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AstroRealtor
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/26/08
Posts: 538
Loc: Terra Firma
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After what has been hours now (have I lost half my marbles?) in Cassiopeia, I am still left with questions about M52 and M103. Have I seen these open clusters or not? Part of the problem in a positive identification lies in my stubborness to locate them with my small refractor (85mm). I really love this little scope and now that I have it mounted to a Polaris mount in an arrangement that allows almost effortless star hopping, it is so easy to grab & go for some seated (simple kitchen chair) viewing right off the back deck. Probably the most stunning view last night did not come from any Messiers at all, but a quick hop in the next constellation over in Cepheus. Herschel's Garnet star was a feast for sore eyes and I think it was redder and more pronounced than I've ever seen it. The more experienced variable star observers among us would have to weigh in on what stage in its brilliancy cycle this variable star is currently, but oh what a fantastic view this little beauty was last night! It's refered to as Herschel's Garnet star but I see it as more of a brilliant reddish orange color and it's easily discernable from any star near it as quite different in hue. If you really want an education of the potential enormity of stars read up on this star as it is one of the most amazing in our galaxy!
I DO think I located M52 and M103 in my small refractor, but there are certainly more brilliant open clusters in Cassiopeia that Messier and friends did not catalogue as pretender comets (NGC 663 is a real beauty)and some of those are even better to pay attention to than Messier's.
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Clear Skies, Jim
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Discovering: Messier objects, Deep sky treasures, NGCs, Double stars, & Nebulae of all kinds.
Televue 85 "Polaris" Mount
Custom Crafted Newtonian Dob 8" f7 w/Feathertouch
Celestron Cometron Reflector 114mm f8
Zeiss Diafun 8 X 30 Binos
Zeiss 10 X 56 Binos
 Aldrich Astronomical Society
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RussL
Music Maker
Reged: 03/18/08
Posts: 1609
Loc: Cayce, SC
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I was in Cassiopeia myself the other night with the ST80. The camera tripod it's on is really insufficient, and the finder is junk, so I just scanned aroud the area for a long time. Seemed like every time I moved to the very next FOV there was something to stop and look at for awhile. Didn't run into any Messiers that I knew for sure that that's what it was, but almost everything I saw looked like it should be catalogued. Did the same thing above Sagittarius with pretty much the same results. Of course I ran into M22 along the way. My sky is so washed out with light normally that I often just scan, sometimes as low as 10x like my binos (at least the scope will be still). 
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--Russell
"Akita mani yo." Observe everything as you walk. (--Lakota)
Celestron Celestar 8 Standard SCT, f10
Celestron 80mm Wide View ref., f5
Criterion RV-6 Dynascope, Newt., f8, (c. 1962)
Sears Discoverer 60mm ref., f7, (c. 1973)
Celestron Ultima DX 10x50, 6.5 TFOV
Tasco 7x35 wide
Several mediocre eyepieces
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jmcdonald
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/01/05
Posts: 1503
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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I guess one good way is to sketch the cluster and the field stars and compare to existing sketches and/or charts. Or do that at the eyepiece. I agree that neither cluster is among Cass's most impressive.
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Jerel
Discovery 12.5" modified truss DOB
Orion 100mm f/6 achromat
Garret 15x70 LW Binoculars
22-T4,13-T6
IDA Membership
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Lard Greystoke
sage
Reged: 07/27/08
Posts: 201
Loc: Ohio
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Agree with above post, sketching is great. For these two objects use a low-power eyepiece and sketch their position with respect to bright stars or patterns of stars. Then google each object (the SEDS database is excellent) until you find a photo of the right scale which either confirms/denies your ID.
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Lard Greystoke
10" Odyssey Compact
"With Tantor, the elephant, he made friends. How? Ask me not."
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2102
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
After what has been hours now (have I lost half my marbles?) in Cassiopeia, I am still left with questions about M52 and M103. Have I seen these open clusters or not?
Very likely. An 85-mm refractor is amply big to show both of these clusters even through medium-severe light pollution. But open clusters can be hard to identify at first, until you've gotten used to the vast variety of sizes, shapes and brightnesses that these objects come in.
M103 is very easy to overlook, especially with bright NGC 663 right next door. A small scope would probably show only the four or five brightest stars, arranged in the form of a Greek gamma. Bigger scopes show a dozen or two fainter stars clustered around these, giving more of a cluster appearance.
But I am a little surprised about M52; that's actually a pretty nice cluster. You can identify it without doubt by the extra-bright star superposed on top of it.
Take a look at the descriptions on my website.
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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