Object of the Week April 15, 2012 - Abell 37

Abell 37 (IC 972)

Virgo

RA
14 04 25.9
DEC
-17 13 40

Planetary Nebula

Size 54.0"

Mag 14.9 (P)

Central Star 17.9 Mag

The Texas Star Party begins today so I thought I would Pick a object from the TSP Advanced Observing list "Anything Abell" by Larry Mitchell.

Abell 37 is a nice PN that has a green color in my scope to my eye. Its a nice change from all the Galaxies in Virgo.

Attachment 149

So the next time you are galaxy hopping in Virgo remember this nice PN for a change and,

"GIVE IT A GO AND LET US KNOW"

GOOD LUCK And GREAT VIEWING!

Hi Jimi,

I had a look at Abell 37 at last years GSSP, and think that was first time I've seen this nifty planetary. It's surprisingly bright and well defined for an Abell planetary and showed well even without a filter. A DGM and OIII filter made the nebula brighter but didn't bring out any detail. I didn't see the central star and found 253x gave the best view. The SQM was 21.63 at the time, and was the darkest reading I got that night (July 1, 2011).

Hi Jimi,

please tell us what you exactly saw with your 48".

I took a longer observation on IC 972 a few month ago at La Palma (28° N) with a 20". With 321x + UHC I could detect a better defined E edge with a little break. The middle was a little bit darker. At the NW I could see a faint spot, maybe the faint star at the edge through UHC? I could not see the CS. I made a sketch with the 20"

Could you detect the CS and how easy do you saw the star at the NW edge?

Attachment 150

Alvin Huey is here for the Texas Star Party and we looked at Abell 37 Monday night with the 48" with below average seeing.


Best view was with a 10MM ZAO II 488X with the NPB filter. The central star was popping in and out and is a little off center. Uwe's sketch looks very much like the view with a slight brighting on the edges. With out the filter the foreground star on the edge was direct vision. VERY Nice Planetary ! "GIVE IT A GO"

On the night starting on 4-30-2011 later at 1:23am in my18" at 278x (7mmNag) and NPB filter at a 2000 foot site but a poor night there with NELM 6.2 and SQM reading 21.35 I wrote this (SteveG: You were also there with the usual 'gang' at DSR)

Abell_37: NPB filter. 1/20fov [1'] Easily seen as an averted only small object. No central star detected. Diffuse fairly even glow with non defined edge but brighter in the center.

A quick reference: Attachment 152
I have yet to observe it though, it doesn't rise above 21 degrees from my location..!

30” f/4.3 (222 and 314x) – This Abell planetary is considerably bright and round. It has a slightly irregular and sharp edge. Estimated size is about 40” across its even surface brightness disk. No central star was seen. Best seen at 222x and O-III filter.


Attachment 226

Hi here's my observation from 4/4/2011; Abell 37 is a planetary nebula in Virgo; magnitude: 13.9 size:43"x40" roundish , faint, UHC filter works well on this object ; no central star observed; I used a 10mm Radian eyepiece at 158x with my 14.5 Starstructure Dob f/4.3Attachment 3822