Big and bright, it reminds me of a termite. The Bug nebula, now crawling at the bottom of Scorpio...
After spending two nights during the new moon week in July at the LAAS site in Lockwood valley, I observed some interesting objects. With SQM readings varying from 21.15 to 21.40 and seeing rated at 3-4/5 and transparency 4-5/5, the summer sky was good enough to offer some fine views of deep sky splendors.
While bottom fishing in Scorpio, don't forget to check-out another fine planetary nebula, NGC 6337, 40" in diameter and appearing pale blue in the eyepiece, it appears brighter than its listed 12.3 magnitude. Pop in an 0111 filter to discern NGC 6357, a large emission nebula embedded in an open cluster. Leave the 0111 filter in place and observe NGC 6334, a large and complex emission nebula with four large components. I used a 31mm ES 2" 82 AFOV eyepiece with my 16" f4.5 dob to see it. With the 0111 filter still in place, IC 4628 arcs across the field, reminding a bit of the cap of Thor's Helmet.
While observing in Ophiuchus, don't forget to observe NGC 6369, the little ghost nebula, reminiscent of the ring nebula in Lyra. A notable galaxy in the same constellation is NGC 6384, appearing big and bright in my scope.
Suffice it to say that I hit just about any globular cluster visible from my latitude along with planetaries in Cygnus and Aquila. I started the evening with views of galaxies in CV until the other constellations rode a bit higher in the summer skies.
Wishing you clear, dark and steady summer skies...
After spending two nights during the new moon week in July at the LAAS site in Lockwood valley, I observed some interesting objects. With SQM readings varying from 21.15 to 21.40 and seeing rated at 3-4/5 and transparency 4-5/5, the summer sky was good enough to offer some fine views of deep sky splendors.
While bottom fishing in Scorpio, don't forget to check-out another fine planetary nebula, NGC 6337, 40" in diameter and appearing pale blue in the eyepiece, it appears brighter than its listed 12.3 magnitude. Pop in an 0111 filter to discern NGC 6357, a large emission nebula embedded in an open cluster. Leave the 0111 filter in place and observe NGC 6334, a large and complex emission nebula with four large components. I used a 31mm ES 2" 82 AFOV eyepiece with my 16" f4.5 dob to see it. With the 0111 filter still in place, IC 4628 arcs across the field, reminding a bit of the cap of Thor's Helmet.
While observing in Ophiuchus, don't forget to observe NGC 6369, the little ghost nebula, reminiscent of the ring nebula in Lyra. A notable galaxy in the same constellation is NGC 6384, appearing big and bright in my scope.
Suffice it to say that I hit just about any globular cluster visible from my latitude along with planetaries in Cygnus and Aquila. I started the evening with views of galaxies in CV until the other constellations rode a bit higher in the summer skies.
Wishing you clear, dark and steady summer skies...