Kemble's Cascade + Ngc 1502

Good evening, all.
So has anyone seen these? Kemble's Cascade and Ngc 1502? I have just come in from observing them for the 1st time in my life. In my judgement they are both stunning. At 40X, I observed both the southern section and the northern part. I could not view both of them at the same time in my 158mm apo. But I think they are both brilliantly glorious asterisms. An the northerly end of the cascade, I was mesmerized by the star cluster at the end. I must study this area again some time.
I had revisited those 2 fine triple stars Iota Cassiopeiae and Psi Cassiopeiae tonight too and carbon stars U Camelopardali and UV Camelopardali. These are quite deep orange lovely carbon stars. U is 7.3 mag and UV is 7.6.

Come to think of it: has anyone observed anything in Camelopardalis? I recommend you give it a try if you can tear yourselves away from Orion!

Clear skies,

Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey

I have seen Kemble's Cascade and NGC1502 on several occasions, Kemble's Cascade is really a binocular.object. It looks rather like a waterfall falling into the pool which is NGC1502. NGC1502 itself is a lovely cluster.

There is a nice little planetary nebula nearby, NGC1501.

However, the big target in Camelopardalis is the galaxy IC342 (Caldwell 5). This is a difficult object, and it eluded me for many years, until I finally saw it a couple of years ago from Bragan in County Monaghan in my 10" dob. Even then it was shadowy and elusive, rather like M101 on a bad night. Like M33, the galaxy does not have a bright core, which makes it much harder to spot.

Some have claimed to have seen it in binoculars in a very dark sky, but I certainly haven't. It needs low magnification and a dark sky, but it was worth the effort to finally see it.

Thank you, Stevie, for your information.
I must look for that planetary nebula NGC 1502 when tonight's Ice Full Moon is out of the way.
I am delighted Camelopardalis in now descending away from the zenith. I had to kneel down on a garden kneeling pad to observe through my refractor. It was well worth it though. This constellation is so dim that I find myself coming from Segin in Cassiopeia to search this wonderfully enigmatic area.
Thank you for mentioning your galaxies, Stevie.

Clear skies,
Aubrey.

Thanks for the report Aubrey. I have not observed Kemble's Cascade; following your recommendation, I'll try when the opportunity arises. The only objects in Camelopardalis that I have observed are doubles. Here are a couple of targets that you might enjoy.

STT54 AB; Mag1: 7.7; Mag2: 9; Sep: 22.1" and STF374 AB; Mag1: 7.8; Mag2: 9; Sep: 11.2" are separated by about 45', so they can both be observed using a Plossl eyepiece at 50x. I thought all four stars were pale yellow, and, although neither double is particularly remarkable, the similarity of these two make it a pleasant combination.

The second combination is more interesting, but also much more challenging. STF385 AB; Mag1: 4.2; Mag2: 7.8; Sep: 2.3" is a brilliant white star with a close, much fainter companion. Less than 5' WSW is STF384 AB; Mag1: 8.1; Mag2: 8.9; Sep: 1.9", a close, faint, moderately unequal orange/yellow pair. On the opposite side of STF385, again just 5' distant is HLM2 AB; Mag1: 9.2; Mag2: 10.9; Sep: 5.1", which is a faint white (pale yellow?) star, well separated from a very faint secondary at 350x. All three doubles were resolved in the fov of a wide field eyepiece at 350x, though I expect that a lower magnification could be used.

Mike

I was wondering when I would hear from you again, Mike. It has been quite a while since were on IFAS.
But of course, the weather has been appalling for the last couple of months. So our people have not been observing at all. You are always a great man for doubles, triples and multiple stars. There are so many in every constellation. Thank you for these. When Camelopardalis gets lower in the northern sky, some of us will do further research in some more of its gems.
I should have made sure that I explained that it is not possible to observe the northern and southern parts of Kemble's Cascade visibly at the same time even with a 2" eyepiece fitted to my 6" apo. With the Full Moon blazing, my guidescope is not very impressive at showing all the stars as brightly also. Imagers would have a great night showing them all up very well -along with the open cluster.

Thank you as ever, Mike.

Aubrey.

For info, Comet Catalina is near NGC 1502 on the 22nd/23rd of next month.