HERCULES by Steve Coe using 13" f/5.6 unless noted NGC 6039 very, very faint, small, about 1 minute in size, round, not much brighter in the middle. At 100X this object is only seen with averted vision. Not much at any power. NGC 6052 Faint, pretty small, elongated 1.5 X 1 in PA 100, little brighter in the middle, there is a 13th mag star in contact with the west side at 165X. NGC 6058 pretty faint, pretty small, somewhat elongated, central section is brighter but not stellar at 100X. This is from a very dark, steady location in the mountains of Eastern Arizona. The central star was always seen at a variety of powers up to 220X, but the bright area in the middle was larger than stars outside the planetary. This effect is unique in my experience, has anyone else noticed this? IC 4593 faint, small, little elongated, stellar nucleus. Greenish at all powers, central star most obvious at 165X. This planetary "blinks", look at it, then use averted vision and the nebulosity will appear and disappear. Sun Valley Parkway Seeing 5/10, transparency 6/10, easy at 150X, but needs power. 220X Pretty faint, small, very little elongated 1.2 X 1 in PA 90, central star is obvious. This planetary has been called the "while-eyed pea" and I see why, the nebula is light green and the star is as white as Spica. Averted vision makes it grow about twice its size and there is some very faint outer nebulosity seen. IC 4593 Cherry Rd. S=7, T=8, 13" 100X-just recognized as a disk, pretty faint, very small, round, stellar nucleus; averted vision makes the disk grow three times what it is with direct vision. 220X brings out the central star. 440X is the best view, round light green disk with white central star. NGC 6106 Faint, pretty large, elongated 1.8 X 1 in PA 135, very gradually brighter in the middle with an occasional stellar nucleus in good seeing at 165X. NGC 6166 faint, large, elongated and not brighter in the middle at 135X. This is the central galaxy of the cluster Abell 2199, from a good site I can pick out 8 faint companions within 20' of 6166. The whole field has a "cottage cheese" or lumpy background that denotes lots of unresolved galaxies at the limit of the 13". Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs., Oct. 95, S=7, T=9, 36" f/5-- NGC 6166 36" 20mm, 48 other galaxies near bright, large and much brighter in the middle view of central galaxy. Abell 2199 in Hercules 36" 20mm 4 pretty faint, 16 faint, 8 very faint in a variety of sizes and shapes, two very elongated. Only up 20 degrees. NGC 6181 pretty bright, pretty large, elongated 2x1, brighter middle, easy to find, near Beta (100X) NGC 6205 (M 13) very bright, very large, little elongated, easily resolved at 100X. From a dark location this object just about exceeds the 20 min field of my 12 mm Erfle eyepiece. This gives 165X on my 13" f/5.6 and this glorious cluster has streamers out from a blazing core in all directions. Three dark, thin lanes can be seen cutting the core into unequal thirds, I have heard this feature called the "Propeller". I believe this globular gets a lot of press for several reasons: it is easy to find, it is one of the finest globulars, it is easily resolved in small scopes and it comes overhead for the Northern Hemisphere. Sir William Herschel estimated 14,000 stars in the cluster, some hardy soul at Mt. Wilson counted 30,000 on a plate from the 100" Hooker telescope in 1931. Actually, there are about half a million stars in M 13. Wow. With the 13" at Cherry Rd. on a night with 6/10 seeing and 8/10 transparency, M13 is just seen naked eye, faint but there. It has about 1/2 the size of the Lagoon Nebula naked eye. In the 11X80 finder there are three layers of brightness, but the cluster is not resolved into stars. At 100X it is very bright, very large, well resolved, much, much brighter in the middle and little elongated 1.2 X 1 in a PA of 90. The most prominent chains are off the north and south sides with many silvery stars in front of a sparkling globe in the background. Moving to 220X shows the best view with the 8.8mm Ultra Wide. I counted 41 stars in the NW quadrant, most are silver, a few are yellow or light orange. The dark "propeller" is held with direct vision as small, thin dark lines. There is a chain of 9 stars which run across the core from East to West. At both 330X and 440X the silvery appearance of the brighter stars is gone, they are off white, but the dark lanes seem more prominent and these high powers show all the scope can provide in this grand cluster. Camp 613 S=8, T=10 Wow night. Easy with naked eye, has size with no magnification, averted vision makes it larger. In the 11X80 finder, three level of brightness, but no stars resolved. 60X-very bright, very rich, gradually extremely compressed middle, irregularly round. This nice wide angle view shows the two approx. 7th mag stars that guard M-13 and NGC 6207, a prominent galaxy to the north. Going to 150X with the 14mm UWA resolved 63 stars in NE quadrant, the two most prominent curved chains of stars go to NW and SW. The dark "Propellor" is seen on south side, has a faint double star in the western most dark lane. The beautiful silvery sheen of a bright globular is most prominent at this magnification. 440X-WOW!! many, many faint pairs and groupings. The Propellor is easy a complimentary dark lane now appears across the center of the cluster on the north side. Averted vision really "fills in" the cluster with a myriad of faint member star. A great night. Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs. Oct. 95, S=6, T=8, 36" f/5-- M 13 in 36" with 35mm Panoptic is as glorious as you might expect, hundreds of stars resolved with a fuzzy background of stars at the edge of resolution. The Propeller, a dark three-vaned feature, is easy, it does not split the cluster into equal parts, put does stand out nicely. Moving to Clyde Bone's 24" Naysmith folded telescope shows an excellent view of this object with many stars resolved and several curved chains of stars winding their out from the central mass of this globular. Nice to sit down and be comfortable while observing. 36" f/5 TSP 96 20mm Nagler. Spectacular, 193 stars counted in NW quadrant. Many, many beautiful chains, tendrils out from main ball of stars, many double and triples stars within the curved chains out from the ball in the middle. The central globe of stars is obviously a round ball of stars, no doubt. The dark "Propeller" feature is seen with direct vision, and is more prominent with averted vision. I know this is a showpiece that gets observed every time scopes are set up in the Springtime, but this is all but a brand new view of it. I had the feeling this was all that there was to see in M-13. Going to a 14mm Meade UWA eyepiece shows off the Propeller better, more contrast. There is another dark lane, across from the Propeller, that is also seen with direct vision. 6" f/6 Dugas S=5 T=6 8.8mm 45 stars resolved and giant fuzz in background. Averted vision doubles the size of this object. Seeing such a compact cluster with lots of space around it is fascinating. IC 4617 very faint, small (about 10 arc seconds), little elongated at 135X. On a night I rated 6/10 for seeing and transparency, the 13" would only show it intermittently. This tiny and faint galaxy is almost exactly halfway between 6207 and the center of M 13. This is a toughie, wait for a good night and use some power. NGC 6207 pretty bright, pretty large, elongated 2x1, somewhat brighter in the middle at 100X. Going to 150X shows off a stellar nucleus and arms that are somewhat mottled. NGC 6210 bright, pretty small, elongated, central star easy at 135X. Averted vision makes this planetary grow in apparent size. I have always seen this beautiful planetary as green, blue-green or aqua in whatever scope I was using. This nebula was discovered by F.G.W. Struve during his double star survey. Dugas Rd. 6/10 seeing, 7/10 trans, good night, starting the "bright objects" project, just me and the 13". 100X--easily seen as non-stellar even at low power, about 3X the seeing disk, lovely blue-green color. 330X pretty bright, pretty small, bright middle, stellar nucleus, little elongated 1.2 X 1 in PA 90, grows with averted vision, color better at 100X, "washed out" grey at high power. 150X-- nice blinking effect, averted vision makes it grow about twice its' size with direct vision. Cherry Rd S=7, T=8, 13" 150X--easy, bright, pretty large, central star seen 30% of time, lovely aqua color, beautiful. 330X--WOW, bright, large, central star 70% of time, color still blue-green, little elongated 1.5X1 in PA 75, great veiw at high power. Camp 613 S=8, T=10 13" 100X-seen as disk approx 5 times seeing disk and GREEN, ummistakably Kelly Green, pretty bright, small, central star seen 20% of time. 220X--little elongated 1.5X1 in PA 135, cental star held steady with direct vision. 330X- Averted vision somewhat dilutes the color to grey-green, but it shows a faint outer shell that extends from the PN in all directions. I observed a nearby star of equal magnitude and it did not show this faint shell, so it is a feature of the planetary. NGC 6229 Bright, pretty large, round with a brighter middle. On one of the best nights at high altitude, I could resolve four stars at 165X. Two other stars bracket the cluster. The object is just visible as a fuzzy spot in my 10X50 binoculars. William Herschel mistook it for a planetary nebula and marked it as 50 IV,to be included in group 4 as a planetary. NGC 6229 from Cherry Rd. S=7, T=8, 13". Just seen in finder, 100X--bright, pretty large, round, much, much brighter in the middle, no stars resolved but cluster has three layers to brightness, averted vision makes it larger. 220X-- a hint of resolution 10% of the time. 330X-- five stars resolved, the brightest is north of the core, the other four are fainter and to the south side of this globular. Cherry Rd. 6" f/6 7/10=S+T 22mm--pretty bright, pretty small, much brighter middle, round. 8.8mm--bright core with one star to the north of the core, it was first seen with averted vision, then held steady. 6.7mm--still only the one star resolved in this globular, a bright core with ragged edges. I can see how this could be mistaken for a planetary nebula. NGC 6239 Pretty faint, pretty large, elongated 2 X 1 and somewhat brighter in the middle at 100X. NGC 6341 (M 92) Very bright, very large, much brighter in the middle and a little elongated at 100X. I have always thought that M 92 stands up to comparison with M 13. I shows a blazing core and many lovely chains of stars at 220X. Lord Rosse thought he saw spiral structure in this object with the 72". 13" near Jacob's lake on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, 10/10 trans, 7/10 seeing. M 92 at 330X is an official WOW! Very compressed middle, dense core with chains out from it in all directions. Averted vision makes it explode with faint stars. I can see a hint of Lord Rosse's "spiral structure" from the curved chains of stars winding their way out from the middle of this dense globular. Great Stuff. 13" from Camp 613 7/10 seeing, 9/10 transparency. Easily seen in 11X80 finder. 150X Bright, large, round, much, much brighter in the middle. 220X 39 stars counted in NW quadrant, several long chains with a few yellow members, all others white or silver. Several delicate pairs and triples. Averted vision really shows off lots of very faint background stars and doubles the size of this object--"the blinking globular". 330X is a great view, again the difference between direct and averted vision is quite dramatic. There are 5 compact stars on the north side of the core that are just a bright spot at lower powers but at 330X resolve into a delicate grouping. There are three curved chains of stars out from the core that I believe compose Lord Rosse's comment about spiral structure in this cluster. There snake their way from the center in three different direction, much like the arms in M101. NGC 6482 Faint, small, very suddenly much brighter in the middle with a stellar nucleus, little elongated 1.2 X 1 in PA 75 at 165X. NGC 6574 Pretty bright, pretty small, elongated 1.5 X 1 in PA 0, brighter in the middle at 165X. Abell 2151 These objects are faint even at a good site in Arizona with averted vision and seeing at 6\10 and transparency at 7\10. I could pick out five extremely faint, small galaxies in a 25' field. Four of the galaxies are round and one is somewhat elongated. There is one pretty bright star in the field at 135X. From a great site on a great nite, Camp 613 S=8, T=10 at 150X I saw 11 galaxies, 3 are averted vision only. PK 47+42.1 (Abell 39) 13" Dugas Rd. 7/10 S+T. 100X with UHC-very faint, large, round, not brighter in the middle. Averted vision only, glimpsed 20% of the time, tough to see even on a good night at Dugas Rd. PK 47+42.1 13" Camp 613 S=8, T=10 100X very faint, pretty large, round, very little brighter middle. Just barely detected with direct vision and no UHC filter. Averted vision helps a lot on this low surface brightness PN. Jupiter is at the edge of my vision in Capricorn when I am looking in Hercules, and I have to block it off with my hand to see this faint planetary. Going to 100X with the UHC helps some, the contrast is better but still a faint blob. Higher power only shows a 13th mag star on the western edge of nebula, no internal detail. Double Stars Struve 2120 Yellow and bluish, split at 100X. Alpha Her Bright yellow and faint green in 8" at 100X. Medium yellow and light green in 13" at 220X. Delta Her White and greenish, easy split at 100X. White and light purple in 13" at 220X, use the "glance" method, peek quickly. 95 Her White and yellow, easy split at 135X.