As an observer in Northeast Georgia, I am accustomed to lousy seeing conditions. I can't remember the last time we had a night with good seeing, maybe 18 months ago? Anyway, this Monday, April 28, turned unexpectedly clear, and Astrospheric and ClearDarkSky predicted good transparency AND seeing (but that doesn't usually mean anything) so I took my f/4.5 (5.175 with Paracorr2) 16" dob out to my SQM 20.1 local field. I put in an Pentax XW 10mm (210X) and turned to my favorite planetary nebula, NGC 3242, the "Ghost of Jupiter", and I was struck by the clarity and detail in the image. So I put in a Baader Morpheus 4.5mm (467X), and the image stayed crystal sharp. It was glorious and mesmerizing. It is extremely rare that I can go past 300X. I let the PN drift through the field of view over and over. Everything was there, the white dwarf, the inner lighter colored gas cloud, the darker greenish elongated gas cloud around that, and the lighter greenish gas cloud around that. Then I thought, "The Lion Face" NGC 2392! So, I went back to 210X to find it and then went to 467X again, and it was the best view of 2392 I've ever had. It was awe-inspiring. Again I let it drift through the FOV again and again. The inner and outer gas shells were distinct, there was crenulation around the outer gas shell, and there was structure in the inner gas cloud.
All this joy from very good seeing conditions.
I observed other objects that night, but I could have gone home happy with just the views of 3242 and 2392. It's amazing what good seeing conditions can do for a planetary nebula.
