AAQ Visual Observing Section

Selected Deep Sky Objects In Aquarius

For this month I would like to share with you some enjoyable evenings I have spent in one of the ancient constellations of the Zodiac – Aquarius. Unlike some of the previous more prominent groups I have reviewed, Aquarius does not form a particularly bright pattern in the night sky. However, if like myself you use the starhopping method, do not be deterred, as with perseverance you shall be well rewarded with many fine sights. The comments below are based on observations made with a 150mm f8 refractor.

NGC 7293 (22h 29.6m RA, -20° 48' Dec) - The Helix Nebula is a fine object in a wide field eyepiece, and is in fact the largest planetary nebula visible through small telescopes. The large round area of nebulosity may even be visible through your finder scope, with what is probably a number of foreground stars set in it visible with 40x. I could see three of these stars – how many can you count? If you have one, try a UHC filter on this object, it did indeed greatly improve the contrast!

Near the Helix Nebula is a very similar double (22h 26m RA, -20° 12' Dec) to 41 Aquarii, although fainter. Even the colours of the two stars appeared to me to be much like 41 Aquarii.

NGC 7009 (21h 04.2m RA, -11° 22' Dec) - I found the Saturn Nebula to be much smaller than its big brother NGC 7293, in fact with 40x it was a very small bright fuzz that looked like an out of focus star. Using 120x with both UHC and Deep Sky filters did not seem to alter or improve the image.

NGC 7600 (23h 18.9m RA, -07° 35' Dec) and NGC 7606 (23h 19.1m RA, -08° 29' Dec) - Like some of the other galaxies in Aquarius that I hunted for, these two were barely visible with 120x and using averted vision. I thought NGC 7606 (mag. 10.8) was marginally larger and brighter than NGC 7600 – try them and see what you think. A good test for your favourite dark sky observing site!

Nearby NGC 7606 is a pretty double star (23h 24.0m RA, -08° 29' Dec) that you will need 120x to resolve. Check for the colour difference between the primary and its slighty fainter companion.

NGC 7089 (21h 33.5m RA, -00° 49' Dec) - The globular cluster M2 can be easily located with your finder. At 40x it is compact with a bright centre, set among a fine star field. You will need at least 120x to see some of the outer stars of the cluster individually.

69 Aquarii (22h 45.6m RA, -14° 00' Dec) - This pair is reasonably easy to separate with 40x, but 120x is required to clearly see the much fainter secondary.

57 Aquarii (22h 25.6m RA, -10° 40' Dec) - 57 Aqr or Sigma is set in a pretty star field, however I was unable to resolve these two.

53 Aquarii (22h 26.6m RA, -16° 45' Dec) - To obtain a clear split I used 120x on this very pretty pair. The colours of yellow/orange for the primary, and a blue secondary make an attractive sight.

94 Aquarii (23h 19.1m RA, -13° 28' Dec) - Another fine double similar in appearance to 53 Aquarii except for a wider separation, 40x will show the two stars.

12 Aquarii (21h 04.1m RA, -05° 49' Dec) - This close pair were a difficult split, needing 160x to separate the fainter secondary.

Zeta (55) Aquarii (22h 28.8m RA, -00° 01' Dec) - With a separation of just 2.0” this bright pair of similar magnitude also required 160x.

Near 55 Aquarii are two more doubles, the first (22h 40.6m RA, +01° 15' Dec) is a delicate unequal pair which needs 120x to glimpse the faint secondary. The second is another pretty double (21h 55.0m RA, -03° 20' Dec) just a little brighter and with more separation than the first.

107 Aquarii (23h 46.0m RA, -18° 41' Dec) - A fine double, with the two stars of similar magnitude easily split with 120x.

108 Aquarii - Nearby in the same field of view as 107 Aqr is this faint star, with an even fainter secondary. While being quite wide and easily split, this double is a good test of your viewing conditions.

41 Aquarii (22h 14.3m RA, -21° 04' Dec) - Set in an attractive field of bright stars this beautiful uneven double of a yellow primary and blue secondary is clearly resolved with 120x.

29 Aquarii (22h 02.4m RA, -16° 58' Dec) - To me this pair of similar magnitudes has one star more blue coloured than the other – what do you think? You will need 120x to clearly split these two.

I use “Hartung’s Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes” as an excellent source of information on objects visible to the amateur scope. If you don’t have a copy for your own use, the AAQ library has one available, or it can usually be found for sale at the various telescope retailers.

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Astronomical Association of Queensland 2006. www.aaq.org.au