STARLOG

COOL CLUSTERS

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Observer: Tom Campbell
Location: College Station, Texas (Long: 101°56'W Lat: 33°47'N)
Telescope: Zhumell 12" f/5 Dobsonian
Eyepieces: Zhumell 30mm Erfle (50x), ES 82° 18mm (83x), ES 82° 11mm (136x)

OBSERVING SUMMARY:
CASSIOPEIA: Stock 2, Melotte 15, Collinder 34
PERSEUS: NGC 869, NGC 884

Today was a warm, clear day and the evening also promised to be warm, but with clouds rolling in after sunset and sticking around a few days. Knowing this might be my last chance to observe this lunar cycle, I wasted no time in getting my gear set up after work.

Stock 2 Muscleman Cluster Cassiopeia Open Cluster 6:50pm CDT

Using my 30mm eyepiece (50x), it still more than fills the view. This is a large, widely scattered open cluster, containing stars that are fairly faint. Scrolling around a bit, I could spot several dozen members. It is impressive and would make a great binocular target.

 
NGC 869/884 Double Cluster Perseus Planetary Nebula 7:00pm CDT

Using my 18mm eyepiece (83x), the clusters look gorgeous tonight. Between the clusters is a nice bright orange star. Dozens of stars are visible in both clusters. NGC 869 has two of its brightest stars near the center, with a big octopus-shaped knot of fainter stars surrounding one of them. NGC 884 contains two sets of 3 stars near the center. One of the triangles is nearly equilateral and the other is a bit flattened. The flattened triangle points to a gorgeous deep orange star within the cluster.

 
Melotte 15 Heart Nebula Cluster Cassiopeia Open Cluster 7:05pm CDT

NEW! - I couldn't detect any signs of the nebula, even with an O-III filter, but the cluster was easily seen. In the center was a loosely heart-shaped ring of stars consisting of a dozen stars, with several other stars scattered around the edges.

 
Collinder 34 Soul Nebula Cluster Cassiopeia Open Cluster 7:10pm CDT

NEW! - Again, no signs of the nebula, but the cluster inside was obvious. This is a very loose cluster, with the brightest members near the center. It has perhaps 20-30 members visible.

 

At this point, a breeze had developed and some high-level clouds were blocking portions of Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Perseus... right where I wanted to observe! I tried to wait it out, but after 20 minutes, the breeze had intensified, the cloud cover deepened, and I gave up for the night. At least I caught a couple of new clusters.