Photograph of Winter Milky Way over Sunset Craterwith sketches of deep sky objects in the area. Move mouse over sketch above to see where each deep sky object resides.Click image for larger version. Click here for larger version without call-out lines.. . . . . Other Print Versions: Vertical...
Planetary Nebula Category
Move mouse over images to see labels. Observation Notes This evening, 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 C was due to brush past M57 by just 3.5 arc minutes at 03:00 UT (8 PM MST). Unfortunately, Lyra was just beginning to crest the horizon at 8 pm. I finally got a good look...
Observation Notes: This is my second observation, a year later. The nebula is huge and bright. At first glance, it looked like a two-lobed blob. But closer inspection showed an overall oval, slightly elongated west-northwest to east-southeast. The lobes were on the southeast and northwest quadrants. The southwest lobe...
Observation Notes: This is a dense cluster with a granular base of stars. It was a rough circle. On the north side, there was a small round patch of nebulosity about 2'-3' in diameter. The body of M46 seemed to be about 22' in diameter, but not particularly concentrated...
Observation Notes: This was my second observation of M57, a year down the road. At 38X it was a distinct oval amidst pinprick stars. It was evident to me that it was not colorless, but possessed a subtle smoky blue color that verged ever so slightly toward green. At...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: In preparation for an upcoming article, I made a new observation of this interesting little planetary nebula. I noticed no color in it. The southern lobe was the brightest. Both lobes were brightest at their outer apexes. The bright portion of the northern...
Move mouse over sketch to see the NOAO photo demonstrating how my perception of brightness differs from the actual structure of the nebula.Click the image for a larger version.Rollover photo courtesy of Steve and Paul Mandel/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF. Observation Notes: At low power, the hazy appearance of this planetary nebula...
Observation Notes: This planetary nebula was a nice detour after traveling along Kemble's Cascade and the sparkling splash of NGC 1502. It was readily evident as a soft disc at 48X. At 120X, it had a very slight aqua tint. I found it too faint to examine well at...
Observation Notes: This was a large, planetary nebula with a bright central star. Using the Ultrablock filter helped verify the nebula, and show it off better. The nebula was circular and centered on the main star. It seemed like there was a bright axis running northwest to southeast through...
Observation Notes: What an unbelievable planetary nebula. It was very bright and detailed. It rested about 2' south-southwest of a bright star. It was circular, and had a brighter circle within. This inner circle hinted at more detail. So I bumped the magnification up from 120X to 240X, and...
Observation Notes: This planetary nebula had a faint outer shell that appeared slightly elongated north-south. There was a brighter inner shill with what seemed to be a two-lobed structure that was aligned southeast to northwest. I didn't notice any color. Object Information NGC 654 was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm...
Move mouse over sketch to simulate sliding in the OIII filter. Observation Notes: I got my first look at this diminutive planetary nebula through Eric Graff's 6" f/6 reflector. He was using a filter slider with an OIII filter in one slot. By sliding the filter in and out,...
Observation Notes: Persistent clouds were making it exceptionally difficult to sketch the core of M16. So I took a break and decided to look for something in a part of the sky not dancing with clouds. Hercules was in decent position, so I scanned my SkyAtlas 2000.0 for something...
Observation Notes: After a very lengthy hiatus from dark sky observing, I headed out to Anderson Mesa in hopes of escaping a summer monsoon cloud-out. Right on qeue though, a load of choppy strato-cumulus gushed out from some nearby storms, and I had to change my observing plans. I...
Move mouse over sketch above to view comparison Hubble photo overlay. Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: I wasn't sure how much I would see, but this planetary nebula turned out to be a great visual treat. It bore a noticeable aqua color and was elongated at a...
Sketch of NGC 6572 (The Blue Racquetball)Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: NGC 6572 is a bright and colorful planetary nebula. At low power, it was nearly stellar, and strong blue-green in color. At 240X, it was slightly elongated at a PA of about 165 degrees (NNW-SSE). Although the...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: NGC 6826, also known as the Blinking Planetary, was pleasantly bright when I tracked it down at low power. It exhaled a blue-green color at all levels of magnification. At 240X, it displayed a shelled structure with an outer shell that appeared circular...
Observation Notes: This was my fourth and final observation and sketch during my recent night at Anderson Mesa. I picked it from my Bright Star Atlas since it was a convenient find next to the tail of Delphinus. Sky Atlas 2000.0 provided the star hopping route. At low power...
Sketch of NGC 6905 (The Blue Flash Nebula)Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: NGC 6905 is bracketed by 3 11th and 12th magnitude stars and at low power simply seems to be a patch of unresolved starlight. Higher power drew it out, and it displayed a mild north-south elongation....
Observation Notes: This fascinating planetary nebula was pleasantly large, and easy to spot with my low power eyepiece at 37.5X. I could see no color in the nebula, but there was some color right next to it in the double star HJ 1606. The primary of this double was...
Observation Notes: With a prominent Zodiacal Light rising in the northeast, I headed for a planetary nebula. I had a look at the Helix Nebula, but didn't feel like re-sketching it at this point. It's going on two years since Brent Archinal helped me find the Saturn Nebula while...
Observation Notes: This planetary nebula is huuuge. I really needed the ultrablock to find detail. Without the filter, it was just a slight brightening above the level of the sky. Overall, it was circular with a bit of a wisp running off the southeast side. It had a hollow...
Observation Notes: I made this follow up observation of the blue snowball to get a more detailed look at structure for the October 2009 issue of Astronomy Now. The inner and outer shells possessed a soft, pentagonal shape. The inner shell was annular and had brighter condensations to the...
Sketch of PK 80-6.1 (The Egg Nebula) Move mouse over sketch above to see how the view changed when the polarizing filter was rotated to the correct angle.Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: This easily overlooked deep sky object is tucked away above the eastern wing of Cygnus....
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