Monday, November 12, 2001

Tonight was perhaps the coldest night so far this season. I observed
from around 10:40pm to 11:15pm. The temperature was -5C; well below
freezing. The sky, however, was excellent. Tonight in Tri I noticed a
triangular formation of four faint stars (one in the center) just to the
west of the main triangle of the constellation. One of these stars, at
magnitude 6.0, I've mentioned in some of my recent previous
observations. My AAVSO star atlas shows the other stars at magnitudes
5.5, 5.8, and 5.4. All were visible. However, I could not make out M33
with my naked eyes.

As with my other recent observations tonight I was using my 7x50
binoculars as my primary instrument. I started the evening by observing
the famous double cluster in Per (NGC-869 and NGC-884). It was a
wonderful sight. The richness of the field and the intensity of the two
clusters combine to form a dramatic view. Trailing off to the north of
the clusters was an obvious arc of stars that seemed to end in another
large, loose cluster of mediumly faint stars. This other cluster is not
plotted on any of my atlases so I have to assume it is just a rich Milky
Way field... a random association of stars. It does nevertheless
complement the double cluster very nicely.

I then began to work Cassiopeia. I fairly quickly spotted what I
believe to be NGC-663 as an obvious round ball of light about half way
between Delta and Epsilon Cas. Sky Atlas 2000 also plots NGC-659 in the
general area (close to 44 Cas) but my references gives NGC-659 a
combined brightness of 9.8 -- probably out of reach of my binoculars. In
contrast, NGC-663 is listed with a combined brightness of 7.1. That
value is much more in keeping with the object I observed. I may have
also spotted the nearby NGC-654. However, I would have to rate my
sighting of that object as tentative.

I looked for M103 near Delta Cas and easily found the precise location.
The object is somewhat obscure in my binoculars. It appeared as a fuzzy,
slightly elongated star. It would have been easy to overlook. Perhaps it
is more interesting in a telescope.

I then worked the area around Kappa Cas. I found the locations of
NGC-225 (which I believe I saw), NGC-129 (which I believe I saw), and
NGC-136 (which I did not see). My reference puts the combined magnitude
of these objects at 9.1, 10.0, and 11.3 respectively. These are faint
values and they make me question my observations. I know that Milky Way
fields are often full of faint associations that can be easily mistaken
for clusters or other deep sky objects. I may have done that in this
case. At least I did not observe the object listed at 11.3!

To finish up this area of the sky I visited my old friend NGC-7789. This
is a wonderful cluster that is easily visible in the binoculars as a
large granular patch. It's position between two relatively bright stars
makes for a most interesting view.

Cassiopeia is rich with start clusters and it's a wonderful place to
explore with a telescope. The richness of the Milky Way makes it an
interesting place to probe with binoculars too. However, I must admit,
many of the "official" clusters in Cas are rather difficult binocular
objects.

After exploring Cas, I took a walk down the road to where I could get a
better view of the eastern sky. I noticed the Beehive Cluster (M44 in
Cnc) just rising over the mountain. It was readily visible to the naked
eye, but the view was not as impressive as I'm sure it will be later.

I scanned Mon carefully looking for the cluster that marks the Rosette
Nebula. I was not familiar with its exact location but that turned out
to be a good thing. Before long I was able to find a small elongated
cluster that appeared, with averted vision, to be surrounded by a faint
cloud. I later checked the location in the atlases and found that it
was, indeed, NGC-2244 (the cluster) and NGC-2237 (the nebula). I believe
that this is the first time I've ever observed the Rosette Nebula in
binoculars. It was not particularly bright, but it was definitely
visible.

For the record I also checked out M43... a blob of the Orion Nebula that
has its own Messier number. It looked rather stellar in the binoculars
but it was certainly visible.

I noticed that Mira was visible to the naked eye as a moderately faint
star. Although I didn't do a careful magnitude estimate, I'd guess that
it was around 4.5 or so. I will try to keep an eye on it during the next
couple of months to see, at least, if it is brightening or dimming.

Peter