(IAAC) Obj: Abell 31 - Inst: 4" f/6.9 achro

[anonymous at sedna.atmob.org]

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Observation Poster: John Tatarchuk <tatarjj at auburn.edu>

Observer: John Tatarchuk
Your skills: Advanced (many years)
Date/time of observation: 12/17/06
Location of site: 10 miles west of Fort Davis, TX (Lat , Elev 6000')
Site classification: Rural
Sky darkness: 10 <1-10 Scale (10 best)>
Seeing:  <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: 4" f/6.9 achro
Magnification: 26X
Filter(s): OIII
Object(s): Abell 31
Category: Planetary nebula.
Class: 
Constellation: Cancer
Data: mag 12.0v  size 970"x930"
Position: RA 8h:54.2m  DEC +8:54.0'
Description:
(First observation in 4” refractor)- Abell 31 (mag 12.0v, 970”x930” across) in
Cancer is another one of the easiest Abells, but certainly nowhere near as
easy as Abell 21. I gave A31 a go in the 4” refractor soon after I had
observed A21 in the same scope on 12/17. Putting the 27mm Panoptic (26X)
w/OIII in the scope, I started starhopping to nebula’s position. Halfway to
through the starhop, I noticed a faint, circular glow of the right dimensions
at the edge of the FoV. Centering the faint circular glow, I checked
Uranometria and confirmed that it was Abell 31. A set of four magnitude ~10
stars make a wide parallelogram perhaps 20’-25’ across. The nebula was a
fairly obvious circular glow centered around what appeared to be the south
most of these four stars. Definitely a much different perspective of this
object than you get through the 18”!

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