Object of the Week January 06, 2013 - Sharpless 257 and the Three Snowballs

[Howard B]

These Snowballs are one of the best "Sharpless groups" in the sky Reiner. With 14,5" and Hß all four balls could be seen. I also tried Sh 258 which I could not detect.

14,5", 83x, Hß, NELM 6m5+
IC2162.jpg

Hi UWE,

I was finally able to have a decent look at this lovely bunch of Sharpless snowballs two Friday's ago (March 8) with my 28 f/4 under 21.35 SQM skies. Unlike my first attempt in January, this time the two brightest snowballs - 255 and 257 - stood out right away, with big 254 and little 256 only slightly more difficult. The h-beta filter had the best effect by far, with the NPB performing a distant second. All the snowballs were invisible without filters. 258 never showed a hint of itself at any power up to 408x, and my overall view was very much like your sketch - a subtle but wonderful treat. I haven't scanned my sketch yet but will try to remember to post it here when I do.

April 16th edit - I'm adding my sketch:

Sh255-258 crop.jpg