[ngcles]

Hi All,

Well after the seemingly continuously cloudy weather of the last few months I was chomping at the bit to catch lots of faint photons. The weather report prior to heading up was not exactly encouraging with showers forecast for the Friday rain on Saturday and showers Sunday. At least Thursday seemed okay …

So off we set on Thursday morning with, as usual, with all the lingering nagging doubts about ‘what vital thing have I left behind’ that only go away when you finally unpack it all. This year I did forget something – but it wasn’t vital – I forgot to take a fork. The knife, spoon, tea-spoon etc all made it in but the fork somehow missed the boat. Not exactly the end of the world. Most importantly all the bits of the ‘scope made it.

On the way up the year before last I stopped in briefly at Hartley for a nose-around the old court-house and other buildings that I remembered so fondly from a 5th-grade excursion in 1973. This time with a camera to record it for posterity. It also allowed Gary and Taylor to catch-up the 20mins they were behind and we met at Lithgow for lunch at the truck-stop. The countryside there looked well-watered and pretty green but does brown-off a bit as you head north and west to Mudgee. Suitably refreshed the final leg to Mudgee took no time at all. By mid-afternoon we were unpacking and setting up under a half-half sky down in the bus-park (valley of the dobs) beside our new digs – an old 15ft Millard caravan that John had procured for less than a song and had put a lot of work into to make not only habitable but very comfortable.

Thanks again John & Patti!!

It was around this time that Gary discovered that he’d left something fairly important behind – his sleeping bag. With some cold nights forecast – not pleasant.

As it turned out, as the afternoon waned and darkness set it the sky improved nicely and gave us an almost full-night’s observing. The SQM gave a reading of 21.55 + a ZLM of 6.39 improving over the course of the night to 21.71 = a ZLM of 6.5. The seeing was a bit better than average and I’d have rated it 7/10.

The soundtrack for the night (albums) was: Drama – Yes, The Wall – Pink Floyd, Amarok – Mike Oldfield, Led Zeppelin III – Led Zeppelin, Let it be – The Beatles, Islands – Mike Oldfield, Animals – Pink Floyd, The Planets – Holst, The Firebird Suite – Stravinsky.

After a few test objects to make sure everything was tickety-boo and a good look at Saturn which was really lovely at both x247 and x317, I settled into my looooong list of unobserved galaxies in Leo and then later on Virgo.

These were them:



x185 27' TF

NGC 2970 Mrkn 405 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 43m 31.0s Dec: +31° 58' 36"
Mag: 14.4 (B) S.B.: 12.9 B-V: +0.76 Size: 0.6'x0.4' Class: E1:
P.A.: 69 Inclination: --- R.V.: +1664 Source: RC3

This is found to the NE of -68 which is a not far NE from -68. -70 is a very small round diffuse spot about 40-50" diameter with a slight/broad azonal central brightening with no evidence of zones or nucleus.



x185 27' TF

NGC 2984 (IC 556) Galaxy *
RA: 09h 43m 40.4s Dec: +11° 03' 38"
Mag: 14.4 (P) S.B.: --- -V: --- Size: 0.7' Class: S0?
P.A.: --- Inclination: --- R.V.: +6200 Source: RC3 *

IC 557 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 44m 02.4s Dec: +10° 59' 16"
Mag: 15.0 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.7'x0.3' Class: Sb
P.A.: 43 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *

-84 is in a pretty sparse field but is pretty immediately visible between a couple of mag 15 *s aligned NE - SW. Pretty small, probably no more than about 40" diameter growing evenly and slightly to centre where there is a small spot-type core that is slightly brighter than the halo. IC 557 is SE by 6' and is a very tiny 20" diameter spot of haze of lower SB than -84. Quite to very faint.



x185 27' TF

NGC 2991 Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 09h 46m 50.1s Dec: +22° 00' 50"
Mag: 13.5 (B) S.B.: 13.5 B-V: +0.91 Size: 1.4'x1.1' Class: S0
P.A.: 132 Inclination: --- R.V.: +7455 Source: RC3 *

NGC 2988 Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 09h 46 48.0s Dec: +22° 00' 44"
Mag: 15.8 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.9'x0.2' Class: SBbc
P.A.: 37 Inclination: --- R.V.: +7670 Source: PGC *

NGC 2994 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 47m 16.0s Dec: +22° 05' 23"
Mag: 14.0 (B) S.B.: 12.8 B-V: +0.91 Size: 1.3'x0.9'
Class: S0 P.A.: 125 Inclination: 2 R.V.: +7386 Source: RC3 *

These three are together in a group -- -91 and 88 are a merged or touching halos while -94 is 6' NE. -91 is found just above a 13th mag 8 by an arc min or so. -91 is dominant is small and round 40" diameter rising mod and evenly to the centre where there appears to be a small spot. Just barely off the halo W is -88 which is a really tiny touching patch maybe only 10-15" diameter of similar SB. -94 is 8' NE a little brighter than -91, nearly 1' diameter seems to be round or slightly elong in PA 120, grows broadly and slightly to centre where there is a large weakly brighter core zone but no visible nucleus.



x185 27' TF

NGC 3026 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 50m 54.2s Dec: +28° 33' 02"
Mag: 13.5 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 2.7'x0.7' Class: Im
P.A.: 82 Inclination: 6 R.V.: +1468 Source: RC3 *

This eg is found about 1/2 a field N of a loose group of mag 12 - 13 *s with the brightest stars in a loose quadrangle. In PA 90 and has very LSB and diffuse squashed oval 1.5' x 20" seems to brighten weakly to the axis nr centre and seems to have very feathery edges. Not immediately visible.



x185 27' TF

NGC 3040 Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 09h 53m 05.1s Dec: +19° 25' 55"
Mag: 14.2 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.0'x0.6' Class: Sb
P.A.: 166 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *

This looks a more interesting on the DSS image than in the ep. Found 2' NW from a 13th mag *. Quite small diffuse glow with ill-defined edges maybe slightly elong in PA 0, 50" x 30" with weak edges growing broadly and slightly to centre. At centre there seems to be a slightly elong slightly brighter core zone but no real nucleus.



x185 27' TF

IC 577 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 56m 03.8s Dec: +10° 29' 54"
Mag: 14.9 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.5'x0.4' Class: S?
P.A.: 129 Inclination: --- R.V.: +9009 Source: RC3 *

IC 578 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 56m 16.1s Dec: +10° 29' 10"
Mag: 14.8 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.9'x0.4' Class: SBa:
P.A.: 72 Inclination: 5 R.V.: +8944 Source: RC3 *

These two egs are side by side E-W of each other only about 4' apart. -77, for a galaxy of its size and brightness has a quite prominent *ar nucleus, or has a * superimposed dead centre. -77 is a bit brighter than -78. Both round, about 30" diameter, LSB growing broadly & moderately to centre. The more I look, the more it seems it is a 15th mag * superimposed just S of centre on -77.



x185 27' TF

NGC 3060 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 56 19.3s Dec: +16° 49' 53"
Mag: 13.8 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 2.2'x0.5' Class: Sb
P.A.: 78 Inclination: 6 R.V.: +3745 Source: RC3 *

This is a quite nice little eg that seems like an edge on spiral. Pretty blank field. The galaxy is in PA90, 1.75' x 20" with tips. LSB outer halo grows broadly and slightly to the axis nr centre where there is a small slightly brighter elong zone in the same PA that seems occasionally to contain a stellaring at centre. Quite nice.



x185 27' TF

IC 2520 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 56m 20.1s Dec: +27° 13' 39"
Mag: 14.7 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.6'x0.5'
Class: S? P.A.: 81 Inclination: --- R.V.: +1224 Source: RC3 *

This is a small, nondescript looking round eg that looks like a distant elliptical type. Found to the NE by 2' from a mag 10 *. At best 40" diameter, round and brightens slightly and broadly to the centre with no apparent zones or nucleus.



x185 27' TF

NGC 3075 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 58m 56.2s Dec: +14° 25' 10"
Mag: 14.3 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.2'x0.7' Class: Sc
P.A.: 135 Inclination: 3 R.V.: +3566 Source: RC3 *

This is a fairly faint, very small slightly elong eg in about in PA 120, off-round 50" x 30"growing broadly and slightly to the centre without zones or nucleus. There is a faint * just on edge of the halo to the NW about mag 14 on axis.



x185 27' TF

NGC 3080 Mkn 1243 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 59m 55.9s Dec: +13° 02' 40"
Mag: 14.3 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.9'x0.9' Class: Sa
P.A.: --- Inclination: 1 R.V.: +10580 Source: RC3 *

IC 585 Galaxy *
RA: 09h 59m 44.1s Dec: +12° 59' 18"
Mag: 14.4 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.1'x0.7' Class: S0-:
P.A.: 118 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

Of these two, the brightest seems to be IC 585. Both are small and faint. -IC 585 is very small round spot 30" diameter growing broadly and slightly to the centre where there is a tiny weakly brighter zone. -80 is about 6' NE and is a little smaller and fainter, round and grows broadly and slightly to the centre without zones or nucleus.



x185 27' TF

NGC 3119 (NGC 3121) Galaxy *
RA: 10h 06m 52.0s Dec: +14° 22' 26"
Mag: 14.2 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.2'x0.9' Class: E
P.A.: 20 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: NED *

This is a fairly non-descript little eg and looks like a very distant elliptical or lenticular. Ill defined edges, seems to be round and makes a RA tri with a 10th mag * to the NW by 5' and a 13th mag * to the W by 4'. It also has a 15th mag * on the S edge of the halo. 50" diameter, round and grows evenly and slightly at first and then nr centre more strongly to an occasional weak stellaring. Diffuse edges.

Pt 2 to follow ...