DEEP SKY OBSERVING
End July, Begin August 2008
by Mark Wagner

Targets are rated 1 to 4 for challenge, with 1 very easy, 4 most difficult. All objects are within a one hour of right ascension, north to south, in the east at astronomical dark. Available as a Megastar .obs file or Excel spreadsheet.
Rating
  Object Const. Type Size
Mag
R.A.
Dec.
1
NGC 6939 Cep OC 7.0'
7.8
20 31 31
60 39 14
17.5" 100-140 stars are resolved. Difficult count, stars fill 22' with no distinct boundaries.

2
NGC 6946 Cep GX 11.6'x9.8'
9.6
20 34 52
60 09 15
17.5" bright, very large, 6' diameter main body, elongated. Three arms are visible. Bright arm at the north side.

3
N6991 Cyg OC 25.0'
20 54 54
47 25 00
There are no dense knots or a core and this collection of stars barely stands out in the field.

4
Abell 71 Cyg PN 2.6'
15.2P
20 32 23
47 20 55
17.5" 83x and OIII filter; extremely faint, moderately large, roundish, very low surface brightness but definite with averted.

4
B344 Cyg DN 7.0'x3.0'
3
20 16 12
46 12 59
Dusky spot, 7' long; like an arrowhead, pointed SW; small star at NE end

1
NGC 6866 Cyg OC 10.0'
7.6
20 03 55
44 09 36
17.5" about 100 stars in a 20'x10' region are visible at 100x, rich, very appealing. Main string is very elongated.

2
NGC 6910 Cyg OC 7.0'
7.4
20 23 06
40 47 00
17.5" about 40 stars mag 7.5-15.5 in a 7' diameter dominated by two mag 7.5 stars oriented NW-SE.

1
M29 Cyg OC 6.0'
6.6
20 24 00
38 30 06
13.1" consists of two dozen stars mag 8 and fainter in a fairly small trapezoidal outline well detached in the field.

4
Abell 69 Cyg PN 25.0"
20.1P
20 19 58
38 23 59
17.5 relatively bright Abell, oval glow noticeably elongated NW to SE with a mag 13.5 star placed at the SE tip.

3
N6888 Cyg BN 18.0'x8.0'
20 12 01
38 23 00
17.5" stunning view at 100x and OIII filter. Appears huge, irregular cosmic egg, ~18'x11', floating in very rich field.

2
N6960 Cyg SNR 60.0'x9.0'
20 45 54
30 43 00
13.1" prominent western section of "Veil nebula", spectacular with OIII. Bright, extremely large, very elongated N-S.

3
N6894 Cyg PN 60.0"
14.4P
20 16 24
30 33 51
18" excellent annular at 280x, ~40" diameter ,25" darker central hole,The rim appears uneven.

1
NGC 6940 Vul OC 31.0'
6.3
20 34 36
28 19 00
13.1" beautiful rich star field, not dense. About 100 stars mag 9-14 resolved including the orange variable near the center.

2
NGC 6882 Vul OC 18.0'
8.1
20 12 00
26 29 00
17.5" conspicuous subgroup at NW corner of N6885. About 15 stars in tight knot over unresolved haze.

1
M27 Vul PN 6.7'
7.6P
19 59 36
22 43 13
18" breathtaking at 215x, fainter larger outer lobes increasing the dimensions to nearly 7.5'x6, ends major axis seem open, bulged out.

4
Abell 68 Vul PN 38.0"
16.6P
20 00 10
21 42 54
22”f faint slightly elongated,h diffuse edges, even surface brightness, 40 x30” smudge, no central star, best at 203x and O-III filter.

2
NGC 6905 Del PN 72"x37"
11.9P
20 22 23
20 06 16
18" beautiful at 320x, faint central star direct vision, interior unevenly, appears very slightly darker "hole" to the north of the central star.

4
Abell 72 Del PN 2.0'x1.8'
14.6P
20 50 02
13 33 29
17.5" 64x and OIII, fairly faint, moderately large, round glow. 140x and UHC disc is fairly large and slightly elongated.

2
NGC 6934 Del GC 7.1'
8.9
20 34 11
07 24 16
18" 300x, partially resolved on the south side of very ragged halo which surrounds the bright core. 538x, perhaps 3 dozen stars resolved.

4
Abell 67 Cap PN 67.0"
16.0P
19 58 27
03 03 00
22" 216x and an O-III shows this Pn to be a moderately faint ring. Central hole is easy.

3
HCG 88 Aqr GX4 2.0'x0.7'
14.1B
20 52 35
-05 42 38
17.5" - This group has a linear trio of NGC galaxies and a very faint edge-on ("D").

3
Abell 70 Aql PN 42.0"
14.3P
20 31 33
-07 05 18
17.5" 220x, an excellent view at 280x, slightly elongated, irregular surface brightness, shining through the north side.

1
M72 Aqr GC 6.6'
9.2
20 53 27
-12 32 13
17.5" (8/13/88): very mottled at 280x, 3' diameter. About 20 stars are resolved at the edges and over the core.

4
HCG 87 Cap GX4 1.5'x0.3'
15.3B
20 48 14
-19 50 57
22" A and B components visible, C has been "suspected".

4
Abell 66 Sag PN 4.5'
14.9P
19 57 31
-21 36 37
22” Large faint round patch, even surface brightness, about 180” across, no central sta, best at 155x and O-III filter.

1
M75 Sag GC 6.8'
8.6
20 06 04
-21 56 17
17.5" bright, moderately large, 3' diameter, round, very bright striking core 30" diameter, very mottled. Several

3
N6907 Cap GX 3.3'x2.9'
11.9B
20 25 06
-24 48 30
17.5" beautiful view at 220x, barred spiral, moderately bright and large, bright bar elongated "bar", small bright core.


Source catalogs:

Messier, Arp, Abell Planetary, Abell Galaxy Cluster (AGC), Hickson Compact Galaxy (HCG), Sharpless HII Regions, Barnard Dark Nebulae, Herschel 400, Herschel 400-II.

Herschel 400 are identified as NGCXXXX,
Herschel 400-II are indentified as NXXXX.
Descriptions are from the following web-sites:
Special thanks to Alvin Huey for his observing notes.

visitors since August 31, 2007