Bol 69 AKA G132 ANTNO 78

[Jimi Lowrey]

Last November 21 I had a successful observation of Andromeda Globular G132 #78 on the ANTNO list. I found the field easily it has a slight curving line of four fairly bright stars near the 18.1 V MAG globular. At 488X something would pop in and out every now and then at the right location. I bumped up the power with a 6MM ZAO 813X and to my surprise I could hold it steady with averted vision. The stars were tight so I put in a 4MM ZAO 1220x looked in the eyepiece and BOOM there it was with direct vision. The globular looked fuzzy and had a faint yellow glow to my eye. I spent a long time soaking in the faint photons. I then did a field sketch and was grateful for the steady seeing .

bol69.jpg
(Click thumbnail to enlarge pic)

[Dave Tosteson]

G132 has an interesting history, as an AINTNO object. My friend Tim Parson was the first to see this in Larry Mitchell's 36" f5 scope at TSP back in 1998, and actually showed it to Larry without telling him what he was seeing. He had his tape recorder going in his pocket taking down his reaction, and when Tim told him this was an AINTNO object, the backtracking began. Since then it has been seen in my 25" f5, and was seen on the first light night for my 32" f4 in September, 2005. It was placed on the AINTNO list in the early 1990's as it was the faintest known globular in M31 at the time, at 18.6. Larry and Barbara Mitchell exacted a measure of revenge on Tim by making him wait 11 years to receive the award. It's a great object.

Dave Tosteson