Grand Est, summer 2024

5 August

all images of observing guides in this blog are for CSOG 3.0, to be published later this year

It was the 26th of June when my phone sounded *ding*. Astrobuddy Dick van Kleef asked me to join him and his friend Han van Biezen for a week of stargazing in the French Ardennes. I turned my head to my better half, Daniëlle, and said:

"I may be able to go to France the first week of Augu..."

"Sure, sounds like fun!" was her reply.

Aight. That settled that. Time to compile an observing plan for summer skies.

The morning of August 3rd I packed the car and set out for the drive south. The promise of a black Saturday on the roads to and from France turned out to be a false prophecy and the inbound drive only took a quarter of an hour longer than it would have taken on any other day. Still, there was the deja vu false sense of arrival once off the freeway just south of Bastogne. The last stretch of the journey on country roads always makes me feel like I am mere minutes away from my destination: truth is that it's still another hour and a half from then on.

Dick and Han arrived shortly before I did and were just about ready dragging all their gear into our home for the week. With their help I, too, was settled in, in under ten minutes. With clouds dominating the forecast for that first night, I opted to fire up the grill in lieu of setting up my scope. With two hens skewered and the rotisserie doing its rounds, we spent the evening watching the Olympics.

Now, the three of us, we are truly athletic. Yes we are! Running, cycling, swimming, track & field, rowing, field hockey, judo, archery, basketball: we watched it all.

The following day there was ample time to set up, but observations would have to wait until the 5th.

The forecasts proclaimed clear skies in unison on Monday. It was sure to be an all-nighter, albeit is a short one with only 4 1/2 hours of total darkness this time of year.

With the scope dialed in I found myself twiddling my thumbs for a good 15 minutes until the skies were sufficiently dark to start observing. Before the end of evening astronomical twilight was upon us, I observed some double stars in Aquila. Straight away it was obvious the seeing was pretty darn good. The transparency wasn't half bad, either.

Of the 10 doubles observed, I liked 23 Aquilae (STF2492) best, as components A & B have distinct and strongly contrasting colors.

16mm Nagler T5: AB split, C is not visible. A very beautiful double.
A is bright yellow-orange, quite a fiery color but more yellow than orange, B is light blue (initially appeared orange), clearly contrasting.

9mm Nagler T6: B is light blue, very clearly contrasting with A. With AV C sometimes jumps into view but cannot be held continuously.

5mm Nagler T6: Using this magnification B is clearly colored light blue and using AV C is clearly visible and easily held.

STF2644 and 2967 were more than decent as well. The first pair sport equally bright pure white components.

AB split. White stars of equal brightness. A nice double.

The second one was a pleasure to observe due to the color of its primary, that rivals some of the better carbon stars.

AB split.
A is fiery orange, a beautiful, bright, deep color, resembles a nice carbon star. B is wide and is grey.
1/4 FoV to the ESE is a mag. 10.5 star with a mag. 11.5 star to its WSW, ±260°/35"; sep. just larger than that of AB of STF2697 (not a double star in WDS).

Double star observations in Aquila

With less than half an hour to go before midnight, the sun reached its elevation of -18°. The end of astronomical twilight and the start of deepsky observations: galaxies in Hercules. Specifically, ones that are part of my observing plan (you guessed it, CSOG's 12-14" edition) but up until now had managed to escape my observing log. With the constellation still plenty high in the southwest, that was to change for 27 of them.

Not one of the A-team but by all means worth mentioning was MCG+07-34-001 (PGC57882), even when nearby PGC214485 remained elusive. Averted vision revealed a slightly offset core. The star on the northwestern edge played hide and seek, but proved to be just too faint to call it a capture.

A faint, ENE-WSW elongated glow, quite suddenly slightly brighter in a small, round core. With AV the core is slightly larger and slightly elongated east to west, slightly offset in relation to the fainter outer glow of the galaxy, which is notable. No nucleus visible. The star USNO461646320 on the NW edge sometimes seems to jump into view but cannot be held.
The WNW galaxy PGC214485 is not visible.

NGC6150A & NGC6150B form the pair Holmberg 748. Both were easily observed with the northeastern galaxy slightly larger, brighter and sporting a nucleus.

Both galaxies are visible.
A - NGC6150A is the brighter NE galaxy, elongated ENE-WSW and gradually brighter in the middle, the quite bright nucleus is just visible without AV.
B - NGC6150B is the smaller and fainter SW galaxy, without AV round, with AV slightly elongated NW-SE.
1/3 FoV to the east is the galaxy MCG+07-34-033 (PGC58135), 1/3 FoV to the south is the galaxy MCG+07-34-028 (PGC58102).

Hickson 82 produced 3 out of 4. Only the group's D galaxy could not be glimpsed. It did help to place the mag. 8 ½ star to the southwest just outside the field of view.

A - NGC6162, B - NGC6163 and C - NGC6161 are visible, D - MCG+06-36-046 is not visible.
A - NGC6162 is the western galaxy of the two northern galaxies, larger and brighter than B - NGC6163 is, a slightly NE-SW elongated glow, quite suddenly brighter in a core that is slightly elongated in the same direction. With AV the nucleus is faintly visible.
The eastern galaxy of the two northern galaxies B - NGC6163 is smaller and considerably fainter than A - NGC6162 is, a slightly north-south elongated glow, even in brightness without AV, with AV subtly brighter in the middle but no nucleus and no core visible.
With AV C - NGC6161 is visible to the south of A - NGC6162, only visible with AV, a very faint, slightly north-south elongated glow, even in brightness, no detail visible.
D - MCG+06-36-046 (PGC58231) to the west of C - NGC6161 is not visible.
1/4 FoV to the SW is a bright white mag. 8.5 star (SAO65302), the galaxies are easier to observe when the star is outside the FoV.

Following the Hickson was another Holmberg: nr. 751. I was unable to make out component A's 7-digit PGC companions, but otherwise all 5 of the group's members were bagged, along with bonus PGC58245.

A - NGC6166 immediately jumps into view, quite a large and bright, NE-SW elongated oval glow, quite suddenly brighter in a central part that is elongated in the same direction, with AV is it is clear that it's a core. No nucleus visible. PGC3084828 and PGC5092794 can not be distinguished. The galaxy PGC58253 to the WSW is not visible.
B - NGC6166A to the SW of A - NGC6166 is only visible with AV.
E - NGC6166D to the south of A is visible: a small, faint, round glow, no detail visible, visible without AV.
To the west of E - NGC6166D the galaxy PGC58245 is visible (not a member of Holmberg 751, sometimes designated NGC6166A), slightly fainter than E - NGC6166D is, a small, faint, round glow, visible without AV. Forms a triangle with B - NGC6166A and E - NGC6166D, with B - NGC6166A in the tip pointing north.
To the WNW of A - NGC6166 is D - NGC6166C, a faint, round glow, even in brightness, no detail visible.
To the ENE of A - NGC6166 is C - NGC6166B, slightly fainter than D - NGC6166C is, a round glow, no detail visible.

Arp 73 is one bright IC and one very faint PGC. I observed only the IC and found it to be relatively large compared to the preceding galaxies of this session.

Only IC1222 is visible, a relatively large (compared to the galaxies I observed earlier tonight), very faint, NE-SW elongated glow, gradually subtly brighter in the middle. With AV slightly more elongated but also slightly more bulging east to west, which is notable. With AV very subtly irregular but no spiral structure is discernible.
PGC2277264 is not visible.

"Zwicky's Triplet" (Arp 103) was next. The two southern galaxies of this group form Holmberg 757. This night, the triplet was only a doublet, as I was unable to observe PGC59062 (Holmberg 757B).

The SSW galaxy MCG+08-31-003 (Holmberg 757A, PGC59061) immediately jumps into view, a round glow, gradually brighter in the middle, with AV quite suddenly brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.
The galaxy PGC59062 (Holmberg 757B) to the WSW of MCG+08-31-003 is not visible.
With AV the NNE galaxy MCG+08-31-003A (PGC59065) is visible, directly SSW of a mag. 12 star, a small, faint, round glow, difficult to observe without AV. With AV subtly brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.

A triplet that did reveal all of its members was KTG 66.

All three galaxies are visible.
A - MCG+07-35-009 (PGC59313) is a small, faint, slightly north-south elongated glow south of a mag. 13 star. Without AV subtly brighter in the middle, with AV slightly more suddenly brighter in the middle but no core discernible, no nucleus visible.
B - MCG+07-35-012 (PGC59319) and C - MCG+07-35-011 (PGC59321) are aligned north to south, in the southern galaxy B - MCG+07-35-012 quite a bright nucleus is visible without AV causing the galaxy to appear to be brighter than the northern galaxy C - MCG+07-35-011. Both galaxies are small, faint patch. The nucleus in the northern galaxy C - MCG+07-35-011 is fainter and is only visible with AV.

In KPG 523 the larger and brighter eastern galaxy revealed a core and bright nucleus. The smaller western galaxy only appeared gradually brighter in the middle.

Both galaxies are visible.
B - NGC6447 is the brighter eastern galaxy, without AV a round glow, quite suddenly brighter in a round core with quite a bright nucleus that is visible without AV. With AV slightly larger, slightly elongated NNE to SSW and clearly suddenly brighter in a small core.
To the WSW of B - NGC6447 is the smaller and fainter galaxy A - NGC6446, clearly visible without AV, a round glow, gradually brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.
To the ESE of B - NGC6447 are 3 mag. 13 and fainter stars in a notable, slightly curved shape aligned SSE to NNW with the bulging side towards the ENE.

MCG+05-42-013 (PGC61080) was the second to last galaxy observed in Hercules, but was by far the best galaxy observation of the night. Its distinct shape was one to remember.

A faint NW-SE elongated streak that, using AV, is subtly brighter SW of the middle. No core discernible and no nucleus visible. With AV the galaxy has a slightly curved shape with the bulging side on the SW side. To the WSW is a mag. 12.5 star; the bulge points south of that star. The dark part on the NE side cannot be discerned but the faint curved shape is notable with the concave side on the NE side. There is no clear transition of the brighter to the fainter parts of the galaxy. Towards the NE the galaxy curves and becomes gradually fainter, towards the SE the galaxy is slightly more suddenly fainter.

Final observation in Hercules was NGC6582 (a.k.a. Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov 818) that is made up of two galaxies. Both are small, faint, round glows but the east-southeastern one revealed a faint nucleus.

Both galaxies are visible.
The ESE galaxy MCG+08-33-030 (KPG 531B, PGC61513) is brighter than the WNW galaxy MCG+08-33-029 (KPG 531A, PGC61510) is. Both galaxies are a small, faint, round glow. The ESE galaxy MCG+08-33-030 is slightly larger and is subtly brighter than the WNW galaxy MCG+08-33-029 is, gradually brighter in the middle, with AV the nucleus is faintly visible. The WNW galaxy MCG+08-33-029 is slightly more suddenly brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.

Galaxy observations in Hercules

Before taking a break, I attempted a nova shell, also in Hercules. It was unable to observe Cederblad 155 (DQ Herculis), but I will definitely make another attempt under better skies, as a recent image through an 8" SCT proves it's still out there.

Back at the eyepiece I swung the scope to Cygnus for the nebulae in CSOG 3.0's 12-14" Neb-1 guide for the constellation.

First object in the Swan was NGC6857, that is surrounded by fainter nebulosity that goes by Sharpless 2-100. That fainter Sharpless nebula was out of reach, as was Kohoutek 3-50, but the NGC was an easy observation and nearby Minkowski 1-96 & 1-97 were observed, too. A UHC filter did help.

The images of the observing guide below are from CSOG's upcoming Sharpless edition.

17mm Nagler T4: Unfiltered, NGC6857 is easily overlooked, only a very faint glow is visible. It is clear that only the brighter WSW part of NGC6857 is visible.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC: Using this the NGC6857 part of the nebula is very clear, an irregularly round glow, with AV slightly elongated NNW to SSE and on the east side flattened on a line from NNE to SSW and brightest in the WSW part. With AV a "bite" is taken, very subtly, from the east side of the nebula with the concave side facing east. To the WSW is a mag. 11 star.
The faint outer part of the nebula (Sharpless 2-100) is not visible. Kohoutek 3-50 is not visible.
To the NNW is the nebula Minkowski 1-97 that is only visible with a filter and with use of AV, 3 times that distance towards the WSW is Minkowski 1-96.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon OIII: The effect of this filter is comparable to that of the UHC filter but the UHC filter has the better effect.

12mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC, OIII, Hydrogen-Beta: Using this magnification and these filters Kohoutek 3-50 is not visible, either.

Next were two small reflection nebulae: Rojkovskij-Kurchakov 99 and Gyulbudaghian-Magakian 1-77. Now say that three times fast.

To observe the Rojkovskij-Kurchakov, one needs to know exactly where to look. Thankfully it's part of a little rhombus of stars. That helps. The Gyulbudaghian-Magakian actually consists of two nebulae. The fainter southwestern nebula mimics the Rojkovskij-Kurchakov, but the northeastern one is much easier.

From these tiny little f...ellas, on to larger, but also much fainter McDonald 10. The images below are from the upcoming McDonald Nebulae & Regions edition.

Only the southern part clearly stood out; that is the filamentary part Minkowski cataloged as the 67th entry in his second paper. Dark nebula Barnard 343 accompanies this emission nebula, but I could not distinguish it from any other part of the star field.

31mm Nagler T5, Lumicon UHC: Only the brighter SW part of the nebula is clearly visible, there a NW-SE elongated, slightly rectangular part is visible that appears irregular and that is subtly streaky NW to SE with AV, but no clear lanes are discernible. On the SW the nebulosity ends suddenly, on the SE side the nebulosity is wider on a line from NE to SW (slightly fanning out). Towards the NE the glow gradually becomes fainter and on the NE side the glow is clearly flattened on a line from SE to NW.
The dark nebula Barnard 343 on the NW side is not discernible from the surrounding field.

31mm Nagler T5: Unfiltered the view is a bit light but the nebula is clearest with use of the UHC filter.

In Cygnus, there is a famous propeller. Simeis 57, right..? Wrong. It's Courtès 53. Sure, Simeis 57 is one designation, but Georges Courtès cataloged it in 1952, the same year Gaze & Shajn did, but a few months earlier.

This nebula is deceivingly faint. What helps to pinpoint it, is a triangle of stars to the southeast in which the southeastern most star is the double star Fox 252. With use of a UHC filter, I was able to make out only part of both the propeller's blades. The southern blade (DWB 111) appeared larger, but what I was able to observe of the northern blade (DWB 119), was brighter. With this observation I could make out more of the nebula than I could back in 2017, but only barely so.

Along with the Fox double, STF2659 to the west-southwest was another bonus observation logged.

22mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC: The propeller-shape of the nebula is discernible. The part of the northern "blade" running north to south is the clearest, south thereof is a right-angled triangle of stars with two stars in the right corner: a white-yellow mag. 8.5 star with a subtly light blue mag. 10 star WSW thereof (double star Fox 252, quite well contrasting and quite a nice double).
No nebulosity is visible to the NW of the triangle.
To the west of the triangle a nebulous part is visible that is elongated NW to SW and that slightly curves towards the south with AV. More is visible of the southern "blade" of the propeller shape, but the part of the northern "blade" that is visible, is slightly brighter.
To the west of the southern part is the double star STF2659, a white mag. 9 star with a mag. 11.5 star to its WSW, ±260°/20".

26mm Nagler T5, Lumicon UHC: Using this magnification only the NE-SW elongated part of the southern "blade" is visible, the part that curves towards the south is not visible, contrary to 22mm.

Gyulbudaghian-Magakian 2-39 is another fun little reflection nebula. I think it is partially emissive, as filters did not wash it out as much as they do on most other reflection nebulae. It as clearly brighter than the two (three) reflection nebula I observed half an hour earlier.

17mm Nagler T4: Unfiltered the nebula is clearly visible, a small, faint, WNW-ESE elongated glow, quite suddenly brighter in a central part that is elongated in the same direction; resembles a small galaxy but the brighter part does not resemble a core.
To the SE is a slightly curved line of 4 mag. 13 and fainter stars, from the south towards the NNW with the slightly bulging side towards the ENE.
Unfiltered the nebula is clearest.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC: Using this filter the nebula remains visible, but not a clear as it is unfiltered.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon OIII: Using this filter the nebula is at the limit of visibility.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon Hydrogen-Beta: Using this filter the nebula is not visible.

12mm Nagler T4: Using this magnification the nebula is well visible and it is clear that the brighter central part is brightest NW of the middle. With AV a mag. 14.5 star is visible on the brightest part of the nebula (4UCAC645-091717).

Courtès 56 is another large and faint emission nebula. Its brightest curved part stood out and I was able to trace it.

The curved northern and western parts of the nebula are clearly visible, large and filling the FoV and the curved part can be followed, which is notable. The inner side of the curved part is concave on the SE side.
There is a slightly curved shape of 4 mag. 9 and fainter stars aligned north to south with the slightly bulging side towards the east, the nebula is visible north thereof but it clearer to the NW where the field is notably lighter, it is there where the nebula curves towards the south, via the SW. To the WSW of the row of stars the lighter part is slightly wider and the nebula end quite suddenly, flattened on the south side on a line from east to west. On the west side of the flattened part is a notable narrower, elongated, slightly brighter, slightly irregular part that extends towards the SSE and that ends is a slightly more bulging part.

On to IC1318. That's not a single nebula: it's a region. A region that contains many nebulae, including brighter IC1318A, B and C. There's a lot of mixup on the interwebs about the letter designations for this IC's subcomponents, but I'm on team Gaze-Shajn.

IC1318A is a well-know triangular nebula. It's faint and visually it appears irregular. On the eastern edge is a small reflection nebula, GN 20.16.3.0. With a bit of magnification I was able to observe it, too.

The images of the observing guide below are from the upcoming Gaze-Shajn edition, to be published later this year alongside a separate Simeis edition.

IC1318A
A large NE-SW elongated, slightly irregular glow with a slightly curved shape, concave on the SE side. The northern part runs east to west, then curves towards the SW after which the nebula gradually becomes fainter and continues to curve towards the SSW where the nebula is not as irregular. The NE part of the nebula is clearly the most irregular.
Using this magnification the reflection nebula GN 20.16.3.0 is not visible, it is with 12mm., on the eastern edge of the northern part of IC1318A.

GN 20.16.3.0
A round glow is visible surrounding a mag. 11.5 star (TYC3159-00186-1), other stars in the FoV do not show such as glow, that is clear without AV. On the eastern edge of the northern part of the nebula IC1318A.
With use of filters (UHC, OIII, H-Beta) the glow vanishes, is only visible unfiltered.

IC1318B & C form the wings of the well-known "Butterfly Nebula". The brighter parts of both were easily observed, as was Simeis 68 that lives in between, right next door to the small reflection nebula Bernes 21.

Filling the FoV, the SW part is the most notable, elongated SSW to NNE, containing an elongated triangle of stars pointing SSW; the SE leg of that triangle is on the edge of the nebulosity. That part of the nebula tapers slightly towards the SSW and fans out slightly towards the NNE where the nebula is slightly patchy and wider east to west. The nebula gradually becomes brighter towards the NE where a "bite" is subtly discernible. Het protruding western part of the nebula, WNW of the base of the triangle, is discernible.

Surprisingly, the brightest part of IC1318C handled a Hydrogen-Beta filter quite well.

31mm Nagler T5, Lumicon UHC: The NW part of the nebula is the clearest, a more evenly bright glow (compared to IC1318B) with a small, elongated triangle of stars pointing NE to the north of the middle of the brighter part. On the SE edge of the brightest part of the nebula is a more elongated triangle of stars pointing NW; with AV the NE-SW elongated dark nebula Barnard 347 is subtly discernible, using AV, SW thereof. Barnard 347 is not clearly visible overall but the brightest part of the nebula suddenly ends on the SSE side on a line from NE to SW. To the west, detached from the nebula, are two stars aligned east to west.
From the brighter NW part of the nebula the nebula quite quickly faints towards the SW, that fainter nebulosity is subtly discernible and gradually dissolves in the star field. The fainter NE part of the nebula is very subtly slightly patchy, but very faint. The fainter SE part of the nebula is not discernible.

31mm Nagler T5, Lumicon Hydrogen-Beta: Using this filter the brightest part of the nebula is even clearer than it is with use of the UHC filter. No other nebulosity is visible with use of this filter.

Simeis 68
17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC: A very faint, slightly NE-SW elongated glow, it is clear that only the brighter central part of the nebula is visible. On the eastern edge is a small elongated triangle of stars pointing north, no nebulosity is visible at that position. West of the that triangle is a kinked shape of stars with the kink on the east side (a crooked triangle), at that postion the background is much lighter; west thereof the NE-SW elongated part of the nebula is visible that is subtly irregular, that is flattened on the SE side on a line from NE to SW, gradually fainter towards the NW and tapering towards the west where there is a yellow mag. 9 star (SAO70005) on the western edge, a notable color.
1/2 FoV to the east is the reflection nebula Bernes 21.

17mm Nagler T4: Unfiltered the brightest part of the nebula is visible, but it's clearer with use of the UHC filter.

Bernes 21
17mm Nagler T4: Surrounding a mag. 12 star (TYC3156-01667-1) that is to the WNW of a bright white-yellow mag. 10 star (SAO70046) a faint glow is visible that is flattened on the north and south side and thereby slightly elongated east to west. To the WSW, just detached from the glow, is a mag. 14 star. The glow is barely visible without AV. Other stars in the FoV do not display a glow.
1/2 FoV to the west is the emission nebula Simeis 68.

12mm Nagler T4: Using this magnification it is clear that the mag. 12 star in the nebula is slightly west of the middle and that the nebula is just a bit brighter to the NW of the star. Using AV a mag. 15 star is visible to the NW of the mag. 12 star in the nebula, at 1/3 of the distance towards the mag. 14 star to the WSW (these stars do form a double star in WDS).

Final nebula observation in Cygnus was for a little flea of a nebula that recently featured as Deep Sky Forum's Object of the Week, authored by yours truly.

I found it to be a remarkable object, even when quite faint. Contrary to posts online, there were no stars in the vicinity I could describe as "kite-shaped".

17mm Nagler T4: The nebula is visible without use of a filter, an extremely faint, slightly NNW-SSE elongated, oval (almost round) glow directly SSE of a mag. 11 star (TYC3178-00632-1). That star is the ENE star in the base of a flattened triangle of stars pointing NNW (mag. 11.5), the star in the WSW corner of the base if mag. 12.
With AV the nebula is slightly large, subtly irregular and very subtly brighter in the NNW part. No "kite-shape" is visible in the vicinity, as noted in posts online.
The unfiltered view is the best. Faint but a remarkable object.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC: Using this filter the nebula is only visible with AV and is even in brightness.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon OIII: Using this filter the nebula is even fainter than it is with use of the UHC filter and only the brightest NNW part of the nebula is visible.

17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon Hydrogen-Beta: Using this filter the nebula is not visible.

Nebula observations in Cygnus

With less than an hour to go before the start of morning astronomical twilight, I targeted some small and faint galaxies. Among them were two in Cygnus that I recently encountered when compiling nebula guides: Calar Alto 1 (PGC66592) and Calar Alto 2 (PGC66627). Both were visible, but took some effort.

Calar Alto 1
A very small, faint, round glow, at the limit of visibility without AV. With AV gradually brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.

Calar Alto 2
Only visible with AV and at the limit of visibility, an extremely faint, small, round glow, even in brightness, no detail visible. Smaller and fainter than Calar Alto 1 (PGC66592) is that I observed before this one.
To the NW is a mag. 14 star, three times that distance to the SSW is a mag. 15 star.

Galaxy observations in Cygnus, Lacerta & Cepheus

The final deepsky observation of the night was one I dedicated quite some time and effort to. A new object category for me: the protoplanetary disk Kronberger 32 in Cepheus, nicknamed "Kronberger's Cookie". This object is often referred to as "Dracula's Chivito", but given the fact that is was Matthias Kronberger's discovery, I believe credit ought to be given where it's due.

Pinpointing the cookie was a piece of cake (...) using the guide below. Revealing the object's nature required a bit more.

In my 17 & 12mm. Naglers (168× and 237× respectively), it was stellar. Using 9mm. (316×) it transformed into a small glow that resembles a small planetary nebula. With that eyepiece in place I wanted to see what filters would do: UHC, OIII and H-Beta all killed it.

5mm. (570×) made little difference but upping the zoom to 814× (3.5mm. Nagler) brought out further detail: the object was clearly elongated southeast to northwest, clearly flattened on the southwest side on a line from southeast to northwest and the northeast side showed a bit of a bulge.

Nothing bright, nothing to visually blow your socks off, but a very special and rewarding observation nonetheless.

17mm Nagler T4: Stellar. In the SSW corner of the base of a slightly elongated triangle pointing ESE, the stars in the tip and in the NNE corner of the base are mag. 14.
1/4 FoV to the south is a bright white mag. 7.5 star (SAO20466).

12mm Nagler T4: Stellar, as with 17mm.

9mm Nagler T6: Using this magnification the object is no longer stellar, a small glow that is clear when compared to the 2 stars in the triangle. With AV a central point is discernible that appears stellar and that is just SW of the middle, surrounded by a faint glow that resembles a small planetary nebula.

9mm Nagler T6, Lumicon UHC, OIII & H-Beta: With use of any of these filter the object is not visible.
9mm Nagler T6, Lumicon UHC: Using this filter the two stars in the triangle are faintly visible, but the object is not.
9mm Nagler T6, Lumicon OIII: Using this filter the two stars in the triangle are at the limit of visibility, but the object is not visible.
9mm Nagler T6, Lumicon Hydrogen-Beta: Using this filter both the stars in the triangle and the object are not visible.

5mm Nagler T6: Using this magnification the object very clearly is not stellar, a round glow, gradually much brighter in the middle but a stellar central point is no longer discernible.

3.5mm Nagler T6: Using this magnification and AV the glow is not round, slightly elongated SE to NW and flattened on the SW side on a line from SE to NW, which is notable, slightly bulging on the NE side.

A remarkable object.

Thrilled to have crumbled the cookie, I could have called it a night, but I was not done yet. Before the skies would really start to brighten, I bagged a few Struve (STTA) doubles in Andromeda.

I liked Pi Andromedae (STTA44 a.k.a. Herschel V 17) best.

AaAb (sep. unknown) and AaAc (sep. 0.2") not split, ABC split, AB is quite wide, C is very wide. Quite a nice double.
A is bright white, B is subtly white-blueish-grey (a subtly blueish hue), C is faint and colorless.

Last object to graze my eyepiece was a trapezium. Four of STTA17's six components form it.

4 Stars of this double (A, C, D and F) form a trapezium that tapers towards the north, with a fifth star (B) to the east of the SE-most star (A) in the trapezium. C is the NNE star in the trapezium, D is the NW star, AE split, F is the SW star in the trapezium.
A is yellow, B is white-grey, C is yellowish, D is white-grey, E is wide, faint and colorless, F is grey.

- Blog continues below the observations table -

---

Observations

17 nebulae
33 galaxies & galaxy groups
1 protoplanetary disk
21 double stars
Total: 72 observations
First time observations: 54 objects

Details of the objects observed in this session are in the table below.

click here for my observing log

to top of table

One splendid night of observing, but it was all the week would produce. Daytime weather was a treat, the Olympics were great and no shortage of beer & BBQ in good company, so time well spent.

Both Han and Dick touted along solar telescopes. With the activity on the sun plenty high, we enjoyed the filtered views.

Being the skilled astrophotographer he is, Dick produced a gorgeous image of dark nebula Lynds 1251, the "Rotten Fish Nebula" in Cepheus. Click here to see it in full resolution, click here to like it on his Instagram.

Han focussed on Cygnus and among his captures is his work-in-progress emission region Simeis 88. It contains several segments that carry individual Simeis designation. Labeled CSOG 3.0 guide below.