Andrew Cooper
Aug 13, 2023    Waikoloa, HI (map)
28cm f/10 SCT, NexStar 11" GyPSy @ 104x
Seeing: 5 Transparency: 7 Moon: 0%

Big! bright and obvious, A spectacular sweep of glow across the field, extended 30' by 5' northeast to southwest, reaching across the ½° field, modestly brighter to the center without a distinct core, four superimposed 12th magnitude stars frame the center with a pair of 9th magnitude stars 5' south of the center, the disk is notably mottled with no dust lane visible, 2° northwest of NGC 288

Andrew Cooper
Nov 11, 2020    Waikoloa, HI (map)
20cm f/6 Newtonian, Cave Astrola @ 76x
Seeing: 5 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

Big! bright, 25' x 5' northeast - southwest, generally brighter to the center without a notable core, hints of structure with averted vision, two 9th magnitude stars about 5' south of the center, NGC 288 is 1°45' southest.

Andrew Cooper
Dec 8, 2018    Kaʻohe, Mauna Kea, HI (map)
51cm f/4 Newtonian, Obsession #004 @ 58x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 7 Moon: 0%

Big, bright, 15' x 3', brighter at the center but no distinct core, no dust lane

Andrew Cooper
Nov 1, 2008    Hale Pohaku, HI (map)
12x36 Canon Image Stabilized Binoculars @ 12x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 7 Moon: 0%

Large, bright, easy to find by scanning the rough area, elongated 4:1 northeast-southwest, no detail visible in the halo, no distinct core, NGC288 visible 2° southeast

Andrew Cooper
Jan 12, 2008    Hale Pohaku, Mauna Kea, HI (map)
46cm f/4.5 Deep Violet

Large! Bright! about 30' long and elongated 6:1 northeast-southwest, no distinct core, brighter and mottled in the center region

Andrew Cooper
Oct 12, 2007    Hale Pohaku, HI (map)
76mm f/6 APO, TeleVue-76 @ 22x
Moon: 0%

Bright, good sized, brighter at the center but no visible nucleus, elongated 6:1 northeast-southwest, nicely arranged in a group of 9th magnitude stars

Andrew Cooper
Dec 11, 2004    Sentinel, AZ (map)
46cm f/4.5 Deep Violet

Beautiful!! highly inclined spiral, Big! Bright! Only the center section fits in the 12mm, a lot of mottling around the center, no obvious core

Rev. T.W. Webb
May 19, 1885    Hardwick, Herefordshire, England (map)

very bright large neb. 24'x3'

― Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, T. W. Webb, 1917

Captain William Henry Smyth
Sep 27, 1836    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A long narrow nebula, preceding the clumsy stern-frame of Cetus, but close to the boundary assigned to Apparatus Sculptoris. It is of a pale milky tint, and trends sp and nf with its brightest portion towards the south.

There are several small stars in the field, of which the nearest preceding is of the 9th magnitude, and reddish. A line drawn from the 8th-magnitude star in the np quadrant, to the 8th in the nf, will be parallel to the axis of the nebula, which owing probably to the inferiority of means— I could not make out to be of the extreme length figured by John Herschel.

This singular object was discovered by Miss Caroline Herschel, in 1783: and I differentiated it with β Ceti in 1836. A line shot from α Andromedae through β Ceti, and carried about 7° to the south, where Fom-al-hút will appear nearly at right angles with it, marks the site of the nebula.

― A Cycle of Celestial Objects Vol II, The Bedford Catalogue, William Henry Smyth, 1844

Drawings, descriptions, and CCD photos are copyright Andrew Cooper unless otherwise noted, no usage without permission.

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