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Herschel II Project - Late Summer
18h–21h NGC 6526–6997 A photo journey of my observing adventures with EAA/CAO (electronically assisted astronomy / camera assisted observing) Observed for the Astronomical League's Herschel II Observing Program
Marie Lott, Atlanta, GA
Updated 09/23/22 01:53 AM -0000 |
Early Fall → |
| NGC 6526 | NGC 6548 | NGC 6596 | NGC 6604 | NGC 6717 | NGC 6772 | NGC 6793 | NGC 6800 | NGC 6804 |
| NGC 6814 | NGC 6824 | NGC 6857 | NGC 6888 | NGC 6894 | NGC 6907 | NGC 6960 | NGC 6991 | NGC 6992 |
| NGC 6997 |
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| Observations: Wowie zowie! M8 always takes my breath away. Nestled within M8 (aka the Lagoon Nebula) is NGC 6526. It is the island of pink clouds just to the left of the dark rift in the bottom of M8 (see label on the astrometry plot). The illuminated clouds are a bit washed out on the right side of this region that is immediately next to the dark lane, probably due to the glare of the over-exposed bright region on the other side of the rift. Within our target section, the clouds pile up like a pink mountain range, with more intense color and shading - very three-dimensional. Further to the left of these cloud pillars are more knotty clumps of dust and gas. Just above and to the left of this region is a thick inlet of murky darkness which seems to flow downward from an even darker lacuna. The entire area is covered with medium and small foreground stars which add to the beauty of the nebula In fact, open custer NGC 6530 sits just above of our target, NGC 6526. | ||
| Size: | 2.9' x 2.7' | Mag: | 12.7 | Type: | S0 Gx |
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| Observations: This round spiral has a bright stellar core surrounded by a plump circular halo of dim haze. Directly to its southwest is a faint needle-like wisp of a galaxy, NGC 6549. The field is a busy one, filled with small to medium stars, but there is a detectable thinning of the star density to the left of the field's center. This could possibly be an artifact due to the effect of shooting through high thin clouds combined with the glow of a relatively bright mag 10 star in the center of that region. | ||
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| Observations: This field is jam-packed with stars! Our target is the open cluster NGC 6596. It is easier to pick out the cluster from the field when viewing at lower power. Then a four-lobed structure is evident, with a denser, small clustering of stars between the top left & and bottom left lobes. A thing rivulet of darkness wiggles from top to bottom just above the field center and then curving downward to the right of center, all the way to the bottom of the field. The upper right corner of the field is considerably more crowded with stars than the left side. | ||
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| Observations: This cluster is easy to find in the field. A half dozen stars clump tightly together, with a small bit of nebulosity emanating from the center. The central star is by far the brightest at mag 7.5. The cluster forms a skewed half circle, forming a quirky smile, and I found myself smiling back! | ||
| Size: | 2.9" | Mag: | 8.4 | Type: | GCl |
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| Observations: Sitting just underneath bright Nu2 Sgr, this tiny cluster initially didwere not appear to be a globular since only a tight triangle of three stars (two of which might be doubles) were readily visible. Zooming in reveals a dim round haze with hints of smaller stars peeking through. Zooming back out, bright Nu1 Sgr is to the far right of the field. | ||
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| Observations: This ghostly nebula is "hiding in plain sight" in a very rich field of stars, but was still easy to spot due to its distinctive oval smoke ring. It is quite colorful, with a darker turquoise interior and a brighter red exterior. Overall it is fuzzy and diffuse. No central star is visible. | ||
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| Observations: A cute wiggle of 12 stars extending east (left) into a lazy arc of brighter stars. A dense double clump of 8+ stars lies just off the lower west end. Lots of motion, fun to observe. | ||
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| Observations: This cluster forms a ragged ring shape of ~24 stars; the four stars on the east (left) side are brighter and more widely spaced that the other stars forming the ring. The interior of the cluster is somewhat "empty". This cluster is quite loose and would probably stand out more at lower power in this busy field. | ||
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| Observations: This object is tiny and round with a touch of "fluffiness". Even at low magnification, it is unmistakably a planetary nebula with a characteristic fuzzy blueness to it. At the magnification observed, it shimmers as a beautiful aqua blue cloud of gas and plasma. To the SE, a very diffuse haze extends out past the main envelope. A central star is obvious. One very bright star lies in the field to the NE. | ||
| Size: | 3.0'x2.7'" | Mag: | 12.1 | Type: | SABb Gx |
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| Observations: Circular with a slight haze surrounding it at low power. The core is stellar with an adjacent knot (possibly a star?) directly to the west within the envelope. Zooming in, I can see hints of face-on swirling spiral arms in the cloud around the core. Field stars make random linear patterns across the FOV. | ||
| Size: | 1.7'x1.1' | Mag: | 13 | Type: | Sa-b Gx |
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| Observations: This is colorful &; bright nebulous region in a rich star field. The rosy cloud cups around the prominent central star like a vase. The southern portion appears more brightly illuminated. At low power this object looks somewhat triangular. The pinkish-red cloud fades away to a void on the NW side of the central star, whereas the bottom edges are sharply defined and dense. This might look nice with an OIII filter. The central star with its four companion corner stars make a mini cross-like asterism similar to that of its host constellation, Cygnus. | ||
| Size: | 18'x8' | Mag: | Type: | Neb |
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| Observations: A delicate crescent is visible, gently arcing from east towards the west before curving southward to the bottom of this field. The top left (NE) portion is significantly brighter and more defined than the rest. This portion's red color is quite saturated compared to the rest of the structure. The full extent of the wispy nebulosity can be seen in the enlarged view as it starts to curve gently back towards the left at the bottom of the field. It brightens at bit at its lowest point. Five very bright stars form a diamond that overlays the bright northern part of this nebula. Very pretty! | ||
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| Observations: A lovely smoke ring of a nebula! Looks like a grey Cheerio. Very faint, but its ghost-like ring is easy to spot. Edges are smooth, with an empty ring center. A star is seen through the NW portion of the ring. Would like to try an OIII filter on this object. | ||
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| Observations: This is a lovely little S-shaped spiral galaxy. Its two arms are widely spaced with large gaps between the fading tips and the bright central bulge. The northern arm is brighter than the southern arm thanks to a star (or birght knot) within. Shining brightly is a prominent stellar core. A+ on this view in the Mallincam. | ||
| Size: | 60'x9' | Mag: | Type: | Neb |
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| Observations: The lovely diaphonous blue & pink strands of this supernova remanant twist past bright star 52 Cyg from north to south. These wispy filaments extend much further than this field shows. Hundreds of field stars provide a rich background. I was surprised to be able to pick up this delicate structure so well using short esposure EAA. | ||
| Size: | 6' | Mag: | Type: | Ocl in nebula |
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| Observations: Multiple rounded streamers of stars tumble to the west of mag 6 star V2140Cyg (HD 199478).The most distinct arcs of stars make two half circles, enclosing rather empty dark interiors. Some extremely faint hazy mottling of the field can be detected near the bright star; I believe this is IC 5076, but it is almost invisible in this view. | ||
| Size: | 80'x26' | Mag: | Type: | Neb |
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| Observations: Another fabulous playground in a packed starfield in Cygnus. This large but faint supernova remnant shows up as a swath of pink twisting knotty clouds, with companion aqua streamers seen faintly alongside. This glowing cloud angles across the field from NW-SE with a dynamic, interacting appearance. It is part of the larger Cygnus Loop. Beautiful! | ||
| Size: | 8.0' | Mag: | 10 | Type: | OC |
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| Observations: Boxy cluster with three sides. The cluster's interior hosts another smaller box of stars, this one trapezoidal in shape. Probably contains 30+ stars altogether. There is a noticeable void of stars within the cluster to the left of the small trapezoid, also some sparse areas outside of the cluster in the western half side of the field. A very bright star lies in the NE corner of the FOV (top left). | ||
