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A good night !!
Hi PGC & All,
Loved reading your report as usual -- you did very well with Abell S 805. Here are my impressions of it back in July 2000 with 31cm from Bargo with a mag 6.2 sky and good seeing:
x186 36' TF. IC 4765, IC 4769 and PGC 62391 are in the same field, ESO 104-7 is also there.
IC 4765 Mag 12.3p Size 3.4' x 1.8'. Obvious but not large, perhaps 1.5-1.75' diameter. Typical eliptical profile rising moderately and broadly to the centre azonally without any obvious nucleus. Possible slight elongation in PA 135. In PA 135 4' is a tiny glow -PGC 62391. IC 4769 is is 11' N and ESO 104-7 is 2' S.
PGC 62391 Mag ?? Size ?? 4' W of IC 4765, perhaps 30" diameter rising moderately and evenly to the centre. ery faint * embedded in the halo or just to the N off halo.
IC 4769 Mag 14.1p Size 1.9' x 1.1'.Found 11' N of IC 4765, very LSB, 50" x 15", lengthened form of gossamer rising slightly to the axis and centre.
ESO 104-7 (PGC 62408) Mag 12.9v Size 1.6' x 0.8'. Moderately faint only 2' S of IC 4765. not particularly difficult, 50" x 30" in PA 90. Brightens moderately to the centre without discernable core or nucleus.
Somehow I seemed to have missed C 4767 -- well done to you!
And here is the group around NGC 7012 with 46cm in 2005 from Bargo in similar conditions:
NGC 7012, ESO 286-52 (PGC 66116) and ESO 286- 48 (PGC 66109) are in a group.
x185 27' TF
NGC 7012 ESO 286-51 PGC 66116 Galaxy
*RA: 21h 06m 45.6sDec: -44° 48' 52"
Mag: 13.6 (P) S.B.: ---B-V: --- Size: 2.5'x1.3'
Class: E+4 pec P.A.: 100 Inclination
ESO 286-52 PGC 66118 Multi-Galaxy Sys
*RA: 21h 06m 51.3s Dec: -44° 49' 34"
Mag: 13.8 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.3'x0.8'Class: P.A.: 94
Inclination: ---R.V.: +8680
ESO 286-48 PGC 66109 Galaxy
*RA: 21h 06m 28.8s Dec: -44° 47' 21"
Mag: 15.5S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.1'x0.3' Class: L P.A.: 37
These three Eg's are in a small tight triplet. The brightest is NGC 7012 is fairly easy to see, no worse than mod faint. Adjacent to a mag 12* in a thinly populated field. The other two are not too hard either, though -52 is the brighter and is immediately adjacent to -12 -- less than 2' SE. -48 is to the NW by about 3'.
-12 is mod bright , pretty easy to see and has a fairly typical looking eliptical brightness profile with indefinite edges, 1.25' diameter rising moderately and evenly to the centre to a faint *ar core.
-52 is only 1.5' SE, smaller and slightly fainter than the NGC object, it too rises slightly in brightenss to a faint stellaring in the centre.
-48 is the faintest of the three, 4' away as a very small slightly elonated smudge, 20" x 5" in PA 45, which seems to rise in brightness to the axis and the centre. Fairly faint.
I know you do it tough in Melbourne with the weather and what-not, but after having just arrived back from China yesterday, it really makes me appreciate what we've got. During my 2 weeks the sky there was never clear at all. It is always hazy -- even on a clear day away from urban areas it is at best a murky muted blue. In the cities you are hard pressed to see mag 2.5 stars even on the good nights. On bad nights (notionally cloud free nights -- just strong haze) in Shanghai and Beijing, mag 1 is the limit.
The light pollution has to be seen to be believed -- the sky is brown orange in all directions. The sky from the centre of the Sydney CBD at Sydney Observatory is vastly better than the sky in any city (of five) we went to in China. Singapore is almost as bad though there is less sky-haze
In China it must be almost impossible to be an amateur astronomer. Those who can afford a telescope live in the city and can't see the sky and are faced with a drive of several hours to see mag 4 stars.
Those who live in the country where the sky is better (though still relatively poor) can't afford a 'scope.
Maybe it is better in the other seasons -- dunno. I guess I only saw summer.
I really struggled to find Polaris for my first time (finally confirmed it on night 2 Beijing). Suspected I saw it one night in Shanghai, not visible elsewhere.
That's how bad it is. Sad but true.
Best,
Les D
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