Omega Centauri

Prior to last night, I had only seen NGC 5139 in binoculars.
I was amazed nonetheless, by the apparent size, relative to M13.
But I captured its photons in my Starmaster last night and my world will never be the same! 8O
The resolution was remarkable, especially considering the low viewing angle.
I was near to, and looking out over the ocean. Perhaps that helped.
I first caught sight of it in a 31 Nagler (58x), which gave me a good perspective on it's vastness.
I then worked up through 20mm to the 12mm T4 (150x). WOW. It filled about 2/3 of the FOV!
Tried the BinoVue's on it too, to good effect, though the balance became a real problem at that low angle.
Once it left my line of sight, I went up to M13 for comparison. The poor little thing.
I'm a bit perplexed though today, as I read that the width of each is 150 light years.
M13 is 20,000 light years distant, while NGC 5139 is 15,000.
M13 is host to 100,000 stars though, while Omega Centuari has 10,000,000!
I just feel blessed to have seen it.
I'll try again at Mt. Pinos tonight, but the treeline may be a problem there.
Linton

Linton,
I've observed it from Lockwood Valley many years ago but not from Pinos. I think it's too low for Pinos and as you suspect, it's likely to be in the tree line. It would probably be relatively easy from the summit of Pinos but you would have to back-pack a scope to get up there.
I think it would probably be seen from Red Rock Canyon since you can view down to the horizon at that site.

Linton, I know what you mean...

Down here in South Florida, we are blessed with the opportunity to see this marvelous object, and some other Southern jewels, like Eta Carinae and Centaurus A...

But Omega Centauri IS The King of GCs, no doubt about it...
Once you've seen it all others are simply PUNY in comparison... 8)


Clear skies! 8)

Hi Linton,

You have never lived until you have seen omega centauri near the zenith with a moderate-large scope!

However, impressive as it is, I still prefer 47 tucanae in a large scope.

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi Linton,

I saw it on the 28th (from Cottonwood Spring, JTNP) along with Centaurus A. First time for both objects this year. It (OC) sure is a big beast, and appeared granular in the mighty 12.5" PDHQ at 83x.

Two of my most memorable telescopic sights have been of Omega Centauri. The first was through the 36" f/5 Tectron Yard Scope and a 27mm Panoptic at the 1995 Winter Star Party. The second was through a 22" Starmaster at over 500x from an altitude of 12,500 feet in the Bolivian Altiplano.

Dave Mitsky