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Two planetary nebulae

Kent Blackwell
 

Tuesday night was another slightly hazy night, not the greatest for rolling out the 25" but I did so anyway.  Two objects were noteworthy, though. 


NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula) I detected the "ansae" (Latin for handles) at 635x. It's not something I often see from Virgina Beach skies. The flattened shape certainly confirms its nickname. Then, suddenly, I saw the central star. I've only seen it several times, back in 2001, 2002 and 2011. One of the best views was in Henry Evans (anyone remember Henry?) 20" Dobsonian in Coinjock NC in 2001. My best log was September 3, 2003. My notes read, "The sky is extremely clear tonight, we are due to be hit by Hurricane Isabel in three days". We were. I'm sure all in the area remember that!

NGC 7662 (Blue Snowball). The detail with the 3.5mm Pentax at 900x was simply amazing. Planetary nebulae with high surface brightness seem to look nearly equal whether viewed from dark skies or light polluted skies. There's a faint outer halo surrounding the nebula, as well as a very bright green inner ring. The nebula is annular, and sure enough I caught momentary glimpses of its central star.

Has anyone else had luck seeing the central stars in the above mentioned planetaries? 
Ian Stewart
 

Hey Kent, I don't recall seeing the central star. I did image the Blue Snowball almost a decade ago. The central star was there then :-)

Cheers

Ian

NGC 7662

On 9/21/2022 9:27 AM, Kent Blackwell wrote:

Tuesday night was another slightly hazy night, not the greatest for rolling out the 25" but I did so anyway.  Two objects were noteworthy, though. 


NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula) I detected the "ansae" (Latin for handles) at 635x. It's not something I often see from Virgina Beach skies. The flattened shape certainly confirms its nickname. Then, suddenly, I saw the central star. I've only seen it several times, back in 2001, 2002 and 2011. One of the best views was in Henry Evans (anyone remember Henry?) 20" Dobsonian in Coinjock NC in 2001. My best log was September 3, 2003. My notes read, "The sky is extremely clear tonight, we are due to be hit by Hurricane Isabel in three days". We were. I'm sure all in the area remember that!

NGC 7662 (Blue Snowball). The detail with the 3.5mm Pentax at 900x was simply amazing. Planetary nebulae with high surface brightness seem to look nearly equal whether viewed from dark skies or light polluted skies. There's a faint outer halo surrounding the nebula, as well as a very bright green inner ring. The nebula is annular, and sure enough I caught momentary glimpses of its central star.

Has anyone else had luck seeing the central stars in the above mentioned planetaries? 
Ted Forte
 

In 83 logged observations of NGC 7662, I noted the central star only four times. One of those mentions was a “suspected” report and one noted a very faint central star. Two (one with the 18 and one with the 30) were apparently unambiguous.

 

In 62 observations of NGC 7009, I noted the central star three times. Twice with the 18 and once with the 30-inch.

 

However, not all of my logged observation of either object describe the planetaries in detail and I suspect that I may have seen the central stars without specifically noting it on other occasions.

 

I have the logs of quite a few observers that have submitted for the PN program, and while its too much of a chore to search them all, looking at a select few, I’ve found a few observers that have reported the central stars of both of these – more so in 7662 than in 7009 it seems.

 

 

Ted

BBAA Southwest

 

From: BackBayAstro@groups.io <BackBayAstro@groups.io> On Behalf Of Kent Blackwell
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2022 6:27 AM
To: BackBayAstro@groups.io
Subject: [BackBayAstro] Two planetary nebulae

 

Tuesday night was another slightly hazy night, not the greatest for rolling out the 25" but I did so anyway.  Two objects were noteworthy, though. 


NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula) I detected the "ansae" (Latin for handles) at 635x. It's not something I often see from Virgina Beach skies. The flattened shape certainly confirms its nickname. Then, suddenly, I saw the central star. I've only seen it several times, back in 2001, 2002 and 2011. One of the best views was in Henry Evans (anyone remember Henry?) 20" Dobsonian in Coinjock NC in 2001. My best log was September 3, 2003. My notes read, "The sky is extremely clear tonight, we are due to be hit by Hurricane Isabel in three days". We were. I'm sure all in the area remember that!

NGC 7662 (Blue Snowball). The detail with the 3.5mm Pentax at 900x was simply amazing. Planetary nebulae with high surface brightness seem to look nearly equal whether viewed from dark skies or light polluted skies. There's a faint outer halo surrounding the nebula, as well as a very bright green inner ring. The nebula is annular, and sure enough I caught momentary glimpses of its central star.

Has anyone else had luck seeing the central stars in the above mentioned planetaries? 
Kent Blackwell
 

Thanks, Ted. That's about my results as well. It's interesting that high surface brightness planetaries look nearly equal, be it viewed from dark skies or light polluted skies, especially at very high power.
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