Wide-Field Observing

I recently posted an observing plan to the Deep-Sky Planner Plan Library  containing most of the objects that appear in the "Wide-Field Wonders" article in the 2013 RASC Observer's Handbook. (The article also appears in the 2015 edition.) While most of the objects are nebulae and clusters, a few are more esoteric objects that aren't found in typical catalogs - things like molecular clouds. This plan contains an excellent variety of imaging and viewing targets, so I encourage readers to check out the article to get background information.

Observer's Handbook from
Royal Astronomical Society Canada

Wide-field observing (both visual and imaging) generally requires a rich-field telescope, binoculars, or a fairly fast telescope with a long focal length eyepiece. These objects often have low surface brightness, so a dark location is definitely indicated.

Wide-field observing can be a nice change of pace if your usual deep-sky observing includes galaxies, planetary nebulae and such. For example, I've observed the Veil Nebula in Cygnus dozens of times with various telescopes. I always enjoy viewing it with a UHC filter and magnification around 100x. The telescope I use most often these days is a 14.5" f/4.5 reflector. My rather ancient 20mm Nagler eyepiece produces magnification of 96x with a field of view of about .86° with this telescope. I've used this combination of equipment for several years, so the end result is somewhat expected.

14.5" f/4.5 Reflector

I got a new lower power eyepiece a year or so ago that was a game-changer on things like the Veil. The new eyepiece is a 31mm Nagler which produces 61x with FoV of 1.3°. It turns out that the view with the 31mm eyepiece allows me to see most of the nebula at once. The view with the 20mm requires a lot of scanning around to view the entire nebula. While the detail is much greater with the 96x view, the ability to 'get it all' at 61x is a welcome new capability. I've also observed the Veil through a friend's Tele Vue-NP101 (101mm, f/5.4) with a 31mm Nagler. The view was stunning and quite different from my usual result. That view really inspired the purchase of the 31mm eyepiece.

TeleVue's 31mm Nagler

From this I think it is fair to suggest that we get into familiar patterns with our observing - both imaging and visual. A simple change like using a different eyepiece can produce a very different view, even with an object that is very familiar. Perhaps we should take the next step with this by pursuing an observing plan that includes objects well off of our beaten path. The "Wide-Field Wonders" plan may be such a refreshing change of fare.

Binocular Observers: an under-served community?

Binocular observers seem like an under-served community of astronomical observers. Imaging and observing with telescopes receive much more attention, even though binoculars are regularly mentioned when new observers ask 'how should I start?'

With that issue in mind, Knightware has produced observing plans from Phil Harrington's monthly Binocular Universe column on CloudyNights.com for over a year. Each plan, and a compendium of all 2013 plans, are available to licensed users of Deep-Sky Planner 6 in the online Plan Library (http://knightware.biz/community/loginfm.php).

In each article, Harrington describes several objects visible during the month, and he provides a star chart to accompany the article. Objects are visible to northern hemisphere observers, and many are also visible to southern hemisphere observers. For objects that are described in his book, Touring the Universe Through Binoculars (Wiley & Sons), he provides a page number reference. The book is a wonderful reference for binocular observers, so Knightware's observing plans include these page numbers. If you haven't read Binocular Universe, you can find it at http://www.cloudynights.com/. Touring the Universe Through Binoculars is available in paperback and for Kindle.

There is another excellent resource for observers that comes from the UK. Stephen Tonkin publishes a monthly newsletter for binocular observers entitled Binocular Sky. You can find his web page and newsletter at http://binocularsky.com/. Stephen also authored the book Binocular Astronomy (Springer), and he currently authors a column called Binocular Tour each month in Sky At Night magazine. Binocular Tour includes a handful of popular binocular targets that any observer would enjoy. Binocular Astronomy is available in paperback and for Kindle.

If you haven't observed with binoculars lately, why not take them out next time you observe? And don't forget these resources specifically for binocular observers.

The Inimitable Burnham's

A user of Deep-Sky Planner contributed 83 plan files that contained the deep-sky objects from Burnham's Celestial Handbook. I checked the plan files against my rather dog-earred 3 volume set for accuracy. Paging through these softbound copies brought back some great memories.

I purchased a softcover set in the mid-eighties when I first became an active observer. Ultimately there were 3 sets in my household - 2 for indoor use and one for outdoor use. The latter set accompanied me on most observing sessions for years. Burnham's was a great reference resource back in the days before the Internet revolutionized astronomical research for observers and astrophotographers. Those volumes never needed cellular or wi-fi signal in the field either.

My recent use of these books reminded me of 2 things:

• What a great work this was! No wonder everyone owned a set 25 years ago.
• Although the data in the set is dated, it is still a handy resource. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the set to someone new to astronomy.

If Burnham's is such a nice resource, why hasn't a new edition been published? To me, a new edition should have updated object data and the printing style would be updated (using hand drawn Greek letters for double stars was always a bit quaint). I would leave Burnham's comments as they are because that is what separates this resource from others available today. I would release the books in print and as e-books.

So why hasn't a second edition happened? I suppose that the reasons are legal and economic. I suspect that the manuscript is not digitized. That means the content would have to be digitized first. I would think that this could be automated, but an investment of some man-hours would be necessary ($$$). After an accurate digitization, object data would need to be updated. That would be more man-hours ($), but probably a small fraction of the first effort. Finally, the owner of the copyrights would have to authorize a new edition or a third party would have to acquire the copyrights. According to US Copyright Office records, the copyrights were transferred from Burnham's estate to a trustee in 1996 and they endure for 70 years. Executing this step would entail legal fees ($$) and perhaps a purchase of copyrights.

I wouldn't be surprised if all of the above investment scares away would-be publishers. If my analysis is valid, a new edition of Burnham's seems very unlikely. What a shame - I would purchase an updated set without hesitation in both printed and electronic formats.