Telescope Reviews: NGC 6742 PN in Draco

I observed this planetary, which is just over the border from Lyra in Draco, from my backyard in midtown Kansas City last Monday evening. Whereas chasing galaxies is frustrating from an urban site, no matter how large your telescope, I have consistently found planetary nebula to be rewarding and fun thanks in no small measure to OIII and UHC narrowband filters. This is the first time I have observed 6742. It is not included in the Sky Atlas 2000. I used the Uranometria, 2nd ED., chart 33.

NGC 6742 PN Draco, KCMO, 6/30/08, 22-inch, 22 & 17mmT4, 22mmT4w2xPM, UHC filter, T:6/S:6. With the help of Martin Germano's astrophoto in the Night Sky Observer's Guide (2-184), I was able to observe this pn. It was faint in averted but I could hold it in view 85-90% of the time with the 17mmT4 (151.2x) and 100% of the time with the 22T4 & 2x Powermate (203.2x). All observations with UHC filter. The pn appeared as a small, smokey gray disk with fairly well defined edges surprisingly like the photo. I did not see any hint of color or a central star. I should probably concentrate on seeing how many stars I can pick out from Germano's image. Next time. This would be an excellent object to sketch, too. I look forward to trying it from a dark site.

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Fiske Miles
Nikon 8x42 LX / 12x50 SE Binos
Mini Borg 60ED, TV-101, AT80Ach, XT-8, C11/CI-700, 22-Inch Dob
Way too many Nagler eyepieces
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