• Observation Logs

Observations:

Below you can view descriptions and sketches of the objects I've managed to observe to date. They should provide a good guideline of what you can expect to see through a telescope.

Unless otherwise stated, all observations where made with a 10 inch Orion XT Classic Reflector Telescope from reasonably dark skies (mag 6-7).

NGC 4755, Herschel's Jewel Box

The Jewel Box (NGC 4755) is very easy to locate to the SE of Mimosa in Crux. The cluster as a whole is bright and easily visible in the finder scope (5° FOV).

It is a small open cluster with irregular shape containing stars of varying brightness (mag 5.7 for brightest to mag 10 for fainter stars. Stars are well resolved.

At 120x, 9 bright stars can be easily seen. With the 3 brightest forming a triangular shape pointing to the west. A very prominent orange coloured star is visible close to the centre of the triangular shape at the end of a row containing 2 other stars. These 3 stars form a row facing NE to SW. Lots of fainter stars are visible in the surrounding area.

Approximately 40 stars can be easily counted. Size of the cluster appears to be around 10 arcminutes.

NGC 6523, M8, Lagoon Nebula

96x (25mm barlowed): Reasonably bright nebula separated by dark band into two regions. Dark central band visible from East to West. Bright patch of nebulosity to SW, close to two bright stars. Open cluster to the SE with approx 26 stars visible. Nebulosity fades towards edges and brightness varies throughout the nebula. Visible area of the nebula is about 30’. Reasonably easy to see after eyes are fully dark adapted. Edges are diffuse.

NGC 2070, Tarantula Nebula

Using an O-III filter at 96x (25mm barlowed). Stunning! Irregular in shape. Nebulosity fills the 33’ FoV. Bright central region with one star close by. A dark lane runs from N to S at western edge, bisected by part of bright central region. Three dark patches visible within the nebula towards eastern edge of nebula. Brightness fades towards the edges. Dark lines and swirls are visible within the nebulosity. At 240x the bright central region is very clear and shows distinctive "tarantula like shape".

NGC 6514, M20, Trifid Nebula

Easy to locate since it’s within 5° of M8. In the finderscope it is visible as a patch of nebulosity surrounding a star. Using an O-III filter increases the contrast of the nebula. At 96x (25mm barlowed) details become visible. It is reasonably faint and not as distinct as easy to see as M8. The nebula is roughly circular in form with diffuse edges and is slightly smaller than 30’. A double star in the centre of the nebula can be resolved into two distinct stars in close proximity to each other. Three dark lanes converge in centre forming a Y shape and dividing the nebula into 3 areas. Brightness fades towards edges. Around 7 fainter stars can be seen within the nebulosity and 2 stars within the dark lane that runs from NE to SW.

NGC 7293, Helix Nebula

At 48x: O-III filter used: Very distinct with O-III filter. The nebula appears circular in form with very slight elongation at the western and eastern edges and is around 15’ in size. The nebulosity is slightly dimmer towards centre and brightens towards the edge. The edge is diffuse. With averted vision three faint stars can be seen within the western edge of the nebula. At 96x: The three faint stars visible within nebulosity becomes more distinct and easier to see.

NGC 6231

Cluster is easily located, but it is difficult to establish the extent of the cluster. Large open cluster with rich central region. Irregular in shape. Almost appears to have a reversed "S" shape with stars concentrated towards the center. Five bright stars are very prominent within the central region, with approximately ten fainter stars surrounding them. Approximately 50 stars can be counted without difficulty, but due to bad seeing and transparency fainter stars might not have been observed. The cluster almost fills the 1 degree field of view if stars in outer region are included. Central region is about 15 arcminutes in size. Stars of varying magnitude are visible.

NGC 6273, M19

120x: Medium sized globular estimated at about 5’ across. Relatively bright. Brightens slightly toward nucleus. At 120x becomes granular in appearance making it almost possible to resolve stars within the cluster. 2 stars visible at outer edge of globular, one to the East and one towards the North. A row of 3 faint stars are visible to the NW aligned roughly from NE to SW.

NGC 6266, M62

48x: Medium sized globular estimated at about 6’ across. Relatively bright and granular. Bright core fading towards edges of globular. Western half appears slightly brighter. No individual stars resolved within globular. One star close to S edge of globular. Towards west two rows of stars consisting of two stars each points towards the general direction of the globular. Four fainter stars close to the E edge of globular. Two bright stars towards north oriented in E to W direction.

NGC 6124

48x: Large open cluster approximately 30' in size. Irregular shape. About 44 stars of varying brightness are easily countable. Stars slightly concentrated towards central region with 13 stars closely grouped together.

NGC 6281

48x: Small open cluster about 10' in size. A definite arrow shape can be seen pointing in a slightly NW direction. One bright star is visible towards the west and 2 towards the NW. 34 stars counted using both direct and averted vision. Stars vary considerably in brightness, with fainter stars forming the arrow shape. At 120x: The stars in the arrow shape is more visible and it is easier to make out the fainter stars in the surrounding area.

NGC 6475, M7 – Ptolemy’s Cluster

M7 (Ptolemy's cluster): Very easy to find. Visible naked eye as a faint patch close to the tail of Scorpius. 48x: Very large open cluster visible over a wide area. Some concentration at the centre. 18 bright stars counted with numerous fainter stars surrounding them. Two rows of 4 stars in central region visible, oriented roughly E to W. Row of 7 stars at E edge of central region in an N to S direction. Fills 1 degree FOV including stars in the surrounding area.

NGC 104, 47 Tucanae

Very easy to locate. Appears as a faint star just below the SMC. 48x: Large globular cluster with very bright dense core. Very concentrated towards the center. Brightness fades gradually from core outwards toward edges. Granular in appearance with hundreds of stars in the outer region resolved. Size is estimated at approx 25’. 47 Tucanae appears to be located within a triangle asterism formed by 3 stars in the surrounding area (WNW, NE, SSE). Next to the central region (S) a prominent star can be seen. 150x: Central region very well resolved but remains granular and brighter than surrounding area. Thousands of stars appearing like grains of sand fill the entire FOV. Too many to count.

LMC, Large Magellanic Cloud

Naked eye: Located about 20° S from Canopus. Visible as a faint, elongated cigar shaped cloud approx 5° x 3°. Brighter central area with brightness fading gradually towards outside edges. At the western edge of the LMC 2 stars can be seen S and 1 star just to the N. With averted vision a bright round patch is visible to the NE. 10x50: Structure much more apparent. Fills the 5° FOV. The bright central bar shows patches of faint nebulosity inside and in surrounding area. The Tarantula Nebula is clearly visible as a bright round patch to the NE. Individual stars of varied brightness visible within the diffuse glow.

SMC, Small Magellanic Cloud

Naked eye: Very easy to locate. About 20° from LMC and 15° S from Achernar. Appears as a small elongated cloud about 3° x 2° in size. 10x50: Shape more defined with stars visible around the diffuse glow. 47 Tucanae visible 1° to the W of the SMC. Brightness is not uniform. It’s slightly brighter towards the SW edge with a dark indentation towards the NE giving it bean-like shape. Using averted vision a patch of nebulosity can also be seen toward NE within the diffuse glow of the background stars.

NGC 1976, M42, Orion Nebula

Very easy to locate. Visible naked eye as the central star in Orion’s sword. 48x: Large bright nebula. Very impressive visually. Irregular in shape, but looks somewhat like outstretched wings. Estimated size at 50’ x 50’. Brightest region of nebulosity is around the Trapezium area with 4 stars visible in the Trapezium. Chain of 3 stars to SE of Trapezium. Various stars of varied brightness can be seen in and around the nebula. Just E of Trapezium a dark indentation can be seen. Large tendrils of nebulosity extend to NW and SE. Edges are diffuse with a large area of nebulosity extending to the W. Brightness decreases gradually from the Trapezium region outwards to the W. Distinctive dark dust lane separates M42 from M43 situated to the N. M43 can be seen as a patch of nebulosity surrounding a star (mag 7). Averted vision shows swirls and streamers of dust and gas within the nebula. 150x: Nebula around the Trapezium region shows a mottled appearance with swirls of dust and gas now visible using direct vision. The tendril that extends to the E (around the chain of 3 stars) show definite structure with a prominent half-circle curve of gas visible. The dark dust lane now much more apparent and defined with structure. Has the appearance of a man with extended arms reaching toward M43 and the Trapezium. (Head to the NW). The E star in the Trapezium can be glimpsed at times using averted vision, but seeing is not good enough to make it clearly visible.

NGC 5139, Omega Centauri

48x: Very large, very bright globular cluster approx 30’ in size. Very spectacular to observe. Very well resolved. Elliptical shape with stars concentrated towards the centre. Stars look like thousands of grains of sand. Averted vision resolves stars in centre better. The core is slightly brighter than the outer region. Brightness gradually fades to edges. Approx 80 stars of varied brightness can easily be counted in the outer region. Thousands of stars are resolved towards the central region which also has a diffuse glow from unresolved stars.

Coalsack

Naked eye: Very large dark nebula visible as a dark oval patch to the S of Mimosa and E of Acrux in Crux. Appears to be around 5°x 4° in size. Averted vision shows 1 star within the dark patch about 2° below Acrux. Appears to be uniformly dark and nicely silhouetted by background glow of the Milky way, making it easily visible once dark adapted.

NGC 2287, M41

36x: Large open cluster approximately 40’ in size. Easy to see. About 70 stars of mixed brightness counted. Slight concentration towards center. 2 rows of 3 stars in the SW edge pointing in a W to E direction. 1 row of 5 stars in the center of the cluster pointing in W to E direction. 2 bright stars visible at the SE edge. Other stars form curves and clumps.

NGC 2362

36x: Small open cluster roughly 10’ in size surrounding a bright 4th magnitude star. Stars are of mixed brightness with the bright central star, 3 slightly fainter stars and roughly 13 faint stars visible using averted vision. At low magnification it is difficult to easily resolve most of the stars. 91x: Stars are much better resolved. Approximately 27 can be easily counted. The cluster appears to have a rough triangular shape with corners to E, NW and SW. Stars are concentrated towards the center of the cluster.

NGC 5128, Centaurus A

Reasonably easy to locate using the 9x50 finderscope. Appears as a small reasonably bright smudge within 5° of Omega Centauri. 70x: Looks like a small round, reasonably bright diffuse patch bisected by a dark lane. Using averted vision the dark lane becomes more prominent. Centaurus A definitely has a “hamburger shape” as many people have remarked.

150x: At 150x magnification it is much easier to see details. The dark lane is now very prominent and appears to have very well defined straight edges. The lane is orientated slightly NW to SE and is widest towards the SE edge and narrows towards the NW edge. The two diffuse sections now appear more elongated than round. One section is to the SW and the other to the NE. The SW section is larger and brighter than the NE section. One bright star is visible in superimposed to the SE above the SE section of the galaxy. A slightly dimmer star is visible towards the NW end of the dark lane.

A very bright mag 9 star is visible close to NGC 5128 towards the SE and various fainter stars are visible in the surrounding area. Visual size estimated at roughly 6’ x 4’.