Skeych of NGC 2244 01 March 2022

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all keeping well.

Last Tuesday was a beautiful clear night, so I had my f/5 250mm Newtonian Reflector on a Dobsonian Base set-up from 19:30UT. Over the past few weeks I was dipping in and out of Consolmangno and Davis' (2018) book, 'Turn Left at Orion'. Having spent several weeks in the Orion constellation last year I decided to give Monoceros a go as their book drew attention to many nice DSO in and around it.

One of those objects that caught my attention was NGC2244. What is more, I was interested to see whether the Rosette Nebula would be visible from Dundrum. While it is not visibile, I could determine where it is based on Consolmangno and Davis' (2018:77) notes:

 'If the night is not particularly bright, the ring seems more like an absence of stars rather than a glow.'

And this 'absence of stars' is seen surrounding NGC2244 in the sketch. While most of the stars are several blue O-type stars in the central cluster, there were a couple of orange ones. Another object was seen during the sketch: A  satellite! Moving from SW to NE, it flew across the eyepiece at 20:21UT.

Other details from the session include:
Magnification: 50X
Seeing: 4PK
Transparency: 5
Materials used: 2B pencil, Plain 80g.m2 paper.

The next time we're back at the SugarLoaf I plan to sketch the object again - hopefully I'll illustrate the Neubla too.

As always many thanks for taking the time to read the above, and comments and feedback are always welcomed. 

Clear skies to all,
Darren.  

 

Nice rendition.

The Rosette is difficult to see from an urban setting, the nebula itself requires the application of a filter such as UHC.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Very many thanks for your kind words, and the advice about the filter. 

I'll try the filter when we're under dark skies again.

Cheers,

Darren.

Nice sketch of NGC 2244, Darren. 

it has been some years since I observed this fine open cluster. 

Clear skies from Aubrey. 

Hi Aubrey, 

Thanks a million for your messge... How did you get on at the Sugar Loaf last Friday? 

I was so disappointed I couldn't make it down - it was one I'd those weeks unfortunately. 

Clear skies, 

Darren. 

Hello, Darren and everyone. 

I had a reasonably good time observing at the Sugarloaf. 

1. NGC 1662 is a delightful open star cluster in western Orion. Its brightest star has a magnitude of 8.3. But it has 2 or 3 other stars of nearly the same magnitude. I counted 3 K-class orange stars. The whole cluster is well scattered. Its type is I 2 p. I found NGC 1662 to be 20' wide, pretty bright, pretty large and has 19 stars. Its total magnitude is +6.4. I can't help wondering if this cluster is worthy of a sketch or even an image. I shall leave with you, Michael, Paul and Darren. No pressure!   At the centre there is a lovely quadruple star called HJ 684. The magnitudes are: A = 9.6. B = 10.3. C = 9.6. As there is no D star, E = 9.6. Sep's (from A) = 24.3", 46.8" and 77.9". PAs = 264, 212 and 240 degrees. Each of these are easy to split at 40x. HJ stands for John Herschel.   

2. Next up was a real challenge near NGC 1662. The uncertain double star STT 90 which I could not separate from my back yard. Here are the figures from www.stelledoppie.it . Magnitudes: A = 7. B = 9. Sep = 1.8". PA = 339 degrees. I had a horrid time from my abode. But the Sugarloaf is a far better place to try!! The seeing conditions must have been greatly improved. Because I was seeing the secondary touching the primary at 167x. Great jot was to had at 225x and 280x. My scope was clearly splitting it alright. A is white, but B I thought was a bit on the blue side. However I can now safely tick off STF 90 in Burnham's Celestial Handbook.   STT stands for Otto Struve. 

3. STTA 55 is a true binary. Magnitudes: A = 8.2. B = 9.2. Sep = 37.4". PA = 17 degrees. The spectral classes are worth mentioning. A = K. B = F. So here we have an orange star and a yellow-white star travelling through space together. 40x is sufficient to see both stars split. But 112x is good to check out those colours. STTA stands for Otto Struve Supplement. 

4. Tabit is otherwise known as Pi 3 Orionis or STT 560. It is an optical double. Magnitudes: A = 3.2. B = 11.3. Sep = 73.2". PA = 171 degrees. The secondary is so faint I required 112x to see it directly. Sissy Haas includes this wide double in her famous book Double Stars for small telescopes. I've ticked it off now. 

5. 26 Aurigae is a great triple star I have separated before. A + C are a true binary. But D is optical. B is not visible in my scope as it is too close to A. Magnitudes: A = 5.5. C = 12.4". D = 11.5. Sep's = 12.4" and 35.4". PA's = 269 and 113 degrees. I had no hassle splitting  A & C at 40x. But I needed 112x to see the tiny speck of the 3rd star.   

Over on Cloudy Nights, one man has found an extremely faint carbon star called Case 115. This carbon star is very near 26 Aurigae. But even at 280x I had not got the slightest glimpse of Case 115 in the Sugarloaf car park. It is a variable star ranging from 13.1 down to 13.9. I'm quite certain it must be a minimum magnitude right now. Its variability is 915 days or thereabouts. 

But overall I had a thrilling time with Michael, Paul and Ben. 

Let's do it all again soon. 

Thank you for reading. 
Comments are very welcome. 

Clear skies from Aubrey.