M39 was the "one that got away"
last month, as I was one object shy of claiming my observing certificate. Since one of my new targets, NGC 7243 (Caldwell 16), was nearby, I decided to hop over to M39 and bag it so I could begin the
October observing list with a clean conscience. I also saw the Coccoon Nebula while I was cruising the area in Stellarium, so I thought I'd give it a go as well.
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| M39 and NGC 7082, 73 subs, 44 darks, 42 bias, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 1600, 1.3 sec each |
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| C16 (NGC 7243) below Lacerta (the lizard), 104 subs, 44 darks, 42 bias, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 1600, 1.3 sec each |
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| Tried to image the Cocoon Nebula but it was too faint. I did capture NGC 7209 (as identified by nova.astrometry.net) by chance. 73 subs, 44 darks, 42 bias, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 1600, 1.3 sec each |
This was my first time learning about the
Caldwell Catalogue, as NGC 7243 also holds the designation C16. I was surprised to learn that the Caldwell Catalog is very new! By Wikipedia's accounts, it was published in 1995. It includes a lot of the interesting deep sky objects not included in the Messier Catalog - some of which I've already photographed. It's nice to know that there is no end in sight to the list of interesting things to scout out in the night sky. I am not even 1/3 done with the Messier list and now I've got a glimpse of other challenges waiting to be tackled.
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