10 replies to this topic

[PhilH]

Of the constellations that line the autumn Milky Way, King Cepheus, the king of Aethiopia in Greek mythology, is trod upon by relatively few amateur astronomers. While this is most likely because the constellation's brightest stars are faint compared to his wife, Queen Cassiopeia, the King has many royal deep-sky subjects is his own right that merit a look, including this month's challenge.

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[Sky King]

Thanks Phil for another interesting challenge!

 

I was imaging last night and saw this month's challenge on my computer and had to slew over and take a look. I wasn't setup for this target but imaged it anyway and got a little detail with a Nikon D5300, 8 EdgeHD, Celestron .7 reducer, and l'Extreme filter, 20 x 180s exposures. 

 

 

Edited by Sky King, 06 November 2023 - 02:46 PM.

[Sky King]

And zoomed in:

 

 

 

[Jon Isaacs]

Phil:

 

Thanks again for another interesting challenge. I found it quite easily in my 16 inch, I didn't see much detail but I'll try it again this evening.

 

I also found Minkowski 2-51, about 5° from 7354 and about half a degree from epsilon Cephei. Sky Safari says it's mag 13.6 and 0.6' x 0.8'.

 

Jon

[BoldAxis1967]

Several years ago (7-8) I tried to find this in my light red zone with my 6 inch Omni reflector to no avail. I was probably using an UltraBlock narrow band filter. I will have to give this another go.

 

L.

[John O'Hara]

Thanks, Phil!

 

Hoping to try it this weekend from near Quartzsite, AZ with my 100 ED refractor and 12.5" Dob.  I'll keep you posted! 

 

John

[Jon Isaacs]

Due to family issues (wife out of town, cat needing to be fed, helping sister with her cat), I am back in San Diego during the new moon. I thought I would give NGC7354 a try from my light polluted backyard.  The sky is pretty bright,. Using an SQM-L,  I measured 18.34 mpsas at the zenith, 18.24 mpsas in region of 7354.  I had setup my 13.1 inch F/5.5 Starsplitter, the biggest scope I have in San DIego.  I figured it was doable, I calculated the surface brightness was around 19mpsas.. 

 

There are not a lot of stars visible naked eye in the region so get close enough to star hop I used my digital level strapped to the finder for the altitude and Polaris for the azimuth.  Fortunately, at that moment, 7354 was within a degree of due north.. 

 

The star hop was pretty easy and I was using a 20mm XWA with an O-lll filter, it was tiny but it popped right out as non-stellar.  I cranked up the magnification to 260x and it was larger but no real detail.  I backed off to 210x with no filter and it was visable, probably larger but more diffuse.  I spent more than an hour trying to tease out more and just enough viewing Phil's challenge object from the city.  

 

It was a good night.  The clouds rolled in off the ocean after about 2 hours and put an end to the evening.  

 

From my urban back yard, NGC 7354 is what I call a Class 2 Amazing Object.  Class 1 Amazing Objects are the show case objects we all know well.  A Class 2 Amazing Object is an object that's amazing you can actually see it..

 

Jon

[John O'Hara]

Unfortunately, the weather didn't line up at a time I could observe this month.  Hopefully I can try for next month.  

 

John

[Alex Swartzinski]

I spotted this one with my 15" under the moon last night.

I was at a semi rural site close to the city. It's my go to spot when I want to leave the house without going to far. When the moon isn't out, I can get into the mid 5th magnitude range here.

For my first impression, it was surprising to see a faint circular glow with no filter at 73x.

Without a filter, this planetary took power very well. My best view was at 330x. At this power, I could begin to notice uneven brightening on the eastern and western sides of the glow. It also appeared less circular and more spherical. A central dark section was implied based on this irregular brightening.

I also noted hints of knot-like bright spots across the entire face of this planetary. It showed clear signs of mottling.

Surprisingly, a filter killed much of this fine detail. It appeared to have a more even surface brightness with the UHC.

I'll come back to this one many more times! It's truly an underrated planetary.

Thanks for the challenge Phil!

Edited by Alex Swartzinski, 20 November 2023 - 08:33 AM.

[John O'Hara]

I was hoping for one last try tonight, but alas, tonight we have wind in SW Arizona, no fun in the desert when your Dob. weathervanes and the atmosphere is choked with dust.  Next month it is...

[sgottlieb]

Here are three observations with larger scopes.

 

24" (8/30/16): at 375x; fairly bright, slightly elongated SW-NE, ~25"x20".  The rim is brighter along the SE side and very slightly brighter along the NW side.  The rim dims on the NE side.  At 500x, the planetary clearly had a mottled appearance with what appeared to be several very small brighter spots that wink in and out. A mag 14 star is 0.5' SW, a mag 14-14.5 star is 0.8' W and a mag 15 star is 0.7' NW.

 

18" (8/17/04): at 225x, moderately bright, ~30" diameter.  At 435x appears slightly brighter along portions of the rim, particularly along the SE side. A mag 14 star is just off the SW edge with a mag 14.5 star a bit further west.

 

17.5" (11/6/99): a fairly bright, 25" disc is visible at 100x with one or two stars very close.  At 280x, the PN is slightly elongated E-W, ~25"x20". At 380x, a mag 15-15.5 star is 0.6' WNW.  In addition, the surface brightness is noticeably irregular with hints of brighter areas. A mag 14 star is close off the SW edge, 30" from center and a mag 14.5 star is 0.6' due west.