The Caldwell Objects

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extending to the east; both sides of this parabolic
tail have sharp edges. A dark, narrow lane oriented
roughly north-south separates that "comet"
from a smaller, fainter one to the west; that
fainter "comet" shines with a softer and more
diffuse glow. The planetary takes high power
well, thanks to its high surface brightness, so
don't be afraid to use as much magnification as
the night will allow. High power should reveal
some fine details. In the 4-inch I spotted several
knots or enhancements in the eastern
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lobe: one close to the pseudonucleus; two midway
through the lobe; and one near the end. In
the western lobe I saw one prominent knot close
to the pseudonucleus; Christian Lugin-buhl and
Brian Skiff noted another one toward the western
end of the lobe. (Interestingly, I thought I spied
that feature in the 4-inch at 72x but not at high
power. Maybe high power reduced the feature's
contrast against the background sky.) With
averted vision I suspected seeing the entrail-like
streamer emanating from the western lobe, but
this might have been an illusion created by a
string of dim field stars. See what you think. I
saw no color in the nebula with the 4-inch
Genesis, but Ernst Hartung called NGC 6302 a
"bluish nebula" as seen through a 12-inch. Steve
Coe found it gray when he saw it through Larry
Mitchell's 36-inch reflector at the Texas Star
Party.
Just 2° southeast of the Bug is NGC 6337, a
12.3-magnitude planetary nebula, about 48"
across, with a 15th-magnitude central star. It is
roughly as distant as the Bug. Finding it with the
4-inch was a real ghost hunt. Start 2½° west of
Lambda Scorpii, where you'll see a 1°-long line of
three stars (two of 6th magnitude and one of 8th);
they are plotted on the finder chart below.
Following these stars from north to south will
lead you right to the nebula, which is less than
30' southwest of the southernmost, 8thmagnitude
sun. But be careful, because the dim
planetary is part of a tight trapezoid of five 9th-
to llth-magnitude stars in a Milky Way region
rich in fainter suns. NGC 6337 is at the northern
end of that trapezoid. I had to first locate it with
high power so its size would give it away; then,
after memorizing its position, I was able to pick it
out at low power from the rich background of
stars.
Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects