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Anonymous
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I made it out to a dark observing site this week and was rewarded with the best view I have ever had of M-17, the swan nebula in Sagittarius. Using a nexstar 8 with an 18 MM Meade series 4000 eyepiece (112X)and an Orion narrow band nebula filter. What a sight. The nebula material was very bright, very white and stood out clearly against a dark sky background. This is not a hazy object and filled most of the FOV in the eyepiece. The body, head and stub of a tail were well defined with much hazy material above the back that I assume is what gives it the swan wing appearance and name. I think it looks more like a duck than a swan but it is certainly an impressive sight for a dark night. This object is fairly high in a dark sky this week and if you have not tracked it down recently it is definitly worth the effort.
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Sounds good. I'll have to look for it this coming weekend.
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Oldfield
Postmaster
Reged: 03/20/02
Posts: 5216
Loc: Hong Kong
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I guess it's time to pull out my Ultrablock, I saw M17 last time without a filter, still impressed....
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The Home Astronomer from a city where most people are proud of the light pollution
Toys: C5, Ranger, Borg 45ED II, SM40/BF10, Unistar Light, TG-SP II, LXD55, ToUCam Pro, DMK 31AF03, Canon 10x30 IS, Pentax PCF III 10x50...
My observation log and ideas My General Blog
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Bob Pasken
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/30/03
Posts: 512
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Maybe my skies are better than I thought. An etx90ec without a filter shows much the same thing. My notes call it a checkmark rather than a a duck or swan, because I don't see a nose
/\ \
\ \
\_______ \________
Swan?? Check mark
which is the best I can do with ASCII art. The horizontal part needs to be tilted up some, but you get the idea
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12566
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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I'm always impressed with the binocular view of this object together with M16 to the north and the tight cluster M18 to the south. If I place my Ultrablock filter in front of one eyepiece it gets even better. Nearly a 4.5mm exit pupil with 16x70 Fujinons, and contrast that is hard to beat helps the nebulosity stand out in both m17 and M16.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 6272
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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Bob,
As a matter of fact one of M17's nicknames is the Checkmark Nebula. Add this to the Swan, Omega,
Horseshoe, and Lobster (Australian) and you might get the impression that this object has far too
many monikers.
As seen through a 22" Starmaster during the 2002 SSSP in Bolivia M17 was awash with nebulosity and took
on a whole new aspect.
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Edited by Dave Mitsky (07/13/03 04:23 AM)
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