USER OBSERVATIONS Last updated: 15 July 2001

Subject:	Field Report - Cygnus and Ophiuchus
Sent:	Friday, July 13, 2001 5:58:53
From:	edmosser@home.com (Ed Mosser)
Thursday July 12th was a great night for observing.  The unseasonably
cool weather continued and the skys were crisp.  It was about 60 degrees
when I ventured out with the ETX at 10:15.

I started in Cygnus at the middle star of the cross, Sadr.  This is one
rich area of the sky.  Sadr is a wonderful 2nd mag star set in a field
of Milky Way stars.  Most of the surrounding stars are 8th mag and up.

NGC 6910 was easily located about 50' north and west of Sadr.  I counted
about 14 stars with 4 8th mag stars forming a "Y" on its side.

CR419 is 1 degree west of Sadr and is located around a 6th mag star. 
The individual stars are difficult to resolve, but there is a glow to
the area.

M29 - is fairly easy to locate, but disappointing.  It is 2 degrees
south and east of Sadr and forms a central box with arcs going off the
two top stars.  There is a double star in the same FOV just south of M
29 with stars about 9th and 10th mag.

BE86 is 1 degree west of M29 and gives off a hazy glow.  Hard to
resolve, but I knew it was there.  It is about 8' with about 4 9th -
10th mag providing bare minimum light for my conditions.

I4996  is a 8 -10 ' open cluster with 6 8th to 10 mag stars forming a
cross.  Look for a 8th/9th mag double about 15' north.

I then claimed a new cluster which I have named "Ed's bowl"  It is about
70' south of I4996 and consists of 9 stars shaped in an arc which forms
a bowl.  The last star, 29 Cygnus,  is the brightest, a 6th mag,.  It is
a pretty neat grouping of stars.

NGC6871 was a nice bright open cluster.  After viewing all the dim
obscure clusters, it was nice to see a fairly bright one.  It is about
20' in size, anchored by a 7th mag star at the north edge.  I counted 25
stars and there were two double stars in the center of the cluster.  The
north double was both 8th mag. and the south double was 9th/10th mag.

My son yelled out at me and came out to join me.  He had a couple of
oatmeal snack cakes (Little Debbie brand) and I showed him Mars. After
15 minutes of great conversation, he headed back in and I turned to
Ophiuchus.

I used Sue French's excellent column "Small Scope Sampler" in August Sky
and Telescope as my guide.  I think Sue has the best thing going in the
small scope world other than Mike's website. Her main scope is a 4.1
inch refractor, so her observations are similar to what we can see.

I4665 - there are about 35 stars visable in a loosely structured 1
degree open cluster.  It contains mainy 7th 8th mag stars.

61 OPH is a nice double of 7th mag stars with sep about 15"  The PA is
eithe 90 or 270 degrees, based on which one is the primary.

CR350 is a large open cluster with several 8th 9th mag stars.  Nothing
spectacular.

67 OPH is a 3m/7m double star with sep 45" angle 140 degrees or so.

70 OPH is "real nice"  couldnt resolve at first at 48x but easy at 96x. 
The 5th/7th mag double is tight (4") at150 degrees.  Back to 48x and I
could see a bump.

Starhopped to NGC6633 - "Oh yes"   The best OC of the night.  Big and
bright.  Go see this one.  It runs NE to SW with a 6m star to the SE of
the cluster.  I counted 45 -50 stars with many in the 7th - 8th mag
range.  "This is good stuff."

I4756 - another keeper.  This is large about 1 degree with lots of 8th -
10th mag stars.  Not as bright as NGC 6633 but really a special open
cluster.  It was hard to count but I estimated about 60 stars in this
fine cluster.

NGC6572 - well, I can't confirm this one.  But, I think I saw it.  There
is a zig zag of stars about one degree west.  I then moved back east and
located two stars, 9th and 10 mag, about 10 arc minutes west and 5 arc
minutes south I saw something.  Was that it?

At 12:25 I came back in and had a chicken salad sandwitch on homemade
bread, with a glass of cold milk.  I reviewed the notes and nodded in
satisfaction.  It just doesn't get much better than tonight.

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