Home of the Seagull

IC 2177, Home of the Seagull
By Rony De Laet

IC 2177 is listed in the ‘Deep Sky Travel Guide (Ronald Stoyan, Oculum)’ as : very large, very faint. This description was a challenge to me. Would I be able to see it? From the 5th of February, we were blessed with exceptional clear skies for a whole week. Every night, I scanned the sky between Sirius and M50, in search of IC2177. It took me four nights to track down the location of IC2177. Four nights of trial and error. Each time I eliminated the suspected location from the drawings I made. In my mind, I builded myself a path through the vast and complex milkyway section South of M50. The trick is to find NGC 2353. From there, starhop to NGC 2343 and put it at the 10 o’clock position in a low power eyepiece (binocular orientation!). Now the scope is amed at IC 2177. It sounds easy, but it isn’t, at least not in my sky with my little refractor. The journey is joyfull and the destination is very rewarding. The question still is : did I see it? I noted a dark rift running through the fov from the 11 o’clock to the 5 o’clock position. East of the rift, the sky seems to brighten a bit more than West of the rift. Or is it unresolved starlight? I look forward to reports from other observers. Here is the sketch. (The little triangular cloud at the 10 o’clock position near the border of the fov is NGC 2343.)

Date : February 11, 2008
Time : around 22.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : Meade SP 26 mm
Power : x19
FOV: 150′
Filter : UHC
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 2,5/5
Nelm : 4,7
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.