Okie Tex Post #6

This post covers my final two nights at Okie Tex on 9/14 and 9/15. In light of the sense of urgency, my goal was to really enjoy myself while I finished up the challenge lists.

9/14
I started my own observing around 1am by hunting for the Cocoon Nebula.

Cocoon Nebula: Difficult. Dark nebula (Barnard 168) around it was easy. Cocoon was small, assuming that was what I picked up. There was no obvious cloud of nebulosity, but there was a small area of slight haze with a star cluster inside the dark nebula.

Auriga’s M36, M37, & M38 were all easily found, but M38 was the one we were required to see along with NGC1907, another open cluster. M38 and NGC1907 come together to form what people refer to as the Cheshire Cat. I couldn’t visualize anything that resembled the Cheshire cat, so I will have to spend some extra time on this one later on down the road.

I went after the Skull Nebula next, NGC246. I could elicit some nebulosity, but I could not make out anything that resembled a skull. I suspect that is a task only achievable with astrophotography. As part of the Cetus Pair, next to 246 sat NGC255, a galaxy.

Pisces Pair: NGC520 is actually not one, but two galaxies. These two are located in Pisces and are in close proximity to one another, so close in fact, that visually, they appear to overlap, forming a V. They were small, but visible. They reminded me a lot of some of the galaxies in Virgo. Aside from that, they were not very impressive.

Around 3:15am, Orion was high enough to give me a somewhat decent view of M42. I spent about twenty minutes staring at it, observing the wings coming off the sides and the contrast in its center, making sure to include viewing the Trapezium.

Gemini Pair – M35 & NGC2158: This was an old friend of mine, actually. I originally found this pair at Hodges Gardens by accident. I knew of M35, but 2158 appeared like a fuzzy glob adjacent to M35. To my surprise, I learned it was an open cluster and only appeared more dense because of its distance away from us. At Okie Tex, its presence was more obvious, but not by much. M35 seemed to have a few more visible stars than I remembered, so much that 2158 actually blended into that cluster visually.

By then, I was cold and tired, so I quit for the night. I also started dewing up.

9/15
I went for M51 one last time in hopes of viewing its spiral arms. I could only see black smudges around the core, but no visible arms like what I saw at Hodges Gardens in March of this year. Atmosphere must have interfered since Ursa Major was so low in the northern sky.

M13 was next, viewed at low power first. I could definitely see more stars inside the globular cluster compared to more light polluted skies.

The Veil was next on my list and using my OIII filter, I still found it difficult to draw out more nebulosity than on previous nights. It was a satisfying view, but obviously nothing compared to what I had seen in the 20″ and 25″ Obsession scopes. They spoiled me for good.

In the early morning hours, I saw the Zodiacal light, the Gegenschein, and meteors every five minutes

M47, M46/NGC2438 – 2438 was larger than what I remember with a more pronounced fuzzy halo. No filter was required to see it. M46 and M47 were also visible to the naked eye. M46 was on the challenge list and the PN was on the twofer list with M46 as the Puppis Pair.

M41: Open cluster in Canis Major. Nothing fantastic. Good cluster to look at using low power. This object was on the challenge list.

I was able to see the Horsehead in an 18″ Obsession. I didn’t ask what magnification he had it at, but the top of the head was what I could see as I scanned back and forth. It was faint, but easy to see. It took up about 2/3 of the eyepiece field of view. I also forgot to ask if he had his Hydrogen Beta filter in. I’m going to assume that he did. I should have gone back to my scope to view the Flame Nebula because I was able to visualize it. I might have been able to see the Horsehead in my own scope, had I tried.

M42/M43/NGC1975: Orion looked fantastic. I didn’t take a count of the Trapezium stars, but the nebula itself was quite wide and the wings spread out pretty far. I couldn’t pick up any color, but there was slightly more detail, especially close to the center. NGC1975 was visible behind M42/M43, but the bright star affected just how much of the nebulosity I could see.

The Crab Nebula was visible without filter (with filter, no additional detail was drawn out). This was on the basic Okie Tex challenge list.

Intergalactic Wanderer – Globular cluster that was comparable to M71 in terms of intensity. Could not resolve many stars, but a few popped out. This one was on my hit list for a long time.

The Rosette Nebula was on our Okie Tex twofer list. I could see a faint nebulosity separating it from the background on the edges. The twofer items were NGC2244 and NGC2237, the cluster and the emission nebula.

Around Alnitak, the Flame Nebula NGC2024 could barely be seen. IC434 was visible, but I didn’t look for the Horsehead. The nebulosity stretched far out away from Alnitak. I probably could have seen the Horsehead.

I forgot to look for Barnard’s Loop and the Medusa Nebula. The Medusa planetary nebula will be on my list of things to find in the coming weeks, now that Gemini is in the sky early in the morning.

Saw NGC1999 in an 18. The owner of that 18 told me he’s the one who pestered the folks at SkySafari to include this object. What I saw resembled a donut, but apparently the rest of the nebula was not visible. It was located adjacent to M42.

Einstein’s Cross – David Kreige wanted to see this object in his 25″ scope. I saw 2 or 3 (3 and 6 o’clock). He thought he saw something at 3 and 12. The object is such a difficult thing to see anyway, so if we did see two or three parts of it, I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky.

Another attendee named Bernie had a 16″. He put me on a line of three galaxies in Draco, something commonly referred to as the Draco Group (NGC5981, NGC5982, and NGC5985).  I could see three, although Bernie told me about a fourth and fifth, NGC 5976 and 5976A. I could see 5976A, 5981, and 5982, but not 5985. Of course, some of this was a little bit of guessing on my part. I did not view them in his scope. Instead, I helped him locate M2 and a few other Messier objects for some high school students on the previous night.

Aside from that, I don’t have anything left to add. If I remember any other objects I was able to see through other scopes, I’ll come back and edit my Okie Tex posts. All in all, it was a great gathering of some very nice and knowledgeable folks. I hope to return next year. We shall see.

Okie Tex Post #5

On the 12th, I didn’t accomplish much. We had rain and clouds to contend with. I was able to mark off a few items on the Okie Tex lists, though.

The twofer list had the Cassiopeia Pair listed, NGC654/663. 663 was a larger open cluster than 654. Had to use low power to see them both. They are adjacent to the Double Cluster, more proximal to Cassiopeia.

NGC247: Spiral galaxy in Cetus. This was on our challenge list. Appeared elongated and narrow. Vertically oriented with a star at one end.

NGC253: Sculptor/Silver Coin Galaxy. Just a round fuzzy with a core about the size of an average globular cluster. Easily visible.

M77 was on the list and to my surprise, it was not more pronounced than at home. Cetus A was already a small galaxy in terms of visual astronomy, but I figured the dark site would throw me a bone on that one.

Luckily, I was able to see M42 and M36 before ending my night.

After having been clouded out and then rained out, we were all eager to begin observing again on the 13th.

They put NGC6520/B86 on the observing list as the Ink Spot. I’ve found this object before by accident when I was bouncing around near M7. I knew it was low in the sky, so as soon as it was dark enough, I went for it. Had I waited, it would have dropped below the mesa at the back of the camp. It was listed on the two-fer list because 6520 has a dark nebula next to it, Barnard 86. Viewed this in my 38, 32, and a barlowed 13.

M19 and M62 were on the glob list. In a previous night of observing, I worked my way down the list to discover these two, realizing that they had already dropped below the horizon. Much like NGC6520, I knew I had to hit these two early on in the night. M19 and M62 were in Ophiuchus. M62 is always down and to the left from M19. Both were easy to find. Sometimes they have a bluish hue, but on that night, no hue. Good cores. Decent resolution of outer stars in both.

NGC6316: Globular cluster in Ophiuchus. I Ended up finding NGC6304 as well, but it was not on our list.

NGC6284: Yet another glob in Ophiuchus. It was near M19.

Switched to the two-fer list again…

Trifid & M21. Happened to land on the Swan Nebula in the process of aiming here and caught a meteor flying through the field of view.

M81 and 82 were on the twofer list, so I went ahead and looked at them again. Not much to say, really.

Kemble’s Cascade (K-1) & NGC1502: I needed some help with this. I wasn’t quite sure what I needed to see with this one. Kemble’s Cascade was an asterism consisting of a long line of stars and NGC1502 was a small open cluster in Camelopardalis. The cascade was easy enough to follow and the open cluster was right there at the end.

Butterfly Cluster (M6) & NGC6416: The Butterfly Cluster was actually visible to the naked eye, so it didn’t take very long to find it. 6416 was an open cluster above the Butterfly in Scorpius. Nothing special about 6416, as far as I could tell.

Spout Globs – NGC6522 & NGC6528: Pair of globs just off of Alnasi, a star in Sagittarius. 6528 is closer to Alnasi. Difficult to see. Very small. They are the Spout Globs because of their location relative to the teapot spout of Sagittarius.

Ophiuchus Pair: NGC6287 & Barnard 51 – 6287 was a pretty decent sized globular cluster at the bottom of a dark nebula, Barnard 51.

Albireo’s Twin – Delta Cephei: Double star in Cephus. Delta A and Delta B. One is a bright variable star and the other is dim. Split at low power. Verified with an 8mm.

Barnard 142 & 143 – Barnard’s E: Two dark nebulae in Aquila near Altair. Together, they form an E shaped object. Very neat. Low power wide field kind of object.

NGC772: Spiral galaxy in Aries. Faint round fuzzy. Bright core.

M38: Starfish cluster in Auriga. Familiar territory for me, seeing as how the clusters in Auriga were some of my first objects I observed back in January.

Okie Tex Post #4

Night #4 was on Tuesday, the 11th of September.

I started my night by looking through someone’s 16″. They had a pair of binoviewers on loan from the main desk. Apparently, you could leave your ID with them as collateral and try out gear. They had Trifid and Lagoon in the field of view. The first thing I noticed was how immediately comfortable I felt. It was just like my first view through an 82 degree eyepiece. What’s the down side to a binoviewer? Price. Those things are not cheap. Nice, but not cheap.

Back to the Okie Tex lists…

The first object I went for was Barnard 72, a dark nebula in Ophiuchus. It’s called the Snake. Why? It snakes around the sky in a kind of S shape. The extra contrast was easy to spot and follow. The dark lane was really neat to me.

To keep myself on the list, I went for the Veil. They wanted us to see the Western Veil, NGC6960. The OIII filter allowed me to see more, extending my view down into the fringes of the broom. The Eastern Veil was just as enjoyable, its mid-section distinct and one end curling back on itself.

When I stepped back away from the eyepiece, I happened to see a good meteor streak down between Cassiopeia and Andromeda. No color, just bright and short-lived.

That reminded me to view the Double Cluster again so I could officially check it off the list. I don’t think I was disappointed at all by its appearance on any night of the star party. Fantastic object, no matter where you go. I also picked off M31/32 for the twofer list while I was at it. (I ended up viewing M31/32/110 numerous times while at Okie Tex.)

The Saturn Nebula was also on our list. It’s a good one to see, no matter where you’re at. I was told planetaries would benefit from the darker site. I meandered around a bit at first, looking for M72 or M73. I happened to see both a meteor and a satellite go through the field of view near M72. From M72, I easily navigated over to NGC7009. It was still too windy to spend any time focusing on the planetary, but I could see the lines sticking out to the side. No center star or detail was seen beyond that.

The Glob Trot list had NGC6366 at the very top. Since it was in Ophiuchus, I had no choice but to hit it early. There are numerous tiny globs in that part of the sky and from past experience I knew that searching for tiny globs was not something I considered fun. I found this one by navigating from M14. I couldn’t resolve any stars. NGC6366 was just a tiny fuzzy ball. I didn’t push the power on it though. M14 was also on the list, so that helped.

The next two globs I hunted were M56 and M92. M92 was easy since it was in Hercules. I viewed it in my 13mm eyepiece. To me, it looked wider than what I normally see at home and it had a very, very bright core. Central stars were visible with averted vision. M56 was a little more difficult to resolve, but it was at 81 degrees in the sky, so it took no time at all to find. The center was bright, but had no discernible core.

Next up was my nemesis, M71 in Sagitta. I hate this glob. We have a history with one another. It’s faint. It’s small. It’s just a boring glob to view. Luckily, I was in a nice dark site, so it took nothing at all for me to find this one. The interesting thing I noticed was, I could not tell if the stars at the edge were part of the glob or separate from it. I still couldn’t identify M71’s core. Too faint.

M107 in Ophiuchus was next. It was awfully low in the sky at 21 degrees. Unimpressive.

M12 was next. Easy to locate. At home, it isn’t. There was a superimposed trapezoid formed by four stars. I was not entirely sure if they were part of the glob or just in front of it. At low power, I could just barely see a core.

NGC6293 in Ophiuchus was next. Are you seeing a trend here? Lots of globs in this part of the sky. Lots. It was a really really small glob. Faint, too. Resembled a small planetary. Difficult catch.

Next up was M9 near the star Sabik in Ophiuchus. Fairly small. Bright fuzzy center.

NGC6544 was next. It’s a glob in Sagittarius to the left of the Lagoon Nebula. The Glob Trot list had other tiny globs in this area located further down on the page. I didn’t notice them until later on in the night, so since I viewed them all around the same time, I used the time recorded for this glob. Really small. Faint. Still, the center was bright at low power.

The twofer list also listed the Lagoon, M8, with NGC6530, the open cluster inside of M8. We often forget that inside the nebulosity, there are other collective objects worth noticing. This was one such example.

NGC6760: Glob in Aquila. Really faint. Core barely visible. The peculiar thing about this observation was how the glob was surrounded by a dark area. It made me wonder if a dark nebula happened to be either behind or in front of this object. What made it even more strange was how the glob sat right in the center of that dark circle. I entertained two explanations, the first being that a dark nebula was in that spot. The second was that the stars in that area were beyond the resolving power of my scope, so I saw nothing where very faint stars were. Astrophotography supports explanation #2.

Had to skip M19. Clouds moved into that part of the sky.

NGC6712: Glob in Scutum near M26 and the Wild Duck Cluster. Fairly concise glob, right in line with the Milky Way. Happened to observe a meteor fly through the field of view.

M69: Tiny glob in Sagittarius. No bright center. No real detail resolved at higher power.

M70: Another tiny glob in Sagittarius, halfway between Ascelia and Kaus Australis. More interesting in appearance than M69. There were some very bright stars located on one side, but not the other.

Because of wind on the recording, I was unable to hear the number of the glob in Sagittarius I searched for next. I referred to my list to learn it was M54. It was out there, all by itself.

M55: Decent sized glob in Sagittarius. Couldn’t pull out a lot of detail.

NGC6624: Small glob in Sagittarius adjacent to Kaus Media. Only 12 degrees off the horizon. Unimpressive glob, but the center was very bright.

NGC6553: Small glob, second one to the left of the Lagoon Nebula. Unimpressive, but easily spotted.

M15: Decent glob in Pegasus. Visible in finder scope. Very bright and tightly packed center. Good spread of stars in all directions. Outer stars resolve at low power.

While I was in the area, I picked off M2 as well. M2 can be a good glob to view in the right circumstances, but on that night, it was average. The core was bright enough, but I didn’t see anything different from what I could view at home.

NGC6638: Small glob adjacent to Kaus Borealis in Sagittarius.

Switched to the Two for one list…

Albireo: Double star in Cygnus. Split Beta A and Beta B. Easily split at low power (38mm).

NGC6939 & Fireworks Galaxy: I actually spotted this pair on the previous night, so I knew what I was searching for. 6939 is an open cluster in Cepheus.

I then attempted to locate the Bubble Nebula (NGC7635) in Cepheus. It was right next to M52. With a UHC filter, I could make out a small dark circle, but it didn’t correspond to exactly what I saw in the image I used as a reference. I believe I only saw part of 7635, so I’m not going to consider it officially found at this point in time. It wasn’t on the Okie Tex list, only my personal list, so it wasn’t a big deal.

I ended my night with that. I spent a lot of time looking for the Bubble. I ended up walking around a bit after that, looking through other scopes and chatting with people/friends.

Okie Tex Post #3

This is my observation log for night #3 of Okie Tex 2012, 9/10.

My third night at Okie Tex started out rough because I couldn’t get my scope level. I ended up tucking a bath towel underneath the base along the outer edge to get things just right, or at least close enough to level as I could get. Once leveled, I aligned with Polaris and checked my setting circle against Altair and M81/82.

The 81/82 combo was on the Two-for-one Okie Tex challenge list, so I checked it off and moved on. Since I was near M81/82, I went for M51 next. Again, my goal was to see spiral arms. No luck there, but I could still see dark patches close to the core without any real definition to them.

Next up was M97, the Owl Nebula. Since Ursa Major was on its way down, I figured it was a good idea to peg this object early before it sank into the muck of sunset and atmosphere. Found it with my 25mm paired with a UHC filter. The eyes were barely visible. Higher power views didn’t improve anything. Besides, it was only 13 degrees off the horizon.

On with the Okie Tex lists…

The Double Cluster (NGC869/884) was on the twofer list. I was still amazed at how I could visualize all the tiny stars in the center of NGC884.

Trifid and Lagoon were next. Easy. Saw them already. Figured I could view them later if I wanted to. M20 and M8 were actually on the challenge list, but I spent a lot of time viewing both at random points during my stay at Okie Tex.

M11, the Wild Duck Cluster, was on another challenge list, followed by M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. M27 was a lot better that night. The nebulosity appeared thicker and brighter than before. The edges arced outward away from the sides and the center had a decent notch to it, even at low power.

M33 was also on the challenge list. No filter was required, but M33 was still faint. It was at 19 degrees off the horizon, so it made sense that I had to wait for better views later on in the night. It was only 10:14pm. I had plenty of time to revisit that one.

NGC7789 was next. I had actually tried to chase this one down before when I went hunting for M52. I didn’t quite understand the name until I realized it wasn’t a rose with a stem, but rather a flowering rose. I still couldn’t see it as a rose, but I found it. There was an M shaped line of bright stars on one side of the cluster. The cluster itself was a closely knit group of stars. Together, it looked like a cluster of stars sitting on the letter M. On the Okie Tex list, it was called the Magnificent Cluster.

Next up on the challenge list was one of my favorites, the Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia. Some people call it the ET Cluster or the Dragonfly Cluster, but it’s NGC457. (I like to keep this one handy for star parties. It has a tendency to wow people of all ages.)

The next object on the list was IC4665, an open cluster in Ophiuchus, located down in the corner, close to where M14 sits. Nondistinct open cluster. Widely spaced stars, some bright, some not. I couldn’t tell where it began or where it ended.

NGC6946 was the next object I chased down on that list, a galaxy in Cygnus. Mag 8.9. It is also called the Fireworks Galaxy. To me, it only looked like a fuzzy ball. I noticed an open cluster adjacent to it (NGC6939). This pair ended up being on the twofer list.

The Okie Tex list had an error I needed to correct. They listed NGC243 and what they wanted us to find was NGC253. I suspect many observers were bothered by this error, not realizing they wanted us to find the Sculptor Galaxy (Silver Dollar Galaxy/Silver Coin Galaxy). If they were using an automated telescope, they would’ve punched in the wrong object. It was still on the horizon at that hour, so I had to wait a while before I could see anything worthwhile.

NGC891 was next, a galaxy in Andromeda. Apparently this galaxy has a large following in the astronomy community. It seems to be fairly well known. I had a look at it in my scope and the 25″ Obsession the night before. I didn’t spend much time staring at it on this particular night.

M34 was next on the list. It’s an open cluster in Perseus. M34 was only at 19 degrees, but since it was an open cluster, I went ahead and viewed it since I had seen it many times before.

NGC2403, a mag 8.4 spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis discovered by Herschel was only at 12 degrees, but I could still see it, despite the muck. There were two bright spots inside the fuzz. I wasn’t sure if they were merely overlapping stars or if they were contained within the galaxy itself.

NGC7023 wasn’t on any list, but it has been a personal goal of mine to observe this nebula. It’s known as the Iris Nebula and in my home skies, I could only ever see the bright star, but very little nebulosity, if at all. The reason why I landed on it was because I stumbled across some dark patches (dark nebulae). In my 38mm without a filter, I could discern a little more nebulosity around that bright star and perhaps a line coming off to its right. I could see dark patches on all sides, but predominately extending off to the right. A UHC filter didn’t help.

M22 was on the Glob Trot list. I love this globular cluster. I knew exactly where it was. Didn’t take me any time at all to find it. I almost prefer it over M13. (Many people feel the same way.)

M56 was also on the Glob list. It sits in the constellation Lyra. At home, I have a heck of a time trying to find this one. At Okie Tex, it was straightforward and simple. I didn’t boost the power on it very much. Resolved a few stars and moved on.

Next up was the infamous Blinking Planetary Nebula, NGC6826. I couldn’t make it blink for me this time because of the wind. I couldn’t keep the scope steady long enough to stare. Viewed in my 38, 32, 17, and 13. Central star was visible.

M57 was my next object (Ring Nebula). Fairly bright and obvious, but no central star was visible. That star is mag 15, well outside the capabilities of my 14 mag 8″ scope. I could see wings/fringes on either side, but the wind began knocking me around pretty good at that point, ruining any chance of obtaining a decent view of M57 for longer than a second or two.

In other words, that was it for me. The wind was just too brutal. I had to quit.

Okie Tex Post #2

Here’s my observation log for night #2 at Okie Tex 2012.

On night #2, my goal was to spend a little more time chasing down new objects, observing the sky through other telescopes, and to settle in to the new night-time surroundings. I already knew where Saturn would be, disappearing into the mesa to the west. I gave it a quick view and moved on to orienting myself to the darkening sky.

Before it was even dark enough to do any serious observing (9:17pm), I watched a naked eye satellite move from Cassiopeia, across Andromeda, and into the top edge of Sagittarius.

To kick things off, I pointed my scope at a simple open cluster, M11, the Wild Duck Cluster. It really wasn’t all that impressive, but I enjoyed being able to see plenty of stars. While I was bouncing around in that area, I landed on CB 158 and 159, two dark nebulae in Scutum. (One of the fantastic experiences while at Okie Tex was being able to see dark nebulae without any need for filters or averted vision. They were everywhere!)

One of my goals at Okie Tex was to find the Draco Dwarf galaxy. Because of its low surface brightness (visual mag of around 11), it was an object I could probably never hope to see at home, but in dark skies like Okie Tex, at least I had a chance. Using my setting circle, I put myself on the area where it *should* be and blocked out external light by cupping my hands around the eyepiece. Using subtle movements, I noticed a fuzzy area around a bright star, more of a faint glow really, that barely came out against the background sky. The area looked elongated as an elliptical galaxy might, and the landmarks corresponded to what was in SkySafari. I am 60% certain I found the Draco Dwarf.

While I was in Draco, I chased down the Cat’s Eye Nebula, a favorite planetary of mine. I ended up being disappointed, but after talking with others, it seems transparency wasn’t ideal. On top of that, it was difficult to find at low power. I had to starhop my way over from f-Draconis and Omega Draconis just to get in the right location at the end of a straight line of stars to find the Cat’s Eye. The Cat’s Eye only looked to me like a very bright PN without any distinct features. An OIII filter didn’t make much of a difference. No center eye. Disappointing.

The star party gave us a shot at completing a few lists. Completion would get us a certificate and a pin (I’m still waiting for mine as of today.) Many of the objects on those lists were things I had already seen, many of them Messier objects, but the first new object I went for on one list was NGC6293, a 1.8 arcmin globular cluster in Ophiuchus, located just adjacent to M19, another glob. I boosted the power with an 8mm eyepiece for the sake of being thorough. I could see a very bright central core, but only the stars on the outer edge would resolve well.

At the observatory earlier this year, I successfully viewed the Helix Nebula, NGC7293. At Okie Tex, I tried it again, starting with a 32mm eyepiece and a UHC filter and then a 25mm with my OIII filter. UHC>OIII. The OIII filter darkened the nebulosity way too much. The inner circle was not as clear as I had hoped it would be and the tapered edges were not visible at all.

I then found Neptune located just a short distance away from e Aquarii. I could definitely make out a more spherical appearance with a slight bluish hue. I spotted it at 8mm (150x) and boosted the view with a 2x barlow, but the wind made it difficult to observe Neptune for more than a minute or two.

I went searching for the Footprint Nebula next. I’ve looked for this object at home. I didn’t know what to look for, so I put myself in the right area. Just like at home, all I could find was a small triangle of stars, like a pizza slice. I could not draw out any nebulosity. I have no idea where this thing is.

NGC891 was next on my list because it was one of the Okie Tex challenge objects. This galaxy is in Andromeda just below Almach and, aside from being a fairly decent size, it has a unique dark lane right down the middle. I could not see this dark patch in my scope, but I could see it just fine in a 20″, a 16″, and the big 25″. NGC891 is long and spindle shaped, but the conditions were such that I could not see the galaxy on my first pass. I found it using my 38mm SWA 2″ eyepiece on the second run through the area. I tried using my Zhumell Skyglow filter to increase the contrast and bring out the center dark lane, but that did not work.

After viewing NGC891 in the 25″ Obsession, David Kriege had a go at the Veil. The Western Veil was very fibrous looking from end to end. The fingerlings on the end of the Witches Broom were really wide and detailed and the dark area behind the handle (What I tend to call a mustache) was visible without any extra effort. One side had stars. The other did not.

The middle portion of the Veil was something I had never seen much of. Most of the time, it only showed up as a faint fuzzy spot and nothing more. In the 25″ scope, I could follow it for ages. I had no idea it formed a long line of nebulosity like that. It just kept going and going.

The Eastern Veil was really not much different from what I usually see in my scope. It was slightly more detailed and fibrous.

I went back to view the Veil in my scope with an OIII filter and my 32mm eyepiece. The Witches Broom actually looked more like a broom. The fingers at the bottom were clearly separate from one another. The second part of the Veil (middle portion) was definitely more visible than what I see at home, but I could only see the first 20-30 percent of its total length. The Eastern Veil was definitely prominent and I could see the one end where it curls back on itself.

By then, the Pleiades were at a decent altitude, so I swung the scope over to them and had a look. Although bright, I could not see any of that dust people capture in their AP work. I could see haziness around the stars, but I didn’t know if that was the nebulosity people talk about. Nothing was wispy.

I attempted to find the Crescent Nebula after reading about it online the week before the star party. It is an emission nebula in Cygnus below Sadr. I figured the darker skies would give me a shot at visualizing this one, but I couldn’t. I did observe a small triangle that might be a Caldwell object, but I couldn’t line it up with any landmarks.

The moon had risen by then and the light washed out quite a bit, ruining the chances of viewing many deep space objects. The wind was blowing really bad too, so even viewing Jupiter was a bit of a task. I couldn’t keep my scope steady enough, although the views I did have were crisp. The bands were really noticeable from top to bottom. I could see the Northern Polar Region, but not the Southern. The North Equatorial Belt was wide and sharp without any smudging on its edges, leaving me with the impression that the next night might offer up a chance to give Jupiter more attention.

I called it quits and packed it in for the night.

Okie Tex 2012 Photo Slideshow & Video

Photo Slideshow

Video

Okie Tex Post #1

On my way out of Claude, TX on Highway 287, I was greeted with a pleasant sight, the last quarter moon straight in front of me just under the visor. I knew in that moment that Okie Tex was greeting me. It was a good sign. Within the next few hours, I would arrive at Camp Billy Joe near Kenton, Oklahoma, set up my gear, and begin my first night of fantastic dark sky viewing.

Once the sun set on the camp, I took in everything visually. My friends Vega, Deneb, Sadr, Arcturus, and Altair were some of the first to reveal themselves. The Milky Way eventually spanned across the sky from Sagittarius to Cassiopeia. Compared to my home skies, it was much wider and more pronounced than I was accustomed to seeing. In Cygnus, a dark patch of the Milky Way caught the attention of many of us on the observing field. As the night grew darker, I began to see more familiar naked eye objects, including the Lagoon and Trifid, Ptolemy Cluster, Butterfly, the Sagittarius Cloud, the Double Cluster, and Andromeda.

To my surprise, once the night was in full swing, despite all of the visible stars in the sky, I was still able to find all my usual landmarks. I was not quite as lost as I had been at Hodges Gardens. I figured my eyes would need ample time to acquire dark adaptation, so most of the viewing early on probably wasn’t ideal. Throw in fatigue from a 12 hour drive and my viewing likely suffered from that one-two punch.

The Trifid Nebula, viewed through my 32mm Plossl and an OIII filter, was much broader than I usually see it. The dark lanes dividing the lobes were more defined, but still not as clear as I’ve previously observed. With Sagittarius becoming lower in the sky, I would wager views suffered like anything else sitting that low in the sky.

The Double Cluster was impressive, but not spectacular. What I did notice was that the smaller innermost stars of NGC884 were more crisp and easily visible at low power. NGC869 didn’t have that level of detail. I also happened to see a satellite fly through the field, but I didn’t stop to look it up. I revisited the Double Cluster later on in the night and aside from being brighter and slightly more crisp, it was simply an enjoyable view, but not fantastic.

M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules, appeared broader and more dense than I’m accustomed to viewing, but the amazing part was that I could just barely see it with the naked eye. I could resolve many central stars at low and high power, however, I could not visualize the propeller section inside the cluster. With an 8mm Plossl, I could see the needle-like galaxy adjacent to M13, NGC6207, although it was still difficult to find.

The Western Veil, while visible without a filter, was comparable to what I usually see at home, except that 52 Cyg did not interfere quite as much. 52 Cyg usually does not affect the mustache half of the Western Veil, but the other side typically gets washed out. This wasn’t the case at Okie Tex. The mustache did come to a very distinct point, something I can’t appreciate at home. An OIII filter brought all of those features out, sharpening the mustache and enhancing the fingers which extend out from the other side.

The Eastern Veil was also visible without a filter, but it didn’t appear quite as broad. With an OIII filter, it had much more detail and the bottom edge actually curls back toward the C curve.

Observing in Cygnus was difficult because so many background stars were visible. I was not accustomed to navigating among so many stars in my field of view. It actually made finding 52 Cyg difficult, even in my finderscope.

An area of the Milky Way in the vicinity of Cygnus was very dark, clearly separate and distinct from the surrounding sky. I don’t usually see Milky Way features like that near Cygnus. Sagittarius, yes. Cygnus, no.

M31 was extremely bright, fuzzy, and wide. I could see the outer portions of the galaxy extend beyond the field of view in my 38mm eyepiece, a ~2.2 degree TFOV. The core was very bright. M32 looked about the same. Perhaps it was slightly larger. M110, however, was about twice as broad as what I usually observe in my home sky and as bright as M81.

M27, the Dumbbell Nebula was unimpressive compared to what I see at home. If anything, perhaps I could make out more of the elongated edges, but I can’t really say that with any certainty.

The view of the Swan/Omega Nebula was outstanding in my 32mm Plossl with an OIII filter. The dark area below the h shape was more clear than I had ever seen before. The nebulosity emanated outward, covering a much broader overall area. Of course, this was nothing compared to the view I would later observe in the 25″ Obsession.

The Eagle, on the other hand, just looked like a fuzzy blob. The innermost portion of the nebula at home usually consists of the stars themselves, but at Okie Tex, nebulosity filled all of that area in nicely.

Although Scorpius was low in the sky, I went ahead and put M4 into view. It was more crisp and defined than I had ever seen in my home sky, even at higher altitudes. Even the innermost stars were resolving really well at low power.

M51 and its companion, NGC5195 were visible, although lower in the sky than I would have liked. September is not the time to view this pair, apparently. I could not make out the spiral arms like at Hodges Gardens, but I could see dark splotches around the core of M51.

I went hunting for M81/82 next, but for some reason, I could only see M82. Normally, the pair is easy to spot, even at low power. I’m not sure why M81 didn’t cooperate that first night, but I did end up seeing both on another night. That area of sky had a bit more skyglow than elsewhere, most of it coming from the sunset.

M101 was surprisingly obvious without any help from a skyglow filter. Normally, it’s a very faint galaxy, but I could see it without any help and no time was spent searching. It was just there for me to see. It was even faintly visible in my finderscope. That was a first. M101 was about as bright as M110.

M57, the Ring Nebula, wasn’t much better than at home. I could make out the tapering edges easier. At home, that kind of detail only came through with averted vision. The dark center was clearer, but no central star was visible. I don’t think my XT8 has the oomph to pick that one out. I viewed M57 through my 13mm and 8mm Plossls without a filter.

I saw my first meteor of the night at that point, watching it streak across the sky just above Delphinus. I would end up seeing many meteors over the course of the star party, but none of them were very impressive or colorful, most being short lived as they burned up.

M33 was comparable to M101, appearing as simply a broad smudge. I could see it with the naked eye, however.

I checked out M17 again, this time in a 25″ scope. The nebula practically jumped out at me. The nebulosity was in 3D and the entire thing took up almost the whole view in the eyepiece. If there were ever a reason to get a bad case of aperture fever at Okie Tex, that would be it. Just magnificent. I was almost speechless.

NGC7331: Spiral galaxy in Pegasus, located between Pegasus and Lacerta. New object for me. I was actually hunting for Stephan’s Quintet. 7331 was just an incidental smudge.

Stephan’s Quintet: Just looks like a fuzzy spot. I could only ID three of the five galaxies with any certainty, but the fourth was probably visible. It just blended together with the third middle galaxy. I couldn’t see a fifth. So what I saw included NGC7319, NGC7320, NGC1318A & B.

That was all I could take on my first night. On to night #2.