Printable View
After I could see and sketch the faint arms the first time with my old 16" a became a fan of this unique object.
Last new moon I had the chance to observe this with my 27" under perfect alpine skies (7500 ft). The views were stunning - the arms were bright enough to detect the conical shape. To my surprise I could also detect the brighter stellar spots in the middle of the arms.
Attachment 251
homepage with
inverted version
Wow, what a great sketch!
I first observed this object in my old 20" a few years back at the 2003 Nebraska Star Party. I can't say I remember it looking like this! Even with the dark skies!
I'll have to revisit this with the 25
Great sketch, Uwe. I've logged the brighter (northern) of the two stellar knots several times in my 18", but not the fainter stellar knot. The sketch pretty much captures the detail I noted in Jimi Lowrey's 48" --
48" (4/1/11): viewed at 488x and 813x. The twin jets extend directly north and south at least 20" in each direction from the mag 14.5 central star. A faint star is very close west [8"] of the central star. A fairly bright, extremely small knot is embedded near the end of the northern jet and a fainter counterpart is embedded near the southern tip. This knot seems slightly enhanced with an NPB filter. The extensions are slightly asymmetric or bowed out and taper very slightly at the ends.
Last night I had a look at this nebula with my 12" telescope. My notes read:
At 48x this nebula isn't visible. With UHC a faint smudge becomes visible. With OIII too but less prominent than with UHC. At 88x without filter I see a star to the west of where the nebula should be. With UHC the nebula becomes visible as a small line wich again is less visible with OIII. At 188x the same applies as at 88x but the nebula is much harder to see. I'll need to visit this nebula with a larger aperture.