NGC's in Cepheus and Pegasus, a quick stop in Andromeda and some Planets - Observing Report

Thanks for the nice report. I think I'll spend some time in Cepheus tonight
trying some of the objects you noted. NGC7023 and NGC7129 both sound very
interesting and will be new to me.

Martin

Martin, I'd love to hear your impressions of those - especially if you
are using a different size scope than I did.

Thanks!

Tom

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 17:25:32 GMT, "Starstuffed"
wrote:

Thanks for the nice report. I think I'll spend some time in Cepheus tonight
trying some of the objects you noted. NGC7023 and NGC7129 both sound very
interesting and will be new to me.

Martin

Tom,

I just finished looking at the image of the NGC7129 area at the LEDAS site
(http://ledas-www.star.le.ac.uk/DSSimage) and noticed that the brightest
part of the nebula is around *a (from my crude chart). While the image
shows this part of the nebula to be displaced away from the center of the
"triangle" and indeed, bottoming out roughly on the line between *a and *b
to which I refer, I see no evidence of the linear edge that seemed apparent
to my eyes at the eyepiece.

Question: Did you detect that sharply defined edge of the nebula? If not,
could its appearance to me have anything to do with my brighter sky and
smaller aperature?


Martin


"Tom T." wrote in message
s.com...
THanks Martin

Tom T.


, 30 Jul 2003 16:05:10 GMT, "Starstuffed"
wrote:

0800 UT
NELM 5.0
Clear & steady skies, 59 degrees F.
300mm, f4.8 Newtonian Reflector
12.5mm plossl EP

In response to Tom requesting my observational impressions of NGC7129 &
NGC7023, I submit the following:

The field of NGC7129, where * are stars and N is the reflection nebula
around the stars. . .


*
N2
N1

a* b*
* *

d*



c*

*

N1 is the brightest part of the nebula and has a distinct linear edge
running roughly between stars a & b. N2, despite being substantially
dimmer
than N1, is much larger in area and extends beyond *d.

Stars a, b, and c are all about the same magnitude and form a triangle. .
..a
tiny, yet striking, asterism.


Regarding NGC7023:

This cluster is large and sparse. I agree with the "dew on the eyepiece"
remark. Star SAO19158, a 7.4 magnitude object, is piercing a nebulous
cloud
resulting in a 15 to 20 arcsecond luminosity. No other clues of the
nebula
were readily apparent but it may have been visible. I was getting too
sleepy to attempt to go after it with other EPs and averted vision and
tube
jiggling. . .you know the routine.


Martin

Martin,

I do not recall a hard linear edge like you describe. I just checked
NSOG (Night Sky Observers Guide - lists a 12-14" desription, and a
16-18") and OHCDSO (Observing Handbook and Catalog of Deep Sky Objects
6cm, 25cm and 30cm) and saw no mention of a hard edge there either.

OHCDSO says:

"The nebula is brightest around the eastern star of the northern pair,
and a faint companion is suspected near this star. The nebula is
mostly N of this pair and at least two more stars are involved. It is
about 2' diameter and irregularly shaped."

- Luginbhul & Skiff

This tallies pretty well with what I saw in 15", including 3-4
involved stars, and a couple of others scattered throughout/across.

At a guess, I would think it could very well have something to do with
less light gathering ability and/or polluted skies, but shrug.

Tom T.



"Starstuffed" wrote:

Tom,

I just finished looking at the image of the NGC7129 area at the LEDAS site
(http://ledas-www.star.le.ac.uk/DSSimage) and noticed that the brightest
part of the nebula is around *a (from my crude chart). While the image
shows this part of the nebula to be displaced away from the center of the
"triangle" and indeed, bottoming out roughly on the line between *a and *b
to which I refer, I see no evidence of the linear edge that seemed apparent
to my eyes at the eyepiece.

Question: Did you detect that sharply defined edge of the nebula? If not,
could its appearance to me have anything to do with my brighter sky and
smaller aperature?


Martin

Tom T. wrote:

At a guess, I would think it could very well have something to do with
less light gathering ability and/or polluted skies, but shrug.


Thanks for the reply. I'll try to get to Mt. Pilchuck this Monday or
Tuesday night and view NGC7129 through its far darker and clearer skies than
I have in my backyard.

In the mean time, any others out in SAA land that find themselves under the
stars in the next few nights with nothing special planned to observe,
consider viewing NGC7129 and checking in with your observations. This would
be much appreciated.


Martin