M94 and a Red Carbon star.

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John Baars Netherlands
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M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#1

Post by John Baars »


Last night it seemed crystal clear. And that's what it was at times. Many cloud fields passed by, sometimes accompanied by high veil clouds. In between it sometimes seemed crystal clear. Seeing turned out to be not too bad for me. The veils did increase. The waxing Crescent Moon descended to the Western horizon. Moon craters on the terminator stood calmly. Instrument used was a 120mm ED f / 7.5 Evostar doublet.

I said goodbye to the great Orion Nebula, maybe it won't be until next year before I see it again. Orion slowly disappears behind a hedge and a row of houses. Alnitak, Rigel, Sigma Orionis, Trapezium, M42, Sirius with his little dog. Of course they all came along. The little Pup took little effort. Even the Rosette nebula could be greeted with the lowest magnification and UHC filter. Not that it catches the eye. Rather, it is a subtle black surrounding the "umbrella" cluster NGC2244 in the center, bordered by a slightly grayer, barely definable area. There are fewer stars in that area. To then transition more or less smoothly into the dark sky background. If you don't know, you 'll look over it.

On to some spring objects. The well-known foursome in the Lion. M65, 66, 95 and 96 were all in the lot. Subtle, here in town, but they were there. NGC2903, in the head of the Lion, was more prominent. If you are looking for galaxies in the Lion as a city observer, M105 should not be missing, which is a class better visible than the 60s and 90s Lion - brothers and - sisters. Better still: as a city dweller you immediately have two galaxies in the field of view with M105: NGC 3384 also shows itself. At least the third galaxy that fits in the same field, NGC 3389, was not visible from here. M94 came into the picture even more prominently, a system in Canes Venatici. High recommendation if as a beginner you want to see an easy extra-galactic system apart from M31. Even small instruments will show it easily, far more easy than the Lion's group. 2.5 degrees North of Cor Caroli.
M 94.jpg
M 94.jpg (23.77 KiB) Viewed 1878 times

After a short stopover at open star cluster NGC2420 and Eskimo Nebula: challenge M51, entered the Whirlpool galaxy. It turned out to be not so difficult when the cloud fields stayed away for a while. Clearly two cores, one of the two significantly "thicker". Would it be wishful thinking if I saw something like a brighter area in that thicker spot? Probably. In any case, it occasionally shimmered that it was not an even stain. That is quite a lot in the city with a 120mm telescope.

Had a rest at Alcor and Mizar, where no Coronic five feet applies, then a jump up to the Owl Nebula. It was still there. A little bit spooky. As always I was surprised by its size. Then down into the Hounds again. I typed SAO44317 into the screen of the ancient Skysensor 2000. I got the answer "No Data". "Hmmmm ..... definitely forgotten because of antique", I grumbled. Then entered the coordinates 12h 46m and + 45 ° 19´, obeying the instructions of Skysafari. Enter. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzz .... simmer ... beep ... Lo and behold!! La Superba, so named by Angelo Secchi in the 19th century.

A breathtaking red star stared at me. "It's really RED," I muttered. And lives up to its name.
Below is a quickly compiled impression, a collection of Stellarium, Paint, Gimp and own input. Image posted earlier in the Red Star Hunt forum.
la Superba.png


Highly recommended for city / and other observers. Really such a star where you take a rest from your previous trip. Does anyone recognize that?
Then another ten minutes or so M3, globular, as a tasty dessert. That was just as good!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#2

Post by helicon »


Just a wonderful and peaceful session John. Nice catches with the Leo galaxies at home, superb rendering of M94, the so-called Cat's Eye Galaxy, and the carbon star. I was out as well saying goodbye to Orion as it sets behind the oak tree to the west - with both the Achro and the Dob.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


A lovely report John, great you could get out to view. :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#4

Post by MistrBadgr »


Thank you, John, for taking me on your adventure! I enjoyed it very much. :)

I hope to go after some of the objects you mentioned in Leonis, when it gets a bit higher. Right now here, before it gets high enough, thin high clouds form on the good nights. They clear up again sometime after midnight, but by then I have already turned into a pumpkin.

And, as always, I enjoyed your drawings!
Bill Steen
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#5

Post by Bigzmey »


Great session and enjoyable report John! Just curious why you did not go with 150ST for the evening?
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

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Post by John Baars »


Bigzmey wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:00 pm Great session and enjoyable report John! Just curious why you did not go with 150ST for the evening?
Because:
- The 120mm is a better doublestars and Moon-telescope. If I want to see Moon-details this is the best telescope I have for the job. Double stars look a bit steadier and have a nicer and cleaner split.
- I can create a darker background with the 120mm with the same Leica zoom eyepiece. This differs a whole magnitude in background-darkness. Smallest exitpupil with the 150 becomes 0,8 mm. Versus 0,5 mm with the 120. This comes in handy on some deepsky targets when the Moon is up. Globular clusters for instance.


Post Scriptum
:D - My 150 has a defect Moon- on-off switch :D
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

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Post by Juno16 »


Very enjoyable report John! Excellent!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#8

Post by helicon »


Congratulations John on this classic report. You have won the VROD for 6-13-2021!
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

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Post by Ylem »


Very nice John :)
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

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Post by John Baars »


Thanks for the VROD!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#11

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Congratulations on winning the VROD John :smile:
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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#12

Post by turboscrew »


Nice! You got me curious about carbon stars.
Congrats on the VROD!
- Juha

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Re: M94 and a Red Carbon star.

#13

Post by Makuser »


Hi John. Wow, I almost missed this great report from you. A wonderful and interesting report on M94 and the red carbon star SAO44317 ("La Superba"), and I really enjoyed your fine sketches too. Thanks for sharing this with us John, and congratulations on winning the TSS VROD Award today.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
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