Upon arrival later in the afternoon, the sky looked questionable. Nonetheless I settled into the house to rest up a bit after the three plus hours confined in the truck, which served to stiffen my legs up a bit. Around 1900 hours I moved the gear from the garage to my normal observing position. It was a little bit more of a struggle for me than typically due to the issues with my right leg. Fortunately the big scope has wheel barrow handles and 10 inch pneumatic tires, so it was not a major problem to get it out there. I again retreated to the house for a little while to get some more rest. I then headed out the door around 2030 hours to begin the session. The waxing crescent moon had sunk behind the tree line west of the house and was of no consequence.
I would begin this session hunting some open clusters in Cygnus using my Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas (IDSA). Then I moved over into Pegasus to finish the evening in pursuit of my favorite objects, galaxies. My guide in that portion of the outing would be my stalwart, the All-Sky Edition of the Uranometria 2000.0 Deep Sky Atlas. The conditions were decent, but not outstanding. There were strands of high thin clouds passing through the sky fairly often, and I battled with the fog off and on prior to midnight. Regardless, things went well and I had a very nice outing outside in the chilly air. The temperatures dropped quickly and by the time I wrapped up close to midnight, it was in the mid-40’s (F) outside, with rising humidity. For this outing, I decided to pull out a trusted eyepiece that I had put away for some time, my
17.5 inch
Ethos 13mm (152x, 0.7° TFOV, 2.9mm exit pupil)
XW 10mm (199x, 0.4° TFOV, 2.2mm exit pupil)
XW 7mm (283x, 0.2° TFOV, 1.6mm exit pupil)
Cygnus
Loiano 1 (open cluster, mag=10.2, size=6.0’):
Per Archinal and Hynes “Star Clusters”, this cluster contains 40 stars. My observation at 199x found about 15 stars across its small field in a vaguely “Y” shaped pattern. The cluster itself is not really detached from the general field and it is not easily discerned in the rich Milky Way field. At least that was the case in the 17.5” at our dark site. (New)
Observing this large cluster field at 110x, I stopped counting stars at 50 of varying magnitudes. The main thrust of the cluster was a NNE to SSW curve of 10 brighter stars, with the remainder of the field amply strewn with a multitude of suns. The primary stars were nicely detached, while the others were not so much because of the general richness of the larger field. Still a pretty grouping that was easily located. The primary string contained some close doubles which added to its appearance. (New)
Biurakan 1 (open cluster, mag=7.9 size=10.0’):
Immediately east of the previous object I studied the field to make sense of this cluster. At 110x the main three stars formed a triangle with a dimmer curve of stars flowing into the center of the triangle. Overall I counted in excess of 30 stars within the medium sized field that was not significantly detached from buy Milky Way field. (New)
Biurakan 2 (open cluster, mag=6.3, size=20.0’):
A few minutes southeast of Biurakan 1, lay the field of this cluster. I easily spotted over 40 stars with the main pair in the center of the field using 110x. I noted a flattened diamond pattern running east-west across the southern part of the field. I found it better defined and richer than the previous grouping, being fairly well detached and obvious to my eye. (New)
This large cluster was ferreted out just northeast of the Biurakan pair. Using 110x I counted around 40 to 50 stars dispersed across its dimension that really was not significantly detached from the general field. The dominant feature was a pair of three star curves in its northwestern quadrant. Not really a special cluster. (New)
Ruprecht 172 (open cluster, mag=7.2, size=5.0’):
This cluster lies entirely in the southeastern quadrant of
Teutsch 8 (open cluster, mag=unk, size=1.0’):
This one was actually the most curious cluster that I observed while waiting for the moon to move out of the way. Just under 5’ ESE from the mag 7.2 star HD 190114, I picked up this tiny pip of light. At 110x it presented a tiny box of four stars. Dropping in the 10mm (199x), I now had a tiny little dipper pattern of eight stars. Cute and cuddly it was in the eyepiece and so minute as to be simply overlooked if one wasn’t paying attention. (New)
Kronberger 36 (
Slipping east from Teutsch 8 a little I triangulated this cluster using the nearby stars. Actually this seems to be an
Just north of Gamma Cygni (Sadr) I easily swept up this pretty grouping at 110x. A very wide pair of 7th mag stars aligned southeast-northwest. A zig-zag of eight 9th and 10th mag stars flows immediately south of the bright pair. Over 30 stars peppered the field with the main concentration being of east-west orientation crossing the center of its field. A nice cluster visually that was fairly well detached. (New)
Roslund 6 (open cluster, mag=6.4, size=24.0’):
Just under 2° southeast of
After playing around with some lesser known open clusters in Cygnus I closed the IDSA and opened the Uranometria as I moved my focus to Pegasus and galaxies.
Pegasus
Picked up at 110x as a small and dim, slightly fat oval. It was generally homogeneous in appearance. Using 199x its central region displayed some broader brightness. (New)
In field with
UGC 12655 (lenticular galaxy, mag=12.8, size=1.5’x0.9’, SBr=13.0):
Just over 1° ENE of the pair of the previous pair of galaxies I pulled down this lenticular. At 110x it was merely a suspicion within the field. Its presence was confirmed at 199x as a small and dim homogeneous oval. (New)
Not seen at 110x and merely suspected at 199x, it was confirmed at 283x as a fleeting homogeneous oval. It appeared much weaker than I expected based purely on its numbers. I think in general conditions were not so great to the ENE where I was working. (New)
This one was just glimpsed at 110x as a weak and small round mote. It was truly confirmed at 199x as a mostly homogeneous rounded glow. I suspected that an intermittent stellar core was popping through every so often as I observed. (New)
I found it as a small and slightly dim ghostly oval at 110x. About halfway between 69 Peg (mag 6.0) and HD 220694 (mag 7.0), the stars did hinder observation with their combined glare field. At 199x, pushing the stars slightly farther out, the galaxy was an obvious diffuse oval. (New)
Also known as Arp 28, it was found inside of a small isosceles triangle of three stars (11th and 12th mag). At 110x it was a little bright and slightly large poised within the stellar figure. At 199x it was a bright oval. Generally homogeneous, at times I picked up some broader brightness that was likely the “one heavy arm” that Arp saw in the galaxy. (New)
Merely suspected at 110x as a small and evenly illuminated soft rounded glow, I confirmed its presence at 199x, though it remained quite weak. Moving up to 283x it remained challenging, but was clearly seen with direct vision. (New)
Intermittently suspected at 110x, I confirmed it at 199x as a very dim and small homogeneous rounded puff. It was not seen 100% of the time however. Moving to 283x it remained nearly a threshold object, but was clearly seen. (New)
Abell 2666: (size=78.0’, # of galaxies=~34):
I next moved into the field of the galaxy cluster Abell 2666. Here I observed at 110x, 152x, 199x and at times 283x:
The brightest of the five galaxies I observed here, it presented as a somewhat bright small oval. It displayed a stellar core. (New)
Just northwest of
MGC +4-56-19 (spiral galaxy, mag=14.7, size=1.1’x0.3’, SBr=13.3):
Separated from
Less than 2’ SSW of
Just over 3.5’ south of
North of the AGC 2666, I found this small and little dim oval at 110x. It remained ghostly in appearance even at 199x. (New)
About half a degree SSE of the previous object I picked up this lenticular. Found with 110x it presented as small and dim, a bit more elongated in shape than
Picked up at 110x the dominant galaxy of the interacting pair Arp 86 presented a large and bright oval disk. There was a connective glow to its small and dimmer neighbor (
This is smaller and dimmer secondary galaxy of the interacting pair Arp 86. In images it will often appear as a small oval knot connected with the extended spiral arm of
Previously observed, this spiral was a small dim oval at 110x that exhibited some broader central brightness at 199x. I returned here to seek the next galaxy just to its south.
Immediately south of
This previously observed galaxy was small and somewhat bright at 110x. Oval and homogeneous to the eye initially, it revealed an illusory stellar core at 199x due to an imposed 8th mag foreground star near the center of its disk.
Just 11.5’ northeast of the previous object I spotted this small and pretty dim oval at 110x. Generally homogeneous in appearance it remained weak at 199x as well. (New)
Almost 2° south of the previous two galaxies and still near the Pegasus-Andromeda border; I found another previously observed galaxy. At 110x it presented as a small and slightly bright oval with a stellar core due to an offset 13th magnitude imposed star. At 199x it was very obvious in the field.
About 9’ southeast of
This spiral was swept up at 110x but presented slightly bright at 110x. Its elevated surface brightness as compared to
Within the same
Small and slightly bright, this rounded glow was homogeneous to the eye using 110x. Viewed at 199x it was obvious in the field, but remained diffuse. (New)
Picked up at 110x this thin slice of light was nicely elongated and somewhat bright. Evenly illuminated, it was an obvious stripe with tapered ends at 199x. (New)
Found with at 110x it presented as somewhat bright and slightly large. Rounded in shape it was homogeneous in appearance. At 199x it was very obvious and displayed a broader central brightness. (New)
Within in the
Butted up against the southern end of
For illustrative purposes here is an SDSS image (not mine) of the
Another previously observed galaxy, it was easily picked up at 110x as a large and bright extended oval with a broadly brighter center. Viewed at 199x it was quite strong within the field and a large bright oval core.
Also known as Arp 235 I located this small and slightly bright oval almost 1.5° ESE of
Picked up at 110x, this small oval presented as slightly bright and homogeneous. Viewed at 199x it remained diffuse and was an obvious fixture within its field. (New)
Lying next to a 13th mag field star, I round this homogeneous oval small and slightly dim to my eye at 110x. Its general appearance didn’t change at 199x, though it was more obvious. (New)
This galaxy is the brightest of the compact group Hickson 100 (the “A” component). Swept up at 110x it presented a small and dim homogeneous oval. Even at 199x it was not a strong presence though obvious. It remained small and a little dim, and evenly illuminated. (New)
MCG +2-1-12 (spiral galaxy, mag=14.4, size=0.8’x0.4’, SBr=13.0):
Immediately east of
At various times fog tried to make a mess of things, but it always seemed to retreat after a short period. By around midnight I had had enough. I was a bit chilly and my leg was starting to send alerts that it was ready to call it a night. Dewing was ramping up and the fingers of high thin clouds remained an intermittent pest. Nonetheless, by the time I returned the gear to the garage and headed in for the night, it had been a very successful outing. Thanks for coming along with me as I limped around in the dark and around the sky. I hope to get a chance sometime in October to head back over to the dark site house and resume my autumn galaxy hunting ways. Keep looking up folks.
