These are our observations in Delphinus

• Two faint globular clusters in Delphinus

  NGC 6934

  The first is NGC 6934, imaged on 16th August 2018 but processed only earlier this year.

  NGC 6934 is a faint globular cluster of magnitude 8.8 and containing 16th magnitude stars and fainter. It is 51,000 light years away.

  

  NGC 7006

  The second is NGC 7006 captured in September 2018.

  NGC 7006 lies on the fringe of the Milky Way's halo at a distance of 135,000 light years. In the 1910s and 20s, studies by Shapley of the stars in NGC 7006 and other globular clusters were used to measure the size of the Milky Way galaxy.

  This cluster lies at a low galactic latitude and its brightness is dimmed by the intervening dust. It has a visual magnitude of 10.6 and stars near the core are around mag 15.6.

  

  Image Details

  • Telescope: 8" Ritchey-Chretien at F/8.2
  • Camera: QSI 583 with a Lodestar as off-axis guider
  • Mount: Skywatcher EQ6

  David Davies - (20 March 2019).

• More August Double Stars

  August 4th: A better night than the 3rd, but still unsteady conditions in the long clear spells from midnight onwards. Again observing with the OMC 200.

  Firstly, another look at STF 2690 – very nice, confirmed LAU 4 observation as well.

  Then I moved to BU 63 in the hope of splitting it. Using x 320 I could just detect the two stars but at x 400 it was easy. I dwelled on the pleasure of seeing these two little specks of light wobble and dance together in the unsteady air.

  Then back up to STF 2690 for another look.

  Next I headed to Rho Capricorni in the hope of splitting this tight double. I did better than last night but struggled as it has such a low declination. In moments I think I could split the pair but I could not be certain.

  To finish this little tour I wandered over to Omicron Capricorni – a lovely sight of two white stars.

  The next hour or so was spent touring Cassiopeia doubles. So many lovely coloured gems to enjoy and multiples as well; a great night out under the stars.

  Mike Wood - 5 August 2016

• Observations of the Double Stars for August 2016

  I had last visited STF 2690 only a few weeks ago so it was great to have the excuse to revisit this double; not that an excuse was needed. STF 2690 is one of my list of nine doubles in Delphinus that are “worthy of a visit”.

  August 3rd was not a great night but a promised gap in the clouds arrived on time and as Delphinus appeared I was ready to sketch STF 2690. I see both stars as off white. Catching my eye for the first time was a pair of faint stars to the NW of 2690. On looking at my charts they turned out to be a faint double known as LAU 4 (mag 10/11.3). Conditions were not steady enough to attempt to split BU 63 to the SW of 2690.

  

  Also quite recently I had visited Rho Capricorni on a particularly good night and successfully split Rho (yellow) The D companion appeared orangey red and nearby component E was easily spotted. (Star C at mag 13 is beyond the scope). So having enjoyed STF 2690 I wandered down to Rho but was unable to split it but D and E were easily visible. Viewing doubles at these low declinations does not make for easy colour identification.

  

  Mike Wood - 4 August 2016

• NGC 7006 and the surrounding galaxies

  Another of my compilation observations taken from the conversations on our Yahoo! Forum about the Globular Cluster, NGC 7006, and the faint galaxies that share the field of view.

  Dale Holt's observation

  Sketches of faint galaxies, some of them I haven't identified around the small GC NGC 7006 in Delphinus. These video assisted observations were made following inspiration of Ken Hewitt-Whites, going deep in the latest addition of S&T magazine.

  

  Sketch by Dale Holt with video assisted observing.

  John Vickers' observation

  • N7006 GC Del
  • RA-Dec 21 01 29.2, +16 11 15
  • Designation NGC 7006, Cald 42, GCL 119, IAU 2059+160.
  • Brightest star visual magnitude: 16.-m.

  10.6m 2.8' 12.1SB. Extremely faint stars. A very remote loose group of 7 small, extremely faint galaxies is ~5.7' SW. 10.7m reddish star 7.4' SSE.

  Dreyer Bright, pretty large, round, gradually brighter middle.

  Other Globular cluster, mottled. Very difficult to resolve. Contains 71 observed variable stars.

  

  This is a POSSII combined IR-Red-Blue labeled image of N7006 from the BRO database. With those faint galaxies labelled.

• NGC 6956 in Delphinus

  Video versus the Eyepiece: a comparison

  This sketch was posted to our Yahoo forum recently by a frequent contributor and ardent video astronomer Dale Holt, who wrote Here is a sketch that I made at the start of the week under very hazy conditions, using my 20" and Watec 120n+ video camera. Delphinus isn't usually associated with galaxies but this one is worth checking out.

  

  Patrick Maloney (DeepSkyBagger on Stargazers Lounge) later responded by posting his own sketch made at the eyepiece with the comment Very faint. Small and elongated. No central brightening evident and no other structure seen. Best seen at x375.

  

  I'd like to thank both Dale and Patrick for letting me reproduce their work on this website. I've flipped Dale's sketch to match the East-West alignment in both sketches.

  I found the contrast between these two sketches interesting (Patrick's is much closer to what I normally see). Additionally, the "x375" comment Patrick made probably isn't far from the scale of Dale's sketch.

• Observation of the NGC 6928 Galaxy Group

  Dale Holt has kindly provided his observation notes and sketches of the NGC 6928 group in Delphinus, observing the field on 2 August 2013.

  Dale's Comments

  I got my chance, lovely sky tonight, for a change :) SQM reading 20.70 at my location, M31 direct vision without dark adaption. Right, the very interesting NGC 6228 galaxy group in Delphinus, I got 7 members, 6 Identified the 7th below 6928 itself not identified at this point? 20" mirror and Watec video cam, 20 sec integrated exposure, sketched from b&w CRT monitor screen.

  

  Dale also provided a link to scanned image of his BAA Report.

  James Whinfrey - Website Adminstrator.