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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: 1534
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: 4122
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: 214
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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