MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2012
Of course, there are many other excellent and interesting objects visible in
dark skies. Initially, I fixated on the Messier list. Now, I regularly view other deep sky objects. So I document
here other notable finds from the New General Catalog, intriguing deep orange or red stars, supernovae, and quasars! This page is organised by catalogue and then sorted. Where possible, "proper" names are shown.
Also note that this page has, at the end, some other catalogues, for cross-referencing purposes primarily. This includes the Collinder, Melotte, and OCL (Open CLuster) lists. That said, occasionally (but only very occasionally) is a DSO only listed in one of these less-common catalogues, and not anywhere else.
This helps those going for some of the SAA top 100! And the "Finest NGCs."
Once again, an asterisk (*) denotes an object I wish to revisit.
- Herschel's Garnet Star
- The bright star μ (mu) in Cepheus looks more orange to me. Could be mistaken for
Mars, if it weren't so far north. Phil, through the C14, in Jul 2010, remarked, "Oh, red!"
- Hind's Crimson Star
- R Leporis aka SAO 150085. Fantastic. Amazingly colourful star. Deep, deep orange. Dark orange. Like an ember deep inside in a campfire! It is better in a wide field with regular white and blue-white stars. Beautiful, stunning. An M-class star. Estimated brightness on 15 Jan 2012 to be 8.0 to 8.5.
- La Superba
- Wow, amazing. Like an ember in a fire. Deep orange. All by itself, not a lot of other stars around. aka Y CVn.
- V Aquilae
- Lovely! A beautiful orange star in a busy part of the Milky Way of area, with lots of fine blue-white stars in the background. aka HD 177336.
- NGC 253
- In Sculptor. Canted galaxy. Dust lanes. Very large in 36mm eyepiece. Edge
to edge in the field of view. Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO.
- NGC 457 - Owl Cluster or ET Cluster
- Small collection of pale blue-white stars in Cassiopeia. Beside (behind?)
double star φ (phi) Cas. aka Caldwell 13 or Cr 12 or Mel 7.
- * NGC 559
- Viewed from city with a quarter Moon. Could only see a few stars. aka Cr 13 or OCL 322.
- NGC 637
- aka Cr 17 or OCL 329. A very small T-shape of stars in Cas, not far from Segin. There are two orange K stars in field nearby, to the south.
- NGC 663
- aka Cr 20 or Mel 11. Open cluster. Very compact in Tele Vue 101mm. In the SCT C14, a dense object with many double stars.
- NGC 752
- Open cluster between Tri and And. Viewed through 12.5" f4.83 DOB at CAO. Viewed again Aug 2010 with 8" SCT at CAO. aka Caldwell 28 or Cr 23 or Mel 12.
- NGC 884 and NGC 869 - The Double Cluster
- aka χ (chi) and h Persei aka Cr 25 and 24 aka Mel 14 and 13. Viewed double cluster in Perseus through Phil's NP101 Apo 'scope with a
TV Panoptic eyepiece that offered a 3° field at 23x. Beautiful, delicate collections
of small, fine stars. A mixture of colours. Seen on 20 Mar 07 from Toronto city
limits. Viewed Aug 08 through 12.5" f4.83 dob at CAO.
- NGC 891
- Suggested by Adam. Viewed at Mew Lake in Sep 2010 with an SP-C8. The best views were in the 36mm, 26mm, and 20mm. Nearly edge-on spiral forms a long elongated shape. Just barely discernable dust lane in the foreground.
- NGC 1535 - Cleopatra's Eye
- Inspired to view after Stu's planetary nebula theme night at the DDO. In Eridanus. Quite large at 55x. Very large at 222x. Not quite circular. There are some mag 11 and 12 stars nearby.
- NGC 2169 - 37 Cluster
- Near ξ (xi) and ν (nu) Orionis, a very small and compact cluster. Looks better at low power. Two distinct V-shapes, right angles to each other. Supposed to look like the digits 3 and 7 (assuming you don't have a mirror-inverted view). Fine blue-white stars. Pretty. aka Cr 83 or OCL 481.
- NGC 2362
- A beautiful little open cluster near 29 Canis Majoris and centred on the pale yellow star τ (tau).
Fine blue white stars in roughly a triangle shape. The main star appears to have 2 faint companions, in a straight line.
Pleasing at low power (55x). aka Cr 136 or Mel 65.
- NGC 2392 - Eskimo Nebula or Clown Face
- Viewed the planetary nebula in C14 with Radian 10mm eyepiece. Interesting. Could see a circular or spherical shape, not perfect, but close. Hints of a ring upon a ring. A bright centre. A bright star nearby.
- NGC 3073
- Small elliptical galaxy near 3079.
- NGC 3079 - Herschel H47-5
- Big needle-like galaxy. Thin, edge-on.
- NGC 3115 - Spindle Galaxy
- Nice. Nearly edge-on. Bright centre. Fairly large at 145x.
- NGC 3242 - Ghost of Jupiter
- Big and bright planetary nebula. Bright ring in a round cloud. Not sure where the name might come from... I don't see stripes. Is it the dark centre region they're talking about? Pairs of stars nearby. aka PK 261.
- NGC 3628
- Edge-on galaxy near M65 and M66. Larger than the Messiers but fainter. Dark dusty lane in foreground visible.
- NGC 4284
- Very faint nebula near M40 and NGC 4290. Smaller galaxy than 4290. Very challenging to see in C14 at CAO. At the edge of visibility and averted vision. Need good transparency for it.
- NGC 4290
- Small faint nebula (mag 12) near M40. Oval shape (it's a barred spiral). It forms a triangle with a bright star nearby (70 Ursae Majoris).
- NGC 4565 - Needle Galaxy
- Spotted this faint fuzzy in CrB near Mel 111. Easy to visualise with Paul and Stef's photos coming to mind. Large. An edge-on spiral galaxy. Requires averted vision to sense the true size and to discern some structure in the foreground. Could see the bright core and centre region. Viewed with C14 with 55mm and 27mm eyepieces in Jul 2010. Did I see another fuzzy nearby?
- NGC 4647
- The very faint spiral galaxy near to elliptical M60. Chance alignment. They do not interact.
- NGC 5195
- Companion galaxy to M51.
- * NGC 5490
- Crazy faint. Viewed with C14 SCT at 145x. Near IC 982 and 983. Should view the galaxy again in spring time when higher.
- NGC 5613
- Near 5615. Saw the galaxy with averted vision. aka Arp 178.
- NGC 5615
- Very faint, face-on, spiral galaxy. Viewed with C14 at 145x. Could see down to magnitude 14.9 stars.
- NGC 5838
- Viewed the small, very faint galaxy near star 110 in Virgo. Rendered at the
THO in the 8" SCT as a oval smudge.
- NGC 5907
- Small edge-on galaxy. Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO.
- NGC 6144
- A faint, loose, open object. Thought it was a galaxy at first. Some structure, tendrils?, visible at low power in the SP-C8 with 36mm. This globular cluster is quite low for Canadians...
- NGC 6210 - Turtle Nebula
- Small, oval blue planetary in Hercules. Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO.
- NGC 6369 - Little Ghost
- Very faint, even in C14. Ring-shaped planetary nebula. Viewed while surprisingly low.
Easy to miss.
- NGC 6543 - Cat's Eye
- Popular planetary nebula in Dra. Could see green or aqua colour. Almond-shaped. Bright centre. Viewed
through SCT 14" at CAO. aka PK 96.
- NGC 6572 - Blue Racquetball
- A very colourful planetary nebula in Ophiuchus. Viewed with a 34mm in a 8" SCT. An aquamarine colour, perhaps. Small, star-like. Perhaps, there is some dimension to it. It is a very small disk.
Colour is striking. Intense blue green. However, like other PN, it changes appearance when you look away. With averted vision, it goes white! Then you look at it and it dims and goes dark blue green.
- NGC 6633
- A lazy S-shape of stars. 71x is too close; but at 10x too small. 32x in a Tele Vue 101 is better. Pale blue cluster of stars with a bright yellow-white star nearby. Were these stars closer together at one point? aka Cr 380 or Mel 201.
- NGC 6652
- A very small globular cluster near ε (epsilon) Sagittarius aka Kaus
Australis. Only briefly viewed it. Hard to see any detail.
- NGC 6712
- Small faint Globular Cluster is Scu. Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO.
- NGC 6818 - Little Gem
- Planetary Nebula. Lovely small triangle of faint field stars nearby. Viewed
through SCT 14" at CAO.
- * NGC 6822 - Barnard's Galaxy
- Irregular. Hard to make out. Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO.
- NGC 6826 - Blinking Planetary
- Viewed this nebula on a couple of occasions through SCT 14" at CAO. Fantastic aqua-green
colour. Even the central star looks green. Fascinating the blinking effect with
and without averted vision. aka PK 83.
- NGC 6905
- Very nice. Planetary nebula. Very spherical. Lovely field stars. Viewed through
SCT 14" at CAO.
- NGC 6910
- A small Y-shape of medium bright stars. There are 2 bright yellow stars within. And some very faint (mag 12) stars around. Pretty. Quite distinctive. Somewhat symmetrical cluster. And so close to Sadr. aka Cr 420 or OCL 181.
- NGC 7009 - Saturn Nebula
- Viewed through
SCT 14" at CAO, Aug 2008. It is small but a rich cyan colour. Oblong in shape. There are no nearby stars.
A little treat, this planetary! Viewed in Jul 2010 in Phil's 15" with an UHC filter. Intense blue colour again. aka PK 37.
- * NGC 7027 - Magic Carpet
- Very blue planetary nebula. Nearby star. Cone-shaped. Very small. Viewed through
SCT 14" at CAO, Aug 2008. Viewed again on Jul 2011 but did not detect any particular shape or pattern.
- NGC 7160
- A tiny little cluster of stars. About 10 bright ones and a bunch of faint ones. Pretty obvious at 55x. aka Cr 443 or OCL 236.
- NGC 7184
- Edge-on galaxy. Very faint. Slightly canted. Bright core. TV
Panoptic 27mm (200x). Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO.
- NGC 7209
- A Klingon D7 battlecruiser! Flying to the south! I saw a bunch of doubles, 3 pairs, parallel, forming the wing and engines, then two sets, perpendicular, forming the neck and head. No, really! Certainly an interesting small open cluster. aka Cr 444 or Mel 238 or OCL 215.
- NGC 7243
- A loose, large open cluster. Fills much of a 1° degree field. There is a tight but faint double star near the centre. aka Cr 448 or Mel 240 or OCL 221.
- * NGC 7293 - Helix Nebula
- In Aquarius. Very faint. Viewed with different eyepieces. Still faint. Viewed
the planetary through SCT 14" at CAO. aka PK 36.
- NGC 7331
- Lovely spiral, canted. Beautiful bright centre. Viewed galaxy through SCT 14"
at CAO.
- * NGC 7619
- Two objects. Galaxy cluster! Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO in Aug 2008.
- NGC 7662 - Blue Snowball Nebula
- Very nice planetary nebula. Viewed through SCT 14" at CAO on Aug 2008. On 18 Dec
09 viewed at 300x through DDO 74": photograph like, structure visible, central
star visible.
- NGC 7789
- Wow. Cas. Beautiful rich dense field Open Cluster. Viewed through SCT 14"
at CAO.
- *IC 418 - Spirograph Nebula
- Faint and small from the city. Smaller than Cleopatra's Eye. No nearby field stars. No detail discernable. Seemed greenish at low power (55x). At high power (222x), it was just grey. Using a 2x Barlow might be good to do...
- * IC 982
- Crazy faint. Viewed the galaxy with Celestron 14 SCT with 27mm TV eyepiece at 145x. Brighter than 983. Near NGC 5490. Should view in spring when higher. aka Arp 117.
- * IC 983
- Crazy faint. Viewed with C14 SCT at 145x. This galaxy is fainter than 982. Near NGC 5490. Should view in spring when higher. aka Arp 117.
- * IC 2149
- Viewed with C14 SCT with 27mm TV eyepiece at 145x. Not sure what I saw. There seemed to be a small, very small, compact fuzzy there, blue perhaps. This planetary nebula merits another look... aka PK 166. Tiny. Difficult to see any detail from the city even while straight up at 222x. Not a lot of field stars. Hint of colour at low power.
- * IC 2165
- Even smaller than 2149. Not very exciting. Need to use a big gun on this one.
- IC 4665
- While searching Ophiuchus for Messiers, I came across this big open cluster.
It is pleasing in the finder scope so it should be a good low power subject or
one for the binoculars. You'll need dark skies though... aka Cr 349 or Mel 179.
- IC 4756
- Viewed through C14 with 55mm to take in whole object. An open cluster with many blue-white stars. A few bright stars surrounding it. Somehow they remind me of a shopping cart. aka Cr 386 or Mel 210.
- Stock 2 - Muscle Man Cluster
- aka OCL 348. An open cluster, right beside the Double Cluster. Faint stars. Many field stars. Dominant stars form a stick figure of a man with his arms outstretched.
- * 37 Cluster
- See NGC 2169. aka Cr 83 or OCL 481. Supposed to look like the digits 3 and 7; I think everytime I've looked I've been using an SCT!
- Coathanger
- In Vul. aka Cr 399 or Brocchi's Cluster. Famous asterism. All white. Many of the stars are 8 to 12' apart. Stumbled across this star hopping for Messiers! First saw naked eye at Mew Lake. Now, I can pick off in dark skies.
- Fairy Ring
- All stars are fairly faint. But there is an unmistakable ring of double stars, yellow and blue, many aligned inward, i.e. pointing to the centre. J2000 RA 20 03 40 dec +38 19 38.
- Kemble's Cascade
- First viewed through Kiron's binoculars at the CAO in Jul 2011. Lovely meandering line of stars to the left of the W of Cassiopeia. Perfect for binos.
- Little Queen
- Near χ (chi) Draconis. Centred on HD 172922, the bright cental yellow star of a little W shape, like a mini version of Cassiopeia.
-
- SuperNova 2011dh
- Viewed, visually, the supernova in M51 while at the CAO in July 2011. First imaged, with a MallinCam, the object a couple of weeks earlier.
- SN 2011fe
- Viewed, visually, in an 8" and 12" Dobsonian at Mew Lake in Sep 2011.
- HS 1603+3820
- Quasar in Corona Borealis.
Magnitude: 15.90. Used Ian's custom 20" f/5.03 Dobsonian.
Starhopped with an Ethos 21mm.
Viewed with quasar with a Pentax 10.5mm. RA: 16h04m55.4s; Dec: +38°12'01" (J2000).
digital setting circles: 16h 4m; 38.3°. Light time: 9.4 Gyr! That's 2/3rds of the way back to the beginning of time!
- Collinder 12 - Owl Cluster or ET Cluster
- See NGC 457.
- * Cr 13
- See NGC 559. aka OCL 322.
- Cr 14
- See M103 aka Mel 8.
- Cr 17
- See NGC 637. aka OCL 329.
- Cr 20
- See NGC 663. aka Mel 11.
- Cr 23
- See NGC 752. aka Caldwell 28 or Mel 12.
- Cr 24 - h Persei
- See NGC 869. aka Mel 13.
- Cr 25 - χ Persei
- See NGC 884. aka Mel 14.
- Cr 39 - Alpha Persei Cluster
- See Mel 20.
- Cr 42 - Pleiades
- See M45 aka Mel 22.
- Cr 50 - Hyades
- See Mel 25.
- Cr 67
- See M38 aka Mel 36.
- Cr 69
- Group of stars surrounding λ (lambda) Orionis aka Meissa. aka OCL 479.
- Cr 71
- See M36 aka Mel 37.
- Cr 75
- See M37 aka Mel 38.
- Cr 82
- See M35 aka Mel 41.
- Cr 83
- See NGC 2169.
- Cr 124
- See M50 aka Mel 58.
- Cr 136
- See NGC 2362. aka Mel 65.
- Cr 189 - Beehive
- See M44 aka Mel 88.
- Cr 204
- See M67 aka Mel 94.
- Cr 256
- Near γ Com, a large open cluster. Nicely framed at 10x, i.e. very low power. The bright stars form a V-shape like a flock of geese. aka OCL 558. aka Mel 111.
- Cr 341 - The Butterfly Cluster
- See M6 aka Mel 178.
- Cr 349
- See IC 4665.
- Cr 354
- See M7 aka Mel 183.
- Cr 356
- See M23 aka Mel 184.
- Cr 360
- See M20.
- Cr 363
- See M21 aka Mel 188.
- Cr 374
- See M24.
- Cr 375 - Star Queen
- See M16 aka Mel 198.
- Cr 376
- See M18.
- Cr 377
- See M17.
- Cr 380
- See NGC 6633. aka Mel 201.
- Cr 382
- See M25 aka Mel 204.
- Cr 386
- See IC 4756. aka Mel 210.
- Cr 389
- See M26 aka Mel 212.
- Cr 391 - Wild Duck
- See M11 aka Mel 213.
- Cr 399 - The Coathanger
- See Brocchi's Cluster.
- Cr 420
- See NGC 6910. aka OCL 181.
- Cr 422
- See M29.
- Cr 426
- See M73.
- Cr 438
- See M39 aka Mel 236.
- Cr 443
- See NGC 7160. aka OCL 236.
- Cr 444
- See NGC 7209. aka Mel 238 or OCL 215.
- Cr 448
- See NGC 7243. aka Mel 240 or OCL 221.
- Melotte 7 - Owl Cluster or ET Cluster
- See NGC 457.
- Mel 8
- See M103 aka Cr 14.
- Mel 11
- See NGC 663. aka Cr 20.
- Mel 12
- See NGC 752. aka Caldwell 28 or Cr 23.
- Mel 13 - h Persei
- See NGC 869. aka Cr 24.
- Mel 14 - χ Persei
- See NGC 884. aka Cr 25.
- Mel 20 - the Alpha Persei Cluster
- See Cr 39.
- Mel 22 - Pleiades
- See M45 aka Cr 42.
- Mel 25 - Hyades
- See Cr 50.
- Mel 36
- See M38 aka Cr 67.
- Mel 37
- See M36 aka Cr 71.
- Mel 38
- See M37 aka Cr 75.
- Mel 41
- See M35 aka Cr 82.
- Mel 58
- See M50 aka Cr 124.
- Mel 65
- See NGC 2362. aka Cr 136.
- Mel 88 - Beehive
- See M44 aka Cr 189.
- Mel 94
- See M67 aka Cr 204.
- Mel 111
- See Cr 256. aka OCL 558.
- Mel 178
- See M6 aka Cr 341.
- Mel 179
- See IC 4665.
- Mel 183
- See M7 aka Cr 354.
- Mel 184
- See M23 aka Cr 356.
- Mel 188
- See M21 aka Cr 363.
- Mel 198 - Star Queen
- See M16 aka Cr 375.
- Mel 201
- See NGC 6633. aka Cr 380.
- Mel 204
- See M25 aka Cr 382.
- Mel 210
- See IC 4756. aka Cr 386.
- Mel 212
- See M26 aka Cr 389.
- Mel 213 - Wild Duck
- See M11 aka Cr 391.
- Mel 236
- See M39 aka Cr 438.
- Mel 238
- See NGC 7209. aka Cr 444 or OCL 215.
- Mel 240
- See NGC 7243. aka Cr 448 or OCL 221.
- Open CLuster 77
- aka Basel 1. Small faint open cluster in Scutum near M11.
- OCL 181
- See NGC 6910. aka Cr 420.
- OCL 215
- See NGC 7209. aka Cr 444 or Mel 238 .
- OCL 221
- See NGC 7243. aka Cr 448 or Mel 240.
- OCL 236
- See NGC 7160. aka Cr 443.
- * OCL 322
- See NGC 559. aka Cr 13
- OCL 329
- See NGC 637. aka Cr 17.
- OCL 348 - Muscle Man Cluster
- See Stock 2.
- OCL 479
- See Cr 69.
- OCL 481 - 37 Cluster
- See NGC 2169. aka Cr 83.
- OCL 588
- See Mel 111. aka Cr 256.
- * NSV 1484
- A suspected variable in Cam. On 15 Jan 2012 in a mag ~12.5 sky, the star was not visible.
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