For a weeek, the promise for Saturday 15/5 was for clear sky. And for once, it actually was clear sky. So armed with a list in one hand, and 2 boxes of hot chocolate in the other, out I went into one of the dewiest nights I've ever seen.
Transparency was stunning to say the least, particulalry early on in the night. Normally, the stars of Crater are a PITA to see, but tonight they were easier than usual, and the sky just had this vibrance to it. Seeing, however was horrendous. Bad enough to cut the limiting Mag thru the scope somewhat. At times it seemed variable, one moment I was getting clean pinpoint stars at 267x but the next I was playing with the focuser...
Dew was severe, infact by the end of the session, water was literally streaming down the mirrorbox, and after I packed up the scope, several puddles could be found in its location I found the shroud holds the dew at bay nicely, at no time did water drop onto the primary. Frezing cold, coldest temp according to the scope was 4C. THe dew heaters turned out to be an invaluable asset aswell.
Time: 7:30pm-4am
Scope: 12" F4.4 dob
Seeing: 2/10
Transparency: 5/5
Dew: Severe
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ABELL 1367
NGC 3842
GX, Leo, RA: 11h44m 36.1s, DE:+19°53' 27" , Size = 2.1x1.5' , Mag V = 11.8
Largest and brightest member of the rich galaxy cluster Abell 1367. Fairly bright at 267x, round with an even sfc brightness which brightens towards the core. Has several companions nearby. Easy to pinpoint using a Mag 11.4 star located some 2.5' NW.
NGC 3841
GX, Leo, RA: 11h44m 36.1s DE:+19°54' 46" , Size = 1x0.7' , Mag V = 13.6
Very faint, small, round. Seen only intermittently. Easy to find only 1' N of 3842.
NGC 3845
GX, Leo, RA: 11h44m 39.4s DE:+19°56' 14" , Size = 1x0.5' , Mag V = 14.0
Very faint and seen only intermittently. Similar level of difficulty and located 2' NNW of 3841.
NGC 3837
GX, Leo, RA: 11h44m 30.4s DE:+19°50'09" , Size = 0.9x0.8' , Mag V = 13.3
Rather easy at 267x, appearing as a moderately faint round haze. Second brightest in the immediate vicinity of NGC 3842. Easy to find exactly halfway between 3842 and a mag 12.4 star to the SSW.
NGC 3844
GX ,Leo, RA: 11h44m 34.7s DE:+19°58' 13" , Size = 1.2x0.3' , Mag V = 13.9
Very faint at 267x, however I'd guage it as somewhat easier than 3841 and 3845. Possible elongation but really too faint to be certain.
NGC 3861
GX , Leo, RA: 11h45m 37.8s DE:+19°54' 53" , Size = 2.1x1.0 , Mag V = 12.7
Fairly faint at 267x, with a condensed core. Low sfc brightness. Appeared round, suggesting I only spotted the core area. Located approx 15' E of the main group.
MCG+03-30-098
GX, Leo, RA: 11h45m 48.8s DE:+19°47' 12" , Size = 0.7x0.6', Mag B = 14.8
Located 3' S of a mag 7.4 star and midway to a mag 11.5 star to the south. Faint, round, slightly condensed core.
NGC 3873
GX, Leo, RA: 11h46m 20.0s DE:+19°42' 54" , Size = 1.1x1.1' , Mag V = 12.9
Located 10' SE of a mag 7.4 star. Easy at 267x, relatively high sfc brightness with a moderate brightening toward core. Forms a close double with NGC 3873 1' SE.
NGC 3875
GX, Leo, RA: 11h46m 23.3s DE:+19°42' 30" , Size = 1.6x0.4' , Mag V = 13.9
Very faint, appeared as a delicate sliver of light at 267x. NGC 3873 located 1' NW.
NGC 3862
GX, Leo, RA: 11h45m 38.9s DE:+19°32' 50" , Size = 1.1x1.1', Mag V = 12.7
Located well SE of the main concentration of galaxies, however according to Steve Gottlieb's notes, this galaxy actually marks the centre of Abell 1367. Picked up easily at 267x, appearing round with a small tight core. Companion IC 2955 1' N was not seen.
- that wraps up Abell 1367, but there still appear to be a few galaxies within my reach here which I missed. Another member, NGC 3860 was suspected but couldn't hold it reliably enough in order to confidently say I've seen it.
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NGC 4565
GX, Coma Berenices, RA: 12h36m 53.5s DE:+25°55' 45" , Size = 16.6x2.9' , Mag V = 9.6
That famous needle! At 166x, Bright, slightly elongated buldge at core, with fainter needle-like extension protruding. The NE edge appeared with harder definition than the SW, indicating the dust lane. The dust lane as a whole was not visible, as light pollution this low in the north is pretty bad.
M64
GX, Coma Berenices, RA RA: 12h57m 16.3s DE:+21°37' 28" , Size = 10.5x5.3' , Mag V = 8.5
The Black Eye Galaxy. Bright, large oval, with condensed core. Fuzzy stellaring in core. The large dust lane was visible at 166x, not overly contrasty but still apparent with direct vision. Very nice object, its good to see some detail in galaxies! A mag 11.2 star lies 4' NE of the centre of the galaxy.
NGC 4536
GX, Virgo, RA: 12h35m00.7s DE:+02°07' 41" , Size = 7.1x2.6', Mag V = 10.6
A large spiral, forms a trio with NGC 4533 and 4527 to the north. A mag 7 star 12' ENE and another mag 8.6 star 4' N make finding the galaxy easy. At 267x, appeared as a slightly elongated SE-NW area of low sfc brightness haze with a bright, condensed core and stellar nucleus.
NGC 4533
GX, Virgo, RA: 12h34m 55.7s DE:+02°15' 55" , Size = 1.8x0.4' , Mag V = 13.8
Edge on spindle located 8' N of NGC 4536. Very faint at 267x, could hold it only intermittently. A pair of mag ~9 stars lie (closest 4') to the north, which proved to be a real hindrance when trying to tease out this faint gossamer. Forms a trio with NGC 4536 8' S and NGC 4527 20' NNW.
NGC 4527
GX, Virgo, RA: 12h34m 41.6s DE:+02°35' 35" , Size = 6.3x1.7' , Mag V = 10.5
Visually the best and brightest of the 4527/33/36 trio. Located 30' NNW of NGC 4536. Strongly elongated at 267x, with a slightly buldging core and stellar nucleus. Much higher sfc brightness than NGC 4536.
NGC 5566
GX, Virgo, RA: 14h20m 53.3s DE:+03°52' 60" , Size = 5.4x2.1' , Mag V = 10.6
Very bright at 166x, with a very condensed, compact core. Infact, at a casual glace it could be mistaken for a duplicate of a Mag 12 star which lies 1.5' due east of the core. Averted vision reveals an area of low sfc brightness haze, slightly elongated NE/SW and extending perhaps 1.2'. A mag 14.3 star lies approx 1' W of the core. NGC 5569 to the NE was not seen. Forms part of a trio with NGC 5560 and 5569.
NGC 5560
GX, Virgo, RA: 14h20m 38.5s DE:+03°56' 30", SIze = 3.5x0.9', Mag V = 12.4
Fainter than 5566, but not too difficult. A mag 8.1 star 5' E hinders observation. Strongly elongated needle-like wisp at 267x, relatively high sfc brightness core. A mag 14.3 star lies 40" N of the core.
M83
GX, Hydra, RA: 13h37m 38.3s DE:-29°55' 21", Size = 13.5x13.2', Mag V = 7.5
Small condensed core at 102x. I was pleasantly surprised to see a bar running thru the core oriented NE-SW, it was only marginally higher sfc brightness than the surrounding disk, but it was plainly visible! Not only that, but I could see a spiral arm aswell curling away to the south from the central bar. This was exciting and a highlight as it's the first time I've seen spiral structure in any galaxy from my backyard!
Tried viewing at 78x and 166x aswell, but the 13mm LVW at 102x provided the best view.
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ABELL 2052
This is a galaxy cluster in Serpens, located at a distance of around 488 million light years.
UGC 9799
GX, Serpens, RA: 15h17m 17.4s DE:+06°58' 51" , Size = 1.8x0.9' , Mag B = 13.96
This is the giant elliptical in the centre of Abell 2052. At 267x, Faint, low sfc brightness with out much of brightening in the core region made observing this galaxy quite difficult. Easy to pinpoint location using a mag 13.5 star 1' NW and a mag 14.5 star 1.5' SE.
CGCG-049-96
GX, Serpens, RA: 15h17m 38.1s DE:+06°50' 51" , Size = 0.9x0.6' , Mag B = 15.1
Extremely faint and small, although sfc brightness must be on the high side which would've facilitated spotting this galaxy. Easy to find (as opposed to see!) using a triangle of 12-13 mag stars to the NW. Intermittently glimpsed at 381x, observed the area for a good 15 minutes to confirm the sighting. I suspected some elongation, but at these faintness levels its difficult to judge.
These are the only two members of Abell 2052 I could confidently say I've seen. There are a couple more galaxies in the area which are potentially within reach, but will need better seeing.
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M13
GC, Hercules, RA: 16h42m06.0s DE:+36°26' 17" , Size = 25.2'x25.2', Mag V = 5.8
More or less full resolution at 166x. Several stars resolved in the core, superimposed over a hazy, grainy background. A Semi circle of stars could be seen encircling the western side of the core. The "propeller" structure on the eastern side of the cluster was clearly seen, while the outlier stars seemed to be arranged in 4 streamers taking on the appearance of a cross with the "intersection" at the cluster's core.
While observing M13, I made sure I had a look at the nearby galaxy NGC 6207.
NGC 6207
GX, Hercules, RA: 16h43m 28.1s DE:+36°48' 37", Size = 3.5x1.6' , Mag V = 11.6
Made it damn sure that I hit this galaxy while on M13. Located 28' NE of M13. Small, moderately faint at 166x, with a quasi stellar core. Elongated NE-SW. Fainter than expected from a V mag of 11.6, but atmospheric extinction and light pollution in this area of the sky really start to kill off objects.
NGC 6215
GX, Ara, RA: 16h52m04.9s DE:-59°00' 38" , Size = 2.6x2.4' , Mag V = 11.5
Easy to find 11' ENE of Mag 3.8 Eta Ara. At 267x, it appeared large with a high sfc brightness, with a mag 13 star on the northern edge. The galaxy exhibited a back-to-front comma shape curling off toward the west, with the brightest portion elongated N-S. Looking at DSS images, it turns out I was viewing the galaxy's southeastern spiral arm! Fantastic!
NGC 6221
GX, Ara, RA: 16h53m 44.3s DE:-59°14'05" , Size = 4.9x3.2' , Mag V = 9.9
Appeared to have lower sfc brightness than NGC 6215, but is larger. Spotted two bright knots at 267x, one being the core, but another was located to the north. Possibly HII region, or simply a tight group of faint foreground stars
Was surprised to note an elongated and curving structure, and upon viewing images of the galaxy I can confirm that I have observed the barred spiral structure!
NGC 6215 and 6221 are two excellent galaxies which are rarely ever mentioned...check them out next time your out!
Part 2 follows