Got a late start observing last night. Finished my Monday, "Mr. Domestik" chores after sunset. Settled in with a pint of B&J's finest - Chocolate Fudge Browny. And viewed a rented video - "K-PAX" - starring Kevin Spacey as "Prot".

Loved the movie, but unlike "Sixth Sense", ending a tad predictable. It's science was also slightly off. For you see our hero and "visitor from another world" had ventured forth from a 200 year orbital period eclipsing binary star system "in the direction of Lyra". That system of two suns - "Agape and Satori" - lay some 1K lightyears distant. In a meeting with astronomers, HST data was used to confirm Prot's claim of a planetary system based on unaccounted for orbital perturbations. Hey, I might believe a system at 100 LY's but not ten times that distance. I suspect we'd be hard-pressed to detect such distant planets using current means. And I doubt the Hubble has gotten around to that sort of non-cosmological research anyway. And finally, I might add, most eclisping binaries have very short period orbits.

But enough "reality therapy". Good movie. Filled with what I like most - people transcending their problems and advancing the cause of human evolution. Something that has actually been known to occur on the Blue Planet - from what I can tell...

Started the movie round 8:30 and ended about 10:45. (Ice cream didn't last near that long). So I grabbed Ms. Vicki (she is not at all adverse to such actions on my part) and setup in ol' Backyard BC. There, with borrowed Meade 24.5mm SWF in place, made a few of the usual checks - Vega, Double Double, M57, M13, M71, M27 & M56.

Strangely, although the sky looked very dark this evening (both unaided and in the 40x field of view), most things appeared exceedingly dim - especially the three globulars. A check of the Challice of the Ring did not quite hold the 12.3 star direct at 120x. At 40x, the 11.6'er was pretty easy though.

Meanwhile, the Double Double showed four airy disks but no diffraction rings - 7/10 stability tops. Things weren't quite as good as they might have been.

Except. Except, d**n if the little 4 incher didn't reveal the entire Veil Complex plus Crescent and North American Nebulae. Sure, I was using the Ultrablock filter for most views. But what the hey, I could actually make out the northern part of the Western Veil, plus the Crescent as well as define the "Gulf of Mexico" from Florida to the Yucatan of the NA Nebula without the filter.

OK so in a nutshell, what did I see. Beginning with the Western Veil (NGC6960), not only could I clearly delineate the northern shall - but could also make out that more difficult diaphanous fan tail region south of 52 Cygni. Quite delicate and beautiful - though lacking any true sense of frontier.

Centering on the limits of the northern extension, swept back and forth due east and west. Vaguely discerned that triangular shaped Northern Veil (AKA Pickering's Wedge - NGC6979). This is a tough catch for any scope and speaks well of the transparency of the sky and contrast possible using the refractor's optics and the Meade SWF.

Continuing east had no trouble locating the Batlief shaped Eastern Veil (NGC6992) - complete with voids, brightenings, and those southern finger-like projections to the west. Yes structure, ladies and gentlemen. Plenty of structure. And at 40x through a 65 degree AFOV eyepiece - everything in a single sweeping panarama. From cleanly defined northern expanse to subtle southern projections.

Spent considerable time enjoying the view, then moved north and west to the spine of the cross. There turned up NGC6888 - the Crescent Nebula. Last year spent a good deal of time trying to definitively locate this low surface brightness, star haze hampered, nebula through 6 inch Argo. But tonight - no problemo. And not only the brighter "C" which traces the outline of the keystone asterism but also the more extended nebulosity to west-southwest. (An expanse that practically quadruples the apparent size of this subtle collection of gas and dust.) A check without the filter, by the way, revealed the brighter portion but not the extended nebulosity to the south - so this baby is definitely enhanced through filter use.)

It was then off for a tour of North America (NGC7000). But the scope's vertiginous angle introduced difficulties in orientation. For you see, one of Ms Vicki's focus knobs kept fouling the mount head of the equatorial mount. Luckily, could just catch nebulosity in the upper (eastern) field of view. So I allowed the Earth's rotation to drift it to center. Very intriguing. Kind of like a slow, seductive dance. Constant but almost imperceptible 40x motion. Patience, jeff, patience...

What presented itself turnd out to be the region of greatest frontier delineation in the entire almost two degree nebular realm - the Gulf Coast, straightforward and totally engrossing. No guesswork whatsoever. Imagination played no role whatsoever. Really!

And thus began a half-hour exploration of the entire nebulae. From Florida to Arctic circle, it was all there - but not without varying degrees of contrast and delineation. To my eye, the Pacific Coast was pretty strightforward. It was only Canada that offered some difficulty. (But you know them Canadians have yet to decide what language even to speak yet!) But not because nebulosity wasn't there, but because that particular expanse blends more imperceptibly into the black of space.

Having completed my continent-ranging tour, removed the filter. Behold! Nebula present but suppressed - with only the Gulf Coast revealing its frontier with real certainty.

Interestingly, it was only after removing the filter that I was able to actually see the two dozen stars that make up the line of sight open cluster involved with the nebula (NGC6997). Experience shows that the Ultrablock knocks about 2 magnitudes off a scope's reach. Certainly the brightest members of the cluster are 10th magnitude or dimmer.

So OK, had a fabulous view of many of the finest faint nebulae in the heavens. From supernova remnant to expansive hydrogen gas clouds. And all from the backyard. A rare occurance. All the more delightful for that reason. But I still haven't quite worked out how this was possible. There remains the issue of those globulars. How could they be so faint, and those nebulae so bright?

Hmmmm... love a mystery. Meanwhile, can someone tell me if Prot ever got back to K-PAX???

to: top of page

to: Special Observing Reports Page

to: Astro.Geekjoy Home Page

Email: Astro.Geekjoy