Daytime Jupiter, C2018 W2 (Africano) comet and Cepheus and Cetus goodies

[Bigzmey]

8/9/19

Daytime Jupiter
I have arrived to the blue sky and hot dry weather at Anza. Set up my usual 8” SCT/ 150ST combo and was chilling in the shade when I noticed in SkySafari that Jupiter was only about 2 degree from the Moon. It was not yet visible with naked eye, but using Moon as a reference it did not take long to locate it in the RACI.

It was fun to see Jupiter against the blue sky in the EP. Colors of the belts and GRS (at the disk edge) were washed out, but fine details in the belts were well resolved. Shading grades in the South Polar Region were better resolved than during the night observing. 8” SCT/Pentax XW 10mm (203x) and TV Delite 9mm (226x), no filters.

Daytime Moon
Moon was the next target. The contrast was a bit washed off, but it was fun to see bluish shadows and resolution was quite good. 8” SCT/Pentax XW 10mm (203x), no filters.

The Moonset was around 02:00, so I got some sleep to capitalize on the morning dark sky. Woke up ~1:30, watched Moonset and got to business.

Cepheus
NGC 7076 – PN – very faint small spot with averted vision (AV). UHC and OIII filters did not improve the view, likely because of very low surface brightness. Has to be the faintest PN I resolved so far. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x) and XW 14mm (145x).

NGC 7423 – OC – 4 stars embedded in the oval glow visible with AV. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x), 150ST/XW 10mm (75x).
NGC 7510 – OC – nice looking dense triangular patch of stars with background glow. 150ST/XW 10mm (75x).

NGC 7538 – Northern Lagoon Nebula – not as gorgeous as the southern counterpart. Two stars in a faint glow. OIII and UHC filters reveal more of the oval shaped nebulosity. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x) and XW 14mm (145x).

NGC 7708 – asterism - Saint Andrew's cross formed by bright stars. 8” SCT/Baader Aspheric 36mm (56x).

Camelopardalis
C2018 W2 (Africano) – comet – 11.5 mag, 1.4’ coma. Took me awhile to locate due to small size and low brightness. Faint tiny elongated spec. 8” SCT/XW 10mm (145x). It is getting brighter and should be easier to spot by the end of August.

Cetus
NGC 210 – gal – oval disk with round core. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x) and XW14mm (145x).
NGC 245 – gal – round disk with brighter central area. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 255 – gal – faint round spot with brighter central area. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 268 – gal – very faint round disk with brighter central area. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 274 – gal – round disk with stellar core touching NGC 275. 8” SCT/XW 14mm (145x).
NGC 275 – gal – oval with brighter central area touching NGC 274. 8” SCT/XW 14mm (145x).
NGC 273 – gal – narrow disk with AV. 8” SCT/XW 14mm (145x).
NGC 450 – gal – faint oval. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 533 – gal – oval disk with brighter central area, same FOV with NGC 450. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 600 – gal – very faint oval with AV, moving EP. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 681 – gal – elongated oval. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).

Chi Cet – colorful binocular double – 4.7, 6.8, 193”, white, orange. Nicely framed in 9x50 RACI.

NGC 701 – gal – narrow disk. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 748 – gal – faint narrow oval next to star. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 864 – gal – oval with star shining through. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 895 – gal – faint oval. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 941 – gal – faint oval. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 945 – gal – faint round disk. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 955 – gal – small edge-on. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 958 – gal – narrow disk. 8” SCT/XW 20mm (102x).

During the night, while taking breaks from the EP I saw around 10 Perseids, some quite bright.

At 04:30 Milky Way disappeared and the sky started to lighten -time to pack. At 05:00 when I was about to hit the slipping bag Orion hourglass has risen in predawn sky.

[Juno16]

What a fine night Bigz!

You certainly took FULL advantage of a moony evening. Scooped up loads of fuzzys and Jupiter in the daylight too. Pretty neat.

Man, I know that you feel fortunate to have a spot like Anza. Glad 5hat you take full advantage of it.

Thanks for the fine report sir!

Thanks,
Jim

[Bigzmey]

What a fine night Bigz!

You certainly took FULL advantage of a moony evening. Scooped up loads of fuzzys and Jupiter in the daylight too. Pretty neat.

Man, I know that you feel fortunate to have a spot like Anza. Glad 5hat you take full advantage of it.

Thanks for the fine report sir!

Thanks,
Jim

Thanks Jim! Definitely fortunate. It feels like my second home. With all the clouds we are having at the cost I would hardly manage any observing otherwise.

[bladekeeper]

Great night, Andrew! Nice grabs!

Say, wait a minute, Cepheus, Camelopardalis, Cetus...are you working the constellations in alphabetical order?

Cetus is a bastion of great galaxy observing. I’ve fought the ol’ sea monster on several occasions.

[Bigzmey]

Great night, Andrew! Nice grabs!

Say, wait a minute, Cepheus, Camelopardalis, Cetus...are you working the constellations in alphabetical order?

Cetus is a bastion of great galaxy observing. I’ve fought the ol’ sea monster on several occasions.

Thanks Bryan! I know, should have stopped by Cassiopeia.

[KingNothing13]

Nice night Z - very productive.

For some reason, it never occurred to me to call Orion an hourglass....so I learned that today.

[Bigzmey]

Nice night Z - very productive.

For some reason, it never occurred to me to call Orion an hourglass....so I learned that today.

Thanks Brett!

[Thefatkitty]

Wow, nice haul Andrew! I so wish I had an "Anza" near me; not any deserts where I live
Jupiter in the daytime, neat! I'll have to try that one day.
Glad you had a productive and fun night!

All the best,

[Bigzmey]

Wow, nice haul Andrew! I so wish I had an "Anza" near me; not any deserts where I live
Jupiter in the daytime, neat! I'll have to try that one day.
Glad you had a productive and fun night!

All the best,

Thanks Mark! When I have a chance I want to try to catch Jupiter with GoTo in the afternoon.

[Don Quixote]

Wow !
You had a great night Andrey !
I think I am jealous...
Thank you for bringing us along.

[Bigzmey]

Wow !
You had a great night Andrey !
I think I am jealous...
Thank you for bringing us along.

Thanks Mark! How's the weather on your side?

[Don Quixote]

Wow !
You had a great night Andrey !
I think I am jealous...
Thank you for bringing us along.

Thanks Mark! How's the weather on your side?

Intermittant overcast.
Fuzzy skies.
Seeing and trans poor the last week.

But this is Illinois...the conditions can dramatically change any time. :-)
I check the sky no matter what "Cleardarkskies" predicts. :-)

[Bigzmey]

Wow !
You had a great night Andrey !
I think I am jealous...
Thank you for bringing us along.

Thanks Mark! How's the weather on your side?

Intermittant overcast.
Fuzzy skies.
Seeing and trans poor the last week.

But this is Illinois...the conditions can dramatically change any time. :-)
I check the sky no matter what "Cleardarkskies" predicts. :-)

Often, that's the only way and it's really pays to have grab and go setup for conditions like that.