8" f5 Newtonian reflector

  ST-8XME, self-guided, binned 1x1, temp -15c, camera control MaxIm DL 4.56

Lumicon Deep Sky filter, 240 minutes (24 x 10 minute subs), 10/8/9/2007

CCDStack 1.3, Photoshop 7.0

 Rolling Roof Observatory, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (+34d 13m 29s -118h 52m 20s)

Contemporary Visual Observation(s) for NGC 6981

NGC 6981 = M72
20 53 27.9 -12 32 13
V = 9.2;  Size 6

17.5" (7/17/01): at 380x, the halo is very irregular and the globular has a very 
uneven surface brightness.  The non-symmetrical halo is elongated ~E-W, perhaps 
4'x3'.  The brighter 1.5' core is covered with a sprinkling a 8-10 faint stars.  
From the core there are short ragged extensions to the SW and NW with a few 
resolved stars.  More prominent is a nearly detached clump on the E side which 
is extended ~N-S and contains roughly 8 easily resolved stars over haze.  In 
total, perhaps two dozen stars are resolved in moments of good seeing.

17.5" (8/13/88 and 8/2/86): very mottled ragged appearance, 3' diameter.  About 
20 stars are resolved at the edges and over the core.

13" (9/29/84): very mottled non-symmetrical appearance with a bright core.  
Roughly a dozen stars are resolved mostly on the E side of the core.  A brighter 
mag 13.5 star is in the NE side of the halo.

- by Steve Gottlieb