CASSIOPEIA by Steve Coe 13.1" f/5.6 unless noted NGC 103 28 stars counted at 165X. Pretty bright, pretty small, compressed, elongated 3x1. There is a nice chain of 10th mag stars on the SE side. This cluster contains many stars just at the limit of the 13". NGC 110 13 stars counted at 100X. Faint, pretty large, not compressed, not rich. About 5 stars of 10th mag and some stragglers. NGC 129 Counted 30 stars at 100X. Bright, pretty large, pretty rich, little compressed. Seen in 11X80 finder. NGC 133 6 stars, 4 of 10th mag and 2 of 12th mag. Not much at 100X. NGC 136 Counted 10 stars at 165X. Faint, small, compressed. Someone has a lot of nerve calling this a cluster. NGC 146 18 stars counted, about 10' round. Has several nice chains of stars at 100X NGC 147 Very faint, large, elongated 1.8x1, very gradually brighter in the middle at 100X. Not an easy object, it has very low surface brightness. NGC 185 Pretty faint, large, elongated 1.5x1, somewhat brighter middle, somewhat mottled at 100X. Granite Wash site S=7, T=9, 13" 11X80 averted vision only, just as I moved the scope 100X--pretty bright, pretty large, elongated 1.5X1 in PA 30, gradually much brighter middle, somewhat mottled, averted vision makes it grow. 150X--good view at high power, it looks smooth; the mottling at 100X must be from 6 or 8 very faint stars involved within the galaxy, right at the edges. The core is little elongated in the same PA as the galaxy and the core has a high surface br. NGC 189 21 stars counted at 100X. Pretty bright, pretty large, not compressed, pretty rich. Seen in 11X80 finderscope. Granite Wash Mt. S=7, T=9 11X80 averted vision only, just seen as I moved the scope. 100X--pretty bright, pretty large, E 1.5X1 PA 30, gradually much brighter middle, somewhat mottled, averted vision makes it grow. 150X--good view at higher power, it looks smooth--mottling from view at 100X may be from 6 or 8 faint stars involved right at edges of galaxy. Core has a very high surface brightness and is elongated in same PA as galaxy. NGC 225 21 stars counted at 135X. Bright, pretty large, little compressed. There is a nice chain of 7 stars on the east side. NGC 278 Pretty bright, pretty large, round, much brighter middle. There is a 10th mag star on the north side. NGC 281 Pretty bright, large, irregularly round, with 14 stars involved at 100X with the UHC filter. It is just seen without the UHC. A dark lane intrudes into the nebula on the south side, forming the Pac-man or Giant Comma shape. Buckeye 4/10 S+T 13" 100X--faint, large, irregularly round, not brighter in the middle. Counted 19 stars involved in nebulosity. UHC helps the contrast a lot. The "Pac Man" fills about 80% of the field of view. Granite Wash Mt. S=6 T=8 13" 100X + UHC-- bright, large, irregularly round, little brighter middle, counted 28 stars in nebula, several very faint. Nebula fills entire field with very faint nebula at the edges. There are several dark lanes in the nebulosity--one cuts through the PacMan "mouth". Without the UHC the central nebula is about the same, but the faint outer portions of the nebula are gone. I like the view with the UHC better, give up the faint outer stuff and keep a nice, contrasty view of the Pacman. Still some nice stars involved, even with the UHC. without the filter at 100X it is pretty faint, large, very irregularly round, pretty low surface brightness, it is visible but not obvious, there are 10 stars involved, including a triple on the NW side. NGC 358 Is not marked on the Uranometria 2000. I counted 12 stars at 100X. Pretty faint, pretty small, not compressed, not rich. NGC 381 63 Stars counted at 135X. Bright, pretty large, compressed, lots of dim members provide a "cottage cheese" background. Seen in 11X80. NGC 436 28 stars counted at 165X. Pretty bright, small, somewhat compressed, pretty rich, nice at high power. There are several multiple stars involved. NGC 457 Bright, large, pretty rich, compressed. 63 stars counted including Phi Cass, it is a light yellow star at the edge of the cluster at 100X. There is another bright star near Phi that gives the effect of having two glowing eyes looking back at the observer. In the Southwest we call this cluster the Kachina Doll, two sparkling eyes and the rest of the cluster outlines outstretched arms with feathers. Many tribes in the Southwest made such dolls for their rites. 6" f/6 8.8mm--bright, large, not compressed, pretty rich, several orange stars involved, two bright stars and cluster, Phi Cass is light yellow. 48 total stars counted, Sentinel 9/10. Sun Valley Parkway Tom and Jeannie Clark, 10" f/5.6 5/10-- NGC 457 with 16mm shows the "Kachina doll" figure easily with a nice orange star under the right wing. There are 20 stars resolved in the binocs. Granite Wash Mt. 13" s+T=7 11X80 obvious cluster of stars, Phi CAS and 8 stars in a fuzz, the Kachina Doll shape obvious in finder. 100X--Bright, large, rich, compressed, 78 stars counted of mags 7.... fills the central half of the field. At 150X the cluster is about 3/4 of the field and it appears that all the stars are resolved. Still about 80 stars, but no fuzzy background. There is a nice, orange star on the NW side of the cluster. NGC 559 Counted 15 members at 135X. Bright, pretty large, elongated 2x1, rich. Those 15 stars are superimposed on a very grainy background and the whole thing can be seen in the 11X80 finder. NGC 581 (M 103) 40 members counted at 100X. Bright, large, pretty rich, pretty compressed. 7th mag star on north side. This nice cluster is easy in 11X80 finder. Sentinel 7/10 S+T 11X80--just seen as small cluster with 3 pretty bright stars in a row. At 100X in the 13" it is pretty large, bright, pretty rich and has stars from 9th mag on down. There is a light orange star in the center of the cluster and a Struve doubles on the north side, it is easy to split and white and light blue. 37 stars are counted within the cluster. Going to 220X brings out lots of faint members, now I count 58 members and the orange central star really stands out. This mag is the best view, the cluster takes up about 2/3s of the field of view. Lowering the power to 60X with the Giant Erfle eyepiece only resolves 22 stars, but the cluster aspect of this object is made obvious, a nice grouping of stars within the band of the Milky Way. NGC 609 Counted 11 stars and an extremely grainy background. Pretty bright, pretty small, somewhat elongated, rich, not compressed. There are lots of faint members that start to appear at 135X. I felt that this "cottage cheese" effect would become stars on a really sharp night. Anybody got time on a scope at Mauna Kea? NGC 637 16 stars counted at 135X. Bright, pretty large, not compressed, pretty rich. Several of the brighter stars are about 10th mag. There is a lovely triangle of stars near the center. The cluster is easy in the 11X80 finder. NGC 654 Counted 34 stars at 165X. Pretty bright, rich, compressed and round. There is a 7th mag star on the south side. There are lots of unresolved members even at 165X. A nice cluster. NGC 657 Pretty bright, Pretty large, Arrowhead shape. 24 stars counted at 100X. 9th mag star on the North side is a nice blue and white double. NGC 659 Counted 11 stars at 100X. Pretty bright, pretty small, not rich, not compressed. NGC 663 Counted 69 stars at 100X. Bright, large, very rich, much compressed. Several 8th mag members across the face of the cluster. There is a curved north to south dark lane down the middle of the cluster. This is one of the best Non-Messier open clusters. It is unmistakable in the 11X80 finder. Sentinel 7/10 S+T, 11X80--fuzzy spot with 4 stars resolved. At 100X in the 13" it is a real WOW, bright, large, extremely rich and has stars from 9th mag on down. I counted 62 stars at this power. Going to 220X is an excellent view, the cluster takes up 2/3s of the field of view and there are several nice long chains of stars and 2 lovely double stars on the north side of the group of stars. A great Non-Messier cluster. NGC 743 10 stars counted at 100X. Pretty bright, pretty small scattered group with one 10th mag member. Not much, to be honest, I just picked the most likely candidate at the Uranometria 2000 position. NGC 896 Extremely faint, pretty large, irregularly round. There is some dark lane structure at 60X with the UHC filter. I had trouble determining where NGC 896 stopped and IC 1795 started. NGC 1027 Bright, pretty large, pretty rich, somewhat compressed at 135X. 33 stars counted. There is no nebulosity seen, even with the UHC. Page 41 of the Atlas of Deep Sky Splendors shows a photograph with lots of nebulosity in this area. I tried to see it with the UHC and the 38mm Erfle eyepiece and could only pick out the part near Mel 15. NGC 7635 Faint, pretty large, much elongated (5x1). A curved arc of nebulosity with some striations or other detail at 100X with the UHC filter. This is a difficult object without the filter. NGC 7654 (M52) Bright, large, rich, much compressed at 135X. 110 stars counted with one being an 8th mag light orange star on the west side. Well detached from the Winter Milky Way. This very nice cluster is bright and triangular in the 11X80 finder. Sentinel Tom and Jeanni Clark 20X80 binocs and 10" f/5.6 immediately obvious in binocs, 16mm in 10" dark lane seen, 68 stars resolved, most stars white, a few yellow, dark lane really STOPS the cluster on one side. Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs. S=6, T=8, 36" f/5-- M52 27mm 107 stars counted, one bright yellow, north side shows delicate grouping of 12 stars. It is about 60 percent of the field of view with this eyepiece. White Tanks S+T=7 nice nite 11X80 easy glow with triangular shape and one pretty bright star at an apex. Very grainy in the finder, but not resolved. 100X in 13" Bright, large, rich and considerably compressed, 96 stars counted in cluster. 8th mag star on West edge is light orange in color. Well detached from Winter Milky Way. 150X Great View, about 60% of the field. In the central 4 arcmin there are 4 lovely, delicate pairs of mags 10....12 and a triple star of mags 10, 12 and 13. It appears that all the stars are resolved at this power. NGC 7788 Counted 14 stars, the brightest is 10th mag. It is much compressed at 100X. Both NGC 7788 and NGC 7790 fit into the same 30' field of view. NGC 7789 160 Stars estimated by counting 40 in the N to W quadrant. Bright, large, very rich, very much compressed at 100X. There are many dim members in this excellent cluster. Dark lanes wind through this group from edge to edge and give the impression of spiral structure. At 165X the cluster fills the field with many lovely pairs and delicate asterisms. This cluster has been a favorite since my first observation, it is unmistakable in the 11X80 finder. 6" f/6--33 stars counted using 8.8mm eyepiece, bright, large, not brighter in the middle, very compressed, rich. Stars sparkle on a huge, fuzzy background. Nice view in RFT. Sun Valley Parkway Tom and Jeannie Clark, 10" f/5.6 5/10--12mm NGC 7789 in 10" with 12mm Nagler, estimated 120 stars resolved by counting 40 in the NW quadrant. Lots of beautiful dark lanes within the cluster and a few wind their way out into the Milky Way. Going to the 9mm shows a dark marking that is dead center in the cluster. Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs. S=6, T=8, 36" f/5-- NGC 7789 with 27mm is stupendous, 75 stars in SW quadrant, four orange stars and 20 dark yellow. Amazing dark lanes cut cluster to pieces, wind their way out into Milky Way. Lots of stars just at beginning of resolution form a milky background. 13" f/5.6 at Sentinel, AZ S=7, T=9, as good as Sentinel gets. Obviously a cluster, even in the 11X80 finder. The finder only resolves 2 stars, the cluster is bright, large, and a little brighter in the middle. At 60X in the 13" it is bright, very large, rich and much compressed. There are 32 stars resolved and 2 dark lanes are obvious within the star cluster. Going to 100X with the 22mm Panoptic resolves 76 stars of magnitudes 10 and less. The cluster is about 1/3 of the field of view, with lots of beautiful chains of stars seen. I think that 150X with the 14mm Meade UWA is the best view, I estimated over 240 stars resolved by counting 63 stars resolved in the NE quadrant of the cluster. This grouping now takes up about half the field and the lovely curving chains of star are much more prominent. The dark lanes have excellent contrast at this power and are a unique addition to this beautiful cluster. Higher powers, 220X and 300X will bring out some faint double star within the cluster, but high magnification also looses some of the cluster aspect of this rich group of stars. NGC 7790 Counted 32 stars at 100X. Pretty compressed, pretty rich, brightest star 11th mag. NGC 7795 Is marked NONEX by the RNGC. I counted 21 stars. It is pretty bright, large, not rich and not compressed, being about 15' in size. Buckeye 13" 235X--pretty faint, pretty large, not rich, not compressed, not well detached. 18 stars in an irregular circlet. 7th mag star on south side. NGC 7801 20 stars counted at 100X. Pretty bright, pretty large, 2 stars about 10th mag, the rest dimmer. IC 10 Extremely faint, pretty large, elongated 2X1 in PA 90 with a somewhat brighter middle. At 100X it grows with averted vision. It is in a very rich field, including an 11th mag star on the western tip of the galaxy. IC 59 Very faint, pretty large, with 3 faint stars involved at 135X. Not much, it is only seen with the UHC filter and Gamma Cass is out of the field of view. IC 63 Faint, pretty large, elongated 2x1, best with UHC at 135X. The south side has a brighter rim and this object is more obvious with Gamma Cass out of the field. IC 166 47 stars counted at 135X. Bright, pretty large, compressed, pretty rich. This nice cluster has a wide dark lane that splits the cluster into 1/3 and 2/3 portions. There are many lovely delicate pairs. This much-ignored cluster is one of the best IC objects I have ever observed. IC 289 Just barely seen without UHC filter. At 135X with the filter it is pretty faint, pretty large, round and there is no star involved. IC 1747 Pretty bright, small, round, not brighter in the middle at 220X. I noticed this planetary at 100X, but going to higher power makes it about 3 times the size of the Airy disk. IC 1795 Pretty faint, pretty large, irregular in shape, west side is brightest at 135X. There is a dark lane through this nebula which almost cuts it in half. There are six stars involved within the nebulosity. It was just seen at 100X without the UHC, but going to a little more power with the filter makes it much more noticeable. IC 1848 Pretty faint, pretty large, pretty compressed, 18 stars counted at 135X. Two stars are 11th mag and 16 others of mags 13 and dimmer make up the cluster. There is a nebula associated with this cluster, it was just seen at 100X without the UHC filter. It is more contrasty with the UHC and consists of two faint, very large streamers of nebulosity that pass north and south of the cluster. IC 1805 Faint with the UHC at 60X. The brightest part of the nebula is on the south side of the cluster Mel 15. I could only follow the very faint streamer for about 30 arc minutes. Collinder 33 and Collinder 34 I can't tell where Cr 33 starts and Cr 34 ends. Mainly it is a pretty rich Milky Way field in the 13" with the 38mm Giant Erfle at 60X. This area is brighter than the surrounding Milky Way in the 11X80 finder. Collinder 43 A dim glow about 4'X3' with 2 10mag stars involved at 135X. Not much. Collinder 463 44 stars counted at 60X. Bright, very large, not compressed. Scattered group can only be see entirely in my 38mm Erfle. Harvard 1 Pretty faint, large, not compressed at 100X. 15 stars counted. H 21 Counted 12 stars with a fuzzy background at 100X. About 5' in size and pretty compressed with two stars of 10th mag. King 12 Counted 15 stars at 135X. Pretty bright, small, somewhat elongated. 2 10mag members form a central double star with about 5" separation. King 14 Pretty bright, pretty large, elongated 1.5 to 1. 20 stars counted with a very grainy background that has several dark lanes at 100X. King 20 Pretty faint, large, pretty rich, pretty compressed at 165X. There are 12 members resolved and a very fuzzy background of very faint members. King 21 17 stars counted with a fuzzy background. Pretty faint, pretty small, round at 135X. Mark 6 9 pretty bright stars and 5 faint stars in a small group at 100X. Mel 15 (Cr 26) Bright, pretty large, pretty rich, pretty compressed. 20 stars at 135X, some form a circular ring. Some of the nebulosity IC 1805 forms an arc on the south side. 6" f/6 22mm Panoptic-- pretty bright, large, not compressed, rich, well detached, stars mag 9 and dimmer, 2 orange stars, several lovely pairs. PK114-4.1 Faint, pretty small, round, not brighter in the middle at 135X with the UHC filter. It is only suspected without the filter. The size from the P-K list is 94" and I am only seeing about 10" of this object. The outer layers that showed up on the survey photos must not be prominent visually. PK118+ 2.1 Extremely faint, pretty small, round, not bright in the middle, not much. This is at Buckeye 6/10 at 150X with UHC, this tough object also needed the hood. PK121-2.1 Could not find on a night I rated 8/10 for seeing and transparency in the central mountains of Arizona. I am quite certain that I had the spot on Uranometria where this object is located. PK 136+4.1 (Abell 6) Extremely faint, pretty small, round, just a faint blob with averted vision at 135X. Higher powers make it almost disappear. Only seen with UHC filter and dark hood covering my head. This is from a site 50 miles from Phoenix, on a night I rated 5/10 for seeing and 6/10 for transparency. PK147+ 4.1 Extremely faint, pretty small, round, not brighter in the middle, averted vision only. It comes and goes at 220X, very tough. Sh2-188 Very faint, pretty large, elongated 3x1, 2 stars involved at 100X with the UHC. Not seen without the UHC filter. Stock 2 88 stars counted at 60X. Very bright, Very large, not compressed, very rich. This cluster takes up the entire one degree field of the 38mm Giant Erfle eyepiece. There are many beautiful chains of stars and dark lanes across the face of this group. In the 11X80 finder there are 18 stars involved with a very grainy Milky Way background. Stock 5 Bright, pretty large, not rich, not compressed. 17 stars counted at 100X. There is a circlet shape to the group. The area in the sky is near 53 Cass and the Head of Cassiopeia, it is a naked eye bright spot in the Milky Way. Stock 11 Pretty faint, pretty small, not rich, not compressed, 12 faint stars and a fuzzy background. Stock 12 Pretty bright, pretty large, pretty rich, little compressed. This cluster is just seen in the 11X80 finder. There are 22 stars resolved at 100X, including a lovely blue and gold double star on the south side. Stock 19 Pretty faint, small, not rich, not compressed at 165X. This is just a tiny asterism of 6 stars of mags 8 to 11. Stock 24 9 stars counted in a 3' cluster. The stars are 11 to 13 mag and are all split at 135X. Tr 1 12 stars counted at 135X. Pretty faint, pretty small, somewhat compressed, pretty rich. 4 stars form a straight line across the center of the cluster. Lots of unresolved stars in the background. Tr 3 31 stars counted at 100X. Bright, pretty large, not compressed, pretty rich. It could be seen in the 11X80, this is one of the best Trumpler or Harvard clusters I remember seeing. vdB 1 Faint, pretty large, elongated 2X1 in PA 30. This area is 6 stars, 3 pretty bright and 3 pretty faint, involved in a faint nebula at 165X. The UHC helps the contrast somewhat. Double stars WZ Cass ( Otto Struve the Younger 254 ) Very wide pair that is nearly matched in brightness. Absolutely beautiful copper and blue colors, don't miss it. Eta Cass Easy split at 135X, yellow and orange colors. Psi Cass Easy at 100X, light yellow and blue. Iota Cass Split at 270X, white and 2 light blue. Sigma Cass Split at 135X, better at 270X, white and light blue. 6 Cass Never really split at 270X from Buckeye, yellowish. Struve 3062 Easy split at 100X, white and light blue. Struve 30 Easy at 100X, white, light blue and faint. Forms a very obtuse triangle. Struve 33 Easy at 100X, white and light yellow. Struve 163 Easy at 100X, beautiful light orange and blue. Struve 191 Split at 135X, yellow and grey. Red Stars WW Cass Faint burnt orange, not much. ST Cass Nice medium orange in Cass Milky Way field, approx. 9th mag at 100X in 13", from Table Mesa