M76

I did some observing from my backyard with the 28-inch scope last week and had two nights that were surprisingly nice. I live about halfway between the bright skies of Portland Oregon and the dark skies of the high desert of central Oregon, so my backyard can be decent for deep sky observing on occasion.

Anyway, I had a marvelous view of M76 last week that I want to share. The seeing was quite sharp and I was able to use magnification up to 695x, but the best view was at 408x. Both the NPB and OIII filters gave an excellent view and I couldn't decide which I preferred, but the sketch was made with the OIII so maybe that answers my own question.

Attachment 3632 Attachment 3633

My notes:

"Quite the sight, especially considering this is from my backyard! The NPB and OIII filters brought out the two side loops, and this may be my first glimpse of the central star. Steady seeing and 695x gave me several good pops. M76 is a wonderful sight and I can't decide whether I like the NPB or OIII filter best - slightly more detail with the OIII but a more natural view with the NPB. 253x, 408x and 695x. 20.38 SQM."

For me, the most remarkable part of this observation was seeing the central star. I didn't use a nebula filter while trying to see it, and for me it was more difficult than the central star of the Ring Nebula. Even though I could only get a handful of momentary sightings it was a solid observation. I'm pretty sure I've never tried to see it before, and the only reason I bumped up the power this time because I was getting hints something was there while observing at 408x, so it was almost like it was trying to get my attention!

Great drawing. This would have made a great OOTW ;-)

Great work. Could you please clarify whether the central star was visible with or without a filter, and which one if any. Must be awfully seeing-dependent.

Great sketch for a 20.4 sky Howard.

I didn't find any positive observation of the CS with my 27-inch. But I will revisit it, thanks for the reminder.

Under much better sky I could catch up one more star in the NW lobe, all with [OIII].

27", 172x-419x, NELM 7m0+, Seeing III
Attachment 3634

Ivan,

The central star was visible only without a filter. It first caught my attention at 408x and I definitely saw it at 695x.

Uwe,

Now that's a great sketch! Certainly you had a much better sky, and hopefully I'll get a chance in the next few months to observe M76 in similarly great conditions.

Howard,
Thank you for the report and the fantastic sketch.

Uwe,
Fantastic sketch as are the ones on your website.