Contributed by: Steven R. Waldee
  (aka the author of the old "Eyepiece" DOS program)


'Unknown nebula discovered and confirmed by 2 San Jose
amateur astronomers'
Sept. 1, 2010

A small reflection nebula coincident with the star 4 Cygni,
now well placed for nightly observing, has been confirmed by
professional astronomers. It was discovered visually with a
10 inch scope by one San Jose amateur astronomer, Stephen
Waldee, in July 2007, and his collaborator, San Jose
astrophotographer Al Howard, has produced his own
independent image of high quality. This image confirms the
traces of it that were recorded in the two series of Palomar
Observatory Sky Survey images dating back more than fifty years.

The star 4 Cygni (at 5th magnitude) is visible to the naked
eye in a very dark sky, located on the very border of Cygnus
and Lyra, about seven and a half degrees from the famous
"Ring" nebula. The star is a magnetic variable type, but the
nebula is currently thought not to be related to its
physics, but rather exists as a reflection of its bright
whitish light in the 'nearby' dusty interstellar medium. The
Palomar and Howard images have been vetted by Dr. Harold G.
Corwin, Jr., a professional astronomer at Caltech, who
believes that the evidence is that the nebula is
"real"--though somewhat commonplace.

The existence of the nebula was first suspected when Waldee
observed 4 Cygni with his 10-inch telescope, and traces of
it turned up in an immediate examination of the POSS images.
But, it was not recorded in any professional astronomical
catalogue, nor documented in any paper found in a deep
search of professional and amateur observing literature back
in 2007 and again in 2010.

After viewing it again several times, Waldee continued to
look for an astrophotographer who was willing to collaborate
on an independent image, to confirm the Palomar photos and
show that the nebula was not merely an instrumental
artifact. One famous astrophotographer turned him down: the
task of getting a really clean image of this bright star
seemed too daunting. Finally, Waldee persuaded Mr. Howard to
use his fine quality 4" astrograph, at the Golden Gate Star
Party near Mt. Lassen in July 2010, to obtain a fresh new
image. Deep processing revealed that the nebula might be
larger and more extensive than the trace evidence recorded
on the old Palomar photographic plates!

When an amateur forum was notified in August 2010, another
'competing discovery claim' came to light, asserted by
southern California amateur Dana Patchick, who said he saw
it on Palomar plates in 2005. Unfortunately, to this date he
has not published his discovery but included it in a
collated list of other anomalous items found on Palomar
plates, awaiting further study. Nothing had been published
in public, and Patchick said he shared information with only
a few friends involved in his "Deep Sky Hunters" group, who
kept the information private; he had never tried to look for
the nebula with a telescope.

Waldee's and Howard's work was entirely original, for they
had no other knowledge of the object aside from what they
had found in visual observations or on Palomar plates. Now
in August 2010, a Finnish amateur astronomer named Jaakko
Saloranta has confirmed a *visual* sighting, using his 8
inch Dobsonian telescope. The object is fairly obvious and
does not require a gigantic instrument to be able to detect:
just a dark sky, good equipment, and some experience.
Depending on the instrument used to view or photograph it,
the nebula may have an apparent angular diameter of as much
as six by three arcminutes.

The story of the work done by the San Jose amateurs and
their collaborator in Finland is found here:

http://faintfuzzies.zoomshare.com/files/4-cygni/4_cygni_nebula.html

Al Howard, the astrophotographer, is a professional
electrical engineer by trade, providing engineering on a
contract basis for NASA. He is an avid astrophotographer who
uses a high quality refractor and digital camera. Stephen
Waldee is a long-time visual observer who has been looking
at the deep sky since the 1970s with large aperture scopes,
from the mountains north of Santa Cruz; he began observing
the Moon and planets back in 1957, excited by the appearance
of Sputnik. Waldee's prior discovery work involved the
historical development of scientific knowlege of the
Horsehead nebula, which he traced back to 19th century
Harvard archives with the collaboration of professors from
Harvard and UC/Santa Cruz, revealing the long forgotten fact
that the nebula was discovered on early astrophotos in 1888
by a female astronomer.