OBSERVATION OF NGC 2371-NGC 2372 Sketches courtesy of Dale Holt

Dale Holt from the Letchworth & District AS has sent us two sketches of NGC 2371-NGC2372 the dual lobed 'Peanut' nebula in Gemini. Dale used his 350mm Newtonian and a Watec WAT-120N+ Mono Camera that he borrowed from a colleague.  The two sketches by Dale compare the difference between older version of the camera and the latest model.  The sketch on the left was produced at the end of November 2008 using the older version of the camera and the one on the right on the 10 Dec 2009 using the Watec WAT-120N+.  Dale says that using his old camera definitely shows the later model to be more sensitive, however, sky conditions could have had a bearing too! The subtle and faint outer shell of the Planetary Nebula was captured in the most recent sketch, whereas it had been invisible during the earlier observation.

Click on the individual sketches for more detail.