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Re: (IAAC) Obj: NGC 6826 - Blinking Planetary - Inst: 10" Starsplitter Newtonian
Message text written by INTERNET:netastrocatalog-announce@latrade.com
>Never complimented you on your interesting observation of the Blinking
Planetary by the way, Patrick! Especially since I notice you happened to
log
the elongated outer halo! Are you an avid planetary observer?
<
Lew,
Many thanks for your comments. In reply to your question, I am not a really
avid planetary neb observer. It's galaxies that get my observational juices
flowing, but midsummer is a poor time for galaxies. I have also recently
bought a Lumicon OIII filter, so this spurs me on to use it on something
worth using it on. It does feel a bit like cheating, when things I have
been conditioned for years to consider impossible to see leap out of the
eyepiece and batter my eyeballs!
About N6826 - I checked up my previous observations of this object. The
first was made on 31 Aug 1980, with a 4.5" reflector from a suburban site
with limiting magnitude 5.5. Then I noted "High power reveals a bright
stellar nucleus surrounded by a bright nebular disc. In the direction
WNW-ESE, the nebula is elongated to an oval shape. The outer nebulosity is
fainter than the nuclear disc but is easily visible to direct vision."
Then again on 29 Aug 1984, with the same instrument in the same site but
with LM of 5.0 - "At medium power (x45) it appears as a small bright
disc.....At this power it appeared perfectly circular. At high
magnification (x150), a slight elongation was suspected and the central
star was visible." The drawing that accompanies the description shows the
direction of the suspected elongation in the same orientation as that drawn
in the 1980 observation (and the same as seen in July this year).
I don't recall ever seeing a decent photograph of this nebula. If this
outer nebulosity is real (and it seems it must be) then it can't be that
hard to see if I could see it with a 4.5" reflector.
Regards,
Patrick.
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