nobody special
sage
Reged: 12/30/08
Posts: 404
Loc: Connecticut
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Despite the weather forecast for cloudy skies, the skies ended up being clear and I set about trying to confirm this object which has been giving me alot of trouble finding.
I have to admit this bright object has me wondering why it took so long to find but there she was.
My observations were as follows, at 48x the Blue Snowball looked, well like a very bright blueish star but once I popped in my Hyperion at 92x it was pretty clear I found my target. The target took on a blue fuzzy round shape and was very, very cool to see.
I'll be honest, if I had not been able to detect the blueish tint then I may still be looking for it.
On a side note last night was one of those nights everything went wrong, dew was a constant problem, neighbor had a light on that was driving me nuts, cell phone kept ringing and I even managed to catch the Telrad on the door jam on the way in and knocked it off the darn scope.
I hate nights like that 
But at least I can say I bagged it.
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Tom
Orion XT8 Classic
Hyperion 13mm (With 28mm Tuning Ring)
Orion Sirius 25mm
Meade Series 4000 Plossls 32mm 6.4mm
Orion Shorty Plus 2x Barlow
Telrad
OPT OIII Filter
ND Moon Filter
80a Blue Filter
Smart Seat III
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Bill Barlow
sage
Reged: 12/03/07
Posts: 336
Loc: Overland Park KS
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Nice going, Tom. I also have been looking for this object now a few times with my Meade 10" ACF SCT by star-hopping with 10x50 binoculars and a 10x60 finder on the scope. I have been looking above M31 by about 10-12 degrees for the three brighter star pattern in Andromeda using Sky and Telescopes Star Atlas. The last time (Monday) some high clouds were moving in, so the transparency wasn't too good, but I'll try again soon.
That evening I also saw the Cat's Eye, Dumbbell and Ring Nebula's, so not a total loss. Take care.
Bill
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Meade 10" SCT ACF OTA on a UA UniStar Deluxe Super 8 altaz mount on a UA heavy duty surveyor tripod and a Manny Miles eyepiece tray.
SV 102ED doublet refractor on a UA UniStar Light mount on a UA light surveyor tripod with a Manny Miles eyepiece tray.
Garrett Optical 10x50 and 12x60 binoculars. Also Garrett Optical 30x100 binoculars mounted on a SLIK Pro 700DX AMT tripod.
Several TV Plossls and Naglers, plus a few very good Celestron Ultima wide TFOV eyepieces.
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Tim L
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/17/08
Posts: 564
Loc: Austin, TX
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Congratulations Tom!
  
Glad you liked it--sometimes after a long hunt, an object can seem anticlimactic: "That's IT???" It's always good when the target presents a nice pleasing view.
You'll feel really proud of yourself when you say to your girls, "Hey, come look at this," and swing right to the Snowball with no trouble. 
Sorry about all the other mishaps. Man, we've all had some of those. 
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Tim
Zhumell Z10 dob
Meade 60mm refractor
Zhumell 1.25" eyepiece and filter kit
Zhumell sky-glow, UHC, and OIII filters
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starrancher
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/09/09
Posts: 606
Loc: Northern Arizona
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LXD75 AR5
LXD75 SN8
Series 4000 Plossls
Misc. other stuff
Fort Rock , Az .
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nobody special
sage
Reged: 12/30/08
Posts: 404
Loc: Connecticut
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Quote:
sometimes after a long hunt, an object can seem anticlimactic: "That's IT???" It's always good when the target presents a nice pleasing view.
Never Tim. Everything in the night sky is beautiful to me, To commune with the universe and to be able to see its wonders with your own eyes through a telescope what could be more rewarding than that?
"Thats it??" has never entered my mind. but then again I'm kinda simple
Thanks for the support,,,,, On to the next.
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Tom
Orion XT8 Classic
Hyperion 13mm (With 28mm Tuning Ring)
Orion Sirius 25mm
Meade Series 4000 Plossls 32mm 6.4mm
Orion Shorty Plus 2x Barlow
Telrad
OPT OIII Filter
ND Moon Filter
80a Blue Filter
Smart Seat III
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Dain
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/24/05
Posts: 1596
Loc: N.Y. Adirondack Mnts. NGC 4565...
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Hooray..hooray!
Nice job, Tom! That's definitely a cool little planetary. There's a few more out there waiting for ya. 
Clear Skies to All!
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Best,
Dain
Adirondack Mountains (my true dark sky site)
@ Cedar River Flow
Local Site
Clear Skies?
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JayinUT
I'm not Sleepy
Reged: 09/19/08
Posts: 945
Loc: Utah
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Tom,
Congrats you took me back to when I first found this! I love PN's they are fun. Here's a site if you want to hunt some by season:
PN by Season
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Jay in Utah
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Location: Lat: 40.514N Long: -112.032W
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
— Ptolemy, c.150 AD
My Blog
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Tim L
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/17/08
Posts: 564
Loc: Austin, TX
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Quote:
"Thats it??" has never entered my mind.
Although I confess I was a bit underwhelmed with M40.
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Tim
Zhumell Z10 dob
Meade 60mm refractor
Zhumell 1.25" eyepiece and filter kit
Zhumell sky-glow, UHC, and OIII filters
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ensign
member
Reged: 12/16/08
Posts: 39
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Congrats on your success!
That's a surpisingly difficult object to find. It gave me trouble for quite a while too. I find planetaries in general to be difficult objects to find. I'm thinking that I have to get better at star-hopping and using detailed maps.
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- Mike
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Modified 10" Sky-Watcher Dob
William Optics Megrez 110/EZTouch
Nagler Type 4 - 12,17,22
Pentax XW - 10,7
William Optics UWAN 28
Siebert Observatory class 40
Other assorted items too numerous to mention
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David Pavlich
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/05
Posts: 8668
Loc: Mandeville, LA USA 30.22 X 90....
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That's a nice object. There aren't many deep space objects that show color, but this one is a real treat because of its blue cast. I spent a lot of time on it last weekend at 230X. Just a real pleasure!
David
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Proud Member; PAS NOLA,
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research..."
A. Einstein
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pa_strgzr
member
Reged: 09/07/09
Posts: 19
Loc: N.E. PA
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Congrats. I recently just found the Blue Snowball myself after an hour of searching, reviewing charts, searching again, repeat the process. I think it was worth the effort. 
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Orion XT10
Hyperion Zoom
Hyperion 21mm
Telrad
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galaxyman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/04/05
Posts: 1472
Loc: Limerick, Pa
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Was looking at it Sunday night at one of our better dark sites.
I had the 8" refractor on it up to 515x (no filters), and could easily make out the inner ring. Really a great planetary nebula.
Karl
E.O.H.
Chesmont Astronomical Society
Telekit (Swayze optics) 22" F/4.5 Dob
Homemade (Parks Optics) 12.5" F/4.8 Dob
TMB 8" f/9 Refractor”The Beast”. One great achro
ES 6" f/6.5 achro. New
Orion 4" f/6 Refractor. Also not bad for an achro
Celestron 10x60mm Binos
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So many galaxies, so little time!
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