STARLOG

SWATTING AT FLIES ON THE BULL

NOVEMBER 30, 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 (50x)
Explore Scientific 18mm (84x)

OBSERVING SUMMARY:
AURIGA: NGC 1893, Campbell 1
TAURUS: NGC 1647, NGC 1746, NGC 1750, NGC 1758

Tonight promised to be clear, but with temperatures rapidly dropping after sunset. When I got home from work, it was already sunset, so I set up my scope in the back yard to cool down.

The temperatures were in the upper 40s, but dropping as the evening progressed. Back in Kansas, this was jacket weather, but I've been in Texas long enough that it was starting to feel downright nippy to me.

Looking over my Master Observing List of Things I Have Not Yet Seen With My Own Eyes™, I came across a few open clusters in Taurus begging for attention. I decided to start there.

NGC 1647 Taurus Open Cluster 9:00pm CST

I've viewed this cluster through my 8" Dob, but not through the Biggie Z. This is a large open cluster. Stars are fairly faint, but it is somewhat rich, with perhaps 20-30 members spread out across the entire field of view in my 18mm (84x) eyepiece. It is generally round in shape, with a lot of pairs of stars.

 

At this point, my telescope was a giant, dripping Tube'O'Dew™, so I connected my primary fan to battery power in order to try to stave off the moisture for a bit.

 
NGC 1746 Taurus Open Cluster 9:15pm CST

This open cluster is big, and I had to use my 30mm (50x) eyepiece. It is somewhat round and contains mostly bright stars. Most of the stars appear white, but I could spot the occasional orange-red star.

 
NGC 1758 Taurus Open Cluster 9:20pm CST

This is a faint cluster embedded within NGC 1746. Using my 18mm (84x) eyepiece, I could see a dozen stars clustered together, each of them a couple of magnitudes fainter than NGC 1746.

 
NGC 1750 Taurus Open Cluster 9:25pm CST

This cluster is also embedded within NGC 1746, and is a bit more towards the center. Several stars are visible. They are a bit brighter than NGC 1758, but fainter than the stars in NGC 1746. The overall shape is elongated and irregular.

 

I turned away for a minute and then took another peek. Most of the stars had disappeared. What? Clouds? I looked up. Nope, still clear as a bell. I took a closer look at the eyepiece. All fogged up. I cupped my hands around it for a minute to warm it up and did a quick swipe with a LensPen for good measure, and all the stars came back into view. Whew!

 
Mel 31 Auriga Open Cluster 9:30pm CST

About halfway between the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) and the Tadpole Nebula (IC 410), this is a bright, elongated cluster of stars which, to me, resembles a crown. It has the nickname Leaping Minnow. At 50x, it fills the field of view.

 
NGC 1893 Auriga Open Cluster 9:35pm CST

This cluster is rich, faint, and fairly large, and is within IC 410, the Tadpole Nebula. I can perhaps detect a bit of nebulosity surrounding it, but it could just as easily have been some very faint stars popping in and out of my averted vision, or it may have even been a bit of dew on the eyepiece. An O-III filter did not improve the views.

 

The dew was getting even worse now, and it was really starting to feel cold. I tried briefly to spot the Flaming Star Nebula, but didn't have any luck. But I didn't really care. It was time to put things away and head inside to warm up.