CEPHEUS by Steve Coe 13.1" f/5.6 unless noted NGC 40 bright, large, and elongated 1.5X1. Central star obvious at 200X. The color is grey at all powers. At 200X and above from one of our best locations, the nebula shows off two brighter ends that look like "polar caps" on Mars. The western cap is larger and brighter. From a poorer site on a night I rated 5/10 for seeing and transparency, the brighter parts of the planetary make it appear to have a spiral shape. The "polar cap" effect only appears on the best of nights. Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs. Oct. 95, S=6, T=8, 25" f/5-- NGC 40 in 36" with 11mm, light grey-green and absolutely gorgeous. The ring around the outer section is not complete, so that the "polar caps" that I have mentioned before are obvious. Larry says they are parts of the nebula that are "blown out" and I agree that is what they seem to be. Bright star at 2 o'clock and a dimmer one at 8 o'clock could be knots of material that are being ejected. Going to the 9mm eyepiece shows the central section as quite mottled, an effect only suspected at lower power. Sentinel S=8 T=9 Great night 100X Faint, pretty small, round, central star obvious. 220X--"spiral structure" seen, there are several dark markings that curve around the central star. 440X best view there is an extremely faint star right at the edge of the neby. This planetary is grey in color at all powers. The "polar caps" are obvious, even with direct vision. NGC 188 pretty faint, large, compressed at 100X. I counted 30 stars in a very fuzzy background. It appears that the dimmer cluster members are not resolved at any power up to 270X in the 13". NGC 2276 Faint, pretty small, little brighter middle, little elongated 1.2 X 1 in PA 0 at 135X. NGC 2300 Pretty bright, pretty small, little elongated 1.5 X 1 in PA 165, much brighter middle at 135X NGC 6939 Bright, large, rich, compressed and irregularly round in shape at 135X. I estimated 70 stars, there are lots of dimmer members. This cluster has many lovely chains of stars meandering out into the Milky Way. It is easy in the 11X80 finder. Sentinel 8/10 S+T 13" 60X--large, bright, rich, compressed middle, 12 stars resolved, but lot of stars unresolved fuzz. 150X--65 stars resolved in this nice view. Beautiful, delicate blue-gold binary pair to NE of cluster. There is a dark lane on the south side really cuts off the stars on that side. 220X doesn't help. Sentinel S=6 T=7 6" f/6 22mm--bright, large, round, rich, pretty much compressed, 12 stars resolved. 14mm--best view, 15 stars resolved, averted vision shows a much larger cluster with a somewhat brighter middle. 8.8mm--22 stars resolved, pretty bright chain of stars down the middle of the cluster. NGC 6946 This face-on spiral galaxy has a low surface brightness and therefore responds to the atmosphere more than edge-on systems. For that reason I have called this object "pretty faint" on a night I rated 5/10 and then called it "pretty bright" on a night that was 8/10 in the mountains of Northern Arizona. In any case it is pretty large, somewhat elongated and has a bright, almost stellar nucleus. Even at the best of times I have never seen spiral structure in this object. There is a very dim extension that forms a 'V' shape. Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs. Oct. 95, S=6, T=8, 25" f/5-- NGC 6946 in 25" shows easily my best view of this object. Three spiral arms are obvious and there are 16 stars involved. Several of these knots are much larger than the seeing disk. Rich Milky Way field in 20mm Nagler. 13" f/5.6 Sentinel 8/10 S+T 11X80-just detected, better with averted vision. 60X in 13" -Galaxy and Cluster in same field with room to spare. 100X-pretty faint, large, somewhat brighter in the middle, hint of spiral structure. 150X- the spiral detail is more obvious, central core large and high surface brightness. NGC 6949 Extremely faint, small, round and not brighter in the middle at 165X. It comes and goes with the seeing. NGC 6951 pretty bright, pretty large, elongated 1.5X1 in PA 75, much brighter middle at 165X. There is an 11th mag star on Eastern tip. NGC 7023 Bright, Large, elongated (2X1) in PA 0, irregularly shaped nebulosity seen immediately at 100X. Central section does not contact the central star. UHC filter makes the nebula smaller, this object must have a bizarre spectrum. The field has a dim glow from outer sections of the nebulosity. This nebula is in a portion of the Milky Way that is much obscured by dark nebulae. IC 1396 very, very large, very faint nebula that needs low power to fit it into a single field of view. I used a 38mm military Erfle in a 2" barrel that gives one degree in the 13" and yields about 60X. Even at that, it just fits. I had missed seeing the nebula on a previous observing session because I was using a 20mm Erfle in a 1 1/4" barrel, so haul out that wide angle piece of glass for this object. There are several dark lanes winding through the nebula. The UHC filter helps a little. Vicksberg 7/10 S+T binoculars 11X80-- 19 stars counted, 5 stars are very faint, the nebulosity is not seen. The cluster is somewhat scattered, even with big binoculars. NGC 7076 Very faint, pretty small, round, just seen at 100X in the 13" f/5.6. It is somewhat more contrasty at 150X, but never easy; going to 220X is too much power and the nebula almost disappears. The UHC filter does not help the visibility of this nebula, but averted vision makes it much more visible. This on an excellent night at Sentinel. 7129 This NGC number is applied to both a cluster and nebula. 11X80 just seen as fuzzy spot. At 100X the cluster is pretty bright, pretty large, very poor in stars. I counted 6 stars in a 10 arcmin area. The nebula at 100X is pretty bright, pretty large with an irregular figure. Of the 6 stars in the cluster, 4 or them are involved within the nebula. Averted vision makes it much easier to see the nebula. Going to 150X helps the contrast somewhat, and 220X is too much for the nebula, but I can see 2 very faint stars in the center that were missed at lower power. The UHC filter does not help. NGC 7133 is near NGC 7129, it is faint, small and round with 2 pretty faint stars involved. 7139 very faint, pretty small, not brighter in the middle, a dim grey dot at 100X. UHC filter brings up the contrast somewhat, but this object is still not much. There is a 12th mag. star to SW. It is a little better, but still not easy, at 220X. The disk is larger, but never bright on this low surface brightness object. 7142 pretty bright, large, not compressed, rich cluster of 30 stars at 100X. 7160 bright, pretty large, scattered group of 16 stars at 135X. Two 9th mag stars and several fainter ones, not much. 7235 pretty bright, pretty small, somewhat compressed cluster at 165X. One pretty bright star with 20 others. 7261 pretty bright, pretty small, rich, compressed cluster of 30 stars at 165X. It was seen in the 11X80 finder. Of the clusters within the "Pentangle" of Cepheus, this was the best. 7281 pretty faint, pretty small, not compressed, scattered group of 18 stars at 165X. NGC 7354 Pretty bright, pretty large, somewhat brighter middle, little elongated 1.2 X 1 in PA 165 at 135X. No central star was seen in this planetary at 220X. I dispute the magnitude given for this nice nebula, the data is given as 12.9 mag, I estimate approximately 11th mag. 7380 pretty bright, pretty large, not compressed, triangularly-shaped cluster of 36 stars at 100X. There is nebulosity involved in the cluster, it can be seen without the UHC filter, but the filter helps the contrast very much. The nebula is dim enough that when I use my red flashlight to take notes, the nebula disappears for a few moments when I return to the eyepiece. IC 1470 pretty bright, pretty small, comet-shaped nebula at 165X. There is a star at the apex of the comet shape. UHC does not help contrast. NGC 7419 Pretty bright, pretty large, pretty rich, compressed, I counted 11 stars at 135X. This cluster has an irregular, comet shape and a very grainy background of unresolved stars. 7510 bright, pretty large, somewhat compressed cluster at 165X. I counted 22 members in an irregular shape, with several nice lines of stars. In a wide field eyepiece, cluster King 19 is in the same field. King 19 pretty faint, pretty small, not compressed cluster of 12 stars at 165X. I counted 12 stars as members. 7538 pretty bright, pretty large, roundish nebula at 135X. There are two noticeably bright stars involved, which reminds me of the glowing eyes of the "Jawa" creatures in the Star Wars movies. 7762 pretty bright, pretty large, irregularly shaped, scattered cluster of 25 stars at 100X. The cluster is not compressed at any power. 7822 very faint, very large, elongated nebula at 100X with the UHC filter. It could not be detected without the filter. The eastern side seemed brighter. On another night from an excellent site in at 6000 ft. altitude in the Mogollon Rim country of Eastern Arizona, it was Extremely faint, extremely large, very elongated 3 X 1 in PA 90 and not brighter in the middle at 80X. The nebulosity extends beyond the 40' field of my eyepiece. Using the UHC filter, it could be glimpsed in the 11X80 finder. This nebula has an very low surface brightness and is huge in size. IC 1454 Faint, pretty large, round, very diffuse nebula with a pretty bright star on one side. Just a smudge at 100X. Looking at the sheet of paper to write these notes, makes it disappear for a moment. Cederblad 214 very, very faint, very, very large nebula. It is not much, just a field brightening at 100X with the UHC. Berk 59 faint, small, not compressed. 12 faint stars at 135X. Berk 94 Pretty faint, small, not rich, considerably compressed at 165X. I counted 17 stars, with a nice orange 10th mag star about 5 arc minutes east of the center of the cluster. Berk 99 Faint, pretty small, elongated, not rich, compressed at 165X. 3 stars and some haze in the background. PK116+8.1 Very faint, pretty small, round, little brighter in the middle at 220X. It was just barely noticed without the UHC filter, adding the filter helps the contrast a lot. PK 103+0.1 Pretty faint, pretty large, round, grey, central star seen at all powers. It was detected at 165X, but better after adding the Barlow to go to 320X. There is a star on the eastern side which is about the same magnitude as the central star. The UHC filter does not help this object. Reiland's Object The Nov. 88 issue of Sky and Telescope contains a discussion in Deep Sky Wonders of a new cluster discovered by an amateur with an 8" scope. This tiny cluster is 12' south and slightly west of IC 1470. I found this object to be small, pretty faint, somewhat elongated and not brighter in the middle at 100X. At 165X, 4 stars are resolved and averted vision makes it grow in size. There is a hint of nebulosity and the UHC filter improves the contrast. Mu Cephei is "Herschel's Garnet Star", a famous tinted sun in Our Galaxy. It appears a ruddy shade even to my naked eye. I found it a very nice yellow-orange color at the end of a fish hook of stars. -----Double Stars------- Kappa easy split at 100X, blue and white. Beta Cephei easy split at 100X, white and beautiful emerald. A gorgeous double. Delta split in 11 X 80 finder, yellowish and light blue. Omicron Cephei Clean split at 165X, white and grey. Xi Cephei Easy at 100X, white and light green. Struve 2816 easy at 100X. A nice triple system. A white sixth mag star flanked on each side by an 8th mag blue star. Very nice. It is involved in IC 1396. Struve 2840 Easy at 100X, white and light blue. Struve 2873 easy at 100X. Almost matched yellow pair. I built Dobsonians for several years and had forgotten how tough a German mount is near the Pole. Struve 2948 elongated at 100X, not an easy split at 165X. Only clean separation in moments of good seeing, both white. Otto Struve 440 easy at 100X, yellow and light blue.