Snowball Fight

One of my current astronomy projects is to tackle the Astronomical League's Urban List from home using my Vixen 80mm refractor. The program was created about 20 years ago and is designed to suggest a variety of celestial showpieces that should be doable under suburban or even urban venues.

For certain 2018 has been challenging to get out under the stars - near record rainfall and of course the clouds that come with it have given fewer opportunities. Last night my CSC predicted so-so observing conditions but when I stepped outside the skies were pretty crisp and clear - time to get a little observing in!

About a week ago I went in search of NGC 7662 in Andromeda (a.k.a. the "Blue Snowball"). I've picked up this 8th magnitude planetary many times before in both my 6" and 10" reflectors. The biggest challenge is usually the star hop with no nearby stars easily visible, at least where I live. The Great Square of Pegasus is almost always visible, and on most nights I can also pick out Omicron Andromeda (mag 3.6). So the plan of attack was a triangle with the northern side of the Great Square as its base, Omicron my helper to set the height. Looked like a can't fail plan.

Telrad Attack on NGC 7662

Famous last words. I spent well over an hour in search for that little fuzz ball, sweeping at both 30x and 60x over fields where it should be. Made sure I had my "distance glasses" on when sighting the Telrad. Checked the Telrad alignment. Raised the height of the tripod a little to make it easier on my neck. Plenty of pretty pinpricks of light but nary a chubby star that could be my snowball.

I figured I would give it one more go but would change the technique, this time equipping myself with charts that could let me hop to Iota Andromedae and then cascade down the couple of degrees to my planetary, using stars SAO 53202, 53151, and 53039 to pull right up to the Blue Snowball.

It's a great fall evening as I set up the equipment, cool and clear. I can just barely see Kappa with averted vision and glasses on, but I'm able to get it centered. Just as I do I catch a voice from the street "Wow - is that a telescope?" I look up to see a young man - in shorts and a t-shirt as opposed to my scarf and knit hat - checking me out. Well wth, it happens to be "Astronomy Day", right? I call him over and he seems reluctant but then joins me. Hmmm - what to show him? Ah, Saturn is still up, so I pivot the scope 180 degrees for Saturn just before it hits the treeline. With a little coaching he manages to see it at 60x in the eyepiece as he voices his delight. He then mentions that he's seen Saturn before, down at Fells Point, some guy had a scope there. I nod and confirm that it was more than likely Herman Heyn, Baltimore's sidewalk astronomer for many years. I bid him good evening and he meanders up the road. I take a few minutes to admire Saturn myself. Now where was I? Ah yes, trying to get Kappa Andromedae, right.

With Kappa reacquired and at 30x on the scope I have over 2 degrees field of view, so little problem picking up Iota in the same field. But manipulating the scope is cumbersome, as it so often is when getting objects that are coming close to their culmination and in the northern sky. I decide to shift the scope, rotating it east about 60 degrees, sacrificing tracking for easier sweeping. Back again on Kappa I identify to its east SAO 53202 & 53151, which then point me to 53039 (13 And). A little sweep SE and - bingo! Right there, a star that is a little bloated - the Blue Snowball is captured. Let me just grab my sketch book and - oh my, that cop car is stopping and the officer is emerging.

Star hopping down to the Blue Snowball

"Good evening officer," I call out. "Everything OK?"

"Someone called in about a suspicious person in the area. Seen anything?"

I proceed to fill her in about my visitor who might have appeared a bit out of place. I suspect he may be participating in the halfway home farther in town but an easy walk to our neighborhood. I suggest that he is probably just bored and out for an evening stroll and let her know which way he was headed. She hops back in the car and cruises away.

OK, with no tracking the snowball has scurried away from view. But I'm in the area, so in a few minutes it is recentered. Popping in the 2x Barlow to bump the magnificaton to 60x makes it quite obvious that this is a planetary nebula, although it lacks any green-blue color that we sometimes pick up on. It is still small even with the 20mm + 2x Barlow, maybe 10-15" in size, and bright enough to withstand direct vision. No evidence of the progenitor star and no hint of structure - just a fairly homogeneous orb of soft gray light. I swap out eyepieces again for 75x, which the nebula withstands well. No real gain in detail so I think the 60x view wins as one could include 13 And on the edge of the field while keeping NGC 7662 somewhat center stage, making for a nice field star to complement the nebula.

I sketch the view at 60x, noting the stars and approximating the size and intensity of NGC 7662. Just as I wrap up my friend is back, wanting to know if I am seeing anything. I let him know I'm done for the evening but if he sees me out another time he can feel free to ask what's up. "Cool!" he replies. "Well see you later, I think I'm going to go up to Starbucks." And the thought occurs, if I ever want to do some suburban sidewalk astronomy when I retire I bet outside a Starbucks would be a fabulous venue.