10 replies to this topic

[Dave Mitsky]

I returned yesterday evening from a very productive ten-night stay at Cherry Springs State Park. My friend Tony Donnangelo and I observed many celestial objects both new and old during that time but the most memorable highlight for me was successfully observing a certain planetary nebula.

The sky was beginning to cloud up completely early Saturday morning so I packed up my dew-soaked gear and was ready to crawl into my sleeping bag when conditions began to improve dramatically. I walked over to Tony's 24" f/3.3 Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob as he was making an attempt at one of the classic observing challenge objects, the planetary nebula located within the globular cluster M22. We had never actually seen it before but with great seeing, the dark skies of Cherry Springs, a very detailed finder chart, Tony's impressive star-hopping skills, an aperture of 24 inches, and a magnification approaching 800x, Tony, Dr. Elliott McKinley (a fellow Cherry Springs regular), and I all caught glimpses of the very elusive DSO.

http://www.blackskie.../gjjc_m22_1.htm

The conditions were superb after midnight on Sunday morning and Tony, Elliott, and I had an even better view of GJJC1 through the 24" Starmaster. Stars were surprisingly sharp at 771x (3-6mm Tele Vue Nagler zoom set at 3mm) and the transparency was excellent. Even so, the tiny and dim planetary nebula was nothing more than a slightly fuzzy star when seen with averted vision. Pease 1 in M15 is a piece of cake compared to GJJC1.

There's more on GJJC1, which is also known as IRAS 18333-2357 and PK 009-07.1, at http://messier.seds....re/m022_pn.html and another image of the area where GJJC1 resides, but not of the nebula itself, at http://www.celestron...285&mode=search

GJJC1 is ultimate challenge object #7 on Rich Jakiel's list at http://www.astronomy...ce/ultimate.htm

Dave Mitsky

[LivingNDixie]

Wow sounds like a tough observation, great job!

[starrancher]

I returned yesterday evening from a very productive ten-night stay at Cherry Springs State Park. My friend Tony Donnangelo and I observed many celestial objects both new and old during that time but the most memorable highlight for me was successfully observing a certain planetary nebula.

The sky was beginning to cloud up completely early Saturday morning so I packed up my dew-soaked gear and was ready to crawl into my sleeping bag when conditions began to improve dramatically. I walked over to Tony's 24" f/3.3 Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob as he was making an attempt at one of the classic observing challenge objects, the planetary nebula located within the globular cluster M22. We had never actually seen it before but with great seeing, the dark skies of Cherry Springs, a very detailed finder chart, Tony's impressive star-hopping skills, an aperture of 24 inches, and a magnification approaching 800x, Tony, Dr. Elliott McKinley (a fellow Cherry Springs regular), and I all caught glimpses of the very elusive DSO.

http://www.blackskie.../gjjc_m22_1.htm

The conditions were superb after midnight on Sunday morning and Tony, Elliott, and I had an even better view of GJJC1 through the 24" Starmaster. Stars were surprisingly sharp at 771x (3-6mm Tele Vue Nagler zoom set at 3mm) and the transparency was excellent. Even so, the tiny and dim planetary nebula was nothing more than a slightly fuzzy star when seen with averted vision. Pease 1 in M15 is a piece of cake compared to GJJC1.

There's more on GJJC1, which is also known as IRAS 18333-2357 and PK 009-07.1, at http://messier.seds....re/m022_pn.html and another image of the area where GJJC1 resides, but not of the nebula itself, at http://www.celestron...285&mode=search

GJJC1 is ultimate challenge object #7 on Rich Jakiel's list at http://www.astronomy...ce/ultimate.htm

Dave Mitsky

A ten night stay Dave !
I don't envy too often but man!

[Dave Mitsky]

Two of the nights we couldn't observe due to rain and clouds and one or two of the nights were marginal. The short June nights left us wanting for more. Even so it was a great observing run.

The best conditions of my entire stay at the park occurred on that final Sunday morning.

Dave Mitsky

[FastMike]

the tiny and dim planetary nebula was nothing more than a slightly fuzzy star when seen with averted vision.

That pretty much sums up how GJJC1 appears in my 28" scope. I've observed it 5 times this year with the first two nights spent trying to confirm it's location with pictures/charts etc. Best seen at 600x or higher magnifications.

[Dave Mitsky]

One of the best amateur images of GJJC1 that I'm aware of is posted at http://www.pbase.com...image/136080440

Dave Mitsky

[starrancher]

Pretty obscure for sure .

[sgottlieb]

Dave, I'm curious if you identified GJJC1 based on position alone (using the detailed chart), or were you able to confirm it by blinking with an OIII or a narrowband filter? As you probably know, Pease 1 blinks very well with a filter.

[Dave Mitsky]

Steve,

I tried blinking GJJC1 with a Lumicon OIII filter but the image at 771x was so dark that it was useless.

Dave Mitsky

[KidOrion]

One of the best amateur images of GJJC1 that I'm aware of is posted at http://www.pbase.com...image/136080440

Dave Mitsky

[bassplayer142]

Very cool! It makes you wonder how much faster and better we all would be if we had amazing conditions and the chance to observe more often. You can accomplished months of work in 10 quality nights...