Observations made by The Orion OMC 140 Maksutov-Cassegrain are shown below. There are several excellent reports detailing what can be seen with this telescope.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	August 26th 2001 22:45 BST
Observing Location:	Anglesey
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	A good, very transparent and dark sky
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	Sun, Sea, Sand and Stars. This holiday Sunday, 26th August, I experienced clear blue sky, miles of clean sand and warm sea… on Anglesey! A day spent swimming, building sandcastles and playing beach cricket was an idea starter to a very clear and dark night with the ‘scope. The moon was to set at about 23:45 BST. I started observing in the northern sky about an hour earlier. The open clusters M 52 and NGC 7789 were both easily visible in the finder, a good sign. I re-visited NGC 40 a bright planetary nebula of mag. 10.7, a 1 arc-minute central something was surrounded by a circular haze. I moved over to Delphinus and found NGC 6891 a planetary nebula at 10.5 and quite unstar-like, brightening with the UHC filter. The nearby globular cluster NGC 6934 seemed very bright for mag. 8.9. Fruitless searches for some small planetaries near M11 in Scutum followed. The moon had now set completely and I went for the first of my four main aims for the night, Barnard’s galaxy. The nearby Little Gem nebula was easy to find but some low-level light glow prevented a confident positive sighting of this large low surface brightness galaxy in Sagittarius. My next target, the Crescent nebula in Cygnus. NGC 6888 is given an integrated magnitude of 10 and a size of 20x10 arc-minutes. The location is easy to find with an obvious asterism of 4/5 stars pointing the way. I looked for some time. Took off my spectacles and re-focused. Clasped my hands around the eyepiece to block out the non-existent stray light. Scanned around the field, nothing. Moving the focus a little to allow a little space between the eyepiece and my eye I then moved the UHC filter into and out of the FOV. Suddenly, all became apparent. An arc/filament of nebulosity started at one star curved through another and for some way beyond. A half letter C became obvious. I noted the sighting and was delighted to see it match perfectly with a picture of the Crescent when I came to log the observation in SkyMap Pro some days later. Observations of some of the many open clusters were next. A very bright contrasty view of the Veil Nebula allowed lots of braided detail to be seen. I also thought I could pick out some elements of the central component of the nebula. 1 a.m., a text from DaveT interrupted. He and RogerL had just christened his new ‘scope at Teggs Nose. Sounded very good. My third aim of the night was to observe objects from the NGC catalogue that are parts of other galaxies! Moving over to Andromeda I stopped off at Stephan’s Quintet, easily visible to direct vision as a couple of amorphous blobs it lies just down from the nice, edge-on galaxy, NGC 7331. Attempting NGC 2something in the Andromeda galaxy was a failure, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Did I imagine some brightness? How large should it be? M33, the big, face-on spiral in Triangulum was plan B. NGC 604, an emission nebula was obvious! Why hadn’t I seen it before? It was easily found near an obvious asterism and adjacent to a foreground star. The filter improved the view. My final aim of the night was to pick off some of the few remaining Herschel 400 galaxies. Three nondescript objects were found low down in the glow around Cetus and Aquarius. A final few minutes were spent just sitting back and looking up.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	August 16th 2001
Observing Location:	Siddington
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	A good, very transparent and dark sky
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	The Return of the Night. August 16th. Dark nights have returned to 53° N. I traveled out to the semi-dark sky site of Siddington late after a cold front had passed through. A good, very transparent and dark sky soon became apparent. I still had some objects to observe in Sagittarius and many up through Serpens, Scutum and Aqulia. I tried for NGC 6540, a mag.14.6 globular cluster low down in Sagittarius. A bit silly as the theoretical limiting magnitude of the ‘scope is about 13.3 and the object would be subject to severe atmospheric extinction at this altitude. Still, it has been seen in a 70mm refractor. After an imaginary sighting I moved on. One for an Australian winter dark sky perhaps? M8, the Lagoon nebula at an altitude of 10° was very impressive filling the FOV with the UHC filter in place. Pal 9 was next. Easy viewing at mag. 9.7 next to a star. The showpiece Messiers were excellent and provided relaxing moments of contemplation on the en-route to less glamourous but interesting objects from the Herschel 400 and Deep Map 600 lists. Open clusters embedded in the Milky Way north of the Sagittarius teapot. Three globulars in the Serpens/Ophiuchus area had given problems in the past. This time the small fuzzy of NGC 6517 popped out at mag. 10.30. NGC 6366 was available after a bright star had been moved out of the field and a large and ghostly IC 1276 was held in direct vision with confidence. Sweeping over to Serpens Caput the planetary nebula IC 4593 appeared after some concentration. Three open clusters, Basel 1, Tr 35 and NGC6704, all at about mag. 9, came out from the background around the Wild Duck cluster. In Aquila one of the fainter NGC globulars, 6749, came out of the darkness intermittently. At mag. 11.1 and 6 arc-minutes diameter it is faint! Three planetaries followed, some of the many to be found in this area of sky. NGC 6804 at mag. 12.4 was found to be of substance and now joins NGCs 6781 and 6572 as essential viewing hereabouts. Three more bright open clusters provided a relaxing finish. I expect IC 4756, NGC 6633 and NGC 6709 will be excellent viewing in binoculars.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	July 15th 2001 23:15 BST
Observing Location:	Gradbach
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	Summer ‘Darkness’. The trip on Friday to Teggs Nose had surprised me with the darkness of the sky. So, when late on the following Sunday, July 15th, the sky appeared clear and settled I chanced the 50 minute trip to Gradbach. I was ready to observe by 23:15 BST. The site at Gradbach is on a large firm graveled area just off a bend in the road. Just as I settled down to start observing the rare approach of a car caused me to turn away and cover my eyes to preserve my limited dark adaptation. A sudden screech of brakes and slithering on gravel had me waiting for an impact… fortunately, the car had made it further round the bend than the observing site and had careered off the road into long vegetation and down into a ditch. Some shocked and animated voices confirmed that no one had been injured. Bo……s, there goes my night vision. Using some old climbing rope I attempted to pull the car onto the road with the RAV4. Being a lightweight in the 4x4 division resulted in all four wheels spinning and the smell of a burning clutch. The mobile ‘phones had no signal however, just as I was resigned to packing up a Land Rover turned up. Quadrupling the climbing rope and judicious use of low gearing soon had the car back on the road. A knife made short work of the un-undoable knots. Fortunately, the delay had allowed the sky to get darker and none of my early targets had started to set. I was working through some objects from the Herschel 400 list that had been lost in sky glow and murk the previous Friday. Conditions proved to be excellent. First off, the Little Ghost nebula flirted in and out of vision. At the same altitude as Mars in Ophiuchus this mag. 11 planetary was an intermittent flickering fuzzy. Next, NGC 6401, a globular cluster at mag. 9.5 was found nearby, quite star-like at only 1’ diameter. The big Messier objects around the lid and spout of the teapot in Sagittarius were as clear as I’d ever seen them from the UK. Ideal starting points for fainter quarry. A fine pair of globular clusters can be found 5 degrees down from the Lagoon nebula. A lovely sight in the single eyepiece FOV. A little higher, NGC 6520 was a fine open cluster at mag. 7.6. The fainter and lower Tom Thumb cluster was an imaginary haze at mag. 8.2. Two nearby globulars contrasted. NGC 6569, a 5’ haze attached to a star and NGC 6624, a well defined obvious globular. Moving up 5 degrees to the lid of the teapot I found that the big Messier globulars are surrounded by numerous smaller brethren. All would be easy to see at a higher altitude. Higher still, three nice open clusters were traced by star-hopping down from Scutum. One of many planetary nebulae in this area is also on the list. At mag. 10.5 it was easily picked up just an eyepiece away from M22 and M28. A small mag. 11.2 globular high in Ophiuchus, NGC 6426, had evaded me on several occasions previously. A very detailed star chart coupled with the good conditions finally secured success. Two nice open clusters in Aquila also appeared out of the Milky Way background, at last! The final object for the evening was Comet LINEAR C/2001 A2. Looking over towards Pegasus a fuzzy ‘half Andromeda galaxy’ was visible to the naked-eye. Line up the TelRad and the comet with tail filled the FOV. A very nice end to a good session at about 1:30 BST. I was very impressed with the contrast and performance offered by my ‘scope under the less than ideal light summer night sky. Logging my observations a few days later was a little disappointing, two objects still lurk in the southern summer Milky Way for me to dig out.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	Easter 2001
Observing Location:	Tenerife, Canary Islands
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	Observing from Tenerife I was fortunate to spend this Easter with 'the family' on Tenerife. Two weeks of excellent weather gave plenty of opportunity for observing. I had taken my OMC 140 and tripod with me on the plane as hand luggage. I set up just to the fore of the observatories near Mount Teide, the volcanic cone being to the west of the site. The observatory at Izana is at an elevation of 2300 metres. Session 1 As usual I had brought along a thick wad of star charts printed off Sky Map Pro. These covered the areas of sky to the deep south from the west at dusk on the 11th April through to the east at dawn on the 20th April. I also had plenty detailing the Virgo/Coma galaxy cluster. Twilight is short down at 28 degrees North. I set up in daylight and didn't have to wait long before the first stars appeared. Sirius was so high in the South, Canopus, 5 or more degrees above the horizon to the South West, Jupiter and Saturn setting to the North West. Starting in unknown territory I found a nice mag. 7.1 globular in Columba and as twilight deepened I observed a range of open clusters in Vela, low to the South. Some rivaled the best of the better known Messiers. It was hard to say when twilight ended and the Zodiacal Light took over. I looked over my shoulder and there it was, seen from North Wales but only fully experienced here. A towering pillar of light swept up and over the volcanic cone of Mt. Teide. Meeting the broad winter Milky Way slanting across from the South and continuing as the Zodiacal Band until lost in a slight lightening of the sky towards the East. On seeing the volcano and Orion framed together I decided to see how good conditions were and swung the 'scope over towards M42. I didn't need to get the nebula into view to realise how special the sky was. It seemed that almost all the stars were surrounded by nebulosity. I checked the optics for dirt or dew (unlikely in the high desert climate!) and after finding stars without nebulosity was happy to accept that the Orion Nebula is indeed just a brighter part of a huge cloud covering a large part of the constellation. M42 went on forever... Moving back to my observing plan I next star hopped around the constellation of Puppis. The Northern clusters of M46, M47 and M93 can be seen from home however, they really shone out boldly with their increased height above the horizon. The lower regions of the constellation cannot be observed from the UK and it was here that I found the best open cluster I've observed. On returning home I read that NGC 2477 at mag. 5.8 maybe 'the richest' cluster found. NGC 2477 is to the south-east of the bigger, brighter but sparse NGC 2451. The stars just keep on coming. Up to 300 have been counted. Dropping right down to the horizon I then groped around for a glimpse of the Eta Carina/Keyhole Nebula. Surrounding Eta Carina, this is the brightest part of the Milky Way. A couple of patches of nebulosity could be seen about 1.5 degrees above the horizon (according to Sky Map, more of which later). The nearby rich mag. 3 cluster of NGC 3532 was also observed looking more like a pale, sparse mag. 7 object. Moving up NGC 3201 is another 'Southern Messier', a big and bright globular cluster. Further North in Vela resides the 'Eight Burst Nebula' at mag. 8.2 and appeared larger than the Ring Nebula it looked very good at higher powers. I then worked through a range of galaxies higher up in the Antila, Corvus and Hydra region. The final plum of the evening was M83. This big face-on galaxy can be seen under good conditions as a pale haze from the UK. This time it showed a tremendous amount of detail. A central condensation and the impression of long spiral arms sweeping across a large disc. Session 2 A few days later I made my way back up to the observatory. A little of my urgency had worn off after the first session. I arrived a little later and had remembered a most important piece of observing equipment, a chair! As twilight deepened I warmed up with some nice bright open cluster in Puppis and Canis Major. Taking time to have a good look at the planetary nebula embedded in M46, NGC 2438, and delve deeply into my new favourite, NGC 2477. The Omicron Velorum cluster at a large mag. 2.5 also looked very good through the finder. The immense display of Zodiacal Light becoming rather ‘old hat’ by now. I had thought to take advantage of the good sky and try to see more detail in some familiar objects. The Sombrero Galaxy, M104, easily showed up it’s bisecting dust lane. The Blackeye Galaxy, M64, also gave up it’s dark patch. During the previous session I had missed a small planetary low down in Carina. At mag. 9.7 and only 12” diameter it finally succumbed to patience and the comfortable chair. The nearby Eta Carina nebula was also much more extensive this time. The night spent on a Messier marathon last month meant that I had some catching up to do on observing the Herschel 400 list of deep sky objects. The charts I had printed out showed over 100 galaxies to aim for. Starting by M85 high in Coma Berenices I worked my way down the great Virgo/Coma cluster. I only got as far as the central area around M84 and M86 before more southerly showpieces diverted my attention. However, I had seen forty or so boring, interesting and varied galaxies, as individuals or in groups. Found in isolation or amongst attractive star groupings. Too many to detail The distraction to the south? Probably the most impressive, and certainly the largest, globular cluster in the heavens. Omega Centauri. At mag. 3.7 this huge cluster fills the eyepiece. There are stars, stars and more stars. It has a 3D appearance and you fall into it looking through layer after layer of scintillating diamonds. Pinpoint white stars. Now what do you need to go with a BIG globular… …a BIG galaxy. Centaurus A, almost in the same finder field. A large oval with a mysterious black streak through the middle. So what could maintain interest after those two? A dive for Jewels so far south that they would be observed below the horizon! When I came to log my observation of the Jewel Box cluster in Crux using Sky Map Pro, the altitude came up as 0.6 degrees below the horizon. The combination of an observing site at 2300 metres elevation, atmospheric refraction and good seeing had elevated the cluster to at least 1 degree above my horizon. Later, as the cluster rose to a mighty 2 degrees a tight wedge shape of 6/8 bright stars could be clearly made out. What’s missing, a BIG planetary of course. Listed in the Index Catalogue, IC4406 is a large 1.7x0.6 arc minute object in Lupus. Given mag. 11, it appeared much brighter and really shone out with the aid of the Ultra High Contrast filter. A smattering of galaxies north of Centaurus and two very contrasting globulars in Libra provided this session’s dessert. Session 3 A few days later I arrived even later at the observing site. It felt quite spooky setting up after the drive through the dark arid volcanic landscape. After a few warm up views in Canis Major, Puppis and Vela the ‘scope had cooled down. I settled down for the main business of the night. Observing Virgo/Coma galaxies and globular clusters in Ophiuchus and Scorpius. Dilemma: How to make the observation of lots of galaxies sound interesting? Hmm. Not possible? Well, here goes. How do I find these objects? Currently, I use a combination of tools: - First, a set of star charts printed off Sky Map Pro. These each fill an A4 page in landscape format. Each chart usually covers about 10 degrees of sky. The limiting magnitude of the stars on the map is set to a value that is usually fainter than the faintest objects to be found yet bright enough to limit the number of stars cluttering the page. Sometimes this compromise cannot be met and a larger scale chart has to be used. I also try to make the magnitude match the level to which I expect the telescope to perform. These maps are generally oriented the ‘right way up’ and ‘right way round’. This means the orientation I have grown used to using when stood looking at/for familiar constellations for example, Orion is upright and Ursa Major won’t be spilling the water out of it’s Big Dipper. I also print circles on the charts depicting the finder and eyepiece FOVs for scale. One or two half sky charts are occasionally used when exploring strange constellations. - Secondly, a TelRad finder. This sits onn top of my telescope and projects three concentric ‘bullseye’ rings onto the sky. These are at ½, 1 and 2 degrees diameter. I make sure that the TelRad is very accurately aligned using a bright object at the start of each session and is sometimes realigned later. The TelRad is a dream to use under a dark sky. View the sky through and around the TelRad with both eyes open. Point the ‘scope in the required direction using the overview and detailed maps. In light polluted skies it can be a bit more tricky with fewer stars visible to act as a guide. - Thirdly, a good finderscope. I recommennd a minimum of 7x50! This gives a 6 to 7 degree field of view and shows stars down below mag. 8 or 9 in light polluted skies. Again, I make sure the finderscope is accurately aligned at the beginning of each session and quite often during the session. The TelRad will have found the right area of sky to look at. Next, using the stars chart upside down (matching the finderscope view) I can then accurately point the ‘scope at the desired object. - Fourthly, a wide field and low power eyeepiece. Using an eyepiece with a minimum of a 1degree field of view will ensure the object is in sight. To move between nearby objects I can either star/object hop using the view through the eyepiece or realign the ‘scope using the finder. Moving across large distances requires using the TelRad. I find this approach very successful for a manually guided ‘scope and very easy under dark skies. Light pollution does make it a little more difficult and I’ve found GOTO ‘scopes excellent from home. So, 60+ galaxies later I had a break. Coke and chocolate kept me awake and helped with the blood sugar level. I’d seen galaxies right to the limit of my and the telescopes capabilities. There were too many to view and I’ll need to spend several years, not hours looking further into the detail of this fascinating region of sky. As Ophiuchus and the claws of Scorpius rose I restarted by viewing M5. This bright globular in Serpens was certainly a feast compared to some of the preceding pale galaxies. Working around and across eastwards from Antares resulted in a tally of 15 or so globulars. Some big and bright, M4 and M19, some pale and diffuse, NGC 6355, and some small and concentrated. Tiredness was setting in so I stopped and freewheeled the van for 50 minutes down the mountain back to the apartment to bed. Farewell The last night came too quickly. It had been partly cloudy all day and the higher slopes of the mountain appeared shrouded in mist. I had been told that this occurred quite often and that the conditions further up could be clear. Setting off at about 23:00 the drive up was impressive. Rain, steep drops, lightening, mist and rolling thunder. Occasional cloud breaks showed a crystal clear dark sky. As I drove up to about 2000 metres the skies cleared however, cloud and rain returned in the region of the observatory. Retracing my steps I found that in the lee of the volcanic cone the air was relatively still and the sky clear. Unfortunately the views to the South and South West were restricted owing to the rim of the huge crater that surrounds the base of the cone. Stepping out of the van, it was cold and breezy with occasional fogs of cloud. I paid last respects to Omega Centauri and Centaurus A. Packed up and coasted home. I’m sure I will return. The Parador de Las Canadas is situated in the crater by Mt. Teide. It is to hold a week long ‘Star Party’ next April. There is also a 20” Dobsonian on site for hire. Anyone interested in a trip to Tenerife?

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	18th / 19th March 2001
Observing Location:	Llyn Brenig, North Wales, UK
Object Observed:	Messier Marathon
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	A Messier Marathon I’ve been planning to try an all-nighter on the Messier objects for some time. Experimentation with SkyMap Pro demonstrated that 100 objects could be seen during one night on the weekend of 16-18th March. This was confirmed by software downloaded from the COAA web site. I couldn’t observe on the following weekend owing to a house move. The Sunday night was forecast clear after a front had passed through and wintery showers had died out. A light easterly wind also suggested that it would stay clear with no mist all night… ...but COLD! I arrived at Llyn Brenig to scattered clouds in the west. It was 19:40 and a clear western horizon was needed to pick off the difficult evening twilight objects. Driving on a little further the clouds appeared to clear a little. Picking around in the gaps I observed M79, a mag 8.4 globular in Lepus below Orion at 20:11. M77 followed quite easily and the oft-failed first hurdle of M74 faded into view at 20:17. The clouds cleared as I rounded up the Messiers in Orion, Monoceros and Canis Major. The Andromeda galaxy and satellites of M32 and M110 looked very good. The Zodical light was becoming very prominent by this time. Objects in Auriga, Taurus and Cancer followed. The galaxies M65 and M66 were easily located midway between two stars in Leo. Moving back to the northwest, M103 and M52 in Cassiopiea and M76 and M34 in Perseus completed the early section of the marathon. Moving back to the original observing site gave me chance to warm up. The remaining 3 galaxies in Leo, M95, 95 and 105 were observed along with two nearby galaxies in the same field as M105. It was now 21:00 and the objects around Ursa Major were high in the west. Starting at M81 and M82 I worked down the sky to finish them off at M101. The Whirlpool and three other galaxies in Canes Venatici followed. Dropping further down into Coma Berenices the bright globular of M3 provided a feast of light for my photon-starved eyes. After starhopping over to M85 the most northern Messier galaxy in the Virgo-Coma cluster I decided to continue with the same approach and work down through the next 15 galaxies. It was 22:30 and I decided to take a break and wait for the next set of Messiers to rise to more favourable elevations in the eastern sky. After a convenient warming up period I viewed M13 and 92 in Hercules, both interesting globular clusters. Two bright open clusters in Cygnus were next along with the Sombrero galaxy in Virgo and M68 a globular in Corvus. Another break was taken. M57 in Lyra was low down but observable at 23:30. I then turned to some non-Messier objects in Corvus, NGC 4361 is a good bright planetary nebula while NGCs 4038 and 4039 form an interacting pair of galaxies. A few other galaxies were observed however, they were much fainter than the Messier objects, difficult to see and a strain to find in the cold. I decided to give up chasing faint fuzzies and save my concentration for later. By 02:00 I had ticked objects in Vulpecula, M83, big face-on galaxy low down in Hydra and three globulars in Ophiuchus. Half an hour later I could locate M4 the large mag. 5.9 globular in Scorpius. Other nearby objects followed. 03:00 and things were beginning to get tricky. I was working very low down in the southeast trying to pick up clusters and nebulae as soon as they became visible. I moved down the chain of M16, 17 and 18. Really struggled to find M19 and M62, finally realising that the ‘star’ that I was starting from was Mars! A last break to warm-up and remove dew left me with about an hour to detect the most challenging objects low down and in the morning twilight. The clusters of M23, M25 and the Small Sagittarius Star cloud were skeletons of their former selves. The Bright nebulae of M8 and M20 dim ghosts and M22, one of the finest globulars, reduced to a mere haze. The final two objects of the 100 proved the most difficult to find. M6 was located at an elevation of 2 degrees after 10 minutes starhopping and fumbling around in the twilight. M2 was found in very bright dawn using an imaginary lopsided trapezium involving Altair, the diamond of Delphinus and Enif in Pegasus. I pointed the ‘scope using the TelRad and scanned around until it somehow swam into the eyepiece. I felt elated at completing the task I had set. To wind down I looked at Mars, very big at x200, it will double in size later in the Spring. I also checked out a nice double-double star in Scorpius. I finished watching the dawn. The night had been magnificent, crystal clear down to the horizon all night. I felt very lucky and very satisfied.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	14 January 2001
Observing Location:	Llyn Brenig, North Wales, UK
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	The drive across to Llyn Brenig was tedious. It was early evening on a Sunday. The weekend had already been long and I wondered if it would be worth the effort. I reached my normal turn off to find the gate padlocked shut. Turning off a little further down I drove for a long way through a gloomy forest until a clearing appeared. This looked fair and after another 100 yards I was back on the road! I drove back to the start of the clearing to set up. On stepping out of the car I realised immediately that the trip had been worthwhile. The Milky Way arced clearly across the sky from west to east and the constellations were hiding amongst an almost overwhelming number of stars! I started low in the south-west in Cetus. I was hoping to pick off some galaxies that had been missed previously owing to the poor transparency and light pollution that plagues observing sites south of Manchester. NGCs 157 and 210, at mags. 10.4 and 10.9 respectively were easily found between and adjacent to convenient finder stars. Moving right down to the horizon I was then amazed to pick up the large galaxy NGC 247 at an elevation of 5 degrees! This galaxy has in integrated magnitude of 9.1 however, being over 20 arc-minutes long and 5 wide has a relatively low surface brightness of 14 mag/sq.arcmin. I could trace an elliptical glow from the finder star at one end up and across the FOV for about 15 arc-minutes. Another galaxy missed on several occasions is a member of the Local Group NGC 147. This time I had brought along a particularly detailed finder chart and the 14.2 mag/sq.arcmin galaxy finally faded into view. On the way I had seen M31, 32 and 110 blazing out from the dark sky. NGC 185 was also picked up again, another Local Group member. Dropping right down to the horizon I had a try for some objects in eastern Cetus and Fornax (The Furnace). NGC 908 was an undistinguished galaxy however, NGC 1360 is a large bright planetary. It has a bright central star with a round diffuse halo about twice the size of the Ring Nebula. Moving up to the dizzy elevation of 15 degrees NGC 1232 is a galaxy with a bright central condensation and NGC 1300 a diffuse faint face-on spiral, both in Eridanus. Shifting a little to the east Lepus was now available below Orion. The galaxy NGC 1964 proved awkward right next to a star with an inadequate chart. IC 418 appears as a non-star-like planetary at mag. 10.7. This can be seen in the February Astronomy Now as The Spirograph Nebula. The sky was still very clear and dark, with the telescope optics showing no sign of dew it was Bright Nebula time. I had hand-marked a nebula NGC 1333 on a chart of the Perseus/Pleiades region. It had been commented upon in one of the magazines as worthwhile. On first sight I thought I’d found a comet! A bright oval coma with dense nebulosity hiding a star as the nucleus, recommended. Next I tried for the Tank Track Nebula. This is adjacent to zeta Orionis, the left-most star in the belt. The glare of the star did not overwhelm the nebulosity to the east, however it was much brighter with zeta Orionis just outside the FOV. The nebula had an obvious dark notch just like in the photographs. I then took the opportunity to have a look at the Rosette Nebula for the first time under dark sky. This was best seen using an Ultra High Contrast filter held over the eyepiece of the finderscope! Possibly even more spectacular then the Great Orion Nebula. A definite must for anyone, this large wreath of turbulent nebulosity surrounds a bright mini-Gemini star cluster. Nearby, I also found Hubble’s Variable Nebula, a fan shaped brightness hiding a star at the pointy end. Bright nebulae in Orion were also easily found this time. Mini-comets, blobs and curtains of light all worthwhile. Monoceros and Canis Major were now both well up. The Herschel 400 lists numerous open clusters in this region. Of the twelve I identified I can recommend NGC 2301 in Monoceros and NGC 2362 in Canis Major as well worth seeking out. At mags. 6 and 4.1 respectively they are bright and interesting. To finish of I sought out a couple of galaxies in Ursa Major. NGC 2742 was challenging at 11.4 whilst NGC 2768 is well worth finding at mag. 9.9. By now the moon was rising and it was time to finish. I have been using the Herschel 400 and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Finest 110 NGCs catalogues to guide my observing program. I can certainly recommend the RASC Finest 110 NGCs. None of the objects listed have disappointed. The H400 can be a bit tedious with some nondescript open clusters and galaxies.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	27 December 2000 17:40 onwards
Observing Location:	Gradbach Hill - Staffordshire Peak District, UK
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	By the time I had set up at Gradbach it was 17:40, Venus was high in the south, twilight had another half hour to run and the temperature was about –2. Numerous layers of clothes and a total lack of wind made the conditions feel quite pleasant! Aligning the finderscope and Telrad using Venus gave an opportunity to have a rocksteady view of the 60% phase. When undertaking a marathon of all the Messier objects in one night a key object to find in the evening twilight is M74, a face-on, low surface brightness galaxy in Pisces. So I thought I’d have a try now. It proved easy to find in the clear air although it was well away from most of the glow in the west. A mag. 7.3 open cluster in Cygnus was an oversight from one of my observing lists. NGC 6819 showed up well despite the Milky Way background. Next I aimed for the Blue Flash Nebula, a mag. 12 planetary in Delphinus. Well into the western twilight this was very surprising as it popped into view without using the filter as an elongated brightness. As twilight drew to a close NGC 7217, a mag. 10.1 galaxy near pi Pegasi was logged. I had missed this on a couple of occasions previously owing to poor conditions. The finder and Telrad had showed signs of dewing after the first 10 minutes of observing however, the problem took on a different dimension as the dew froze onto the optics and streaks of hoar frost developed along the side of the tube. Turning to the south I searched out some galaxies from the Herschel 400 list in Pisces, NGCs 488 and 524 were straightforward at mag. 10.3. Moving down to Cetus I worked along a chain of four galaxies near theta Ceti. The third galaxy, NGC 615, proved a real struggle at mag. 11.5 and I abandoned hopes of searching further down for faint targets. I revisited the ‘southern blue snowball’ in Eridanus for some bright relief. The cold was taking it’s toll so I had a cruise around the magnificent Messiers in Orion before retreating to the car to warm everything up for 45 minutes. After the restart the Eskimo nebula was excellent and bright against the dark sky background. Detail could be seen at higher powers and it appeared a different object to that visible from Timperley. After a previous failure I hoped to find NGC 1961, a LSB galaxy in Camelopardalis. This proved tricky at mag. 11 with the alt/az. mount being unhelpful around the zenith. The scope was completely free of dew and offered an opportunity for me to try for some Bright (ha, ha) Nebulae that I had outstanding. The first object was a complete shock. NGC 1931 is given an integrated visual magnitude of 10.1. It was obvious as a small cluster of stars involved with nebulosity and at 3 by 3 arc-minutes was very striking. It can be found near M36 in Auriga. Next NGC 1491, a 6 by 9 arc-minute oblong was easily seen in Perseus! This has no magnitude available however, it was found with the aid of a detailed SkyMap Pro chart. NGC 281 at mag. 7.4 surrounds a bright star near alpha Cas. An area of brightness could be seen when compared to adjacent stars of similar magnitude. So maybe they are ‘Bright’ nebulae after all? I finished off with a look at a few old favourites as the temperature reached a balmy –5. We awoke the following day to a beautiful winter wonderland and went sledging. Yes!

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	21 October 2000
Observing Location:	North Wales, UK
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	Tele Vue 20mm Plossl
Observing notes:	Darker & darker Saturday 21st October, the forecast was for a clear and frosty night. An opportunity to try and find some really dark sky. Heading off early I arrived at my intended destination after 1 hour and 20 minutes drive. A little low cloud was gathered around a rise to the south east so I retraced my tracks and turned off onto a forest track to investigate an alternative location. After 5 minutes I chanced upon a vehicle turnaround with a 1 degree horizon to the south east, south, south west and west. The east and north were at about 10 degrees. How dark was it? There was no, I repeat NO, light glow on any of the low horizons! There may have been some to the north and east but this was hidden by trees or swamped by the combined brightness of Jupiter and Saturn! It was clear and dark down to the ground. Capricornus was completely visible, the Milky Way brightly visible way before the end of twilight, objects were observed at less than 5 degrees elevation. The location of the North American nebula was given away as a very bright part of the Milky Way at the start of the Cygnus Rift. Observations with the 140 mm Maksutov were clearer and brighter than those made through DaveT’s 10" reflector at Gradbach! Starting in twilight I picked off a few old acquaintances in Ophiuchus, the bright globular clusters M10, 12 and 14. A new find in this constellation was the bright open cluster NGC 6633, at mag. 4.6 it was a lovely sight. Moving on to Sagittarius. I was hoping to find the Little Gem Nebula, a mag. 10 planetary. To my surprise it was easily located and showing a clear disc at x100. The large and bright globular M22 was very well resolved despite the 7 degree elevation. I had rushed observations in Scutum the last time I was out. I therefore spent some time observing the beautiful Wild Duck cluster, M11. This was very bright and reminded me of views I had from Portugal. I also viewed M26, a pale and diffuse mag. 8 open cluster followed by the nearby mag. 8.2 globular, NGC 6712. Turning to observe in Draco before it became too low in the north west, I relocated M 102 and identified a couple of relatively bright nearby galaxies, NGC 6503 and 5907. Dropping down into Ursa Major M101 was very large and appeared to exhibit detail. By far the best view I’ve had. It was now time for some work with the filters. The previous session I’d had problems with glare using the UHC filter. This time was slightly better however, the best views were with the Deep Sky filter. The Helix Nebula, low in Aquarius was very bright, well defined and showed hints of structure. The Eastern Veil in Cygnus was equally well displayed. I next located NGC 6781. This is a mag. 11.8 planetary nebula in Aquila. Completely missed last time from Gradbach it was now visible as a large, pale version of the more famous Owl Nebula, M97. Working gradually eastwards my next target was in Pegasus. I had failed to observe Stephan’s Quintet on several occasions. The only success was with DaveT’s 10" reflector from Gradbach. This time, the grouping was obvious. It was visible in direct vision and brighter than seen previously. The nearest and brightest galaxy of the group is the mag. 12.6 NGC 7320. Dropping down I revisited the best barred spiral in the northern hemisphere. This time NGC 7479 appeared as an oblong fuzz as the central bar became more visible. Dropping lower still, a large, pale galaxy NGC 7606 was visible near some bright stars in Aquarius. I continued eastwards collecting M76, the Little Dumbbell, and M34 a nice bright open cluster. Another failure had been NGC 891 in Andromeda. Often touted as the best edge-on galaxy, this large, low surface brightness object was easily visible and very spectacular. It fits nicely in the FOV and looks like the quintessential galaxy. For the past hour I had been wiping dew off the Telrad and finderscope. Now the OMC 140 was showing some early signs of dewing. Taking the OTA off the mount I popped it into the car and ran the engine to heat it up a little. Coffee and chocolate was consumed whilst leaning back in my chair to take in the glorious canopy of stars. After half an hour I continued with the ‘scope. Yet another failure from Gradbach was to be put to rest. Low down in Cetus and Sculptor were a couple of Caldwell objects. NGC 246 is a planetary nebula listed at mag. 8.5. I had expected to locate a relatively bright star or disc. Having failed a couple of days before I checked the Caldwell guide and RASC list. More like mag. 11 and four stars surrounded by nebulosity gave the reasons for my earlier failure. This time a 4 by 3 arc-minute haze was visible around four stars! Moving lower down the enormous and bright, mag. 7.2 spiral galaxy NGC 253 was observed. I thought I could see detail even though it was at about 10 degrees elevation. Winding down I looked at a few old favourites. The views of the Ring and Dumbbell nebulas were the brightest and clearest I’d ever experienced. Astounding detail was visible in both. M33, the diffuse face-on spiral in Triangulum showed detail for the first time. M81 and M82 made a beautiful pairing, I noted whilst logging my observations that a large number of relatively bright galaxies are available around Ursa Major. Moving back towards the east I picked up a couple of galaxies in Cetus along with M77. M38 in Auriga and a very bright M1 in Taurus were my final Deep Sky Objects for the evening. To finish Jupiter and Saturn were riding high. In occasional periods of good seeing the Cassini division was visible in Saturn’s rings, another first for me. Jupiter also showed incomparable detail! It was well worth the drive.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	5 October 2000
Observing Location:	Gradbach Hill - Staffordshire Peak District, UK
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	Gradbach: the return! I wasn’t going to write up anything about this trip. I’m sure people have heard enough from me by now however, endless cloud and rain have forced me to re-live a very enjoyable session. The Tuesday weather forecast suggested a good Thursday night. Decreasing northwesterly winds, rising pressure and heavy showers dying out through the evening. By Thursday lunchtime it was looking very unlikely but, as predicted, the clouds and showers began to break . At 8 p.m. it was getting dark, cold and very clear. I arrived at Gradbach at about 10:15, the waxing moon was still visible but soon set behind a ridge to the southwest. After aligning the Terad and finderscope using Polaris I swung the scope’ over to the darker eastern sky and the Pleiades. I was using a couple of new Tele Vue eyepieces for the first time. The 32 mm at x63 gave a good view of the cluster. In the preceding days I had generated a list of the brighter planetary nebulae and using a star chart printed from SkyMap Pro I located IC 2149 in Auriga. This appeared as a non-twinkling star with the suggestion of shape at x100. A couple of my observing targets were the Helix and Veil nebulae. A borrowed Ultra High Contrast filter was to be very helpful. Turning to the south I orientated myself between Capricorn and Aquarius with an observation of M30, a mag. 7.5 globular cluster, easy to find near 41 Capricorni. From here I hoped to locate the Helix Nebula. Initial alignment with the Telrad and finderscope was difficult at the low altitude with some slight light pollution from Leek and the Moon! I swept over the area where I expected to locate the nebula but found nothing. Resetting the scope’ to my starting point I put the UHC filter in the eyepiece. Half a FOV later a large ghostly straight-sided oval nebula moved into view. Filling half the eyepiece it is an impressive sight! Invisible without the filter or at higher power, clear as day with the filter in a low power wide FOV. Next the Veil Nebula. For some reason observing the Veil has been long standing personal goal. I think it goes back 25 years from pictures seen in magazines and books. The sky was very dark and clear now. The moon had set completely and Cygnus was at about 60 degrees in the west. I had carefully printed out a chart at home and using this I starhopped my way to where the eastern segment of the Veil should be. Looking into the main eyepiece I couldn’t believe my eyes. A broad band, Veil even, of light crossed the eyepiece. This I followed back and forth detailing the full 1.5 degree shape of the eastern Veil. Thickening, thinning, braided brighter and fainter. After gawping for many minutes at this remnant of an age-old supernova I remembered that there was western Veil to find. This was a snap with the bright 52 Cygni to pinpoint the field. The northward arc of the Veil was easy to follow using the UHC filter and I took my time savouring the view. Previously, from dark sky in the Lake District, I had failed to spot the Blinking Planetary amongst the profusion of Milky Way stars. This time, equipped with a better star chart, I was successful. A clearly defined disk but no blinking for me at x100. A quick look for Stephan’s Quintet failed but a very good view of the edge-on mag. 9.5 spiral NGC 7331 was some reward. Next NGC 772, mag. 10.3 galaxy in Aries was located. This was seen easily at x100 whilst I warmed a dewed up low power eyepiece under my duvet. Wandering down to Cetus the Seyfert galaxy, M 77, was observed along with nearby NGC 1055, a mag. 10.6 galaxy. The final ‘find of the night’ was NGC 1514, a mag. 10.8 planetary nebula in Taurus. Nearer to Perseus, this has a bright central star surrounded by a lovely 2-3 degree circular nebula. I recommend this to everyone. The UHC filter gave some improvement however, concentrated observation and averted vision does the trick. I wound down with quick views of M74, 33, 31, 32 and 110. Finally, the optics dewed up completely and I drove home very satisfied.

Observer:	Paul Clark
Date and time of Observation:	2 September 2000
Observing Location:	Gradbach Hill - Staffordshire Peak District, UK
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Orion OMC-140 Maksutov
Eyepiece	26mm, Tele Vue 32mm, Tele Vue 20mm, 9mm Meade Super Plossl
Observing notes:	ADAS Dark Sky Trip to Gradbach Hill Where, who? DaveT and PaulC ventured out to the dark, windswept fastness of the Staffordshire Peak District on Saturday 2nd September. Roger had some feeble excuse about going for a walk in the morning and decided not to come. Dave brought along his 10" Orion reflector complete with Skysensor 2K GoTo. Paul worked with his new Orion OMC-140 Maksutov. Set up for Paul took 5 minutes, Dave took 25. However the Maksutov has a long cool down time and was not ready for real use any sooner than the reflector. M13 was the starter for 10. With both scopes’ performing well, it was easy to spot the nearby galaxy NGC 6207 at mag. 11.60. Uranus, a lovely greenish ball and Neptune, a hard to distinguish something, were next. The Cat’s Eye nebula in Draco was excellent staring balefully down from the heavens. A brief flirtation with Lyra found the Ring Nebula and M56, a rather undistinguished globular cluster. Focus then shifted to the Pegasus and Andromeda constellations. The ‘best barred spiral in the northern hemisphere’, NGC 7479, turned out to be a fuzzy star in the 140 and a blur in the 10". NGC 7331 was a fine bright streak, which led to the spot of the night, Stephan’s Quintet through Dave’s reflector. This group of five galaxies around mag. 13 were obviously there as one or more fuzzies popping in and out of vision. The GoTo found NGCs 891 and 1023, the former missed through the 140, a surface brightness of mag. 14 proved too challenging. The reflector was off-line for a while whilst new batteries were fitted and re-alignment undertaken. Paul used the 140 to re-visit some of the brighter Messiers and compare views to his old ETX 90. Surprise, surprise, objects were bigger, brighter and clearer. A view of the Andromeda galaxy, M32, M110 grouping was particularly pleasing. Dave, back on-line with the Skysensor 2K, rattled off a range of clusters around Casseopia. The finishing views were of Jupiter and Saturn rising through gaps in the encroaching misty clouds.

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