2013 03 12 – NGC 7006 (H 1.52/C42)
Most globular clusters are located within the Galactic halo. NGC 7006, however, resides in the outskirts of the Milky Way, roughly 150k light-years away from the Galactic center. Although my observation was in the early morning hours of March, this stellar formation actually makes a terrific October target. It’s small and dim, which can make it difficult to locate. Look for neighboring star patterns and then increase your magnification to help locate it. You’ll see a dense core at all apertures with a faint halo evident in 8” scopes. My 16” f/4.5 reflector at 75x revealed a smooth, round 1.5′ disk with a brighter dense center. Increasing to 150x, it appeared slightly mottled with an absence of resolved stars. I attempted to increase magnification to 225x but the cluster became too dim to pull out more detail. My best view was at 150x with a 42-degree TFOV.
NGC 7006 (H 1.52/C42)
Class I (most star dense) globular cluster in the constellation Delphinus, 21h 01m 29.3s, +16º 11′ 16″, 2.8′, 10.6vm, 185k to 127k ly distance depending on source
Erika Rix – Liberty Hill, Texas
http://www.pcwobservatory.com
16” f/4.5 reflector on a non-driven Dobsonian mount, 8-24mm Baader Hyperion
Sketches were created with an observing template, #2 graphite pencil, loaded blending stump with charcoal and a super-fine Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen “S.
PCW Memorial Observatory - Erika Rix 