Stock 2

[John Baars]

November is a typical rain-season here. As I always say: Rain in November means Christmas in December
Never mind. November has kept his promise so far: rain and rain. Occasionally an open space in the clouds comes by. Even more rare are the moments when it stays open for an hour or so. Yesterday there was such a moment. So I rushed out with my grab&go 102 mm F5 refractor to catch some rare moments. On the Dutch forum I belong to as well, Stock 2 in Perseus is the object of the month. Stock 2 has a special meaning for me. It is one of the two deepsky objects that I found in the past through a telescope without knowing it existed. It is not even shown in Norton's Star Atlas, the atlas I used in the past.

A nice target for a small hour of sketching. I started from NGC884, one of the two halves of the Double Cluster in Perseus and followed the string of stars that lead to Stock 2. Part of that string is seen in the sketch on the left. Quite an easy hop. Once arrived I felt a bit discouraged by the number of stars I saw, so many small ones! Sketching all this would take hours. So I took the liberty to sketch the stars that show his nickname only: "Muscle-man". Critics might say that I only sketched what I wanted to see. Sorry. Nevertheless I really enjoyed myself! I hope you will too!


Click on the pic for a better version.

[Juno16]

Very nice sketch John!

[messier 111]

Really pretty, I've never heard of this before.
one more on my list.
thx.

[pakarinen]

Very nice! Keep posting!

[helicon]

Looks great. Thanks for the report John and the fine sketch. Definitely VROD-worthy!

[StarBru]

Very nice sketch! Congrats on being awarded the VROD!

[kt4hx]

Very nice John. Actually, Stock 2 is located in Cassiopeia right at the border with Perseus. But that is irrelevant because the cluster doesn't care what constellation it is in! The sketch is quite nice indeed and certainly worthy of the VROD. I would not worry about the critics, you sketch what you wish to sketch. I frankly have never seen a muscle-man in the stars, but sometimes my imagination is not all that keen! Well done my friend.

[Bigzmey]

Nice sketch John and congrats on the VROD.

[Graeme1858]

Excellent sketch John, congratulations on the VROD, a worthy winner.

One of the current TSS Monthly Challenge Targets is not very far from Stock 2. Collinder 463 is a subtle little asterism. Did you ever sketch this one?

Graeme

[John Baars]

Very nice sketch John!

Thanks!

Really pretty, I've never heard of this before.
one more on my list.
thx.

Neither did I some years ago, it wasn't even in my Atlas!

Very nice! Keep posting!

Thanks, I will

Looks great. Thanks for the report John and the fine sketch. Definitely VROD-worthy!

Thank you, thanks for the VROD!

Very nice sketch! Congrats on being awarded the VROD!

Thanks, didn't expect being awarded.

Very nice John. Actually, Stock 2 is located in Cassiopeia right at the border with Perseus. But that is irrelevant because the cluster doesn't care what constellation it is in! The sketch is quite nice indeed and certainly worthy of the VROD. I would not worry about the critics, you sketch what you wish to sketch. I frankly have never seen a muscle-man in the stars, but sometimes my imagination is not all that keen! Well done my friend.

Thank you for your compliments. I was surprised it belongs to Cassiopeia, but you are right!

Nice sketch John and congrats on the VROD.

Thank you!

Excellent sketch John, congratulations on the VROD, a worthy winner.

One of the current TSS Monthly Challenge Targets is not very far from Stock 2. Collinder 463 is a subtle little asterism. Did you ever sketch this one?

Graeme

Thank you. I never sketched Collinder 463. But being part of the TSS Monthly Challenge Targets, I feel a bit invited and it won't take long... I already checked the forecast, but pity, not tonight. Next time I will, promised. I already checked out some SAO members in Skysafari.

[Ylem]

That's very very nice John!
Congratulations on the well deserved VROD also!

[Graeme1858]

Excellent sketch John, congratulations on the VROD, a worthy winner.

One of the current TSS Monthly Challenge Targets is not very far from Stock 2. Collinder 463 is a subtle little asterism. Did you ever sketch this one?

Graeme

Thank you. I never sketched Collinder 463. But being part of the TSS Monthly Challenge Targets, I feel a bit obliged and it won't take long... I already checked the forecast, but pity, not tonight. Next time I will, promised. I already checked out some SAO members in Skysafari.

That's something we can all look forward to John.

Graeme

[Lady Fraktor]

A really nice sketch and report John.
I am currently doing the autumn run and view (maybe) here as well.

[John Baars]

Like I promised in post #10 I did a sketch of Collinder 463 too.
For a full report see: viewtopic.php?p=259161#p259161

Here three sketches in a row:
- The version at the telescope.
- The version made inside the house immediately after the observation.
- The final version.
Click them for a better view

[helicon]

Really nice sketch of Collinder 463 John! Congratulations, also on winning the VROD for the day!

[Unitron48]

Nice report and sketches, John. Congrats on your VROD.

Dave

[John Baars]

Thank you, Michael and Dave!

[Thefatkitty]

That's really good John, you have patience and skill! I've tried this; my problem is the spacing of everything! I never knew this asterism existed, I will have to try and find that if it ever clears here (pouring rain now).

Thanks again for that and congrats on the VROD too!

All the best,

[John Baars]

my problem is the spacing of everything!

That is one of the main problems in sketching open clusters. Even now I have to look carefully and assess where I put my next point on paper.

I never knew this asterism existed

Neither did I. @kt4hx showed me.

[kt4hx]

That's really good John, you have patience and skill! I've tried this; my problem is the spacing of everything! I never knew this asterism existed, I will have to try and find that if it ever clears here (pouring rain now).

Thanks again for that and congrats on the VROD too!

All the best,

Glad that John introduced you to this object Mark. It is indeed a cohesive cluster rather than a simple asterism. It is located around 2290 LY distant, and with its apparent size of about 57.0', that corresponds to a physical diameter of around 38 LY.