proud uncle
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 1576
Loc: Central Texas
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My experience at observing planetaries is very limited. The few non-messier's I've observed seem to appear as faint, out of focus stars. IMHO, they just have not seemed to have the flair or personality of M57 or M27. But, Saturday night I found NGC 7009, the "Saturn Nebula".   That was impressive! I could easily see the elongated shape at 63x, but did most of the observing at 208x. Though smaller than M57 or M27, it was amazingly bright! This is also the first planetary I've discerned noticeable color in -- blue. Some people report seeing a greenish color in M27 and M57, but I see them as white smoke.
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Kenneth
Zhumell 10" Dobsonian (f/4.9)
2" 32mm WA eyepiece
9mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm Plossls
6mm TMB/BO Planetary
2" 2x ED Barlow
Nikon 10x50 binocular (6.5 deg FOV)
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tigerroach
sage
Reged: 08/13/08
Posts: 465
Loc: Houston, TX
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NGC 7293, the Helix. Easy in binocs and small scopes if the skies are dark enough, especially with a NB filter. A little more aperture helps for seeing the screwy details.
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Brian
TeleVue TV-102, Gibralter alt-az mount
Webster 14.5" f/4.3 truss dob *under construction*
Canon 10x30 & 15x50 IS binocs
Edited by tigerroach (10/20/08 10:29 AM)
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jhors
Riddle me this
Reged: 07/16/07
Posts: 977
Loc: Tempe, AZ
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7009 and 7293 are both fantastic. Also 3242, 6543, and 2392.
I also like 6309, a rectangle-shaped nebula that forms an "!" with a nearby star.
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-Josh
Boyce Thompson Arboretum:
10" f/4.7 Dob
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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 5024
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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One of my favorite non-Messier planetary nebulae is NGC-6543, the Cat's Eye Nebula. I've not only seen the central star and the shape that looks like the outline of a cat's eye, but hints of the whorls in my 10-inch as well. On very steady nights you can use really high magnifications to tease out subtle details in this planetary nebulae.
Taras
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15-inch F/4.5 Dob under construction
10-inch F/4.5 Discovery Dob
6-inch F/8 Homebuilt Dob
4 1/4-inch F/4 Homebuilt reflector
A whole bunch of eyepieces, filters and other accessories....
Two curious cats
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GlennLeDrew
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/18/08
Posts: 1267
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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For binoculars, it's gotta be the Helix, NGC7293. It's just so huge, at 1/2 the Moon's diameter, that its size is perceptible in the smallest of instruments. But it does require pretty dark skies to see at all due to its notoriously low surface brightness.
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Home-made 11X50 right angle bino, 8.1 deg. FOV
Modified 26X100 bino, 3.5 deg. FOV
Home-made Mk II RA bino, using interchangeable objectives and eyepieces
My Gallery
Mediocre minds discuss people. Good minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.
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Patricko
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/30/07
Posts: 1532
Loc: SE New Mexico USA
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Mine would have to be NGC 6826 near the binary star 16 Cygni!
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Clear skies,
Patrick
INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY ASSOCIATION
60MM TELESCOPE CLUB!
"You can always have better, but will you ever be happy with what you have?" - Me, myself, and I
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proud uncle
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 1576
Loc: Central Texas
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Quote:
Mine would have to be NGC 6826 near the binary star 16 Cygni!
Yes, that's the "blinking planetary". I found it for the first time last night. It was not very bright, and hard to see much nebulosity, but the blinking was very apparent. I very much liked it!
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Kenneth
Zhumell 10" Dobsonian (f/4.9)
2" 32mm WA eyepiece
9mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm Plossls
6mm TMB/BO Planetary
2" 2x ED Barlow
Nikon 10x50 binocular (6.5 deg FOV)
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 10458
Loc: PA, USA, Planet Earth
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My favorite one under normal circumstances is NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula).
However, I've observed NGC 6543 (the Cat's Eye Nebula) through a Collins I3Piece and a 24" Tectron on a couple of occasions and the inner structure that was revealed was incredible. NGC 40 (the Bow-Tie Nebula) was similarly impressive.
Some other noteworthy planetaries not already mentioned include IC 418 (the Raspberry or Spirograph Nebula, which is remarkable for its color), NGC 1514 (the Crystal Ball Nebula), NGC 2371-2 (the Double Bubble Nebula), NGC 2438, NGC 3132 (the Eight-Burst or Southern Ring Nebula), NGC 6210 (the Turtle Nebula), NGC 6572 (the Emerald Nebula), NGC 7008 (the Fetus Nebula), and NGC 7662 (the Blue Snowball).
Ahh, how the DSO nicknames proliferate!
Dave Mitsky
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ngc4565adam
member
Reged: 05/04/08
Posts: 26
Loc: Lat. +46°25', Hungary
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Further non Messiers:
NGC246 - large, but it can be nice under dark skies (>4')
NGC7026 - Cheeseburger nebula, offers a nice bipolar structure in 10" scope (27"×14")
IC2149 - nice compact nebula in Auriga (15"×10")
NGC1501 - fully inhomogenous disc in bigger scopes (56"×48")
NGC1535 - almost like NGC2392, but in Eridanus (45"/18")
NGC1360 - egg shaped, quite large (6'×4.5')
NGC2440 - bright and with an unique structure in bigger scopes (74"×42"/25"×18")
IC3568 - boreal compact nebula much smaller than NGC2392, but similar in structure (18"/6")
NGC6781 - Ghost of Moon (>2')
NGC6818 - Little Gem, bright (22"×15")
NGC6905 - nice round disc in a 6" scope (42"×35")
NGC3242: I could see in a 6×30 finder!
PS: I also suggest M76, which also offers nice bipolar structure. M97 is not 11th magnitude planetary nebula, it's rather 9.6th!
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Celestron Omni 150 XLT (f/5) Newton & SkyMaster 15×70 bino
wide angle (66 deg FoV) EP's: 20,15,9mm
Unioptik FSS (UHC-like) filter
450 DSOs total (Feb 2009)
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pdfermat
super member
Reged: 11/12/07
Posts: 172
Loc: Wisconsin
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I love NGC 6572, no detail but the color is striking.
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Pat
Orion XT8i
TV 32mm, 25mm, 20mm, 15mm Plossls
Orion Shorty-Plus Barlow
DGM NPB Filter
Lumicon Deep Sky Filter
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xfile101
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/08/07
Posts: 759
Loc: Ocean Gate, NJ
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Tough choice, there are so many! I would have to say NGC 7293, the Helix is among my favorite non-Messier PN's NGC-7009, The Staurn Nebula is another good one but I think my favorite of favorite non_Messier PN is NGC-6818, The Little Gem in Sagittarius. This such a beautiful nebula and quite striking, I still can not understand how Messier missed this one, especially since he found so many objects on his list in this region of the sky! I haven't viewed NGC-2392, The Eskimo, as of yet but from what a read and heard it might take over my top position!
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Orion XT8I
Celestron 114EQ Firstscope
Meade 70mm
Astroscan
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alienux
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/17/08
Posts: 678
Loc: Dayton, Ohio
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For me, probably the Cat's Eye or the Helix.
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Brian
Orion SkyView Pro 127mm EQ Mak
Meade 60mm Push-To TeleStar
Phillips SPC900NC
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Patricko
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/30/07
Posts: 1532
Loc: SE New Mexico USA
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Congrates on the find Kenneth! I remember my first view of it well in a ST80. Awesome.
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Clear skies,
Patrick
INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY ASSOCIATION
60MM TELESCOPE CLUB!
"You can always have better, but will you ever be happy with what you have?" - Me, myself, and I
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proud uncle
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 1576
Loc: Central Texas
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Quote:
NGC 7293, the Helix. Easy in binocs and small scopes if the skies are dark enough, especially with a NB filter. A little more aperture helps for seeing the screwy details.
Tuesday night I tried for this with my binocular, without success, though I did find a good starhop. Thursday night (yesterday) I looked for it with my 10" scope. No success. I think the key is having sufficiently dark skies. Apparently, mine were not. NELM was app. 4-5.
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Kenneth
Zhumell 10" Dobsonian (f/4.9)
2" 32mm WA eyepiece
9mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm Plossls
6mm TMB/BO Planetary
2" 2x ED Barlow
Nikon 10x50 binocular (6.5 deg FOV)
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proud uncle
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 1576
Loc: Central Texas
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Quote:
NGC6781 - Ghost of Moon (>2')
I tried looking for this Thursday night, without success. I am confident the scope was pointing right at it. It must have very low surface brightness.
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Kenneth
Zhumell 10" Dobsonian (f/4.9)
2" 32mm WA eyepiece
9mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm Plossls
6mm TMB/BO Planetary
2" 2x ED Barlow
Nikon 10x50 binocular (6.5 deg FOV)
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MikeRatcliff
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/12/04
Posts: 1327
Loc: Redlands, CA
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Quote:
Quote:
NGC 7293, the Helix. Easy in binocs and small scopes if the skies are dark enough, especially with a NB filter. A little more aperture helps for seeing the screwy details.
Tuesday night I tried for this with my binocular, without success, though I did find a good starhop. Thursday night (yesterday) I looked for it with my 10" scope. No success. I think the key is having sufficiently dark skies. Apparently, mine were not. NELM was app. 4-5.
Definitely try again with a nebula filter (UHC etc) if you haven't already. My backyard is probably worse than your sky in brightness, although the scope is a bit bigger.
The filter makes a huge difference for some nebula. The difference between: 1) not visible at all and 2)bam! there it is no problem.
Mike
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16" f/4.9 dob, 1.25" Paracorr, 24 TV Widefield, 18 Circle T ortho, 13 Nagler T6, 12.5 UO ortho,
9 Circle T ortho, 2x TV Barlow 1.25"
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HellsKitchen
sage
Reged: 09/05/08
Posts: 356
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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Definately the Ghost of Jupiter. Bright, big, spectacular vivid bluish colour and fascinating structure.
NGC 3918 is a beauty aswell. Bright and perfectly round with an intense turquiose hue.
NGC 5189 is awesome, it's big and has a strange shape that looks like a demented barred-spiral galaxy.
Edited by HellsKitchen (10/25/08 06:49 AM)
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4115
Loc: Ireland
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In my observing logs The Fetus (NGC7008) appears to win out, with The Eskimo (NGC2392) and The Bow-Tie (NGC40) in close chase.
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-100 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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Magellanico
super member
Reged: 07/09/05
Posts: 170
Loc: São Paulo - Brazil
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Hi,
NGC 3132 - Southern Ring Nebula!
NGC 3918 - Blue Planetary Nebula!
NGC 5189 - Spiral Planetary Nebula!
Clear and dark skies to all,
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 10458
Loc: PA, USA, Planet Earth
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NGC 6302 (the Bug or Butterfly Nebula) in Scorpius is another planetary that deserves mention.
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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lymorkiew45
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/30/07
Posts: 735
Loc: In the dark, and way out there...
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My favorites are NGC 7009, NGC 6894, NGC 6765, NGC 6781, and others as well, but my top favorite is NGC 7027, it has a striking color, and a pretty structure...clear skies 
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Jorgen
Starfinder 16 dob: Zambuto Optics! 
DS-10
Orion XT12i: The optics are special! 
Z12
All the Lanthanum superwides!
Orion ultrablock filter
9mm Nagler type 6
15mm, 25mm, 35mm Ultrascopics
Orion Shorty Plus barlow
Orion Lazer Collimator
40" Webster: Under Construction 
http://cleardarksky.com/c/SanJoseCAkey.html?1
20 years in Southern Dragon Kung Fu, or dragon style embellished in magical arms.
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Patricko
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/30/07
Posts: 1532
Loc: SE New Mexico USA
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I've never observed NGC 7027, but your description puts it on my list of objects to find! 
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Clear skies,
Patrick
INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY ASSOCIATION
60MM TELESCOPE CLUB!
"You can always have better, but will you ever be happy with what you have?" - Me, myself, and I
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proud uncle
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/22/07
Posts: 1576
Loc: Central Texas
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Thanks for all the ideas! After having frustration last week at trying unsuccessfully to see the Helix and "Ghost of the Moon" in Aquila, I had a great night of planetaries on Saturday night. In addition to viewing M57 and M27, I had my first ever (and very nice) views of M76, the "Little Gem" in Sagittarius, and the Blue Snowball.
With all objects except M57 and M27, I first detected non-stellar nature of these at 64x and found the optimal power for all to be 208x.
Little Gem and Blue Snowball were both round and blue, appeared the same apparent size. The only difference I noticed was the dark center of the Blue Snowball, but no detail in the Gem.
M76 basically appeared as a little brother/sister to M27, except though it was significantly smaller, I thought M76 appeared brighter than M27. It was also more elongated than M27 (like a dog bone). Both appeared white.
Except for the difference in color, the Blue Snowball appeared like a miniature M57. The distinct dark center of the Blue Snowball gave it an annular appearance.
Based on your recommendations, I look forward to trying for NGC 6543 (Catseye Nebula), NGC 40 (Bow tie Nebula), and others.
M97 is now the only Messier planetary I need to conquer. It's becoming almost a nemesis. Is this one I'll need a nebular filter for?
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Kenneth
Zhumell 10" Dobsonian (f/4.9)
2" 32mm WA eyepiece
9mm, 12.5mm, and 20mm Plossls
6mm TMB/BO Planetary
2" 2x ED Barlow
Nikon 10x50 binocular (6.5 deg FOV)
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4115
Loc: Ireland
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Kenneth --
The Owl (M97) is pretty bright, so you shouldn't need a filter for it. I've found that a UHC helps somewhat with the "eyes" (the two dark spots), but that averted vision and more magnification will also reveal them. If you have dark skies (NELM 6 or better) I'd suggest around 300x for it. Under brighter skies it will probably dim too much and you may need to stay around 200x.
NGC40 is much more compact, so I'd try more like 400x on it (even under brighter skies). With a night of good seeing, more power is often better than more filtration on planetary nebulae. For instance, the uneven edge of NGC40 is more apparent to me at 510x in a 16" Mak-Cass.
Same for NGC6543 -- I've used up to 600x on it to get some contrast between the fainter outer shell and the background.
Cheers and good hunting,
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-100 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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ngc4565adam
member
Reged: 05/04/08
Posts: 26
Loc: Lat. +46°25', Hungary
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Quote:
Quote:
NGC6781 - Ghost of Moon (>2')
I tried looking for this Thursday night, without success. I am confident the scope was pointing right at it. It must have very low surface brightness.
It is not so hard under an 5.5 magnitude sky, even with a 4.5" Newton.
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Celestron Omni 150 XLT (f/5) Newton & SkyMaster 15×70 bino
wide angle (66 deg FoV) EP's: 20,15,9mm
Unioptik FSS (UHC-like) filter
450 DSOs total (Feb 2009)
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Stephen65
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/14/07
Posts: 938
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
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As a southerner my favourites are the Blue Planetary, Saturn, Eskimo, 8-Burst, Ghost of Jupiter and Helix nebulas.
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Megrez 90
FLT 132
Mewlon 250
Lots of XWs, an Ethos, Supermonos and some other EPs
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Unknownastron
sage
Reged: 04/06/05
Posts: 209
Loc: CatsEye Observatory,Rural Sout...
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Quote:
NGC 7293, the Helix. Easy in binocs and small scopes if the skies are dark enough, especially with a NB filter. A little more aperture helps for seeing the screwy details.
I concur, in fact, the helix is my favorite planetary of all when it comes to planetariesfor amateur scopes. In a dark sky it is easy to detect and each step up in instrument continues to show more detail.. Long live the Helix!
Clear skies and cleanglass,
The Unknown Astronomer
aka Mike Planchon, Catseye Observaatory
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"My God, it's full of stars!"
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