DEEP SKY OBSERVING
July 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. 
4 HCG 85 Dra GX4
0.5'x0.4'
15.4B
18 50 18
73 21 04
    18". Two galaxies seen. Both galaxies appeared very faint, very small, round, 15"-20" in diameter
3 Abell 50 Dra PN
36"x30"
15.0P
18 59 19
48 27 53
    17.5:, NGC 6742, moderately bright, fairly small, perfectly circular. Easily picked by scanning region at 100x
3 Abell 61 Cyg PN
3.2'
14.4P
19 19 10
46 14 51
    17.5". PK 77+14.1, 62x OIII filter, faint, large, roundish, ~3' diameter. Hold continuously with little effort.
1 M57 Lyr PN
1.8'x1.4'
9.7P
18 53 35
33 01 44
    13" NGC 6720, very bright, moderately large, slightly elongated WSW-ENE, high surface brightness.
1 M56 Lyr GC
8.8'
8.4
19 16 35
30 11 05
    17.5" NGC 6779 about 30 stars resolved including many mag 15 stars.
3 Abell 46 Lyr PN
60"
15.6P
18 31 18
25 56 11
    18", PK 55+16.1, 115x and OIII filter, faint,visible continuously averted , moderately large, irregularly round.
3 Abell 57 Vul PN
37"
17.5P
19 17 05
25 37 33
    18", PK 58+6.1, easily visible as a faint, fairly small, crisp-edged round disc, ~25" in diameter.
2 N6800 Vul OC
5.0'
19 26 59
25 05 03
    17.5", Bright, very large, fairly rich in spots but not concentrated
4 Abell 54 Vul PN
63"
17.1P
19 08 39
22 58 58
    22" - Extremely faint, slightly elongated, even surface brightness, edge is diffuse.
3 N6793 Vul OC
7.0'
19 23 13
22 08 55
    17.5", Three dozen stars mag 10.5-14 in a 8' field.
4 Abell 59 Sag PN
86"
17.2P
19 18 40
19 34 26
    22" - very faint smudge. O-III filter, A crescent shape, the brightest part visible.
4 Abell 52 Aql PN
37"
16.5P
19 04 32
17 57 08
    22" very faint, elongated, even brightness, held nearly 100%of the time with averted vision and O-III filter.
3 B331 Aql DN
40'
1
19 26 00
07 34 00
    Dusky, narrow lane 1 degree long NW and SE, 3' wide
2 NGC 6781 Aql PN
1.8'
11.8P
19 18 28
06 32 15
    18", 225x moderately bright, fairly large, round, at least1.5' diameter.
2 NGC 6633 Oph OC
27'
18 27 13
06 30 37
    13.1" very bright, very large, loose, scattered. At 62x 150 stars visible in 60' field
4 Abell 53 Aql PN
31"
16.9P
19 06 46
06 23 50
    18" 175x, NPB filter, extremely faint, fairly small, round disc. Averted only ~50% of the time,
4 B140 Aql DN
60"
3
19 19 49
05 13 00
    Semi-vacant region; diam. 1 degree
2 NGC 6756 Aql OC
4'
10.6
19 08 43
04 42 19
    280x two dozen mag 11.5 and fainter stars in surrounding bright knot E of center.
2 NGC 6755 Aql OC
14'
7.5
19 07 48
04 14 00
    17.5",140x this is a bright group of 80 stars mag 10-14 in a 10' diameter.
3 B329 Aql DN
6'
2
19 06 59
03 11 00
    Dusky spot in star cloud; diam. 6' plus or minus; BD +2 3789 (magnitude 9.0) near E edge
4 Abell 56 Aql PN
3.3'x2.7'
15.5P
19 13 06
02 52 49
    30" - complimentary crescent shapes, southern brighter, well defined edges, 100% with averted & OIII.
3 B141 Aql DN
20'
1
19 20 11
01 53 00
    Semi-vacant region; N of the N end of B 138; diam. 20'
4 Abell 58 Aql PN
40"
18.8P
19 18 20
01 46 53
    22" - very difficult object, only 50% of the time with averted, extremely faint round glow with an O-III filter.
3 B138 Aql DN
180'
2
19 16 00
00 13 00
    Great curved, semi-vacant lane over 3 degrees in length
4 Abell 47 Ser PN
20"
20.9P
18 35 22
-00 13 50
    22" - Extremely faint and verysmall. It appears round and even surface brightness.
3 B326 Aql DN
20'
2
19 03 00
-00 23 00
    Narrow; 25' long E and W; 3' wide
4 Abell 55 Aql PN
50"
15.4P
19 10 25
-02 20 25
    18", 115x and OIII filter it appeared fairly faint, round, fairly small. Just visible without a filter
3 N6772 Aql PN
84"
14.2P
19 14 36
-02 42 36
    18" - excellent view UHC filter. Moderately bright, round, fairly large, ~60" diameter. Rim is sharply define
4 B324 Aql DN
30'
3
18 59 22
-02 59 00
    Definite dusky loop. The crooked dusky lane forming this marking is 2'-4' wide. The length of the E side is 35'.
4 Abell 48 Aql PN
42"
18.7
18 42 46
-03 13 17
    22" - Extremely faint round disk. Averted 50% of the time with the O-IIIfilter, totally invisible without filter.
3 B119 Sct DN
2'
2
18 54 36
-04 32 00
    Very small; close NW of BD -4 4623 (magnitude 9.2)
3 B121 Sct DN
2
18 55 25
-04 36 00
    Small dusky spot; magnitude 12 star in center
3 B111 Sct DN
120'
3
18 50 00
-04 57 00
    Region 2 degrees in diam., full of dark structures
3 B327 Aql DN
25'
3
19 04 26
-05 07 00
    Curved, dusky lane; 30' N and S; 3' wide
1 M11 Sct OC
13'
5.8
18 51 06
-06 16 00
    13.1" 140x, several hundred stars mag 11-15 and mag 8 star, remarkably rich, some dense knots.
4 B108 Sct DN
3'
3
18 49 34
-06 18 00
    Very small; diam. 3'; not black; two narrow diverging lanes extending to the N; some small stars in it
3 B318 Sct DN
60'
2
18 49 42
-06 23 00
    Long, straight, dark line. This dusky line, just S of M 11, extends E and W for about 1 1/2 degrees.
4 Abell 49 Sct PN
35"
16.7P
18 53 28
-06 28 35
    18", OIII filter visible as an extremely faint, small glow, ~25"x20"
4 B116 Sct DN
3
18 53 32
-07 10 00
    Narrow, semi-vacant region extending 20' S from BD -7 4755 (magnitude 9.1)
3 B109 Sct DN
7'
2
18 49 36
-07 33 00
    Irregular; diam. .7'; close E of BD -07 4726 (magnitude 8.0)
2 NGC 6664 Sct OC
16'
7.8
18 36 31
-08 11 00
    17.5" 220x about 100 stars in a 15' scattered field, many in strings, no dense parts.
2 NGC 6712 Sct GC
9.8'
8.1
18 53 04
-08 42 44
    18", 435x roughly three dozen stars resolved in a 6' region, mostly western half of cluster.
1 M26 Sct OC
14'
8
18 45 12
-09 23 00
    Distinctive cluster stands out well at 100x. At 220x, ~60 stars are resolved in a 7' diameter.
4 B321 Sct DN
13'
3
18 54 02
-11 16 00
    Dusky; 15' long E and W, 7' wide; BD -11 4795 (magnitude 7.8) near W end
4 Abell 45 Sct PN
4.8'
18 30 16
-11 36 56
    Very faint with OIII averted, very indistinct, possibly brighter western edge arced strand. Relatively large.
4 Abell 60 Sag PN
76"x65"
15.7
19 19 17
-12 14 42
    22" - Extremely faint round patch, no detail, edge somewhat diffuse. UHC and O-III show 50% averted.
4 Abell 44 Sag PN
60"x48"
17.4
18 30 11
-16 45 24
    22" - featureless faint slightly oval, barely visible without filters. O-III better than UHC, both direct vision.
2 NGC 6645 Sag OC
10'
8.5
18 32 36
-16 53 00
    17.5" 82x striking, rich cluster of 20' diameter, rich in faint stars, "hole" in center devoid of stars.
4 Abell 51 Sag PN
62"
15.4
19 01 01
-18 12 14
    115x and OIII filter it appeared very faint, fairly small, round, ~35"-40" diameter, very low surface brightness.
4 B310 Sag DN
2'
3
18h 30' 13"
-18 35 00
    Diam. 2'; small star near center; 20' SW of BD -18 4988 (magnitude 6.0
1 M25 Sag OC
32'
4.6
18 31 45
-19 07 00
    17.5" about 100 stars in 30' field although fills 45' field at 82x.
4 B315 Sag DN
5'
3
18h 42' 18"
-20 01 00
    Round; dark; diam. 5'
4 B99 Sag DN
11'
3
18h 33' 17"
-21 28 00
    Definite; 11' long E. and W., 3' wide; E end is the larger, with a faint star in it.
2 N6717 Sag GC
3.9'
9.2
18 55 06
-22 42 06
    18" Pal 9 280x stands out prominently as unconcentrated low surface brightness hazy glow 1' in diameter.
2 NGC 6642 Sag GC
5.8'
8.9
18 31 54
-23 38 35
    18" 393x fairly small fairly bright globular with very bright 30" core and 2' halo, small core very mottled.
1 M22 Sag GC
32'
5.2
18 36 24
-23 54 12
    18" 220x 10' diameter, outliers increase diameter, very bright core irregularly round but not concentrated.
2 NGC 6638 Sag GC
7.3'
9.2
18 30 56
-25 29 47
    18" 435x fairly bright, intense 1' core that appears very mottled, begins to break up.
1 M54 Sag GC
12'
7.7
18 55 03
-30 28 42
    17.5" very bright, increases sharp bright core, fairly large, has a mottled, grainy appearance.
1 M70 Sag GC
8'
7.8
18 43 12
-32 17 31
    17.5" 220x 3' round halo, very well concentrated to small bright core and intense nucleus.
1 M69 Sag GC
9.8'
7.7
18 31 23
-32 20 53
    17.5" bright, moderately large, 3' diameter, round, fairly symmetric appearance, large core, small halo.

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