The Caldwell Objects

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gerate brightness while obscuring fine details. To
my trained eye, however, the same telescope
made NGC 7009 appear ethereally lucid, a
ghostly form that seemed trapped in a limbo of
light, something half-solid and half-gaseous. At
400x the 11.5-magnitude central star blazed forth
with hypnotic steadiness. It appeared to be caged
by two sharply defined pale-green rings, each
decorated with a string of irregular
condensations. The object's hallmark extensions
seemed to stream out from the green rings like
spotlights. Each ended at a tight knot,
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as if two opposing beams from the same lighthouse
were illuminating a distant wall of fog. No
imagination was required to visualize Rosse's
metaphor; here was Saturn with its rings seen
edgewise, with bright moons adorning the tips of
the hairline ring. And no effort was needed to
look through Smyth's eyes and "convince the
reflecting mind that it is a mark of devotion
which we owe to our Maker, to study with
earnestness the beautiful and harmonious works
around us, however their immensity may at first
bewilder us."
Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects