Sketch of NGC 6888 (The Crescent Nebula)
Click image for larger version.
Observation Notes:
The Crescent Nebula doesn't exactly jump out at you in the eyepiece. Some patience, averted vision, tapping/nudging of the telescope, and a dark sky are required. I observed this one from my front yard with an SQM reading of 20.7 and some indirect light glaring off nearby houses. My Orion Ultrablock filter helped bring out form and detail in the nebula. The first portion to appear was a streamer of mist emerging from the west of one of the stars embedded in the nebula's rim. From there, fainter curling arms wrapped east and west, and then to the south. A couple spurs of nebulosity reached southward toward the Wolf-Rayette star (WR 136) that lies at the heart of the nebula.
Sketch/DSS Photo Comparison of NGC 6888
| Subject | NGC 6888 |
| Other Desig. | GC 4561; H IV-72; LBN 203; LBN 075.51+02.29; Sh2-105; [T70] 32; Crescent Nebula |
| Classification | Emission Nebula |
| Position* | Cygnus: [20 12 07 +38 21.3] |
| Size | 20' x 10' |
| Brightness* | 10.0 bMag |
| Date/Time | SEP 08, 2010, 11:00 AM MST (SEP 09, 2010, 0600 UT) |
| Observing Loc. | Home - Flagstaff, Arizona, USA |
| Instrument | SkyQuest XT8 (8 inch f/5.9 Dobsonian) |
| Eyepieces/Mag. | Pentax XW10 + Orion Ultrablock |
| Conditions | clear |
| Seeing | 4/10 Pickering |
| Transparency | SQM 20.7 |
| *Sources | SIMBAD; DSS; NGC/IC Project |
