November 19, 2007

I was back out with the XT8 tonight before the fog rolled in. Comet Holmes is now a large, diffuse blob near Mirfak, the bright star in northern Perseus. I could not see the nucleus at all, though I did see stellar objects through the tail.

The moon is out tonight, a waxing quarter. It was over behind a pine tree, but it was washing out the dimmer objects, I'm sure. Still, Holmes is visible to the naked eye as a diffuse glow near the star. I saw it as soon as my neighbor turned out his porch light. Even so, Holmes is not terribly interesting any more, visually. NHAC club members are still getting good images of it, though.

Next I explored the brighter clusters of eastern Cassiopeia! Beginning at Ruchbah, I traveled east to M103. At 240x, I see about 27 or 30 stars in the cluster, depending on what counts. M103 is easy to find and nice to look at.

Next I found NGC 659 and 663. 663 is a grand sight.

But the most interesting cluster I saw tonight is NGC 654. I have decided to name this one "The Brain Cluster." At 240x, the cluster looks like a brain, pickled in a jar. The top of the head is pointing off to the northeast. The bright star on the eastern edge is, I imagine, the point in the lower cerebral cortex where consciousness seems to sit. The cluster even sports a brain stem moving off to the southwest, where the second-brightest star in the small field is located at the end of the stem. NGC 654, I dub thee, "The Brain Cluster."

Nearby I found NGC 559 and 637, and before going back to Ruchbah I also took a look at the Double Cluster. What a stunning sight, always!

But Stock 2 is also very interesting. I never noticed this large cluster before, probably because it is so large. It seems to cover nearly as much ground as the Pleiades' brighter members. It is dimmer than the Pleiades, of course, and I suppose in binoculars would look like a fuzzy, brighter patch of light.

I also took a look at NGC 457, always one of my favorites. In fact, the highlights of the night were NGC 457, the Double Cluster, and the Brain Cluster! Viva la Brain!