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(IAAC) Obj: NGC 2438 - Inst: TV-102 (102mm f/8.6 APO refractor)
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Observation Poster: Ron B[ee] <ronby@home.com>
Observer: Ron B[ee]
Your skills: Intermediate (some years)
Date/time of observation: 01/05/02 11:00PST
Location of site: 117h 9m W (Lat 32h 43m N, Elev 2000 ft)
Site classification: Exurban
Sky darkness: 5.0 <Limiting magnitude>
Seeing: 7 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: TV-102 (102mm f/8.6 APO refractor)
Magnification: 22x, 30x, 60x, 110x, 146x, 220x, 293x
Filter(s): none
Object(s): NGC 2438
Category: Planetary nebula.
Class:
Constellation: Pup
Data: mag 10.0 size 1.2' x 1.1'
Position: RA : DEC :
Description:
Tonight, the TV-102 spent a great deal of time with M46, more than 45
minutes! The goal was to bag the NGC 2438 nemesis since my old 4"
C102-HD achromat had utterly failed to catch it, perhaps because I
was misled at the time by the beautiful photos or perhaps I was much
more of tyro then, trying to nail my first PN. There was some breeze
tonight
So tonight, I decided to play hide-and-seek, i.e., looking for the PN
without filter. If you haven't tried this, it's fun especially at
low and medium power. At 22x (40mm Pentax XL) with 3 deg FOV, M46
and M47 are visible within the same FOV. There is a very bright mag
5 orange star (SAO 153227) not too far away. 22x and 30x failed to
find it; it hid so well. Not knowing its location and after 5 min.
of panning around at 60x, the TV-102 finally spotted the "nugget"
;-). Stars in the clusters are pin-pricked with the mag 8.7 orange
star SAO 153250 standing out at these 3 magnifications. Using the
8mm TV Radian PN killer (110x), NGC 2438 was clearly nailed, near a
V-shape star group in the area devoid of stars. The PN looked like
a dim, gray haze and looked round with averted vision. 146x (6mm
Radian) afforded a better view with darker background, round shape
with averted vision. At this juncture, I realized that it's quite
large, a wee bit smaller than Jupiter. Still a good view at 220x
(4mm Radian), round, gray color with no loss of brightness. Loss
some brightness at 293x (3mm Radian), but the round shape can still
be detected.
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