Sky and Telescope - July 2018 - 58

JULY 2018 OBSERVING
Going Deep by Ken Hewitt-White

Slightly off
the Beaten
Track

N
E

"Water Jar"

A "backroad" route from
Vulpecula to Lyra features
worthy treasures.

To Upper Vulpecula
Starting from the Dumbbell, I swept 5°
northward to 5th-magnitude 15 Vulpeculae, then veered northeastward for
another 1¾° to a rich Milky Way ﬁeld
containing IC 4954 and IC 4955, reﬂection nebulae enveloping an obscure
open cluster called Roslund 4.
The cluster is essentially two coarse
clumps of stars, together a mere 5′ in
length, oriented northwest-southeast.
Immediately east of the clumpy stuff
is an eye-catching, 2′-wide asterism of
11th- to 13th-magnitude stars reminiscent of the Water Jar in Aquarius.
Examining the southeast clump at
228×, I saw only a few faint specks
dominated by one 11th-magnitude star;
58

J U LY 2 0 1 8 * S K Y & T E L E S C O P E

p CLUMPS OF STARS, CLOUDS OF NEBULOSITY Despite its ragged appearance, Roslund 4 is
a single, sparse cluster enveloped in a convoluted reflection nebula. Two bright concentrations of
nebulosity explain the double designation of IC 4954 and IC 4955, often denoted IC 4954/5. East is
to the right in this image, while standard configuration (east to the left) applies to the other images.

however, 411× showed them wrapped in
search for this pale puff was aided by
a mist half a "Water Jar" in size.
a 20′-long star chain, aligned northThe northwest clump comes in three
south and bulging westward toward
parts. Its bottom end comprises three
the target. NGC 6842 was a grey ghost
12th- and 13th-magnitude stars makat low magniﬁcation, unﬁltered, but
ing a short row slanted
228× produced a difSUMMERTIME
northwest. Northward,
fuse patch whose dusky
SMOKE
parallel to the row, are
middle turned darker
These observations
two slightly brighter stars,
when viewed through
were conducted over
the southerly one a tight
an Ultra High Contrast
several nights at
triple. The clump's top end high-elevation sites
ﬁlter. Upping to 294× and
at 411× was just an 11thswitching to an O III ﬁlter
many miles apart in
magnitude blur, the fuzzy
enhanced the annulus
an attempt to escape
product of unresolved
considerably.
persistent high-altitude
smoke from forest
suns swathed in nebulosThe unﬁltered scene
ﬁres across central
ity. When I stared directly
was rewarding in a difBritish Columbia and
at the central gleam,
ferent way. At 147×, I
northern Washington
the surrounding gauze
noticed that NGC 6842 is
State. The insidious
disappeared. With averted
accompanied eastward by
menace has become
vision, the gauziness grew.
a pair of stars, magnitudes
increasingly frequent
I reduced to 84× and
13.7 and 14.6, the latter
in recent years. For
shifted westward 2° to
almost touching the disk
westerners like me,
(closer still is a third star,
NGC 6842, a 13.6-magsummertime smoke
magnitude 15.9, visible in
nitude planetary nebula
is sadly becoming the
images). Applying averted
1′ in diameter. My
new normal.

A DA M BLOCK / NOAO / AUR A / NSF

ey, it's no contest! In Vulpecula
and Lyra, the Dumbbell Nebula
(M27) and the Ring Nebula (M57) are
the unrivalled favorites of deep-sky
observers. Everyone wants a peek at the
prizewinning planetaries.
I'm no different. While attending the Mount Kobau Star Party last
July, I spent several moments on both
M27 and M57 with my 18-inch f/4.5
Dobsonian. But I yearned for deeper
challenges. Soon, I was exploring a narrow section of the Milky Way roughly
in between the famous planetaries. In
the end, I tallied eight inconspicuous
yet interesting objects scattered across
three constellations.

Sky and Telescope - July 2018

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