Vulpecula
by Steve Coe
13.1" f/5.6 unless noted

NGC 6793 Pretty bright, pretty large, not compressed, I counted 30 stars at 100X.

NGC 6800 Bright, large, pretty rich, not very compressed at 100X. I counted 47 stars.
The cluster can be seen in the 11 X 80 finder.
This cluster is northwest from Alpha Vul, a nice yellow star in a dense Milky Way field.

NGC 6802 Bright, pretty large, elongated 2 X 1, much compressed at 165X. 15 stars were counted on a mottled surface and this cluster stood out from the Milky Way very nicely. There are two sets of doubles stars that "guard" this cluster on either side, both pairs of stars are light orange and white.
6 inch--seen at 65X, better at 100X, pretty faint, pretty large, elongated 2X1 N-S, there are two double stars on either side. The best I could do was to resolve 2 stars in this compact cluster.

NGC 6813 Faint, pretty small, somewhat elongated at 100X. The UHC filter helps the contrast. There is a white and light blue double star on one edge of the nebulosity.

NGC 6815 Pretty bright, Large, little compressed, rather poor cluster at 60X. Using a 38mm Giant Erfle eyepiece for a one degree field, 38 stars were counted against a mottled or "cottage cheese" background of unresolved stars. The cluster is approximately 30' in size and does not stand out well.

NGC 6820 is a nebula that is involved in the cluster NGC 6823. It is very faint, pretty large and can just be detected at 100X with the UHC filter. It is most obvious on the south side of the cluster.

NGC 6823 Pretty bright, pretty large and pretty rich cluster at 100X. 28 stars were counted with the central 4 stars forming a tiny (20") quadruple system.

NGC 6830 Bright, pretty large, pretty rich and somewhat compressed at 100X. This cluster stands out nicely, with 58 stars counted.

NGC 6834 Bright, pretty large, pretty rich, somewhat compressed, 32 stars counted at 135X. This nice cluster stands out well from the Milky Way, there are several beautiful curved chains of stars and an
11th mag star in the center.

NGC 6842 Faint, pretty small, round and can only be seen with averted vision at 100X without the UHC filter. Installing the UHC helps the contrast considerably, it allows the nebula to be held steady.

6 inch--100X-extremely faint, small, round, at limit of 6 inch.

NGC 6853 (M 27) the Dumbbell Nebula. It is the most easily seen planetary nebula in the sky. The Helix and the Owl have low surface brightness and the Ring is much smaller. This object is easy in the 10X50 binoculars as a small cloud afloat in the Milky Way. I have always been fascinated by the Dumbbell and have looked at it every Summer since I first learned the skies. The central, bright "Dumbbell" section is obvious in my 13". On a night I rated 9/10 the dimmer nebulosity stands out unmistakably and makes the total circumference of the nebulosity appear round. This effect is more pronounced in the UHC filter at 135X.
Lord Rosse drew the Dumbbell in the 72" Leviathan and he included 18 stars involved in the nebula.
I have tried with several large scopes to match that number and have never quite caught up with the Third Earl of Rosse.
Using my old 17.5" Dobsonian at 7000 ft. in the mountains near Flagstaff, I could pick out 10 stars within the Dumbbell.
On an excellent night in Mayer, Az. at Richard and Helen Lines' Observatory their 20" f/6 Newtonian could reveal 13 stars, one of the easiest being the very hot (85,000 degrees Kelvin) 13.5 mag central star. Both of those large scopes at about 250X would show some light and dark areas within the nebula. This strikingly beautiful planetary is lime green in all the telescopes mentioned
above.
Camp 613 13" 9/10--easy in 11X80, 60X--lovely light green neb. afloat in the Milky Way, rectangular shape elongated 1.5X1 PA 165.
150X--favorite view, bright, large, elongated, stellar nucleus, sixteen stars involved, several of the faintest with averted vision only, nebula is brightest on south side. Loops of nebula extent out from rectangular central section, using the UHC filter fills them in.
330X--"horns" are not nearly as prominent but stars involved are easier--still 16 counted. Very center around central star is subtly darker than rest of the nebula-not much, but noticeable.

Cherry road S=7, T=8 13" 11X80 shows "box" shape 100X !! very bright, large, somewhat brighter middle, little elongated 1.2X1 in PA 135. A beautiful light green rounded shape in rich Milky Way
field of view. The southeast end in brightest nebulosity. Averted vision "fills in" the shape to be almost round.
330X 13 stars involved in nebulosity, 4 of those averted vision only. A big, fluffy cloud, looks like cumulous. Somewhat darker in the middle, around central star. Like so many other great objects, all
magnifications show some aspect of this object, subtle but there, that was not seen before.

Ultimate Star Party, McDonald Obs. S=6, T=8, 36" f/5--
M 27 20mm; 17 stars counted involved; horns and football shape obvious. A light lime green at all times.

NGC 6882 Pretty bright, large, not compressed, pretty poor and scattered group on about 40 stars at 100X.

NGC 6885 Bright, pretty large, rich and somewhat compressed at 100X. The cluster consists of the bright star 20 Vulpeculae and 35 pretty faint companions. Very interesting group.

6 inch--40X-bright, large, 28 stars counted in a horseshoe shape.

NGC 6940 Bright, large, rich, quite compressed at 100X. This cluster is easy in the 11 X 80 finder. I estimated 80 members, many in lovely chains of stars. There is an interesting feature of this cluster, it is bordered in black. A dark lane goes almost all the way around the dense star cluster, as if the stars were gathered up and left behind dark lanes.

Sentinel 8/10 S+T 13" 11X80 12 stars resolved Bright, large, elongated 2X1 N-S, great cluster, little observed.
60X--Great view in Giant Erfle, bright, very large, very rich, much compressed. 98 stars counted in lovely chains an small goupings within the cluster. There is a 12th mag orange star dead center.
100X--about 60% of the size of the FOV with 22mm Panoptic. Several double stars are split now. Great view, many chains and pairs.

IC 4954 Pretty bright, pretty large and irregularly round with the UHC filter at 100X. There are 17 stars of magnitudes 11 to 13 involved. This nebula is about 10 arc minutes in size and has several bright knots within the nebulosity.

Stock 1 Bright, very large, not compressed at 60X. 28 stars counted. This is a very rich, bright area of the Milky Way in 10 X 50 binoculars or the 11 X 80 finderscope.
38mm and 13" large, bright, little compressed, pretty rich, 28 stars counted, this cluster takes up about 1/3 of field. 22mm--59 stars counted, several nice pairs including a chain of stars of mag 8-9 in center. More like a cluster in binocs.

6 inch--40X-Still large, 38 stars counted of mags 8...12. Nice.

PK72-17.1 (Abell 74) It is very faint, large, irregularly round and not brighter in the middle at 100X. It is just seen without the UHC filter. Installing the filter helps quite a bit. On an excellent night, some dark features could be suspected with averted vision and the UHC.

PK62-0.1 is also M2-48. I could not find it on very good night with the 13" at 135X.

Collinder 399 is also known as Brocchi's Cluster and The Coathanger.
This naked eye cluster can be seen as a bright spot within the Rift in the Milky Way.
Binoculars resolve about 12 stars.
The 11 X 80 finder with a 20mm Erfle eyepiece frames the cluster very nicely. This very bright and very large open cluster has several nice double stars involved and at least one of the brighter members is a nice light orange in color in the 13" at 60X. Like so many of these kind of large open clusters, it is difficult to determine where the cluster stops and the Milky Way starts. Oh well, part of the fun!
This huge cluster just fits in the 38mm Erfle using the RFT 6" scope. It has always appeared like its namesake--The Coathanger. A straight line of stars has a hook of stars "above" it. It is very bright, extremely large, not compressed and composed of stars both bright and faint. There are several faint pairs involved. All in all, I counted 38 stars involved in this naked eye cluster, it appears as a pretty bright spot in the dark Rift in the Milky Way.
A lovely site in the 10X50 binocs, 15 stars resolved and the Coathanger shape is easy to see with two eyes. There are two different brightnesses of stars in this cluster, the bright "coathager" stars are easy, then 2 to 3 mags fainter are more stars somewhat difficult. It floats in front of the obviously dark region of the Summer Milky Way.

Sh2-88 Pretty faint, large, elongated 3 X 1 with the UHC filter at 100X. It is just barely seen without the filter, there are 11 stars involved. This streamer of nebulosity extends from one side of the 30' field to the other side. It is actually a very nice nebula, for one that is so little known.