Three Challenging Autumn Nebulae

The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) is familiar from photographs as a large diffuse glow about 3° east and 1° south of Deneb. There has been remarkable diversity of opinion on how small a telescope can show this object visually. If observing conditions are very good, and you know what size and shape to expect, the North America Nebula can be made out easily with the naked eye. An opera glass makes it more apparent, but this is not true when more powerful binoculars are used.

Actually, NGC 7000 is difficult to see in most telescopes. With a 5-inch Moonwatch Apogee telescope you should know beforehand what it looks like, and the nebula is downright challenging in a 6-inch f/4. However, a few years ago it was brilliant when I saw it in an 11.4-inch Wright telescope.

The most famous celestial sights have been passed down to us throughout the centuries. There are some objects which, in a sense, belong to the modern amateur. One such object is the Veil Nebula in Cygnus, a broken bubble of luminous gas some 2° in diameter. Although ignored by generations of telescope users, in the last 30 years the Veil has progressed from a difficult test object to a reasonable target for anything from binoculars to the largest amateur telescopes. It's an excellent nebula for training the eye, perhaps the most important observing "accessory," to help us get the most out of the telescope we're using.

The western section bears the name NGC 6960. The 4th magnitude double star 52 Cygni appears to be involved with NGC 6960 but is actually a foreground object not related to the nebula. Even in small telescopes, 52 Cygni is an excellent double; its orange and blue components, magnitudes 4.5 and 9.5 are separated by 6½". The eastern loop of the Veil is NGC 6992–95. Like the western part, it's a strip of sculptured light about 1° long.

Both the east and west arms of this loop are easy in my 20 x 125 Japanese military binoculars. In a 12-inch f/5 telescope the Veil Nebula in Cygnus is beautiful, and so bright that one notes it even when sweeping. But in a 5-inch f/5 the Veil is visible only with difficulty to keen eyes.

The planetary nebula NGC 7293, also known as the Helix Nebula lies in Aquarius about a third of the way from Upsilon (υ) Aquarii to 47. It has a total magnitude of about 6, but its large apparent diameter — nearly half that of the Moon — spreads the light out and makes it a difficult object visually. I recently saw the Helix Nebula with the 4-inch Clark refractor and was certain that it was glimpsed in a 2-inch finder. Years ago I suggested that readers send me their observations of the Helix Nebula. The bulk of my correspondents indicated that the Helix was more readily seen in binoculars and finders than in telescopes.