(IAAC) Re: [Planetary_Nebulae] Picture & Such

Lew Gramer mameteors at yahoo.com
Fri Feb 11 12:39:40 EST 2005


Ron, "Orion's Collarbone nebula" (my long-winded name for NGC 2022 ;>) is
indeed a pretty little planetary - and very often overlooked by many Winter
deep-sky observers! Below is a log I made of it from a relatively mediocre
site, with a 17.5" almost exactly 6 years ago.

You can find this and several other logs like it on the "Visual Deep Sky
Observers'" site which I maintain:
  http://www.visualdeepsky.org/search.html

And if you do manage to tease out some interesting details on this (or any
other!) object with your 6" refractor, I hope you'll consider contributing them
to our searchable online log - 4700 deep-sky logs, and growing:
  http://www.visualdeepsky.org/enter-log.html


Clear skies,

Lew Gramer
http://www.visualdeepsky.org

PS: Here's the log:

Observer: Lew Gramer
Your skills: Intermediate (some years)
Date/time of observation: 9/10 Feb 1999  05:00 UT
Location of site: Westford, MA, USA (Lat 43N, Elev 30m)
Site classification: Exurban
Sky darkness: 6.6 Limiting magnitude
Seeing: 4 on 1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: 17.5" f/4.5 dob reflector
Magnification: 57x, 225x
Filter(s): None, UHC
Object(s): NGC 2022
Object category: Planetary Nebula.
Object class: 4+2
Constellation: Ori
Object data: mag 12.4 15.20m*  size 28"x27"
Position: 054206.18+090510.3
Description:
Next up on our tour of duty with the 17.5" Club scope tonight, we went off
searching for the unexpected Orion planetary NGC 2022. We star-hopped from the
lovely star triangle (lambda Ori) at the head of Orion, down along the E
"collar bone" of the Hunter. After first encountering emission/reflection
nebula Cederblad 59 accidentally (see previous log this night), we managed to
sweep back to a pair of mag 8 stars, which point conveniently SE to the
planetary. With low power n2022 was distinguishable from surrounding stars, but
hardly striking. No color or detail could be seen. But at higher power with the
UHC filter, the annular nature of 2022 became immediately apparent. In
addition, a definite brightening could be observed near the middle using
averted vision. At the time, after first deciding it was the mag 15 central
star, I noted it on more careful observation to be clearly non-stellar, and in
any case too bright to be the star. I guessed it to be either nebulosity
surrounding the central star, or maybe an incipient inner ring. Now though,
after viewing some of the available data and images, I have to conclude that
this central brightening was in fact either that central star bloated by poor
seeing, or else some bright knot of NGC2022's internal filamentary structure,
which confuses the eye at this power. Other features were also logged at the
time around the bright ring of nebulosity: the most striking was a seemingly
irregular brightening or knot SSW of the center of the object. Another such
knot, slightly less distinct, was noted an equal distance to the N. Between
these two brightenings, I almost got the impression that I was seeing bipolar
lobes, although their shapes and spacing were definitely more irregular than
the symmetry one expects in true bipolarity. Finally a mere suggestion of an
outer halo was noted to increase the overall diameter of the object by maybe
10", with what occasionally seemed to be an irregular longer lobe on the NW.



--- Planetary_Nebulae at yahoogroups.com wrote:
>    Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 06:56:41 -0800 (PST)
>    From: Ron Ziss <m64blackeye at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Picture & Such
> 
> Has anyone done any observing lately?  I'm looking for a break in the weather
> here, so I can try fror NGC 2022, see if my 6" refractor + high power can
> pull out its ring shape.  I also want to try for NGC 2371, and see if high
> power can pull out its bi-polar nature.
>  
> Clear skies,
> Ron Ziss

=====
Lew Gramer <dedalus at alum.mit.edu>


		
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