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Bulletin Board
****The Webb Deep-Sky Society 2012 AGM will be held at the Institute of Astronomy (IoA) in Cambridge on Sat 16th June 2012**** Click here for directions to the IoA Confirmed Speakers so far: Paul Clark - Title still to be confirmed, Jeff Young - Experimental Visual Observing, Dave Adshead - Deep Sky Imaging from the Kingfisher Observatory, Bob Marriott - Title still to be confirmed.
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February 2012 - Picture of the Month NGC 2264 Widefield - The Cone Nebula and Fox Fur Region Image Courtesy of Andrea Tamanti, Italy
Click on image for a larger version Andrea's Observation Notes: "I live in Rome, about 20 km from the center of this big city, here light pollution is dramatic and the visual magnitude of the stars is about at 4, for this reason years ago I leave film astroimaging. But with the coming of the high sensibility and large format CCD combined with new technique of imaging reduction my interest grow again and strongly! With my 10" sct now I can reach a magnitude 20 star in some minutes and take deep sky pictures that years ago were a dream to me." Andrea Tamanti Object Details: Type:Open cluster with nebula Constellation:Monoceros Coordinates:RA:06h 40m 58s D:-09° 53' 44" Magnitude:4.1 Size:40x40 arc min Image Details: Optics:Takahashi FSQ 106 Mount:Eq6-Pro Camera:Cooled Canon EOS 50D at -9 C° (external temperature 5 C°) Exposure:15 exp. 20 minutes each, 800 ISO Notes:Image acquired from Canino, Viterbo (VT) - SQM 21. For more images from Andrea please visit his Images from the Universe website February 2012 - Double Star of the Month
15 Lyn (06 57 16.60 +58 25 23.0) is on the western edge of a coarse cluster of double stars which also includes the close binaries 4 and 14 Lyn. Discovered at Pulkova by Otto Struve at a distance of about 0".5 the two stars slowly widened reaching around 0".9 at the turn of the last century before the companion made a close (0".1) approach to the primary and is now slowly widening again. This is a good opportunity to see this pair which needs 20-cm on a good night because there is also a substantial difference in brightness of about a magnitude. Andreas Alzner's orbit from 2000 gives the ephemeris position of 232° 0".67 for 2012.0. It is missing from Sissy Haas' book which is a little odd given that 4 Lyn is included and is similarly difficult to resolve. A good night may also show the faint companion discovered by Burnham. This 12.5 mag star can be seen at 346° and 29" whilst a more distant 9.5 is some 187" away and the distance to AB is decreasing due to proper motion of the bright pair.
Dun 39 (07 03 15.12 -59 10 41.1) is in Carina, lying about 3 degrees north preceding alpha Pictoris and forms a beautiful white pair which is easily resolvable in a small aperture. When discovered by Dunlop from Australia in 1826 the stars were separated by 2".8. The revised version of Hartung (1995) by Malin and Frew repeats the note in the original edition that it can just be seen with 7.5-cm aperture, but the two stars are closing and the last measure in 1997 put the separation at 1".4. In 2006 Graeme Jenkinson and Tin Napier-Nunn of the Astronomical Association of Queensland noted that x320 was needed on a 15-cm f/8 OG to see it clearly so it will be interesting to see if it is still accessible to 7.5-cm now. The pair is clearly binary and lies almost 500 light years away. Bob Argyle - Double Star Section Director Deep-Sky Observer (DSO) No 153 - Free Sample
The free journal is DSO 153 from 2010 You can download it as a PDF file onto your computer by right clicking the link below and choosing either 'Save Target As' or 'Save Link As'....
Download DSO 153 (2MB PDF file)
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February 2012 - Galaxy of the Month NGC 3607 Group Image Credit - Prof. Duncan A. Forbes, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Click on image for a larger version NGC 3607 group Our challenge for February is the galaxy group associated with NGC 3607. There are 3 galaxies intimately involved with this group which are NGC 3607, NGC 3608 and NGC 3605. NC 3607 and 3608 should be relatively easily seen in small telescopes. NGC 3607 is classified as SA(0) which is a lenticular galaxy. These are galaxies that appear to have the luminosity profile of a spiral but have no (or little) gas and dust and are normally found in clusters. NGC 3608 is an early type elliptical. It would appear that 3607 and 3608 are interacting and that 3607 maybe stealing material from its neighbour. Backing this theory up is the fact that 3607 is a low luminosity active galaxy. NGC 3505 is much fainter and will require a larger telescope to see. It is also an elliptical galaxy but with a classification of E5 much more squashed. It is probably not associated with 3607 and 3608 but a background galaxy. The NGC 3607 group contains perhaps 14 galaxies and is part of the much larger Leo II groups of galaxies. This is a collection of small galaxy groups, probably not that much dissimilar to our own local group at a distance of perhaps 70-90 million light years. There appear to be 11 major groups in the Leo II cluster along with a number of other NGC galaxies. They are all part of the Virgo cluster. In the same medium power field as 3607 there is also the galaxy NGC 3599 which is another relatively bright lenticular. All of these galaxies were discovered by William Herschel in 1784. Much closer in to 3607 is the very much fainter galaxy MCG +3-29-18 which at magnitude 16.3 is going to be a challenge for large scope observers and is perhaps more suited to imagers. This is also probably a background galaxy. NGC 3599 is also not physically associated with the 3607 group. NGC 3607 itself is a part of the RASC’s (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) finest NGC list and as such should perhaps be better known that it is. The brightest galaxies in the NGC 3607 group are NGC 3607, NGC 3626, NGC 3686, NGC 3608 and NGC 3684. Because of its relative nearness the group spreads across perhaps 4 degrees of sky. If you like galaxy trios then NGC 3681, 3684 and 3691 are also a nice trio of galaxies that should show in the same medium power field with a medium sized telescope. Click here for a Megastar© chart of the NGC 3607 region. Owen Brazell - Galaxy Section Director Click here for more image from Prof. Duncan A. Forbes |
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A Selection of Deep-Sky Images from Paul Brierley, UK
Regards Paul A Brierley. Observing Co-ordinator Macclesfield Astronomical Society Blogspot Web Album Peak Star Party
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The Webb Deep-Sky Society Star Atlas This is the most detailed and accurate Atlas in its class! The Atlas comprises of 44 star charts (inc. Notes and Measuring Guide) covering the whole sky to magnitude 7.1 Two Versions are Available - Colour and Monochrome For details on how to order the Star Chart click the 'Price Lists' button at the top of this page
Click on image for a larger version of Chart No. 26 |
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Tenerife - An Observer's Log An Article by Andrew Robertson Tenerife 22nd Nov to 29th Nov 2011 "This was my 6th trip to the Parador, Teidi, Tenerife for a weeks observing with Rod Greening’s 25” Dobsonian (actually its 24.5”) but my first outing in the Autumn, all previous ones being in the Spring. Just the three of us went this time - myself, Mark Turner from Norwich AS and the man himself, Rod Greening. We made use of the 25” Dob and the hotel’s 10” F6 Dob after giving the optics of both a clean and collimation. There are two main advantages to this location: 1) you’re at 7,000 feet altitude, which means transparent skies. 2) The latitude is 28 degrees which means that not only can you see objects totally unobservable from the UK you can observe objects that whilst technically visible from the UK are poor but from Teidi superb! For example, the Skull Nebula, NGC 246 in Cetus, invariably poor from the UK, absolutely awesome visually from Teidi, beats any image I’ve seen! I first went to this location over 10 years ago and I have to admit that the light pollution in the SW due to holiday apartment development has got worse but this has to be put into perspective. It is about 10 miles away and below the observing site to the tune of 7,000 feet. Frequently there is cloud around the mountain cone of the island, which peaks out about 5,000 feet keeping the light pollution at bay. When it is like this you don’t see the light pollution and you can observe objects with little atmospheric extinction close to the artificial horizon afforded by the caldera. Unfortunately for me but fortunately for my wife who was staying at a coastal resort, there were largely clear skies over the coast and we only had a couple of periods giving really transparent skies low in the SW but not a problem. We just changed our observing tactics concentrating on objects to the East of the Meridian or above 30 degrees altitude in the SW. Another example here is that I had the best ever views ever of M33 and the NGC 206 region in M31 – just because you have views to the South doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy mega views overhead. There was a bit of high level stuff around this time and I would say that generally our skies were only about mag 6.5 but still better than the best skies I enjoy from the UK. Mark and I arrived about 4pm on Tuesday 22nd. Got settled in our room, set the 25” up ready for observing then got a couple of hours sleep in. We were out by 9pm. Rod who’d arrived by a separate flight at 8pm was already out there but he was flagging by 11.30pm whereas we went until 3am after our top up sleep. I did bring a Dictaphone with me but didn’t use it on the first night choosing just to have a look around to get a flavour. Mistake really – should always record ones observations as we did a lot of objects in the SW that we never re-visited and I had to try and do some notes from memory. All observations refer to 24.5” F4.5 Dobsonian (FL 2756mm) with fully inverted views unless otherwise stated." Click here for Andrew's detailed observations. Latest Deep-Sky Observer - DSO155
Experiences at the Texas Star Party - Faith Jordan NGC 246 in Cetus - Wolfgang Steinicke NGC 4485/90 - Wolfgang Steinicke Hickson Galaxy Groups Project - Owen Brazell Hickson 15 - Ronald J Morales Ercole Dembowski - A Life Dedicated to Astronomy Robert Argyle and Domenico Gellera Autumn Doubles - Andrew Robertson Cracking Cassiopeia Star Clusters -Martin Griffiths Book Reviews Viewing the Constellations with Binoculars Bojan Kambic - Reviewed by Melvyn Taylor Advancing Variable Star Astronomy Thomas R Williams & Michael Saladyga Reviewed by Gary Poyner
Hickson Project Article by Owen Brazell Hickson 44 Image Courtesy of Sheldon Faworski and Sean Walker
Click on image for a larger version In 1982 Paul Hickson published a paper containing a set of compact groups of galaxies numbering 100 that he had found whilst studying the POSS prints. The Atlas was also produced in book form in 1993 by Gordon and Breach with images for all the galaxies. Although this has been long out of print second hand copies can still be found on Amazon. These galaxy groups have been much studied by professionals because of the fact that they have a rigorously defined set of parameters which makes them useful for looking at the dynamics and evolution of galaxy groups. The catalogue also contained a number of well known objects, such as Stephan’s Quintet which made it interesting for amateurs looking for new challenges. Hickson himself wrote a review of the status of these objects in 1997. As this catalogue became more well known to the amateur community various people produced guides to observing them including Alvin Huey and Reiner Vogel. There are also fine webpage's which include observations of various members of this catalogue. Bearing this in mind, and that there is a limited range of 100 objects, Stewart Moore and I thought that Obser ving the alt="The Webb Deep-Sky Star Atlas" alt="The Webb Deep-Sky Star Atlas" Hickson catalogue might make a nice joint observing project for the British Astronomical Association Deep Sky Section and the Webb Society galaxy section to collect observations and images of as many of these groups as we can with the intention of putting a paper together for DSO and /or the BAA Journal. The galaxy groups here range from challenges for small telescopes (here we define small as 20-22cm) where you may be able to see the brighter members of some of the groups down to challenges which will probably require very large telescopes from dark sites to see at all visually. However because of the rise of CCD imaging I would imagine that most of these objects should be gettable with relatively small instruments, although image scale may be an issue as some of these groups are quite small in angular size. In the past observing projects have not proved very popular in the Webb Society, certainly amongst UK based observers, and the fact that the catalogue was generated from the POSS prints means that a number will not be visible for southern hemisphere observers and means that we may yet be relying on our North American colleagues for some of these observations. As a helping hand for those observers who have either SkyTools 3 or AstroPlanner V2 (beta) I have included a couple of plan files one for each package (The SkyTools one contains images for each group) You should be able to download these and import them into the programs. The .stx file is for SkyTools and the .apd file is for AstroPlanner. Click here to download the files. Owen Brazell - Galaxy Section Director |
Object of the Season - Spring 2012 & Summer 2012 The Webb Deep-Sky Society Nebulae & Clusters Section Director Wolfgang Steinicke has requested observations for the following deep-sky objects:- Object of the Season (Spring 2012): Galaxy pair NGC 4485/90 in Canes Venatici Details have been published in DSO155 and the results are scheduled to be in DSO 157 Click here for Object Details
Object of the Season (Summer 2012): Planetary Nebula NGC 6765 in Lyra Details will shortly be published in DSO156 and the results are scheduled to be in DSO 158 Click here for Object Details NGC4485/90 NGC 6765
Click on images for a larger versions The complete schedule, including further objects, is published in the Deep Sky Observer (DSO). Observations should be sent to: steinicke-zehnle@t-online.de Two Methods of Recording the Recent Deep-Sky/Solar System Configuration of Comet Garradd and the Globular Cluster M92 in Hercules Click on individual images for larger versions Image Credit - Dave Eagle, UK
For more images from Dave please visit his Eagles Eye on the Sky website
Sketch Credit - Dale Holt, UK
Further sketches from Dale can be found at his Chippingdale Observatory website Date for your Diary! Peak Star Party 2012, 19th - 22nd October Huge 20m x 20m (60ft x 60ft) marquee to host talks, workshops and stay dry, no matter what the weather! All weekend catering. Exact details tbc but we are hoping to run catering from 10am to 6pm, to include breakfast, dinner and snacks. Snack and drinks tent available at all times - hot and cold drinks and some snacks available through the night for day visitors. Click here for further details. Sketches of NGC6572, NGC6535, NGC6765, NGC 6894 and M56 A selection of Sketches Courtesy of Jeff Young
Click on image for larger versions and Jeff's Observation Notes Further sketches from Jeff can be found at The Observatory at Rokeby Hall |
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A Selection of Deep-Sky Sketches from Dale Holt Sketches Courtesy of Dale Holt, from his Chippingdale Observatory  Click on sketch larger versions and Dale's Observation Notes. |
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Planetary Nebulae Sketches NGC 6720(M57), NGC 7293 and NGC 7662 Courtesy of Massimo Zecchin - Italy
Click on image for further Planetary Nebulae Sketches and Massimo's Observation Notes |
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Warning - Bank Charges If you intend to purchase a DVD and/or publication from The Webb Deep-Sky Society via bank transfer and you are outside the UK then please check what the bank will charge for this transaction. We know of a least one bank abroad that charged 90% of the cost of the item to use their services. |
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.jpg "NGC 6765 - Image Courtesy of Stefan Binnewies, Capella Observatory")
