View Observations | Add Observations
Help | Discussion | Acknowledgements
NGC104 (Globular Cluster, in Tucana, Est. RaDec 00h24.1m, -72d05' )
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 22-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Jun 10 06:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 654
Last week two fellow Astronomical Society of Harrisburg members (Tony Donnangelo and Ted Nichols II) and I traveled to Bolivia to attend the Southern Skies Star Party at the Inca Utama resort on Lake Titicaca. Saying that it was truly an eye-opening experience doesn't begin to adequately describe the trip. Although dealing with the stress of travel, sleep deprivation, fatigue, cloudy nights, and the high altitude (almost 13,000 feet) wasn't exactly fun, the overall experience was a very positive one and included many personal observing firsts.In addition to our binoculars and a small refractor (my 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube 80) we had access to 10 and 22" Starmaster Dobs from the Alapacha Observatory plus a number of Newtonians and a 90mm ETX brought by other star party attendees. Tony and I made heavy use of the 22" Starmaster.Highlights included locating the closest extrasolar star (Proxima Centauri), splitting Beta Centauri with difficulty and Antares with ease, seeing the Small Magellanic Cloud and the great globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) for the first time, observing the Homunculus Nebula that surrounds the massive star Eta Carinae, and having simply superb views of NGC 2808, NGC 3132 (the Eight-Burst Nebula), NGC 3372 (the Eta Carinae Nebula), NGC 3532 (the finest open cluster in the sky), NGC 4038/9 (the Antennae), NGC 4945 (a fine edge-on galaxy located near Omega Centauri, NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri), NGC 6302 (the Bug Nebula), NGC 6231 and the rest of the Table of Scorpius, NGC 6397 (a fantastic globular in Ara), M4, M7, M8, M16, M17, M20, M22, M24, M83, M104, B86 (the Ink Spot), Baade's Window, the Pipe Nebula (LDN 1773), the Coal Sack, and so very much more. Watching the Milky Way arch from horizon to horizon through the zenith was a truly majestic sight.NGC 104, the second largest globular cluster, was easy to see with the naked eye and like NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri) was impressive through binoculars and small aperture scopes. Through the 22" Starmaster this mighty stellar conglomerate's hallmark feature, its highly concentrated nucleus, was simply striking. Many observers prefer 47 Tucanae over Omega Centauri because of this condensed core but I did not until we employed a 5.2mm Pentax SMC XL (over 500x). At this high magnification the stars of the cluster completely filled the field of view and the core dominated the field. See http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n0104.html for further information on NGC 104.
NGC104 (Globular Cluster, in Tucana)
Observer: Andrew (e-mail: rigg@optusnet.com.au, web: http://www.astronomy.xrs.net)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Bunbury, Western Australia, Australia
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Fri Mar 8 13:15:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 615
An intense globular cluster containing billions of stars. Located in the southern constellation Tucana (the Toucan). In the 8" dob I was using this cluster was absolutely magnificant! It is sphereical with billions (try and count them!) of densly packed stars at its nucleus. Easily the best globular I've seen.
NGC104 (Globular Cluster, in Tucana)
Observer: Serge (e-mail: astroguy@onaustralia.com.au)
Instrument: 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector Location: Perth, WA, Australia
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Dec 21 17:10:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 540
Very beautiful and delicate! Critical focus is needed to resolve individual stars.
View Observations | Add Observations
Help | Discussion | Acknowledgements
Questions? Problems? E-mail jbc@west.net
 |
Object database created with dObjects |  |
Logo created with Pixelsight |