June 2019 Monthly challenge.

[KingClinton]

JUNE 2019 TSS Monthly Challenge!

Our very first target is a easy to find Open Cluster in Ophiuchus. It was chosen as a easy first challenge that can be seen in binoculars,small scopes and from truly dark skies with the naked eye.

IC 4665.
Open cluster in Ophiuchus.
Magnitude +4.19.
Apparent Size of 70.0 Arcmin.

IC 4665 is a large,bright and well spread out cluster.
It was discovered by the Swiss astronomer Philippe Loys de Cheseaux in 1745, it was then independently rediscovered by Johan Elert Bode(1782) and Caroline Herschel(1783).
This cluster was included in the second IC of 1908 based on a discovery from photographic plates by astronomer Solon I Bailey using the Harvard Observatory's Bruce telescopes.
It does not appear in the NGC catalog and lies at a distance of 1400 light years from Earth.


To find this cluster locate the star Beta Ophiuchi in the constellation Ophiuchus and it's a dead easy star hop from there, see the basic star chart below that was made in Cartes Du Ceil and is purely a guideline.

So get out there and have some fun with this months target, get viewing,sketching, or photographing and post your results in this thread.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!!!

[helicon]

Next session I will see if I can observe this cluster in the 6" frac. Should fit into the field of view nicely because with a 30mm 2" eyepiece I have a 1.7 degree field of view. Looking forward to it.

[helicon]

I was fortunate to get out last night the 6" frac at about 11 pm. My first target was IC4665 - it appeared somewhat spread out, but composed of medium bright stars. All in all a pleasing view, and another example of how the refractor at f/6.5 offers great views of open clusters.