 12-hour orbit. This puts it squarely in the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) range; the first time (as far as I can remember) that I’ve observed one of these satellites.

NGC 7790, open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Compact cluster of about 20 faint stars with an underlying unresolved haze. Quite a nice view. In the same field of view to the NW was an even smaller triangular cluster of about 6 stars plus an unresolved haze – what I assume to be NGC 7788.

I looked (rather optimistically, it has to be said) for the galaxy IC 10, but couldn’t see it. However I did spot a very close double star nearby, just to the north.

NGC 129, open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Large, loose cluster with a mixture of bright and faint stars. No underlying haze that I could see.

NGC 225, open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Large cluster of about 20 to 30 similarly bright stars.

King 14, open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Faint stars plus haze in a rich star field, just NW of 15 (Kappa) Cas. It's a nice field in the Nagler, but the cluster doesn’t really jump out.

NGC 7789, open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Not so well resolved tonight as on previous occasions, but still wonderfully rich. Looked like a hazy “swarm” of stars.

NGC 559 (Caldwell 8), open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Small, hazy, rectangular cluster with bright stars on each corner; the brightest stars on the eastern side formed a triangle. More stars popped out with averted vision.

NGC 663 (Caldwell 10), open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Rich, large, lots of bright stars, plus that distinctive horseshoe shape. Always impressive.

NGC 659, open cluster, Cassiopeia

133x. Small, arrowhead-shaped cluster near NGC 663. Fainter stars of similar brightness plus two bright ones (are these foreground stars?).

IC 1747, planetary nebula, Cassiopeia

I added the 2.5x Powermate to boost the magnification to 333x, but before heading to Mars, I paid a return visit to this little planetary nebula. There wasn’t much to see other than a faint little disc – but at least it was an obvious disc as opposed to a bloated star. With averted vision it seemed slightly brighter on the western side, but this feature (if real) was very subtle.

Mars: 333x. The seeing wasn’t quite as good tonight as it had been over the weekend, but the Sinus Sabaeus region was still showing well, with just a hint of Syrtis Major on the evening limb.

Dusk till Dawn

19 – 20 April 2020, 22:15 – 04:15

Conditions: Windy, cold (for time of year).

Seeing: Average
Transparency: Average

The evening got off to an inauspicious start when I was “treated” to a display of the infamous Starlink satellites. They were already crossing the sky when I took the scope out at 21:30 and the grim spectacle carried on in a continuous procession for another fifteen minutes. The occasional straggler was still passing overhead at 22:00, following the same path as the others. Each satellite reached a peak brightness of about 2nd magnitude, rivalling the primary stars in Ursa Major. I suppose I’m fortunate in that I’m primarily an old-school observer who dabbles in astrophotography, so I have less at stake than those who’ve spent vast sums of money on dedicated astro-cameras, high-end mounts etc., but I am worried about the impact these mega-constellations will have on professional astronomy – particularly the various wide-field survey programmes.

Anyway, satellite trains aside, as the previous session had gone so well I wanted to try something longer, perhaps even an all-nighter (clouds and energy levels permitting). I had no specific plan, other than revisiting a few old favourites, as well as picking up a few objects I’d missed along the way.

All observations carried out at either 133x (Nagler 9mm) or 171x (DeLite 7mm).

M53, globular cluster, Coma Berenices
Viewed at 133x and 171x. As per previous observations. Dark lane on the north side separating a moderately bright star (noted previously) from the core of the cluster.

NGC 5053, globular cluster, Coma Berenices
Finally tracked it down (at 133x) after who knows how many attempts. Visible as a large, hazy patch of very low surface brightness. A little speckly with averted vision, and a field star to the east. Not impressive. Definitely my least-favourite globular cluster.

M51, Whirlpool Galaxy, Canes Venatici
133x. Best view of M51 this season. Ghostly spiral arms visible. With time and careful use of averted vision, there were even hints of brighter spots within the arms, most prominently on the arm immediately east of the core.

M101, Pinwheel Galaxy, Ursa Major
133x. Tantalising hints of structure with averted vision but, as usual, little more than that. Now I’ve seen it a few times I’m more confident of the nebulous spot east of the core (most likely NGC 5461 or 5462). There also seemed to be a tiny faint spot (possibly a star) west of the core.

Porrima (Gamma Virginis), double star, Virgo
133x. Close “headlight” double. Identical white stars 38 light-years away on a 169-year orbit.

NGC 4684, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Small, faint streak of light, aligned NE-SW. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

NGC 4691, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Another small faint ellipse, aligned E-W. Bright core with averted vision.

NGC 4697 (Caldwell 52), galaxy, Virgo
133x. Bright oval galaxy. Stellar core with averted vision, surrounded by a large extended envelope. Faint star to north; brighter one east.

While I was in this part of the sky I ventured south to Corvus to look for the Antennae galaxies again, but couldn’t detect anything with any degree of confidence.

M99, galaxy, Coma Berenices
133x. Ghostly round galaxy. Dark patch west of nucleus. Suggestion of reverse-s spiral.

M98, galaxy, Coma Berenices
133x. Large faint streak of light, aligned NW-SE. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

NGC 4262, galaxy, Coma Berenices
133x. Small round fuzz. Bright stellar nucleus with averted vision. (Plotted on Sky Atlas 2000, not PSA.)

M100, galaxy, Coma Berenices
133x. Large round galaxy with bright fuzzy core. Possible bright spot east of core but tough to discern detail in this one.

NGC 4340 & 4350, galaxy pair, Coma Berenices
133x. Pair of similar sized galaxies in same field of view; both with stellar nuclei. The eastern one (4350) clearly brighter and more elongated.

NGC 4450, galaxy, Coma Berenices
133x. Large round haze, brighter towards the centre with averted vision. Stellar nucleus. Another reverse-s spiral?

M85, galaxy, Coma Berenices
133x. Bright, round, with very bright core. Star north of nucleus. NGC 4394 in same field to east-northeast. Similar size, but fainter than M85. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

I then pushed the scope south again to confirm my previous observation of M83. It was still visible, albeit not as clearly as on 15 April, with only the core region standing out from the background.

As I don’t normally observe for much longer than three hours, this seemed like a good point to stop for a coffee break and a cereal bar. Q1: How do you make a hot drink with only a dim red light for illumination? Answer: very carefully. Q2: How do you get the milk in and out of the fridge without ruining your night vision? Answer: close (and cover) your eyes and do it quickly (practice in daylight if you have to). Who needs a thermos?

I resumed the session with one of my favourite globular clusters:

M5, globular cluster, Serpens Caput
133x and 171x. See previous observation for superlatives. This time I remembered to check the cluster for colour; it was subtle: a pale aquamarine tinge. The bright star (SE of the core) I noticed last time out didn’t seem as bright tonight. At 171x the cluster was spectacular; the greater contrast allowing me see even more faint stars. The core wasn’t fully resolved, but definitely speckled.

NGC 5838, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Small round galaxy with bright core. One of a group of several galaxies (I picked up 8 tonight) clustered around 110 Virginis, a few degrees west of M5.

NGC 5854, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Faint ellipse, a little brighter towards the centre. (Sky Atlas 2000)

NGC 5846, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Round fuzzball, somewhat brighter towards the centre. Visually, this appears to be the dominant galaxy of this cluster.

NGC 5850, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Large hazy patch east of 5846 in same field. Very low surface brightness.

NGC 5831, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Small ellipse; sharp stellar nucleus with averted vision. (Sky Atlas 2000)

NGC 5813, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Small, fuzzy oval at the centre of a square formed by four stars. Brighter core with averted vision.

NGC 5806, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Very faint oval galaxy, brighter towards the centre with averted vision. (Sky Atlas 2000)

NGC 5864, galaxy, Virgo
133x. Very faint streak of light. Brighter along central axis with averted vision. (Sky Atlas 2000)

NGC 6309, “Box Nebula”, planetary nebula, Ophiuchus
133x. Small disc of light with a very close star off the western edge. Suggestion of asymmetry – northern half brighter?

NGC 6503, “Lost in Space Galaxy", Draco
133x. Large, bright lens-shaped galaxy. Unusually, no brightening towards the centre that I could see. Some nostalgia attached to this galaxy as it’s one of the select non-Messier/Caldwell galaxies that I tracked down with the SP-102 years ago. It's also one of the rare bright DSOs that wasn't discovered by a member of the Herschel family.

NGC 6543, “Cat’s Eye Nebula”, Draco
Viewed at 133x and 171x. Very bright blue-green ellipse near a bright star. 171x showed the central star embedded in the nebula and – in moments of fine seeing – a suggestion of structure in the form of two curved arms extending through and just beyond the nebula. The colour also seemed more intense at the higher magnification. On this evidence, the Cat’s Eye ranks high on the list of beautiful planetary nebulae.

M4, globular cluster, Scorpius
133x. Large, grainy globular; a little washed out, but still impressive. Amazingly, given its low altitude, I counted at least two dozen stars resolved. It may be an illusion due to the way the brightest stars are arranged, but the core region seemed more bar-shaped (on a north-south axis) than round. This must be a superb sight from more southerly latitudes.

M80, globular cluster, Scorpius
133x. Small, bright, condensed globular. Grainy, but no stars resolved.

While I was in Scorpius I took the opportunity to look at the red supergiant star Antares. It was a remarkable sight in the XT10, with the thick atmospheric turbulence at that altitude making it appear to seethe and boil, as well as cycling through a range of vivid colours from blood red to apple green.

M19, globular cluster, Ophiuchus
133x. Large, grainy – and faint – globular. A few stars resolved with averted vision. Pretty good considering its low altitude.

I had to balance the XT10 on my restored observing table to see two of the remaining three objects, such was their low altitude. The rubber feet were a little too near the edge for my liking, but otherwise it was fine.

M62, globular cluster, Ophiuchus
133x. Small condensed globular. Quite bright, but no resolution.

M9, globular cluster, Ophiuchus
133x. Grainy globular; not particularly bright. Starts to resolve with averted vision. Apparent dark patches give it a misshapen appearance.

It was 4:15 at this point, and the morning twilight was becoming ever more apparent, but there was just time for one last object.

M6, “Butterfly Cluster”, open cluster, Scorpius
133x. Glimpsed through a convenient gap in the neighbour’s tree, and still only just clearing the fence. But even then the distinctive pattern of bright stars which gives it its name was visible. Will try and revisit this one with the Ethos. Also worth noting there are only three Messier objects more southerly than this one…

Nature note:
A robin started singing from about 3:20 onwards (the beginning of astronomical twilight, but still well before dawn).

Night of the Globular Clusters

14 -15 April 2020, 23:30 – 02:45

Conditions: Slight breeze, hazy bands of cloud receding low in the southeast.

Seeing: Poor
Transparency: Average

I was in the mood for something different after all those faint galaxies, so I started a bit later than usual with a session devoted (mostly) to globular clusters. All observations carried out at 133x with the 9mm Nagler. In the XT10 this eyepiece seems to hit the sweet spot for framing and resolving globulars; also, sticking to one magnification for the entire session makes it easier to compare one cluster to another.

M13, globular cluster, Hercules
What better place to start? (I returned to this cluster several times during the session as it rose higher in the sky.) Stunning as always, and for the first time I clearly saw the dark Y-shaped “propeller feature” adjacent to the core. Like the nearby galaxy NGC 6207, I suspect it’s one of those things that becomes fairly obvious after you’ve seen it once. No overall colour to the cluster that I could see – at least not on this occasion.

M92, globular cluster, Hercules
Smaller than M13, but an impressive globular in its own right. Well resolved. Oval shape. Slight blue tinge.

NGC 6229, globular cluster, Hercules
The “baby bear” of the three Hercules globulars. Small, condensed, quite bright. Grainy, but no stars resolved.

M104, Sombrero Galaxy, Virgo
A “stop-off” on the way to M68. Long, saucer-shaped galaxy with central bulge and bright stellar core. Dark lane clearly seen offset to the south.

M68, globular cluster, Hydra
Large, faint misty patch of light, all but washed out by its low altitude and atmospheric haze. With averted vision it seemed a little mottled, but that was all I could make out. A tough object – I lost it a couple of times and had trouble relocating it.

NGC 4565, Needle Galaxy, Coma Berenices
Very long and thin compared to M104, extending almost halfway across the field of view. Star-like nucleus embedded in slightly bulging core. Dark lane cutting across core; with averted vision it can be seen extending further out across the galaxy.

NGC 5634, globular cluster, Virgo
Small, round unresolved fuzzball, not very condensed. Faint star to west, bright one to east.

M5, globular cluster, Serpens Caput
A lovely, rich condensed cluster, rivalling M13. Well resolved most of the way to the core. (It’s such a stunning cluster I completely forgot to check for colour.) Stars appear “swept back” to the east. Particularly prominent star just southeast of the core. Further away, just out of the field to the southeast, lies a bright and closely paired double star (5 Serpentis).

M83, Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, Hydra
Took a while to track down, and when I did it was literally grazing the neighbour’s fence (culminating at less than 9 degrees above the horizon!). The galaxy itself was just visible as a condensed fuzzy core, with a distinctive line of 3 stars to the south and east. Averted vision revealed a very faint surrounding haze. A minor miracle that I’m able to see a galaxy this far south (I only searched for it on a whim because the haze had cleared and all the neighbours’ lights were off). That I was able to see it all illustrates that it must be a spectacular object when viewed from more southerly latitudes.

M12, globular cluster, Ophiuchus
Unusual, spidery cluster with a pear-shaped core and two long straight “arms” of stars forming a flattened “X” shape. Also a seemingly detached clump of stars to the west and a bright (foreground?) star southeast of the core, reminiscent of the one in M5. A straggly cluster, quite well resolved, with lots of intriguing detail.

M10, globular cluster, Ophiuchus
A more “conventional” globular than M12, appearing as a rich, condensed ball of stars. Most distinctive features are a wavy arm of stars to the north and an opposing one extending south (like the integral sign or the f-hole on a violin). Well resolved.

M56, globular cluster, Lyra
Small, condensed globular residing in a rich Milky Way field. Bright star to west. Distinctive triangular core. Resolved fairly well with averted vision.

M14, globular cluster, Ophiuchus
Large, grainy, condensed cluster. Very few stars resolved – not sure if this was due to haze, interstellar dust extinction, or tiredness creeping in.

M107, globular cluster, Ophiuchus
A relatively faint, condensed cluster, smaller than M14. Grainy with averted vision. Again, possible haze/dust/tiredness affecting the view.

IC 4665, open cluster, Ophiuchus
Loose, boxy cluster of bright, blue-white stars of similar magnitude. Too large to fully appreciate at 133x, but looked very good in the finderscope and in 7x50 binoculars.

As tempting as it was to wait around for Scorpius (another constellation typically lost to the midsummer continuous twilight) to clear the neighbour’s tree, I’d been outside for over three hours, so I called it a night.

First Light with the Tele Vue DeLite 7mm

12 March 2020, 19:30 – 21:45

Conditions: A chilly night (after a few mild days) with frequent strong gusts of wind (again). With the moon due to rise between 21:30 and 22:00, I had a roughly two-hour window to field-test my new acquisition: a Tele Vue 7mm DeLite. In the XT10 the DeLite gives a magnification of 171x, neatly filling the gap between the 9mm Nagler (133x) and the 5mm Nagler (240x).

Seeing: Poor to average
Transparency: Average to poor

The tube currents took a while to settle down, but once they did I turned my attention to:

NGC 2392, Eskimo Nebula, Gemini
At 171x the Eskimo was bright and nicely framed, with the central star clearly resolved as a tiny pin-prick of light. (It’s sometimes hard to separate the star from the nebula at other magnifications, but this eyepiece seems to hit the sweet spot.) There was even a hint of brightness variation in the outer shell of the nebula, but the variable seeing made this elusive.

h3945, double star, Canis Major
Viewed at 171x and 133x. I meant to look at this pairing last time out, but got distracted by NGC 2362. The seeing tonight was especially poor at this low altitude, but there was enough separation between the stars for it not to matter too much. h3945 (it deserves a catchier name) is a lovely double star comprised of a rich golden primary and a bright blue secondary (north). Some observers call it the Winter Albireo, and on this evidence I can see why.

Iota Cancri, double star, Cancer
Quite by chance (I was star-hopping to NGC 2683), the very next object I looked at was another colourful double, comprised of a pale yellow primary and a blue secondary (west). A very pretty pairing and another contender for the “Winter Albireo” label, but I think h3945 has the edge.

NGC 2683, galaxy, Lynx
Viewed at 133x and 171x. Bright, spindle-shaped galaxy aligned roughly NE-SW. Brighter towards the core, but no stellar nucleus as far as I could tell. Faint field stars across the eastern side of the galaxy. Dark cut-off along northern edge, indicative of a dust lane (like the one in NGC 7331).

NGC 3115, the Spindle Galaxy (Caldwell 53), Sextans
Follow-up from previous observation, viewed at 171x. Bright little galaxy, very bright towards the core. Much smoother outer envelope than 2683 (which seemed mottled by comparison).

M81 and M82, galaxy pair, Ursa Major
M81 was bright and large at 171x with a sprinkling of foreground field stars. Maybe a hint of spiral structure. I should really spend more time studying this galaxy, but it’s hard to concentrate on it when you know M82 is only a nudge of the scope away. Talking of which, M82 was also bright and large at 171x, with the main dark rift clearly visible, and a bright knot on the western side of the rift.

NGC 3077, galaxy, Ursa Major
An overlooked member of the M81 “family” (it’s taken me this long to get round to seeing it). Faint compared to M81 and M82, but not at all difficult in the DeLite. First impressions: an amorphous round blob near an 8th magnitude star; brighter towards the centre, but with a suggestion of asymmetry.

M40 (aka Winnecke 4), Ursa Major
An uninteresting pair of 9th magnitude stars – what more can I say about it? But I’ve seen it now (after many years of ignoring it), so let’s tick it off the list and move on. Fortunately M40 is en route (from Delta Ursa Majoris) to a much more worthy object…

NGC 4605, galaxy, Ursa Major
Faint, extended galaxy aligned roughly east-west. The DeLite showed a brighter bar-like core region which seemed to be at a slight angle to the rest of the galaxy. An intriguing object, made more interesting by the knowledge that it’s less than a degree away from the famous Hubble Deep Field.

NGC 4485 and NGC 4490, galaxy pair, Canes Venatici
Moonlight starting to interfere at this point, but both galaxies still clearly visible. The higher magnification and contrast of the DeLite showed a dark gap between the two galaxies, but 4490
was obviously distorted towards the smaller, fainter 4485.

M3, globular cluster, Canes Venatici
A little washed out by the rising moon, but still fairly well resolved. The dark lane on the eastern side (noted last time out) was more obvious at the higher magnification.

NGC 3242 (Caldwell 59), planetary nebula, Hydra
The so-called “Ghost of Jupiter”. I can’t say it looked anything like Jupiter, but it was brighter than I was expecting, and quite obvious despite interference from moonlight and obstructing foliage. Pale blue-green disc of light. Suggestion of darker core with averted vision, and apparent bright patch on southern edge, but detail elusive. Worth revisiting when it’s in a clear part of the sky.

Conclusions
While obviously not having the “wow” factor of a super-wide eyepiece like the Ethos, the renowned sharpness and contrast of the 7mm Delite should make it invaluable for detailed study of some of the showpiece DSOs where 133x is too little power and 240x is too much. (And, of course, I'm very much looking forward to viewing the moon through it.) I’ve never had a problem with the eye relief of the other eyepieces, but the extra 5mm of the DeLite does make a noticeable difference. It really is a very comfortable viewing experience. And the 62 degree field is ideal for sketching too if I ever get back into that dark art.

Nature note
The frog breeding season does seem to be over now, which is just as well because there’s barely room for any more frogspawn in the pond.

Stargazing on a Windy Winter Night

27 February 2020, 19:30 – 22:30

Conditions: A very cold night with frequent strong gusts of wind – scuppering my original plan to view some planetary nebulae at the highest magnification the seeing would allow. (I stayed at 133x with the Nagler 9mm for most of the session.) No condensation.

Seeing: Good
Transparency: Poor to Average

The stormy winter continues; this was the first properly clear night for an entire month. I was hoping the storms might drag some clear air behind them, but the transparency didn’t really improve until the last half-hour of the session – by which point the cold was already becoming too much for me.

As usual, I began with a look at M42 (at 133x), before moving to Rigel. The companion star was easily visible, although partially obstructed by an extra diffraction spike. (I think this must have been something to do with the scope cooling down; the spike wasn’t present when I looked at Regulus later in the session with the same eyepiece.)

Betelgeuse is gradually starting to brighten again, according to recent reports. To the naked eye it seemed at least as bright as neighbouring Bellatrix, maybe fractionally brighter. Through the eyepiece it had a lovely orange/tangerine hue, strikingly different from the blue-white of Rigel. The colour was so vivid it prompted me to revisit another colourful star…

Hind’s Crimson Star, aka R Leporis, carbon star in Lepus
Seemed fainter than when I last looked at it, though the conditions (and/or the neighbours’ lights) might have had something to do with this. At 133x the blood-red hue contrasted nicely with the deep orange of Betelgeuse.

NGC 2170, reflection nebula, Monoceros
I drew a blank on NGC 2149, but 2170 was just visible as a very faint misty patch surrounding a star. Needed averted vision to be sure of seeing it.

M48, open cluster, Hydra
As noted previously, rich cluster of bright stars. Less impressive at 133x than at 92x in the Ethos, although the higher magnification does reveal some fainter stars near the middle. Distinctive two-arm flattened “spiral” of stars winding out from the centre along a N-S axis.

NGC 2506 (Caldwell 54), open cluster, Monoceros
Rich, small, condensed cluster. Several stars resolved with direct vision, with an underlying haze of unresolved stars. I think this cluster would look quite good on a better night. Seemed to be a dark “rift” protruding into the cluster from the south, giving it a bi-lobed appearance, like a sycamore seed.

NGC 2539, open cluster, Puppis
Rich, heart-shaped cluster, immediately west of 5th magnitude 19 Puppis. Brighter, larger and looser than 2506.

M67, open cluster, Cancer
Very rich cluster, perfectly framed at 133x. Stars arranged in tight clumps.

NGC 2362, Tau Canis Majoris cluster (Caldwell 64), Canis Major
Couldn’t resist another look at this spectacular cluster. I think the Ethos gives an aesthetically superior view, but the higher magnification does make it easier to resolve some of the close doubles lying within. Definitely one of the prettiest clusters I’ve seen – like fireflies gathering around a brilliant light.

NGC 2903, galaxy, Leo
Somewhat faint tonight compared to previous observations, but it still surprises me that this galaxy didn’t even make the Caldwell list. Condensed core, extended outer haze. With prolonged observation it seemed to take on a mottled appearance, with dark patches either side of the core. No spiral structure visible tonight.

I also looked for the dwarf galaxy Leo 1 near Regulus, but couldn’t see it on this occasion. Maybe an occulting bar would help…

I then pushed the scope towards Canes Venatici and Ursa Major to look at some old favourites (M108, M97 and M51). Nothing to add to previous notes (M51 wasn’t yet high enough to show much structure), but at approximately 21:25 I noticed an unusually slow-moving satellite or other object of about 9th or 10th magnitude pass just south of M51 (in the 9mm Nagler field of view), travelling in a roughly south-east direction. I checked Stellarium the following day, but it didn’t show anything in the vicinity at that time. Space-junk? One of SpaceX’s mega-constellation satellites? I have a feeling I’m going to be seeing a lot more of this stuff.

NGC 3631, galaxy, Ursa Major
Faint, round galaxy, brighter towards centre. Vaguely mottled with averted vision.

NGC 3756, galaxy, Ursa Major
Small, faint, featureless galaxy near field star. (I assume it was this I saw and not the nearby NGC 3738.)

M109, galaxy, Ursa Major
Large, faint galaxy extended along SW-NE axis; brighter towards centre. Bright star off south-western edge; fainter one off opposite edge.

NGC 3953, galaxy, Ursa Major
Moderately bright galaxy, rivalling nearby M109. Somewhat brighter towards centre. Misty/ghostly outer envelope – swells with averted vision.

I finished off the session by taking a quick tour of some spring favourites with the Ethos 13mm (92x):

M51 was high enough now to show some structure in the form of dark “crescents” between the spiral arms, although the spiral arms themselves remained elusive.

M101 was easy to find in the Ethos, but less easy to see any kind of structure beyond the core. The longer I looked, the brighter it got, with the suggestion of an isolated misty patch east of the nucleus (NGC 5462?) – but that was right on the limit of visibility. If I spent several hours on this galaxy over multiple nights, I think I could probably tease out more detail, but do I really want to devote all that precious time to one object when there are so many other galaxies to look at? (The deep-sky observer's dilemma...)

M106 was bright and obvious, but less detailed at this magnification.

NGC 4449 was small and bright with the now-familiar bright diagonal bar quite obvious across the face of the galaxy.

NGC 4565: a distinctive needle of light; dark lane visible with averted vision.

M65/M66/NGC 3628 (the Leo Triplet): M65 and M66 are well framed in the Ethos. NGC 3628 was significantly fainter, but not too difficult as galaxies go. The dark dust lane was visible with averted vision and was noticeably broader than the one running through 4565.

M3 was easy to find for once (thanks to the 9x50 finder). In the Ethos it appeared as a finely resolved ball of stars, with a very distinctive aquamarine tinge – backing up an observation I made last year with the 9mm Nagler. I think it’s easier to study this globular at the higher magnification, but the superfine detail in the Ethos was a sight to behold (it’s certainly something you’ll never see in a photograph). There seemed to be a dark lane on the eastern side of the cluster, giving it a vaguely squared-off appearance.

NGC 3115, the Spindle Galaxy (Caldwell 53), Sextans
This showed up as a bright little streak of light (one of the brightest galaxies I looked at tonight), well deserving of its nickname. Very bright towards the centre. For some reason I was sure I’d seen this galaxy before, but I can’t find any mention of it in my records (With hindsight I think I might have been confusing it with the similarly shaped NGC 2683 in Lynx). Definitely worth revisiting at a higher magnification.

Nature note:
After a couple of weeks of frenetic splashing, the frog breeding season seems to have been suspended, leaving a large clump of frogspawn at one end of the pond. But there may be more to come: torchlight revealed several large frogs lurking deeper in the water.

The Tao of Tau Canis Majoris

28 January 2020, 21:30 – 23:30

A cold, breezy night. My feet felt frozen by the end of the session despite two layers of socks. Some hazy bands of cloud moving slowly from the south-west from about 23:15 onwards. But no condensation for a change.

Seeing: Average
Transparency: Good to Average

I started with a tour of some old favourites using the Panoptic 24mm (50x), before switching to higher magnification once the scope had cooled to ambient temperature and my eyes had dark-adjusted.

M42, The Orion Nebula
Viewed at 50x and 133x, both with and without the OIII filter. Not much I can add to previous descriptions; with the filter in place the nebulosity almost overwhelmed the Trapezium, particularly at the lower magnification. The OIII also imparted a strong green colour, more so than any other object I’ve used it on.

NGC 2392, Eskimo Nebula, Gemini
Showed up nicely at 92x (13mm Ethos). Bright shell and central star seen with direct vision; double shell with averted vision. Pale blue colour.

NGC 2420, open cluster, Gemini
At 92x appeared as a condensed fuzz of stars, about a dozen resolved with direct vision – more with averted vision. Lines of stars appear to curl out to four “corner” stars, giving the cluster a shape resembling a Mermaid’s Purse.

NGC 2355, open cluster, Gemini
92x. Another condensed group of faint stars. Brightest member on southern edge. Curving chain of stars leading north to brighter star. Pretty cluster!

NGC 2395, open cluster, Gemini
92x. Kite-shaped cluster of stars. Sparse, loose; not as good as 2355.

M50, open cluster, Monoceros
92x. As noted previously: rich, large. Prominent red star on southern edge of cluster.

NGC 2335, open cluster, Monoceros
92x. Small, sparse cluster, but there seemed to be an underlying haze of unresolved stars.

NGC 2343, open cluster, Monoceros
92x. Small and sparse again, but brighter stars than 2335. Roughly triangular in shape.

W Canis Majoris, carbon star, Canis Major
92x. Scarlet-hued star; distinctive, but not as vivid as Hind’s Crimson Star.

NGC 2353, open cluster, Monoceros
92x. Rich, if sprawling cluster, gathered around a bright 6th magnitude star (apparently a foreground star rather than a cluster member).

NGC 2362, Tau Canis Majoris cluster (Caldwell 64), Canis Major
92x. In a word: wow! I’ve never seen a cluster quite like this before. A stunning sight in the Ethos despite its very low altitude (declination -25 degrees). A brilliant 4-5 magnitude star (Tau) surrounded by a rich swarm of bright stars. Tau (which apparently is a member and not a foreground star) has a faint companion a few arcseconds east. The cluster has a roughly triangular shape, with another bright star further to the east. It almost looks too good to be true, like it was designed by a VFX artist for a sci-fi film. The highlight of the night.

NGC 2354, open cluster, Canis Major
92x. Loose, filmy mass of stars somewhat washed out by light pollution. Would no doubt be more impressive if it were higher in the sky (and not so near to NGC 2362).

NGC 2360, open cluster, Canis Major
(Caldwell 58) 92x. As previous description. Rich, straggly cluster of moderately bright stars.

NGC 2359, “Thor’s Helmet”, emission nebula, Canis Major
Ethos 13mm + OIII filter. I remember seeing a colour photo of this nebula in an astronomy book when I was a kid, and I was struck by how dramatic it looked: like a spectral demon charging headlong through the heavens. It’s an image that has stayed with me (particularly when I read the epigraph of JG Ballard’s story The Illuminated Man), but I never imagined I would get to see this nebula with my own eyes. For some reason I thought it was only visible from the southern hemisphere (curiously, O’Meara, in his book The Secret Deep, was under the same impression), but while planning my exploration of this part of the sky I realised that not only was its declination just -13 degrees, but also – crucially – it might be bright enough to see in the XT10.

I couldn’t see any nebulosity when I scanned the region unfiltered, but when I added the OIII it was immediately obvious, appearing as a bowl-shaped hemisphere of light with a short bright extension angling away from the southern end (one of the “horns” of the helmet). After staring at it (and to the side of it) for a little while I was able to see the other “horn” as a longer, fainter extension angling from the northern end, pointing west, as well as a bright spot on the northern edge of the bowl. Comparatively, NGC 2359 reminded me of a ghostlier version of the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888 in Cygnus), another object which responds similarly well to filters, and is itself also powered by a Wolf-Rayet star.

It has to be said that telescopically NGC 2359 looked less like a spectral demon and more like a spectral cauliflower, but as nebulae go it was still very impressive. If NGC 2362 was the night’s highlight, this was a close second.

NGC 2438, planetary nebula, Puppis
With the OIII filter still in place I moved the scope across to NGC 2438, which would arguably be one of the winter’s best planetary nebulae even if it didn't share a telescopic field with M46. The OIII filter dimmed the surrounding starlight, thus making 2438 much more distinct, although it’s nowhere near as bright as the Eskimo Nebula in Gemini. On this occasion it looked a little like M57, appearing as a ring with a darker centre – although the dark core was smaller in size compared to the ring, giving the nebula a more donut-like appearance. Also the nebula seemed larger than it did on 17 January, though this was probably an illusory effect caused by the filter subduing M46.

NGC 2440, planetary nebula, Puppis
Small disc of light a few degrees south of 2438. A field star to the east helps confirm its status; otherwise I think it would be easy to overlook, particularly at low magnification. A close double star to the southeast can also distract the unwary observer. Very bright in the OIII filter; direct vision suggested a bright core and averted vision suggested a faint outer halo, but my eyes were getting very tired by this stage so it was hard to be sure. One to revisit at higher magnification.

Nature note
One frog in the pond (the usual long-stayer), plus lots of wriggling insect larvae.

Auriga to Orion in 90 minutes

21 January 2020, 18:45 – 20:15

Very cold, slight mist coming in off the sea (condensation started appearing on the scope within minutes of my carrying it outside).

Seeing: poor to average
Transparency: average to poor

Started with a tour of the Auriga Messier clusters at 50x (24mm Panoptic) followed by a look at the Pleiades in Taurus, comparing it with the image I took with the TV60 the previous Saturday night. The nebulosity around Merope and Maia was just about visible, but I think it would need one of those rare nights of exceptional transparency to see any structure to it.

I gave the Ethos a rest tonight (because of the condensation), so all subsequent observations at 133x (Nagler 9mm).

NGC 2281, open cluster, Auriga
Sparse collection of bright stars, four of them making a parallelogram at the western end of the cluster (the trailing two members of this shape are doubles). 133x is probably too high a magnification for this object; hard to tell where the cluster ended and the surrounding star-field began.

NGC 1931, “The Fly”, emission nebula / reflection nebula, Auriga
Little smear of light with 2 or 3 stars at centre. As noted before, quite bright for a non-Messier nebula. If the conditions were better I would have gone up to 240x. I also looked for neighbouring IC 417 (“The Spider”) and saw what appeared to be an extended patchy halo around a bright star, but difficult to say I saw it with any certainty.

NGC 1893, open cluster, Auriga
Sparse group of moderately bright stars. The area in and around the cluster seemed hazy, but not sure if that was because of unresolved stars or the surrounding nebulosity (IC 410). Might make an interesting imaging target if I get an appropriate filter.

Sigma Orionis, multiple star system
Impressive sight at 133x. Brightest component resolves into a wavy line of 4 stars. A pair of fainter doubles roughly northwest, and 2 even fainter stars between the two groups.

NGC 2261, Hubble’s Variable Nebula, Monoceros
Seemed more ghostly tonight (probably because of the transparency rather than the higher magnification). Averted vision showed a star-like point at the apex of the nebula. The “fan” of the nebula seemed brighter and fuller on the western side.

NGC 1535, planetary nebula, Eridanus
As per previous observation. The higher magnification showed a strong brightening towards the centre, but couldn’t isolate the central star with any confidence. Hint of brightness asymmetry with averted vision, but it came and went depending on which side of the nebula I was looking, so probably not a real feature. Colour less pronounced tonight – more grey than blue-grey.

NGC 1999, reflection nebula, Orion
As per previous observations. Relatively bright given the deteriorating transparency. Size increased with averted vision; star or star-like point at centre. Dark patch visible with averted vision, adjacent to the “star”.

From 20:15 onward the sky clouded over rather quickly, but the severe condensation had pretty much ended the session by that point anyway.

Nature note
Two frogs in the pond.

Orion to Puppis (via Monoceros and Canis Major)

17 January 2020, 21:45 – 00:45

Cold – but not excessively so for mid-January. Some cloud moving from the west which delayed my planned start time by 45 minutes. Condensation on lenses towards end of session.

Seeing: Good
Transparency: Average

I left the 13mm Ethos (92x) in the focuser for the entire session as I didn’t know how long I was going to get until it clouded over again – and I didn’t want to waste precious time changing eyepieces. As it turned out the sky was still clear when the moon rose later on.

After spending some time on M42 (where else?) I moved north to the area around Alnitak and Sigma Orionis (a lovely multiple star system in its own right). The Horsehead Nebula was too faint to see (of course), but it did show up in images I took with the TV60 and an unmodded DSLR on Wednesday night (but only after extensive processing).

NGC 2023, emission nebula / reflection nebula, Orion
Visible as a fuzzy star with direct vision; size of nebulosity increasing with averted vision.

IC 435, reflection nebula, Orion
Like a smaller, fainter sibling of NGC 2023. Fairly obvious now I know it’s there, but easily overlooked – especially with all the other distracting objects nearby.

NGC 2024, Flame Nebula in Orion
Just faintly visible tonight. I don’t think the Ethos is the best eyepiece for this object; the super-wide field of view makes it almost impossible to separate the nebula from the glare of Alnitak.

NGC 1535, planetary nebula, Eridanus
Little blue-grey disc of light at 92x (unfiltered). It was already well past the meridian when I tracked it down, but it was quite obvious despite the light pollution. Averted vision suggested an extended outer fuzz. Need to catch this one earlier in the evening.

NGC 2324, open cluster, Monoceros
Loose group of stars shaped a bit like a letter K. Moderately bright.

NGC 2301, open cluster, Monoceros
Rich, condensed cluster (visible in finderscope). Bright tail of stars to the south, fainter one to the east. Bright yellow star near centre.

NGC 2254, open cluster, Monoceros
Very small “fuzz”, four stars resolved with direct vision. Oddly, looked much the same using averted vision. One of the two clusters plotted in the Pocket Sky Atlas lurking between the Christmas Tree and the Rosette.

NGC 2251, open cluster, Monoceros
Elongated “fang” of stars, forming a sort of bugle/horn outline. Larger, brighter than 2254. Second of the two PSA clusters lurking between the Christmas Tree and the Rosette.

NGC 2244, OC, Monoceros
The central cluster of the Rosette. Well framed in the Ethos, but magnification a little too high to separate the nebula from the surrounding star-fields. Might be worth trying this again with one of the filters.

NGC 2261, Hubble’s Variable Nebula, Monoceros
Bright little fan-shaped nebula. Bright spot or condensation at apex.

NGC 2264, Christmas Tree Cluster, Monoceros
Beautifully framed in the Ethos. Bright blue star at base (S Monocerotis) with fainter close companion to NE, both surrounded by haze/halo. Couldn’t see any other nebulosity on this occasion.

At around 22:45, while taking a break from the eyepiece, I saw two meteors travelling in opposite directions, one after the other in the space of a couple of seconds. The second one travelled from the east and passed directly in front of M44 (the Beehive Cluster). What a photo that would have made…

M41, open cluster, Canis Major
Looked good in the Ethos despite the low altitude. Bright stars, loosely concentrated. Arranged in a wavy “cross” shape, like a flattened hour-glass. Bright orange star near centre.

It’s worth noting here that the 9x50 finder really helped me locate the following open clusters (as well as the previous objects noted in Monoceros). I’ve struggled with these constellations in the past due to their southerly declination and absence of bright stars (my old Vixen 102 had a 6x30 finder), but the new finder showed me all the stars I needed to see – and often showed the clusters themselves.

M50, open cluster, Monoceros
Rich arrow-shaped cluster pointing west. Bright yellow-orange star on southern corner.

M48, open cluster, Hydra
Rich, large, loose cluster of bright stars – a “typical” Messier cluster if there is such a thing. Curving line of stars to east, close double near centre.

M47, open cluster, Puppis
Rich mixture of bright and faint stars – very attractive in the Ethos. Brightest members form a triangle, with prominent doubles at east and west corners angled towards each other (the eastern pair of equal brightness). This cluster is so prominent in the finder, I wondered if it might be visible to the naked eye; it is – with averted vision.

M46 & NGC 2438, open cluster + planetary nebula, Puppis
Rich cluster of moderately bright stars; a short hop east from M47. (Both clusters look great in the Ethos.) NGC 2438 immediately obvious as a grey disc of light on northern edge of cluster. Bright star on eastern edge of nebula, fainter one shining through. Probably the highlight of the evening.

NGC 2423, open cluster, Puppis
Moderately rich cluster overshadowed by nearby Messiers. Close double on western edge.

NGC 2396, open cluster, Puppis
Sparse cluster of stars just south of a bright double. The double was probably more interesting than the cluster: pale yellow primary, blue secondary (west), and a fainter third star southeast.

NGC 2374, open cluster, Canis Major
Small cluster, faint stars. Averted vision suggests underlying richness.

NGC 2360, open cluster, Canis Major
(Caldwell 58) Rich little cluster, well worth tracking down. Stars arranged in gently curving chains. Straight line of faint stars leading to bright star on NE edge of cluster.

M93, open cluster, Puppis
Another rich little cluster of bright stars, looked good in the XT10 despite low altitude (-24 degrees declination). Central triangle of stars surrounded by loose assembly of bright stars on either side.

Winter Clusters

30 December 2019, 20:00 – 23:15 GMT

A cool, still night, but relatively mild for the time of year (although my feet were very cold towards the end of the session.

Seeing: good
Transparency: a slight haze mixed in with smoke from somewhere, but still much better than the 25th.

This time I came prepared with a makeshift dew-shield for the 9x50 finder – constructed from a piece of black card and some duct tape. It doesn’t look pretty, but it worked a treat. The condensation (while nowhere near as heavy as the previous session) started to appear on the body of the XT10 after about an hour, but the finder remained dry throughout. With hindsight the conditions were probably good enough for imaging too – and maybe I should have done; clear moonless nights seem to be rarer than usual this winter.

As before, I started with a tour of the Auriga Messier clusters using the 13mm Ethos. M37 was the highlight once again, with the dark rifts and overall “beetle” shape showing up particularly well.

Betelgeuse has made the headlines recently and it does look noticeably dimmer to the naked eye (though probably not for the reason most professional astronomers would like). It was one of the first stars I learned to recognise by name, and I can’t remember it ever looking this subdued. Through the eyepiece of my still cooling telescope it regained some of its lost grandeur, appearing as a bright, boiling red-hued star.

NGC 2169, open cluster, Orion
Follow-up observation from last week, at 92x and 133x. Tilting my head 90 degrees really made the “37” asterism become obvious, although the top-left star of the “7” is rather faint compared to its companions. The double star Struve 848 is located in the top right corner of the “3”.

NGC 2194, open cluster, Orion
Faint “boxy” cluster. Looks like an inconspicuous misty patch at first glance, but gets more impressive the longer you look at it. Some stars resolved; even more with averted vision. Quite rich and dense. Long tail of stars extending to the south.

NGC 1662, open cluster, Orion
Sparse but distinctive bird-shaped cluster with long wings and a diamond-shaped asterism forming the head. Red-hued star at the neck of the diamond.

NGC 1807 & 1817, open clusters, Taurus
The poor man’s double cluster. The northern one (1817) is rich and faint while the southern one (1807) is sparse and bright, with a prominent triangle asterism at its centre. Both clusters are well-framed in the Ethos.

NGC 2403, galaxy, Camelopardalis
A galaxy I've struggled to locate in the past (it resides in a barren area of the sky), but the new finder made it much easier. At 92x it appeared as an amorphous cloudy patch with two bright field stars at either end and a fainter one off-centre. Averted vision revealed an extended faint outer region, presumably corresponding with the spiral arms, although no structure was seen on this occasion.

M45, Pleiades, Taurus
Although this cluster doesn’t need a finder, it certainly helps me get my bearings when switching back to the eyepiece (M45 is too large for the fov even at 50x). At 92x the Merope reflection nebula was visible mainly by contrast with its surroundings. The nebula was large and fan-shaped, but I couldn’t see any of the banded structure apparent on photographs.

M78, reflection nebula, Orion
As previous observations. Two stars embedded in fan-shaped swathe of nebulosity (like condensed version of the Merope nebula). Prominent dark gap between M78 and the more diminutive NGC 2071.

M42, Orion Nebula
Spectacular in the Ethos despite condensation starting to creep in. Five stars resolved in the Trapezium at 92x. Exquisite detail in and around the Huygens region. The little arc of nebulosity in the opposite cavity wall showed up really well in the Ethos; it wasn’t quite so obvious at 133x, despite the better contrast. The higher magnification is better for picking out fine detail in the core, but overall, the view in the Ethos was much more majestic. Adding the OIII to the Ethos reinforced previous observations with this filter: it filled in the northern half of M42, giving the nebula a lopsided, asymmetric appearance.

NGC 2174-5, emission nebula + open cluster, Orion
Nebulosity (2174) faintly seen with Ethos and OIII. Switching to the 9mm Nagler (no filter) revealed the central cluster (2175) – stars arranged in a neat little parallelogram.

Rigel, Beta Orionis
0.1 magnitude blue-white star (currently considerably brighter than Betelgeuse) with 7th magnitude companion 10 arcseconds away. Clean split at 92x and 240x, not hindered by diffraction spikes on this occasion. The best view I’ve had of this double.

M1, Crab Nebula, Taurus
At 133x it appears as a faint, amorphous “puff of smoke”. Not a "frame-filler" by any means, but still a potential imaging target for the TV60, after M45 and the Horsehead.

NGC 2022, planetary nebula, Orion
Quick look at 133x. Pretty little disc of light, somewhat faint tonight.

NGC 1999, reflection nebula, Orion
At first sight it appears as a small hazy halo surrounding 11th magnitude V380 Orionis. At 133x the dark hole is visible with averted vision.

IC 418 (aka the Spirograph Nebula), planetary nebula, Lepus
Very small, looked like a bloated blue star even at 133x. Much more obvious at 240x (5mm Nagler). A pretty little blue-green disc surrounding a bright 10th magnitude star. Maybe a very slight yellowish tinge to the central star, but admittedly that’s a stretch. No structure apparent on this first viewing, but the northern half of the nebula seemed brighter than the southern half.

M79, globular cluster, Lepus
Viewed at 240x. Faint (very low in sky) grainy fuzzball with condensed core. Distinct 12th magnitude star north of core – as noted previously.

Hind’s Crimson Star (aka R Leporis), carbon star in Lepus
Viewed at 240x. Didn’t seem especially bright (though currently listed as 7.6m), but striking red colour, like a glowing ember or coal. One of the reddest stars I’ve seen.


Other notes:
Didn’t see any frogs when I looked in the pond (although I did see one when I was imaging the moon the previous month), but I did hear a distinctly frog-like “plop” at one point.

A Christmas Comet

25 December 2019, 19:00 – 21:00 GMT

Conditions: Cold evening (and getting colder), no wind. Slight haze affecting transparency. Condensation appearing after only a few minutes – by the end of the session the telescope was dripping wet and all exposed lenses were dewed over.

The session also served as the first test of a new Orion 9x50 RACI finderscope to go alongside the red-dot finder. It did a good job – until the condensation got to it.

After aligning the two finders (on Polaris), I began the session with a look at the Messier clusters in Auriga. All three showed up clearly in the finderscope, and looked particularly good in the Ethos 13mm, with M37 being the standout. M38’s neighbour NGC 1907 was partially resolved in the Ethos and more so in the 9mm Nagler. That extra 40x magnification does make a difference for pulling out faint stars.

M35 and NGC 2158, open clusters, Gemini
Again, M35 looked great in the Ethos, although I think M37 surpasses it (at least in the XT10). NGC 2158 started to show some resolution with averted vision, but not as good as 1907.

Comet C/2017 T2 (Panstarrs)
92x (Ethos). Small nebulous patch of about 9th or 10th magnitude high up on the Perseus/Camelopardalis border. Stellar nuclear region surrounded by a faint coma which swelled with averted vision. Suggestion of a faint tail fanning out to the south, but hard to be sure; the condensation was already starting to interfere. An improvement over the last comet I saw (ASASSN), but nothing to get too excited about. Still, at least I can say I made the effort to track it down.

M81, M82, galaxy pair, Ursa Major
The Ethos is large enough to show them in the same field of view, although both fall outside the central sharp zone. On individual examination both galaxies were bright and distinctive (shape-wise), but lacking detail on this occasion. Not really a night for galaxies.

NGC 2169, open cluster, Orion
The so-called Shopping Cart cluster or 37 cluster. A small but distinctive grouping of stars split into two halves. Comprising about 16 bright stars and a suggestion of fainter ones with averted vision. The Ethos resolved the brightest member of the cluster (in the eastern half) into a tight double: Struve 848, approximately 2.5” separation.

At this point the condensation had effectively taken both finders and the Ethos out of action. I struggled on with the 9mm Nagler for a while before eventually admitting defeat. The new finderscope proved its worth in the short time I was able to use it: it shows the same stars plotted in the Pocket Sky Atlas (and at the same orientation), which will make star-hopping much easier – particularly in galaxy season. I just need to make a dew-shield for it before I take the scope out again.

Double Stars (and Galaxies) in the Moonlight

2 December 2019, 18:15 – 20:30 GMT

Not quite as chilly as Friday – at least not to begin with, but my feet were seriously cold after two hours. Negligible wind. No clouds until 20:30, but some patches of haze from what I think were lingering vapour trails (they were visible at sunset and didn’t look like they were going anywhere fast - unlike the planes that created them).

Transparency: Slightly better than Friday but some interference from six-day old moon (improving as it sank towards the horizon). I was able to see M74 through the scope so it couldn’t have been that bad.
Seeing: Good

The session began with a long-overdue first look at the Moon through the 13mm Ethos (with the Baader ND filter) and it didn’t disappoint. Wonderful, field-filling view with crisp detail right across the lunar surface. The image rippled a little bit (because the moon was low in the sky and near the rooftops), but the field was so large I could easily switch my attention to an unaffected part of the disc without having to touch the scope. Shadows were deep and very black, and (perhaps most impressively) the Ethos controlled the light scatter better than any other eyepiece I’ve looked through. I’ll be interested to see if this observation holds up at fuller phases. Notable features included the Theophilus crater group, Posidonius and the Messier A and B crater pair. The earthshine stood out clearly against the black sky and I was even treated to a bonus occultation at 18:26 of the 7.4mag star HIP 107610 (HD 207208) in Capricornus.

With the sky still relatively bright I exchanged the Ethos for the 5mm Nagler and observed a few double stars, including Polaris, Gamma Arietis and Almach (Gamma Andromedae). Zeta Persei looked much the same as it did on Friday, but the higher magnification revealed a few more faint stars in the background.

Omicron Persei wasn’t split, but it did look elongated, with the companion roughly due east of the primary. I noticed a small cluster of stars a few arcminutes south of Omicron, corresponding with the star forming region IC 348.

NGC 404 (Mirach’s Ghost), galaxy, Andromeda
Faint, but obvious at 240x. Clear brightening towards the core, even with Mirach still in the field of view.

Uranus
Similar view as Friday – tiny little green-grey disc. Titania suspected at 133x, but not at 240x.

M77, Seyfert Galaxy, Cetus
Viewed at 133x – obvious despite moonlight. Very bright nucleus; size of galaxy swells with averted vision. Could easily be mistaken for comet by unwary observer. Bright field star to west. Holds brightness well at 240x but no real increase in detail other than an extended core region (distinct from the nucleus).

Alpha Piscium (Alrescha), double star, Pisces
Very close double (1.8” separation), but clean split at 240x. Bright companion due west. Some occasional colour fringing where the diffraction rings overlapped, but the stars themselves looked white to me.

M74, spiral galaxy, Pisces
Viewed at 133x. Very faint, but not what I would class as difficult (at least compared to some of the Caldwell objects). Given the moonlight and the condensation I was surprised I could see it at all. Brighter towards the core with averted vision. With prolonged observation there almost seemed to be an impression of spiral structure, but I think this was an illusion caused by the 3 field stars east of the core and another one to the west.

At this point a combination of cloud, condensation and cold drove me back indoors.

Star Clusters in Cassiopeia

22 October 2019, 20:00 – 21:45 BST

Cool evening, getting colder as the night progressed. No wind.
Transparency: poor to average (improved slightly towards the end of the session)
Seeing: started out good, but suddenly deteriorated from about 21:15 onwards (opposite direction to the transparency)

NGC 7789, open cluster, Cassiopeia
Stumbled upon it while sweeping. Very pretty in the Ethos (if a little subdued by the poor transparency). Looked like a spiral galaxy without a core.

NGC 381, open cluster, Cassiopeia
Faint, boxy little spray of stars with bright tail of stars to north.

NGC 637, open cluster, Cassiopeia
Small, condensed haze – resolves with averted vision. Four bright stars at corners (double on eastern corner). Brighter field stars to west.

NGC 225, open cluster, Cassiopeia
Loose, sparse group comprised of equally bright stars. Online images show a reflection nebula (vdB 4) associated with this cluster (not sure if it's bright enough to see visually - even on a good night). NGC 225 is also nicknamed the “sailboat cluster”; I think I’d have to look at it again to see that, but I did get a sense of some kind of shape: the stars were arranged in angled lines, like a folded piece of cardboard seen from the side. I guess the “cardboard cluster” doesn’t have quite the same ring about it, but the sailboat shape didn’t jump out at me, certainly not as much as it does in NGC 1502.

Stock 24, open cluster, Cassiopeia
Spotted while sweeping area around NGC 225. Tight little fuzz with double star at eastern apex.

NGC 129, open cluster, Cassiopeia
Narrow “v” formation of stars pointing at bright star to south. Rich cluster.

NGC 136, open cluster, Cassiopeia
Small starfish or whirligig-shaped fuzz of stars. Resolved with averted vision.

Comet C/2018 N2 (ASASSN)
Small, very faint patch of light close to prominent asterism in Andromeda. Would be easy to overlook if I didn’t have the finder chart. Prolonged averted vision showed a condensed core and the suggestion of an extended coma.

At this point heavy condensation was setting in – even affecting the Ethos eyepiece – so I switched to the Nagler 9mm (133x) for the remainder of the session. I also noticed a featureless band of cloud rising slowly from the southeast.

NGC 1245, open cluster, Perseus
Rich spray of faint stars.

NGC 1023, galaxy, Perseus
Bright (relatively speaking) little galaxy, aligned east-west. Condensed core. Faint extension to east?

M76, planetary nebula, Perseus
Faintly visible unfiltered, but the poor transparency meant that I needed the OIII filter to do it any kind of justice. The familiar bi-lobed structure was apparent, with the south-western lobe clearly brighter – particularly with averted vision. On this viewing it was vaguely reminiscent of the famous Hubble image of the Homunculus (Eta Carinae).

Other notes
One tadpole in the pond (!); other frogs nowhere to be seen.
Also, the characteristic “tseep” of a migrating redwing.

Cepheus and Beyond

2 October 2019, 21:30 – 00:15 BST

Cold, breezy; patchy cloud moving from west.

NGC 7510, open cluster, Cepheus
Viewed at 92x (Ethos 13mm) – rich, condensed little cluster. Brightest stars form outline of fang or dagger, with fainter spray of stars alongside. This cluster resides in a particularly rich part of the Milky Way. While sweeping the area I stumbled across a small, crescent-shaped cluster roughly southeast of 7510, later confirmed as Markarian 50. It stood out despite the richness of the surrounding star-fields, so I’m surprised it didn’t make the NGC catalogue.

NGC 7762, open cluster, Cepheus
Faint, misty patch of stars north of bright star, shaped like an hourglass or bow tie.

Delta Cephei
Beautiful wide double. White primary, blue secondary to south. The prototype Cepheid variable.

NGC 7380, open cluster, Cepheus
Triangular cluster of stars, no obvious nebulosity.

Trumpler 37, open cluster, Cepheus
Cluster surrounded by IC 1396 emission nebula (not visible). Large sprawling star field; prominent triple star near centre, double star nearby (roughly between triple star and Mu Cephei).

NGC 752, open cluster, Andromeda
Large, rich cluster with lots of bright stars. Fills field of view of Ethos.

M33, Triangulum Galaxy
Well framed in the Ethos, and quite a good view despite average transparency. Could almost describe it as “bright”, particularly the core region. NGC 604 was obvious even at 92x. Spiral arms seemed mottled with averted vision. Suggestion of dark patches immediately S and SE of nucleus.

NGC 1528, open cluster, Perseus
Very rich cluster, about 0.5 degree across. Stars arranged in loose arms spiralling out from centre.

NGC 1513, open cluster, Perseus 
Smaller, fainter cluster with winding line of stars in reverse s-shape or shape of number “2”.

I then crossed over into Camelopardalis to look for galaxy IC 342, but I couldn’t see it even though I was pretty sure I was looking in the right place. This didn’t come as a complete surprise. I think with higher elevation and better transparency I should at least be able to spot it. Failing that, it’s in a good place for imaging.

NGC 7331, spiral galaxy, Pegasus
I probably wasted too much time trying to find IC 342, so by the time I got to this galaxy it had already slipped past the meridian. At 240x the core region showed up well, with a sharp cut-off corresponding to the dust lane. Even with the close-up finder chart I couldn’t be sure of seeing the neighbouring galaxies (the “fleas”).

Stephan’s Quintet, galaxy grouping in Pegasus
Using the finder chart I carefully navigated SW from 7331 to the correct area (still at 240x). With averted vision I could just about see 2 small galaxies right on the threshold of visibility, apparently corresponding to NGC 7318 A/B and NGC 7320. Very difficult – I need to try this again on a better night to be sure of what I was seeing.

Uranus 
Tough to find without any naked-eye stars nearby, but eventually tracked it down in the Ethos. Presented as a bright little green-grey disc, clearly non-stellar. Well resolved at 240x and 333x, and when the seeing occasionally “snapped” into place it looked quite eerie: a tiny little globe suspended in the depths of space. No additional detail seen other than perhaps some limb-darkening.

M45, Pleiades, Taurus
Attractive sight at 92x, but obviously still too large for the field of view. The reflection nebula is especially prominent at this magnification – it almost looks like condensation has fogged up the optics. Nebulosity brightest around Merope, but couldn’t see any structure to it.

Other notes
1 slow meteor some time around midnight, travelling from the zenith towards the western horizon. A possible early Orionid?

Autumn Clusters

21 September 2019, 21:00 – 22:30 BST

Conditions: much the same as Thursday – very mild for time of year, bands of clouds moving slowly from the south.

Started off with a quick eyepiece comparison (viewing the Double Cluster): now I’ve looked through the Ethos a number of times, I can really see the flaws in the Orion Deepview 28mm. It has approximately the same size eye-lens, but that’s where the similarities end. The Deepview’s coatings are inferior (that’s obvious in daylight) and the sharpness falls off very quickly from the centre. I’ve also noticed before that when looking at a bright object like the moon in the Deepview, the shadow of the secondary mirror is visible. To be fair, the Deepview is a perfectly acceptable starter eyepiece (and easier to look through than ones I’ve used in the past), but I wonder if it’s really the best choice to bundle with an f/4.7 scope (especially one marketed in the "Plus" range). I doubt I’ll be using it again other than for demonstrating to others the difference between a budget and a premium eyepiece.

All subsequent observations with the Ethos 13mm.

NGC 6940, open cluster, Vulpecula
Rich, elongated cluster. On this occasion (and in this eyepiece) it looked a little like a swan in flight (which would be more apt if it were in Cygnus).

NGC 7160, open cluster, Cepheus
Attractive little cluster with five bright stars arranged in two groupings. One to revisit at 240x on a better night.

While sweeping the area around this cluster I stumbled upon Xi Cephei (Kurhah) – a really neat pairing of two bright stars. The colours were subtle, but the primary appeared to be white or very pale yellow, with a pale blue secondary roughly 10 arcseconds to the west.

NGC 7235, open cluster, Cepheus
Misty little spray of stars, 2 or 3 moderately bright members.

M34, open cluster, Perseus
Array of bright stars surrounded by a loose hexagon of stars, like a large spider sitting in a web. 2 close stars of equal brightness form the “eyes” of the spider. Looks good in the Ethos.

Nature note
Two large frogs (one of which left the pond to go roaming) and sixteen froglets.

Stars that pass in the night

19 September 2019, 21:15 – 22:00 BST

Conditions: good seeing, but a slight haze affecting transparency. Cloud cover increasing, curtailing session after 45 minutes.

With no time to waste changing eyepieces, all observations were carried out with the 13 mm Ethos.

After quick looks at the Double Cluster and the Saturn Nebula, I turned my attention to:

Veil Nebula, supernova remnant, Cygnus
Viewed unfiltered for a change. Both sides of the loop were visible, albeit very faintly. 52 Cygni was split nicely in the Ethos; the secondary showing up as a faint companion just six arcseconds from the primary.

M73, asterism, Aquarius
Four stars of similar brightness arranged in a tight “arrowhead” shape. Latest science suggests that this is just a chance alignment and the stars are not physically related.

Nature note
1 large frog in the pond, accompanied by 20+ froglets.

The Veil in OIII

22 August 2019, 21:45 – 23:00 BST

The first clear, moonless night this side of the solstice and the transparency was unusually good for the time of year.

The seeing wasn’t nearly as good, so the best views of Saturn came only fleetingly at 240x, with the Cassini Division, the planet’s shadow across the rings, and the subtle banding on the planet itself all on display. The moons showed up well at 133x, with Titan, Rhea, Tethys and Dione clearly visible.

M11, Wild Duck Cluster, Scutum
A quick look at one of my favourite clusters, although the fainter stars were a little bit washed out by light pollution. But this was just a warm-up to get my eyes back in deep-sky mode as I prepared for the main target of the evening…

Veil Nebula, supernova remnant, Cygnus
Ever since I got it I’ve been itching to use the Astronomik OIII filter on the Veil and I wasn’t disappointed. At 50x (Panoptic 24mm), the nebula was bright and distinct and very large, showing lots of fine detail in both arcs. The sinuous “spike” of the Western Veil (NGC 6960) was clearly brighter along its edges, and the Eastern Veil (NGC 6992/5) showed faint “talon-like” extensions (IC 1340) from its southern end. I also saw a portion of Pickering/Fleming’s Triangle (Simeis 3-188) for the first time, visible directly as a faint wisp of light, becoming brighter and more extended with averted vision. Overall, the Veil had a wraith-like appearance, quite unlike anything else I’ve seen in the night sky. I’ve written before about the differences between planetary nebulae and emission nebulae as being akin to smoke and mist, but this was something else entirely, like a windblown cloud or vapour trail, frozen in space.

Other notes:
As I was packing up I saw a single late Perseid flashing through Pegasus.

Galaxies in Canes Venatici

31 March 2019, 21:15 – 00:15 BST

A windy, slightly chilly night with occasional strong gusts (so unsuitable for imaging). A few small clouds scudding quickly across the sky. Transparency better than Thursday, but still nowhere near as good as the memorable session on 10 February.

All observations at 133x (9mm Nagler) unless otherwise stated.

Y Canum Venaticorum (La Superba), carbon star in Canes Venatici
Bright little red-hued star, like a glowing ember. I think descriptions of the colours of stars are sometimes overstated – particularly when there isn’t a nearby companion to contrast it with – but this one was very distinctive. A refreshing starter before I got into the main course of galaxies.

M63, Sunflower Galaxy in Canes Venatici
Stellar core; extended, mottled envelope. Two bright stars to the west, a close grouping of three fainter ones to the east.

M94, galaxy in Canes Venatici
Bright core with a circular extended envelope (brighter overall than M63). On first impression it might be mistaken for an unresolved globular cluster, or the Eskimo Nebula (2392) with an additional shell of nebulosity. One bright star some distance west of the galaxy.

NGC 4490/4485, interacting galaxies in Canes Venatici
Elliptical misty patch with smaller, fainter companion, like two fish circling each other.

NGC 4449, irregular galaxy in Canes Venatici
Following on from Thursday's observation – boxy shape, grainy texture. Averted vision appeared to show three “knots” or condensations arranged in a line, the middle one being the brightest. Increasing the magnification to 240x (5mm Nagler) suggested dark mottling and bays around the edge of the galaxy. Also a brighter central bar running diagonally across the face of the galaxy. Averted vision at this magnification showed a bright spot on the eastern corner – hard to tell if this was another condensation or a foreground star. I wish more galaxies showed this much detail.

M106, galaxy in Canes Venatici
Viewing at 240x showed a large bright core and a shallow s-shaped spiral – the northern arm was easier to see. Averted vision seemed to suggest a dark area just north of the nucleus. Switching back to 133x and sweeping around the area revealed a couple of neighbouring galaxies:

NGC 4346, galaxy in Canes Venatici
Roughly due east of M106, with a bright star midway between the two. Elliptical fuzzball with a stellar core.

NGC 4220, galaxy in Canes Venatici
Roughly northwest of M106. Small and faint spindle of light.

M51, Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici (with NGC 5195)
Tonight the two galaxies had an almost ghostly aspect about them; the spiral arms seemed to fade in and out of existence independently of averted vision. The view wasn’t substantially improved at 240x, other than highlighting some of the brighter areas with a milky glow. The sketch above (compiled from observations carried out over three separate nights) gives an impression of what you can see with careful, prolonged study - even if you don't have the darkest skies (or the largest telescope).

NGC 5005, galaxy in Canes Venatici
Small, but fairly bright galaxy. It’s hard to be sure of detail when you’re looking at an object for the first time, but there seemed to be a suggestion of an inclined spiral and possibly a bar running through the core.

NGC 5033, galaxy in Canes Venatici
Southwest of NGC 5005; similar size but fainter. Stellar nucleus.

A detour “across the border” for two showpiece galaxies:

M101, Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major
Large, low surface brightness. Very subtle S-spiral hinted with averted vision (needs exceptional conditions and/or an Ethos to get the best out of this galaxy, I think). Field star superposed on face of galaxy, north of nucleus.

NGC 5907, Splinter Galaxy in Draco
Faint, very narrow edge-on galaxy, well deserving of its nickname. Quite impressive with averted vision. Faint star west of nucleus.

And back to the southern region of Canes Venatici and beyond:

NGC 4631, Whale Galaxy in Canes Venatici
Large, “fat” galaxy (particularly compared to 5907). Foreground star on northern edge of galaxy near centre (I can’t really call it a nucleus) and a very faint blur just beyond that – fleetingly visible with averted vision (confirmed later as the dwarf companion NGC 4627 “the Pup”).

NGC 4656, Hockey Stick Galaxy in Canes Venatici
Faint streak of light southeast of 4631. No condensations that I could see, but one half of the galaxy is brighter than the other, with brighter areas towards the centre and one end (corresponding with the “hook”).

NGC 4559, galaxy in Coma Berenices
An overdue first look at number 36 in the Caldwell list. First impressions: large irregular blur, brighter towards core, but not condensed. Southern side of galaxy framed by three stars of varying brightness.

As Hercules was rising in the northeast, I rounded off the session with a look at two of the northern sky’s best globular clusters.

M92, globular cluster in Hercules
As per previous observation from last year: rich, bright condensed, well resolved. Slight oval shape – not circular. Bluish tinge?

M13, globular cluster in Hercules
Large and “sprawling” compared to M92, not as condensed. Very well resolved. Couldn’t be certain of seeing the dark “propeller” feature, but I did see NGC 6207 for the first time: visible as a small, faint lens-shaped galaxy with a stellar nucleus (I later found out that this is actually a foreground star). As is often the case with these objects, it seems obvious now I know where to find it.

Nature note: heard two foxes screeching at each other a couple of streets away. One frog in the pond (the tadpoles seemed to be purposefully avoiding it).