Sketch of a nice little asterism in Cygnus

The Reverend John George Wood - The English writer who popularised natural history with his writing -  once said that the "Tallest of all earthly dwellers, the giraffe erects its stately head far above any animal that walks the face of the globe." 

As amateur astronomers we're aware that the Giraffe also graces our sky. While most of us will be familiar with 'Camelopardalis', did you know there is a baby giraffe in Cygnus too? Ok, I might be stretching it a bit, but over the past few weeks I have stumbled across a nice grouping of stars in Cygnus, which to me, resemble the shape of a giraffe. This asterism is found between Deneb and Sadr and contains two colourful stars: HIP 100548, and TYC 3156-2039-1.

To give you some idea of what it looks like through a telescope I attempted to sketch it last night.  Bear in mind that if you try to hunt down this animal I used a f/5 250 Newtonian Reflector on a Dobsonian base, so it may resemble the letter 'Y' if you are using a refractor. 

In addition to sketching the 'little giraffe', I observed Saturn for 30 mins just after midnight. At 139X The Cassini Division was seen on the Eastern side, and I believe the 'Crepe' Band, and the NEB were visible. What is more, I believe I saw two Moons: 'Rhea' and 'Tethys'. 

Before finishing up I had a quick look at M51, and went searching for a Globular Cluster in Delphinus. Unfortunately, I couldn't find NGC 7006, but while scanning this part of the night sky discovered that Gamma Delphini is a 4.25 mag Double Star. What a nice way to leave things, hey?

That's my lot for now. I have to say I'm looking forward to heading to the dark sky of Glenmalure this week - let's hope the weather plays ball.

Thanks for reading, and comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Clear skies to all,

Darren. 

BTW, the bright star at approximately 11 on the clock in the sketch is Sadr.

 

Super report, Darren!

I have 4 to things to ask you. 

1. Was it Sunday or Monday night when you made these very good observations? (I'm not sure about the term "last night"). But I am confident it was Sunday night. Sadly I was attending to matters elsewhere. 

2. Did you not see Titan along with Rhea and Dione whilst you were observing Saturn? Of course you did!  Maybe next time you will see Tethys if you haven't already. 

3. I know your "giraffe" asterism very well. It is actually the Open Star Cluster NGC 6910. I have shown it to Valerie on the odd occasion with my William Optics 158 mm apochromatic refractor. I greatly admire your description though, 

4. And lastly when you observe Gamma Delphini the next time, I'm totally certain you will see the nearby double star STF2725 effortlessly split at low magnification. 

Clear skies from your observing buddie, Aubrey. 

 

HI Aubrey,

It's great to hear from you. 

Yep, I was out Sunday night with the scope alright. Regarding Saturn's Moons, I could only see two in the eyepiece. I made a note of where they were relative to Saturn, and when I checked their positions against 'Starry Night 7' for the times I observed them at it seemed that I saw Rhea and Thetys. Based on the projections I can assume that Titan was just outside my FOV, but Dione...I am surprised I did not see that!

Also, very many thanks for providing me with the NGC number for that little asterism in Cygnus - that's really helpful. And I was delighted to read that you have observed it in the past with Valerie. It is such a pretty little grouping of stars!

In terms of the double near to Gamma Delphini, I'll be sure to take a look at it next time I'm in that region. Sure, I might even get a look at it tomorrow night 

Hello again, Darren. 

I have found the globular star cluster NGC 7006 on my Guide 9.1 DVD. 
It's in Delphinus alright. 
But there appears to be quite a major discrepancy on the issue of magnitude. 
Guide 9 says it is +10.6. But Burnham stays it's 11.5. 
Guide 9 says its diameter is 2.2'. But Burnham says 1'. 
NGC 7006 is bright, small, rich and brighter in the middle. 
But one would need an 18" Newtonian to resolve any of its stars. 

Therefore I would regret to say to you it appears you will have your work cut out if you were to locate it in the first place. I don't think you will do so at the Sugarloaf at all. 

The 2 bright stars Alpha and Gamma roughly point to this globular.

Clear skies from you pal, Aubrey. 

  

 

NGC7006 is not particularly difficult to find, although it would need a big scope to resolve any stars. Sue French states in "Celestial Sampler" that it is magnitude 10.6 and 3' in size.

Possibly more interesting is a lovely asterism which lies a bit further along the line through alpha, gamma and on to 7006. If you carry on past 7006 for about the same distance as between alpha and gamma, you will come to the Toadstool asterism, which was popularized by Sue French, and is also known as French 1. It is well worth seeing, although it might take a short while for the asterism to "pop out"









.

Hello Aubrey and Stevie,

Very many thanks for your helpful messages. You are very kind to provide those tips and insights regarding how best to observe it. Maybe one day I'll get to observe through a big scope. Until then I have plenty to keep me busy - next up that toadstool asterism 

All the best and clear skies to you.

Darren.