AQUILA
by Steve Coe
13" f/5.6 unless noted

NGC 6709 Large, pretty rich, not compressed at 100X, 59 members counted. Several nice chains of stars with wide blue and gold double star on the western edge of the cluster. Seen in 11 X 80 finder.

NGC 6738 Large, pretty bright, irregular shape at 100X. 20 members of magnitudes 9 to 10, another 20 members with magnitudes less than 13. Looks like a cluster with a step function magnitude distribution. I have rarely seen a star cluster that does not seem to gradually fade to dimmer members.

NGC 6741 Small, pretty bright, little elongated at 135X. Not easy to find at this power, it is just barely larger than the seeing disk at medium power. Installing the Barlow to get 270X makes it much easier to recognize. It is a light green dot in a Milky Way field. I estimate 3 arc seconds in size.

NGC 6751 Pretty large, bright, somewhat elongated, greenish at 135X.
A very nice planetary that will show off its' central star at 270X.
Using the 13" I see the central star as about 12th mag, also there
is a star of similar magnitude on the eastern edge, seen at 220X.
This is on a night I rated 8/10 for seeing and 9/10 for transparency
in the central Arizona mountains. On that very nice evening, this
object appeared to me as one of the best objects in Aquila.

Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs., Oct. 95, S=7, T=9, 36" f/5--

NGC 6751 Aquila 36" small, but bright, central star obvious, medium green eyepiece with 12mm, going to 9mm, central star held steady, several bright markings seen within the disk, always round.

NGC 6755 Large, not compressed, irregular shape and has nice chains
of stars at 100X. 50 members counted. This object and 6756 both fit
in the one degree field of my giant 38mm Erfle eyepiece. I called it
the Double Cluster in Aquila. Both clusters are just visible in the
11 X 80 finder.

NGC 6756 Pretty small, much compressed, elongated, compact cluster at 165X. I counted 15 members resolved.

NGC 6760 Bright, pretty large, round, somewhat brighter middle at
100X. I resolved 4 stars at 270X, but the globular is grainy at all
powers. I estimate its' magnitude as 10.5, size as 5 arc minutes.

NGC 6772 Faint, pretty large and round at 100X. It is not
immediately obvious without the UHC filter. The filter helps a lot on
this object. With the filter this nebula stands out very nicely and
there is some annularity noted. Higher powers do not bring out more
detail.

Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs., Oct. 95, S=7, T=9, 36" f/5--

NGC 6772 in AQL in 36" 27mm no filter, round, brighter on edges, somewhat annular, gauze over a hoop effect seen, no star seen, going to 16mm with UHC shows more contrast, darker middle of nebula.

IC 4846 Pretty faint, very small, round at 135X. Just barely seen at
this lower power. Going to 270X helps some, but no detail is seen at
anytime.

NGC 6778 Pretty bright, pretty small, elongated 2 X 1 at 165X. It is
easily picked out of the Milky Way at medium power. Using the Barlow
to get 320X shows a star in the western end and the shape is almost
rectangular. I estimate the magnitude of the planetary as 11.5 and the
size as 8 X 16 arc seconds.

NGC 6781 Bright, Large, somewhat elongated at 100X in 13". It is
immediately obvious without the UHC filter. This planetary is shaped
like the gibbous moon with the south side brighter in an arc. There
is one star involved that stands out very nicely. The UHC filter
helps some. I estimate its' size at one arc minute.

Camp 613 S=8, T=10 Wow night in 13". 100X--pretty bright, large,
a little brighter on south side, smooth disk at this low power.
220X--no detail on disk revealed, still a smooth disk that is
brighter on south side. 2 13th mag stars involved at edge of
disk, one on west side, one on north side. Adding UHC filter
enhances contrast of entire disk, but no detil seen within it.

6" f/6 from Dugas Rd. 7/10. 22mm easy to see, 8mm faint, round,
pretty large, not brighter in the middle, one star involved comes
and goes with seeing, brighter on East side.

Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs., Oct. 95, S=7, T=9, 36" f/5--

NGC 6781 in AQL in 36" 16mm with UHC a thick, curved bright region
on one side that makes the entire nebula appear like a crescent Moon
with earthshine. No stars seen within nebula. Nice view of this
object. Central section is filled with "gauze" neby.

Eagle Eye Rd. 13" S=6 T=7 after Moonset 100X--pretty
bright, pretty large, brighter on south side, the disk is grey
220X--no filter, not round, a gibbous Moon shape. 2 very faint
stars at northern edge and eastern edge of neby. In pretty rich
field of view. UHC--neby contrast is higher, but no detail seen
within the disk.

NGC 6790 Nothing at this location 13" f/5.6 at 220X on 7/10 night.

NGC 6803 Pretty bright, very, very small and round at 200X. More
power helps a little, but not much. The planetary has about a 3 arc
second disk. This tiny disk demands a steady night and a very precise
star chart.

NGC 6804 Bright, pretty large, comet shaped at 100X. Using over 200X shows a star at the tip of the comet shape and another dimmer star involved to the west. A nice object at high power. Another
observation with the 13" from Dugas Rd. on a 7/10 night; Pretty
bright, pretty large, round, noticed at 135X. At 220X, 4 stars
involved including 12th mag on the E edge. Averted vision elongates
the nebula, the pB star involved also makes the nebula appear comet
shaped when with direct vision it is round.

Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs., Oct. 95, S=7, T=9, 36" f/5--

NGC 6804 in AQL in 36" 16mm and UHC; 7 stars invl, central star
held for 20 percent of the time, central bright region is mottled
and shows lots of fine detail, bright and dark regions that are
small, but held steady, a unique object. There is a brighter
diamond-shaped central region and then fainter outer region which
makes the entire object round.

Camp 613 S=6 T=8 100X--pretty bright, pretty large, round, little brighter in the middle, a 12th mag star is on the eastern edge. 220X--3 stars involved, irregularly round figure, averted vision makes it grow larger, it is in a rich field of view.

Eagle Eye Rd. 13" S=6 T=7 after Moonset 100X--easy to spot, pretty bright, pretty large, round at this power.
330X--obvious comet shape, 2 stars involved adding UHC filter makes the stars almost disappear, but the neby is much more contrasty and easy to see. I think 330X with out the filter is best view, neby is pretty easy and large, but stars involved can be seen without filter.

NGC 6807 Nothing at the correct location at 220X.

NGC 6814 Pretty faint, pretty large, bright middle, elongated
1.2 X 1 in PA 0, in a nice, rich field at 100X

NGC 6807 Nothing at this location 13" 220X Dugas Rd. 7/10

NGC 6814 Pretty faint, pretty large, brighter in the middle,
elongated 2X1 in PA 0, rich field.

IC 4846 Very faint, pretty small, round, very little brighter in
the middle, it is averted vision only at 220X in the 13". This
quite tiny PN is about three times the size of the seeing disk
on a 7/10 night at Dugas Road.

Palomar 11 13" at 150X, faint, pretty small, round, little
brighter middle, somewhat mottled, a low surface brightness
object even on a great night at 7000 ft, near Grand Canyon.

PK 29+ 0.1 Extremely faint, pretty small, just detected as a
very dim fuzzy spot at 150X in the 13". This object is at
the limit of the 13" on a night I rated 10/10 at Camp 613.
I would have never found it without Uranometria charts.

PK 31-10.1 Very faint, small, round, not brighter in the middle
at 150X. Only seen with averted vision, it is a dim envelope
surrounding a 13th mag star.

PK 36- 1.1 Pretty faint, pretty large, little brighter in the
middle, elongated 1.8X1 in PA 165. There is one faint star
involved within the nebula. Adding the UHC filter really helps
the contrast of the nebula. Without the filter there is just
a faint haze around the central star, using the filter brings
out a disk with the star involved.

PK 52-2.2 Pretty faint, very small, round, brighter middle at 165X.
Averted vision makes it grow quite a bit. I estimate 4 arc seconds
and 12th magnitude.

PK 47-4.1 Extremely faint, pretty small, elongated 2 X 1, not
brighter middle at 165X. There are two pretty faint stars involved.
This object is at the limit of the 13" scope on a very good night I
rated 8/10 for seeing and transparency at one of my best sites in
central Arizona.

B 133 Dark Neb. noticed immediately in the 11X80 finder. NO STARS
up to 220X in an area 5'X10' elongated 2X1 in PA 0, in a nice rich
field.

Camp 613 S-7 T=8 13" 100X--obvious dark nebula, elongated in a PA 0, very few stars involved, 4 seen within the nebulosity. A nice dark, elongated bubble.

B 134 Camp 613 S-7 T-8 13" 100X--no stars seen in round area, about 5 arcmin in size. It is almost surrounded by stars of mags 8...12. 150X--very faint double star is seen in nebula, 12 and 13 mag.

Cherry Rd. 6" f/6 S+T=7 40X--not easy, dark area is small and somewhat difficult to hold steady. 65X--helps a lot, it is a dark spot with a dark lane off to the NNW. There are very few stars inside dark area, either spot of dark lane. Once you see it at the higher power it is easy.

B 142 and 143 fit in the same field of view with 22mm Panoptic and 13" scope.
These two dark areas are right at the edge of a Milky Way thickening, so to the West is star rich and to the East is star poor. 150X with 14mm UWA, B 142 is the thicker and denser black of the two, there are no stars in the darkest portion of the middle of this dark area.

B 143 This dark nebula is over 30 arc minutes in size and so
demands a wide field to see it clearly. My old 17.5 inch f/4.5 at
60X showed a long arc of missing stars about 1 1/2 degrees west of
Altair.

Double Stars

5 Aql cream and bluish pair with faint third member at 100X.

11 Aql white and light blue pair, easy at 100X. In dense Milky Way
field.

15 Aql white and yellow, easy at 100X. At the edge of dark area.

23 Aql yellow and light green, split at 200X.

57 Aql white and light yellow, easy at 100X. Almost a matched pair.

Struve 2497 Light yellow and light blue, easy at 100X. Nice pair,
reminds me of Alberio.

Struve 2628 Yellow and purple, split at 165X. A unique color, as
purple at Grape soda pop on your lips.

Beta Aql yellow and light blue, split at 165X. A delicate comes.

H 881 A lovely triple star. Orange and two blue comes that form an
obtuse triangle. Split at 100X.

RED Stars

UV Aql Orange and blue pair, split by approx. 15 arcsec in 6" at 100X

V Aql Lovely copper color in Milky Way field, very nice from Dugas
gravel pit with Jay Leblanc after trying to get to Camp 613
in a rain storm and not making it.