STARLOG

SOME GEMS IN GEMINI

JANUARY 13, 2016

Observer: Tom Campbell
Location: College Station, Texas (Long: 101°56'W Lat: 33°47'N)
Telescope: Zhumell 12" f/5 Dobsonian (Biggie Z)
Eyepieces: 1.25" - 15mm 82° (100x), 10mm Plössl (150x)
Seeing: Stable (8/10)
Transparency: Clear
Temperature: Mid 50s to start, but dropping into the 40s by evening's end.

Observing Summary


Shh! Don't tell the clouds, but the sky has been clear two nights in a row. The Moon was still thin enough that I wanted to take advantage of the situation. I only had a few more objects to observe in Orion for my Herschel 400 list, so I decided to start there.

NGC 1662 Orion Open Cluster 8:55pm CST
  RA: 4h 48m 29s Dec: +10° 56' Mag: 6.4

This is a large and bright open cluster, but sparse. About 16 stars are visible at 100X. It looks like an E, or perhaps a Romulan Warbird. The central bar of the E contains 5 stars in a trapezoidal pattern that resembles the bridge, with the other bars being the warp nacelles.
 

I still had a couple of faint emission nebulae in Orion that I wanted to observe, but tonight's sky just wasn't allowing it. So I decided to pick up a few stray objects that I had overlooked before.

NGC 2204 Canis Major Open Cluster 9:30pm CST
  RA: 6h 15m 29s Dec: -18° 40' Mag: 8.6

Looking at this cluster online, it was faint, but very rich. From my backyard, I can only make out the brightest few stars near the edges of the cluster, making a square. It definitely needs darker skies.
 
h3945 Canis Major Double Star 9:35pm CST
  RA: 7h 16m 36s Dec: -23° 19' Mag: 5.0, 5.8

I couldn't leave the Big Dog constellation without looking at my favorite "flea" on his back. At 100X, one star of this binary system appears aqua blue and the other a deep yellow. The yellow component is slightly brighter.
 
NGC 1857 Auriga Open Cluster 9:45pm CST
  RA: 5h 20m 6s Dec: +39° 21' Mag: 7.0

This is a large open cluster. There are a few bright stars with a lot of fainter ones. Three of the brightest stars form an equally spaced straight line across the length of the cluster. There are couple of small strings and arcs of stars.
 

Looking at my observing list again, I noticed several objects in Gemini. So I decided to check in on the Twins.


NGC 2266 Gemini Open Cluster 10:00pm CST
  RA: 6h 43m 18s Dec: +26° 58' Mag: 9.5

This is a fairly small cluster, but its tightly packed and triangular shaped. The brightest stars form a slight arc across one edge of the triangle. Most of the stars are dim. Direct vision reveals a couple dozen, but averted vision hints at many more.
 
NGC 2355 Gemini Open Cluster 10:35pm CST
  RA: 7h 16m 59s Dec: +13° 45' Mag: 9.7

This is a small open cluster, and compact. The members are fairly dim, with a few brighter stars near the edges. 100X shows the cluster nicely, but requires averted vision to see more than a dozen or so stars. It appears to be somewhat triangular in shape.
 
NGC 2371-2 Gemini Planetary Nebula 10:45pm CST
Peanut RA: 7h 25m 36s Dec: +29° 29' Mag: 11.2

150X offers the best view of this planetary. I can detect the nebulosity with direct vision, but difficult to determine its shape. With averted vision, it appears very elongated, with two almost stellar cores. Looking it up afterwards, I saw where this was nicknamed "The Peanut" and it fits.
 
 

Amazingly, dew wasn't a problem tonight. The temperatures were about 5 degrees warmer than last night, and it really made a difference. Unfortunately, the sky glow was worse tonight, making it more difficult to see nebulae.

Even though I'd only been outside for a couple of hours, I was starting to get tired. With my 8", I probably would have stayed out a bit longer, but knowing I'd have to lug the Biggie Z from the backyard to the garage in front of the house, I didn't want to get so tired that I would stumble and drop the beast. Still, it was a great night and I managed to see a few DSOs for the first time.