[Paddy (Patrick)]

Observation notes /4/2010

Telescope 400mm f4.9 tri-dob reflector
Eyepieces 28mm UWAN, 17,13,9 mm Naglers, Paracorr
Guiding: Night Sky Observer’s Guide (NSOG)

The Plan – observe items listed in Ice in Space April Challenge thread, Arps in Virgo.

The best laid plans…I spend the evening dodging cloud and slewing from one part of the sky to the next. Here are some of the notes I was able to make.

Seeing – excellent – 1/5
Transparency – Varying from 0-7/7 rapidly due to intermittent cloud

2230

ESO 172-07 Boomerang nebula – proto-planetary nebula in Centaurus 250x Still a very faint patch of fuzz near rhomboid of faint stars. Some sense of elongation, but no real detail apparent even with better transparency.

NGC 5170 GX in Virgo 175X Very flat edge on spiral, quite faint disc with distinct nucleus. Much the same appearance at 250X. Oriented WSW-ESE

M49/Arp 134 GX in Virgo 175X Elliptical galaxy with small companions (NGC 4472, UGC 7636 ) M49 quite a bright circular haze and NGC 4472 also quite distinct small circle on the edge of the halo of M49. I can’t see UGC 7636. “Diffuse fragments” is the peculiarity of this galaxy.

NGC 4976 GX in Centaurus 175X Distinct bright nucleus in round halo. A much fainter edge on spiral just to the south of 4976.

More serious cloud ends my observing session.