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I found the Blinking Nebula, not sure which NGC# it is 6000 something. It didn't blink, but it was a very bright pretty blue! I didn't go over 130x on it, I don't like high x that much. I don't go over 228x, and that's on planets. The Deep Map 600 isn't too bad, I use Starry Night more, but it's only for M's. The 40mm worked good for the M29 area, and I'm glad I didn't sell it! I want to see the Saturn Nebula and the Blue Snowball. The Helix is cool, but may be faint, I'll try that in the Poconos! What constellation is the "Blue Flash Nebula" in? Sounds interesting. May attempt M72/73 tonight...maybe.

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The "Blinking" Planetary is NGC 6826, located in Cygnus. It appears as a nearly round fuzzy ball with averted vision in a small scope, but seems to vanish when you look directly at it in a small aperture (hence, its name). In my NexStar 9.25 inch SCT the other night, it appeared as a pretty pale bluish sphere of light about 38 arc seconds across, with a prominent 10th magnitude central star. It takes high power pretty well, so don't be afraid to go high on this one.

The "Blue Flash" is a fainter planetary: NGC 6905 in Delphinus. It doesn't really live up to its name, as it is not all that bright but is about 48 arc seconds across. In my NexStar 9.25 inch SCT, I was able to use some fairly high power on it (297x) and saw annular arcs on the east and west sides with the one on the east brighter and linked with a patch near the center. The "Saturn Nebula" is NGC 7009, and it is a really pretty object with a rather stunning bluish-green color. The object basically looks like a slightly fuzzy oval, but at high power on a good dark night, occasionally the faint puffs of light (the "ansae") will appear just off the ends in moderate to large apertures. The Helix (NGC 7293) is visible in binoculars from a dark sky site, and while it is faint, it is so large (half the size of the full-moon) than it requires very low power and nebula filters to make it stand out. Good luck and clear skies to you.

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David W. Knisely
Hyde Memorial Observatory
http://www.hydeobservatory.info

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