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Old 25-09-2009, 07:21 PM
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Observing Report NGCLes -- 19th September 2009

Hi All,

Below is my report of observations made from my nearly-dark site last weekend on 19-20/092009. We had an interesting very mix of conditions including some I’ve never observed in before – burn-off smoke.

The day started with an unsullied sky but over the day some high cloud started to build up but I felt it was likely to clear in the early evening so I headed out early with a few of my Sutherland Astronomical Society mates to our site in the southern highlands. Driving up the last few kilometres my heart started to sink a bit – bushfire smoke. More corrrectly it was hazard reduction burning. On arrival just after 5pm there as a large burn-off happening about 1-2km west and the smoke was going straight over us – yuk. Let’s hope they get it over and finished soon.

As it happened, over the next two hours we has two RFS vehicles come up the bush track to the strip, turn their lights on full-beam and blind us all while the smoke was on and off, on and off for most of the early part of the night. We learned it would be allowed to burn all night. The higher smoke was over not long after sunset but the smouldering stuff that creeps along the ground in light winds went on all night and periodically, the low smoke from that would creep over us producing stinging eyes and an unpleasant smell. It was so bad a couple of times we had to stop completely and cover the optics and … wait. The insides of the car a week later still smell like a bushfire. A green laser produced brilliant, almost blinding beams through the smoke. For more than ˝ the time the smoke blew the other way and we had a good sky – particularly later on after 10.30pm.

The seeing was not brilliant but somewhat variable, at times 4/10 and not 10minutes later 6/10. At the start of making recorded observations. The SQM readings at the start of the evening when some of the cirrus cloud and smoke was problematic was 20.65 but by the end of the night at 2am it was 21.38 okay but not brilliant.

I started at 8.30pm by dropping in on a few PNe in Aquila and Delphinus that I couldn’t recall having seen in the larger ‘scope they were worth the visit – particularly NGC 6905:



x185 27', x247 20', x317 15', x462 11'

NGC 6803 PK 46-4.1 Planetary Nebula *
RA: 19h 31m 16.6s Dec: +10° 03' 20"
Mag: 11.3 (P) Size: 6.0" Class: 2a Mag C. Star: 15.2

This PNe is essentially stellar at x185, and just shown as non-*ar at x247. It is the mid-most star, a little off-centre to the S in a line of similarly bright *s mags 10, 11 & 11 N-S just 3' long. The N-most star has a small companion and there are a few other small stars close-by. At x317 it is non-stellar and has a lower SB than the other stars. Probably no more than a few arc-seconds diameter with a tiny amount of fuzz outside that, round. Reacts strongly to the UHC filter and OIII. No cent * visible. Weakly bluish tint without the UHC or OIII.



x247 20', x317 15',

NGC 6891 PK 54-12.1 Planetary Nebula *
RA: 20h 15m 09.0s Dec: +12° 42' 12"
Mag: 11.7 (P) Size: 21.0" Class: 2a+2b Mag C. Star: 12.4R.V.: ---
Source: Str-ESO *

This is a quite small PNe that is maybe 20" diameter all told. In a fairly well populated field. It has at lower powers a light pale-blue colour which tends to wash out somewhat at x247 & x317. The outer halo has lowish SB diffuse-edged and rises slightly to centre. The round inner halo is about 10" diameter and not particularly well defined at the edges and is slightly more strongly coloured and grows slightly to centre. With the UHC it brightens somewhat to considerably, not much more detail, perhaps a little better defined at the edge, but the distinction between the inner and outer halos is now a little less distinct.



x247 20', x317 15', x462 11' TF

NGC 6905 PK 61-9.1 Planetary Nebula *
RA: 20h 22m 23.0s Dec: +20° 06' 16"
Mag: 11.9 (P) Size: 72.0"x37.0" Class: 3+3 Mag C. Star: 15.7
R.V.: --- Source: Str-ESO *

This is a really beautiful PNe. At x317 unfiltered it appears on the W side of a small box of 4 mag 11 & 12 *s only about 2.5' a side. It is between the brightest and 3rd brightest in the box. Seems to be elong in PA 0 60" x 40" as a reasonable SB oval disc that seems to have some weak brightenings that make it look just a little like M27 -- the Dumbbell. Dividing the PNe into quadrants with an "X" (as opposed to a "+") the E quadrant is a little brighter than the average of the surface brightness and W is 2nd brightest. The W quadrant seems to have a harder edge than elsewhere.

The central star is just visible at threshold as the seeing comes and goes -- very, very faint about mag 15.5 and is not really improved at x462 because the seeing won't cooperate. Overall shape at x317 -- seems round but with small extensions to the N and S ends, the S one is a little brighter than the N and almost reaches out to the mag 12 * at that corner of the box. With a UHC and OIII filter it seems more evenly illuminated at x317 and x462.

An image is here

http://www.winer.org/ngc6905-MS.jpg

though N is to the right and E is up.

I then went to have a look at Abell 72 but the smoke came in and that was it for serious observing some time. After that it was time for some galaxies in Cetus. The best bit for the night was the Hickson 16 group.


185 27' x247 20'

NGC 345 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 01m 22.1s Dec: -06° 53' 05"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.4'x0.8'
Class: SA(s)a: P.A.: 138 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

NGC 349 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 01m 50.8s Dec: -06° 48' 01"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.3'x1.2' Class: SA0-
P.A.: 49 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

NGC 350 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 01m 56.6s Dec: -06° 47' 47"
Mag: 15.3 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.6'x0.4' Class: E/S0
P.A.: 82 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *

NGC 356 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 03m 07.1s Dec: -06° 59' 19"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.8'x1.2' Class: SAB(s)bc pec:
P.A.: 53 Inclination: --- R.V.: +5891 Source: RC3 *

NGC 340 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 00m 34.9s Dec: -06° 51' 59"
Mag: 15.2 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.9'x0.4' Class: Sb
P.A.: 71 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *

NGC 342 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 00m 49.8s Dec: -06° 46' 23"
Mag: 14.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.9'x0.4'
Class: E P.A.: 107 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *

NGC 347 (IC 71) Galaxy *
RA: 01h 01m 35.2s Dec: -06° 44' 03"
Mag: 14.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.5'x0.4' Class: SB
P.A.: 1 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *

MCG -1-3-59 PGC 3630 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 00m 53.3s Dec: -07° 02' 24"
Mag: 15.7 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.0'x0.9' Class: SBc
P.A.: 47 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *


NGC 345 is probably the 2nd brightest of this group and is found to the SW by 5' from a 7th mag * as a small lowish SB round spot maybe 50" diameter growing broadly and slightly to the centre where there is a very faint tiny spot but no real core or nucleus.

-49 is less than 5' E of that mag 7* which is very distracting. It is about at the 1/2 way point between that * and another mag 11* 7' E of it. Similar to -45 but maybe a tad brighter, almost 1' diameter growing broadly and moderately to centre, round, has slightly higher SB than -45 and occasionally visible tiny faint spot at centre.

-50 is between it and the mag 11 * and is no more than a 15" diameter spot of very very faint mist.

-56 is 25' SE of that mag 7 * just outside the field with the others. Pretty barren field here, small, slightly oval in PA 45 and about 1.25' x 40" lower SB than the first two, grows broadly and weakly to centre where there is an occasionally visible faint spot.

-47 is N of the mag 7 * by about 5' and is a tiny 15" diameter spot of mist. -42 is 10' WNW and is the same though a little easier to see because it is further from the star and -40 is to the SW by 15' and is a little fainter but has no structure.

A line drawn from the mag 7* through -45 and extended 2x brings the smallest and faintest of the lot MCG -1-3-59 that is visible at threshold as a tiny round spot of gossamer.



x185 27'

NGC 564 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 27m 48.3s Dec: -01° 52' 46"
Mag: 13.5 (B) S.B.: 13.3 B-V: +1.01 Size: 1.3'x1.1'
Class: E P.A.: 144 Inclination: --- R.V.: +5790 Source: RC3 *

NGC 560 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 27m 25.4s Dec: -01° 54' 46"
Mag: 14.0 (B) S.B.: --- B-V: +0.98 Size: 2.0'x0.4' Class: S0^ sp
P.A.: 178 Inclination: 6 R.V.: +5483 Source: RC3 *

NGC 558 (IC 117) Galaxy *
RA: 01h 27m 16.1s Dec: -01° 58' 13"
Mag: 15.3 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.4'x0.2' Class: E+? sp
P.A.: 116 Inclination: --- R.V.: +5018 Source: RC3 *

IC 120 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 28m 12.9s Dec: -01° 54' 55"
Mag: 15.2 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 0.8'x0.3' Class: S0^:
P.A.: 139 Inclination: --- R.V.: +4900 Source: RC3 *

NGC 564 is pointed at from the S by a mag 7 and a mag 9 *s from nearly 1/2 a field away. Small, 40-50" diameter, round halo growing broadly and mod to the centre without and zones to a small stellaring in the centre. Mod LSB. There is a very faint * just outside the W side of the halo. -60 is to the SW by 5'.

-60 is a very elong eg in PA 0 and points at a mag 11 * to its N about 4' away. Small Thin, tapered almost lens-shaped "tipped" halo 1.25' x 10" grows broadly and mod to the axis nr centre with a hint of a stellaring in the centre.-58 is to the SW by a few arc-mins as a tiny spot 20" dia of haze nr a 12th mag * to its W and has a very very faint *ar nucleus..

IC 120 is 5' to the SE of -64 and is a very faint and LSB slightly elong spot about 30" across with almost consistent SB and a very faint spot in the centre.



x185 27' , x247 20' TF

IC 127 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 29m 47.5s Dec: -06° 58' 48"
Mag: 14.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.8'x0.4' Class: Sb: sp
P.A.: 119 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

This eg is found by 1 field SW of the pairing of NGC 584 & 586. A very LSB edge on eg in about PA 120 that appears to grow out the side and to the WSW of a 12th mag *. Probably 1' x 10" growing broadly and weakly to the axis nr centre but no apparent core or nucleus.



x185 27'

NGC 599 (NGC 601) Arp 4 Mkn 1000 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 32m 53.8s Dec: -12° 11' 27"
Mag: 14.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.8'x1.8' Class: SAB0- pec:
P.A.: 135 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

NGC 589 Mkn 999 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 32m 39.8s Dec: -12° 02' 33"
Mag: 14.8 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.2'x1.0' Class: (R)SB(r)0/a
P.A.: 154 Inclination: --- R.V.: +5177 Source: RC3 *

NGC 593 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 32m 20.8s Dec: -12° 21' 14"
Mag: 14.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.1'x0.2' Class: SB(r)0^? sp
P.A.: 12 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

-93 is found about 13' SE of a 7th mag *. Quite small faint and very elong in about PA 0, quite small, lengthened form 40" x 10" grows slightly to the axis nr centre with no apparent core, zones or nucleus.

-99 is about 20' E of the same mag 7 *. Round, fairly small and brighter than -93. There is a string of stars to its N leading to -89 10' to its NW. -99 is about 50" diameter, very LSB outer halo with a sizable core zone, maybe 30" dia, slightly brighter and contains a small weakly brighter spot at its centre.

-89 is 10 NW of -99 and is a small, 30" diameter round spot of haze with a small slightly brighter core zone but no real nucleus.


Pt 2 of 3 to follow ...
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  #2  
Old 25-09-2009, 07:23 PM
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ngcles
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Location: Billimari, NSW Central West
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Pt 2 of 3

Pt 2 ...

x185 27'

NGC 600 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 33m 05.5s Dec: -07° 18' 46"
Mag: 12.9 (B) S.B.: 14.4 B-V: +0.55 Size: 3.3'x2.8' Class: (R')SB(rs)d
P.A.: 51 Inclination: --- R.V.: +1867 Source: RC3 *

This is found SW by 10' from a mag 9*. Very, very LSB round eg that appears very diffuse. Easily passed over unless you know where it is. Best part of 2.5' diameter of very LSB uniformly, gossamer with no central brightening. No core visible. Very diffuse and difficult to know where the edges are.



x185 27'

NGC 682 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 9m 04.5s Dec: -14° 58' 28"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.3'x1.0' Class: SA0-
P.A.: 95 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

This is a small and quite non-descript eg no worse than mod faint -- easy to see. No stars in immediate vicinity. Seems to be nearly 1' diameter and looks like a distant elliptical. Round, grows evenly and slightly to centre where there is a small faint stellaring.



x185 27'

NGC 731 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 54m 56.2s Dec: -09° 00' 36"
Mag: 13.0 (B) S.B.: 12.1 B-V: +0.93 Size: 1.7' Class: E+:
P.A.: --- Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

NGC 713 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 55m 20.9s Dec: -09° 04' 58"
Mag: 15.0 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.0'x0.3' Class: Sb
P.A.: 95 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: PGC *

NGC 755 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 56m 22.4s Dec: -09° 03' 37"
Mag: 13.1 (B) S.B.: --- B-V: +0.51 Size: 3.4'x1.1' Class: SB(rs)b?
P.A.: 45 Inclination: --- R.V.: +1642 Source: RC3 *

-31 is a fairly non-descript little eg with a nice RA tri to its south made up by a mag 12 and 2x mag 13 *s that is 4' tall. Small, round 40-50" diameter growing evenly and mod to centre but doesn't seem to have any zones, core or nucleus.

-13 (seems out of RA order), from that RA tri, the bottom 2 *s that point E-W point straight at it about 7' E. A small and faint eg lens-shaped in PA 90 40" x 10" very LSB growing weakly to the axis nr centre but no apparent core or nucleus. -55 is 15' E

-55 is somewhat larger and has better S.B than the above two. IN about PA 45, sizable, 1.75'-2' x 30" lens shaped with tapered tips growing broadly and slightly to centre but doesn't seem to have any core zone or nucleus. Easy to see and mod bright

From the NGC/IC

Re NGC 731 --

NGC 0757 = N0731 = MCG -02-05-073 = PGC 07118
01 54 56.1 -09 00 38

See observing notes for NGC 731.

Discovered by Ormond Stone (I). Corwin originally equated N757 with N755 (Stone's very rough position is 10' S of N755) but now feels N757 is a duplicate of N731. There is no discovery sketch but the sketch for N763 shows that N763 = N755, and this would imply that N757 = N731 using the relative separations. See NGCBUGS.- by Steve Gottlieb.

Re NGC 713:

NGC 0713 = MCG -02-05-075 = PGC 07161
01 55 21.5 -09 05 01
V = 14.0; Size 1.0x0.3; SB = 12.5; PA = 95d

17.5" (10/25/97): at 280x, appeared very faint, small, elongated 3:1 E-W,
0.7'x0.2', low even surface brightness. Located 7.7' SE of brighter N731.

17.5" (11/6/93): not found.

Leavenworth's position in list II is 3 tmin W of M-02-05-075 although his PA of 90 degrees matches. There is also a mag 15 star 2.2' NNW which is probably Leavenworth's "*14, np 2'." This galaxy is not identified as N713 in MCG (-02-05-075) but listed as N713 in ESGC. Reinmuth also mentions a galaxy 8' SE of N731 mE 90? which fits Leavenworth's description for N713. This galaxy is not catalogued in RC3.- by Steve

Re NGC 755:

NGC 0755 = MCG -02-06-005 = N763 = PGC 07262
01 56 22.5 -09 03 42
V = 12.6; Size 3.4x1.1; SB = 13.9; PA = 50d

17.5": moderately bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, 2.5'x0.8',
brighter along major axis, brighter core but no well-defined nucleus, appears mottled.- by Steve Gottlieb
=================================== ==========================
NGC 0763 = N0755 = MCG -02-06-005 = PGC 07262
01 56 22.5 -09 03 42

See observing notes for NGC 755.

Discovered by Stone (I). His description gives dimensions of 1.6x0.4 and PA = 65? which roughly matches N755. Corwin checked the discovery sketch and confirms N763 = N755. See NGCBUGS.- by Steve Gottlieb



x185 27'

NGC 762 Mkn 1012 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 56m 57.7s Dec: -05° 24' 11"
Mag: 14.3 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.3'x1.1' Class: (R')SB(rs)a
P.A.: 126 Inclination: --- R.V.: +4820 Source: RC3 *

MCG -1-6-7 PGC 7385 Galaxy *
RA: 01h 57m 41.4s Dec: -05° 40' 33"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.6'x0.9' Class: SA(s)cd
P.A.: 47 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

NGC 762 is a fairly small eg but not hard to see -- only mod faint. Found to the S of a small bunch of faint *s that seem to stand out better on the DSS than in the ep 12th -4th mag. Small, slightly elong in PA 30, probably 50 x 40" growing broadly and slightly to centre and at centre there appears to be a faint stellaring that occasionally seems stellar.

MCG -1-6-7 is about 17' SE and is an easily passed-over and pretty small 30-40" diameter round patch of mist found on the long side (not hyp) of a RA tri made up by mag 11 & 12 *s. No apparent core, zones or nucleus.




x185 27'

NGC 787 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 00m 48.7s Dec: -09° 00' 10"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 2.4'x1.8' Class: (R)SA(rs)b:
P.A.: 78 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

MCG -2-6-16 PGC 7654 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 00m 55.1s Dec: -08° 50' 23"
Mag: 14.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.6'x1.0' Class: IB(s)m:
P.A.: 25 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

-87 is a pretty ordinary and rather non-descript little eg that is pretty easy to see. Probably 1.25' diameter, round, growing from very indistinct and diffuse edges broadly and slightly to centre azonally. Occasionally there is a stellar nucleus at centre.

MCG -2-6-16 is almost exactly due N by about 11' and is a very small low SB patch of gossamer that seems to be round and about 30" diameter that grows weakly to centre without structure.



x185 27'

NGC 790 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 01m 21.6s Dec: -05° 22' 17"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.3' Class: SA(r)0^?
P.A.: --- Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

This eg sits just N of the mid-point between a couple of 13th mag *s that are aligned almost exactly N-S sep by about 5'. Pretty non-descript, round and about 40-50" diameter growing broadly and slightly to centre where there is a very small mod brighter zone that is almost a "spot".



x185 27' , x247 20'

IC 208 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 08m 27.8s Dec: +06° 23' 41"
Mag: 14.2 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.8'x1.8' Class: SAbc
P.A.: --- Inclination: 1 R.V.: +3449 Source: RC3 *

NGC 825 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 08m 32.4s Dec: +06° 19' 27"
Mag: 14.1 (P) S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 2.8'x0.9' Class: Sa
P.A.: 57 Inclination: 7 R.V.: +3388 Source: RC3 *

These two galaxies lie N-S of each other with IC 208 to the N. Separated by about 5'. They have not quite between them but a little to the E a mag 14 *. -25 is a small and very elong eg in about PA 45, probably only 30" x 5" growing broadly and mod to the axis nr centre no apparent core or nucleus. A threshold mag * is just off the N flank nr centre.

IC 208 is a little larger, maybe 50", diameter and round of very to extremely LSB, just a little round smudge of gossamer, with no core nucleus or structure.

Pt 3 of 3 to follow ...
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  #3  
Old 25-09-2009, 07:25 PM
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ngcles
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Pt 3 of 3

Pt 3 ...

x185 27' , x247 20'

NGC 848 Mkn 1026 Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 02h 10m 17.5s Dec: -10° 19' 15"
Mag: 13.0 (V) S.B.: --- B-V: +0.56 Size: 1.5'x1.0' Class: (R')SB(s)ab pec
P.A.: 132 Inclination: --- R.V.: +3890 ource: RC3

NGC 835 Arp 318 Hickson 16A Mkn 1021 Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 02h 09m 24.5s Dec: -10° 08' 09"
Mag: 12.1 (V) S.B.: --- B-V: +0.81 Size: 1.4'x1.1' Class: SAB(r)ab: pec
P.A.: 7 Inclination: --- R.V.: +4118 Source: RC3 *

NGC 833 Hickson 16B Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 02h 09m 19.7s Dec: -10° 07' 58"
Mag: 12.7 (V) S.B.: --- B-V: +0.99 Size: 1.4'x0.8' Class: (R')Sa: pec
P.A.: 87 Inclination: --- R.V.: +3934 Source: RC3 *

NGC 838
Hickson 16C Mkn 1022 Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 02h 09m 38.5s Dec: -10° 08' 47"
Mag: 13.1 (V) S.B.: 10.8 B-V: +0.62 Size: 1.2'x0.9' Class: SA(rs)0^ pec:
P.A.: 88 Inclination: --- R.V.: +3841 Source: RC3 *

NGC 839 Hickson 16D Multi-Galaxy Sys *
RA: 02h 09m 42.7s Dec: -10° 11' 00"
Mag: 13.1 (V) S.B.: 12.0 B-V: +0.80 Size: 1.6'x0.7'Class: S0: pec sp
P.A.: 85 Inclination: --- R.V.: +3834 Source: RC3 *

-48 is in a field by itself and the Hickson egs are to its NW by 15'. -48 is adjacent to the Sw from an 11th mag *. Seems to be elong in about PA 150, oval shaped, lengthened oval 50" x 20". Grows broadly and slightly to centre from indistinct edges but does not appear to have zones of nucleus.

The Hickson egs are in a tight group about 15' to the NW from 848. All four members are easy to see in this aperture. The two that are closest together are -33 & -35 -- about 2.5' apart E-W. This pair are a few arc-mins to the N of a mag 10 * that has a faint companion. -33 seems slightly elong in PA 90 whereas -35 seems weakly elong in PA 30 though that is only its LSB outer envelope. -33 is about 50" x 20" in PA 90 growing broadly and slightly to the centre. Good SB, fairly sizable slightly oval core weakly brighter than the halo and growing slightly more to centre .

-35 seems to have a slightly larger halo 1.2' x 40" in PA 30 but a smaller core that is brighter than -33's core.


-38 is 4' SE of -35 and seems round, probably the lowest in overall SB and seems the smallest, though I suspect there is a tenuous envelope outside. The core seems to dominate it and is about 15" diameter, surrounded by some dilute haze out to about 40-50" maybe?

-39 is 2.5' SE of -38 and the most strongly elong of the group in PA 90 and has a 13th mag * off its NW flank. Fairly consistent SB growing broadly and slightly to centre 1' x 20" but no apparent zones, core or nucleus.



x185 27' , x247 20'

NGC 853 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 11m 41.3s Dec: -09° 18' 22"
Mag: 13.5 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.5'x1.2' Class: Sm pec?
P.A.: 60 Inclination: --- R.V.: +1479 Source: RC3 *

This eg lies between a couple of 13th mag *s that are almost E-W of each other. The eastern one has a faint companion. Pretty non-descript, seems to be nearly 1' diameter and a little off-round in PA 90, grows broadly and slightly to centre with no evidence of zones. core or nucleus. Diffuse edges but not bad SB.



x185 27' , x247 20'

NGC 858 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 12m 30.1s Dec: -22° 28' 12"
Mag: 14.3 (B) S.B.: --- B-V: +0.57 Size: 1.2'x1.0' Class: SB(rs)c?
P.A.: --- Inclination: --- R.V.: +12356 Source: RC3 *

Note the R.V. Three are no stars of note anywhere near this eg. Nothing within 10’ brighter than mag 13.5. None of those are close to the eg. a bit over 1' diameter, quite to very LSB, round or maybe just off round in PA 90 and grows weakly to centre without zones. May have an extremely faint * just off the E edge of the eg at threshold.

NB on checking this with Sky-Map.org it comes up as USNOA2 0675-00773193. On close examination of the image this is not a star but a compact unidentified eg -- seems quite distant on appearances.

Edit:

I've just had a browse through Merssier45.com under NGC 858 and discovered that this is NGC 858 (2) (B??) = PGC 8451 Mag 16.5p Size 0.3' x 0.1' PA 160. Though it has an unusually high S.B mag of 12.4 for such a faint eg, this explains it's essentially stellar and ephemeral appearance in the eyepiece. It is classified there as an S-type. A visual examination of the image from the plate, to me it looks like SBb(s) or possibly SB0(s). Interesting!



x185 27' , x247 20'

NGC 873 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 16m 32.4s Dec: -11° 20' 58"
Mag: 13.2 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.5'x1.1' Class: Sc pec:
P.A.: 145 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

This one seems very similar to NGC 858 (previous), though it is a little brighter and of higher SB. Almost consistent S.B halo, round brightening if at all weakly to centre without apparent zones, core or nucleus. Very diffuse edges. Maybe just over 1' diameter.



x185 27' , x247 20'

NGC 887 Galaxy *
RA: 02h 19m 32.6s Dec: -16° 04' 12"
Mag: 12.8 S.B.: --- B-V: --- Size: 1.9'x1.4' Class: SAB(rs)c
P.A.: 5 Inclination: --- R.V.: --- Source: RC3 *

This is a fairly easily seen mod small eg about 1-1.25' diameter. Fairly diffuse and has on the eastern side just inside the halo a mag 13.5 * superimposed 2/3rds of the way out in the halo. Seems to be round, grows broadly and slightly to centre without apparent core, zones or nucleus.



x185 27'

NGC 895 (NGC 894) Galaxy *
RA: 02h 21m 36.3s Dec: -05° 31' 21"
Mag: 12.3 (B) S.B.: 13.8 B-V: +0.53 Size: 3.6'x2.5' Class: SA(s)cd
P.A.: 130 Inclination: --- R.V.: +2344 Source: RC3

This is a fairly bright, mod large and interesting eg. Spiral eg, good size, probably 3.25' x 2.5' in PA 120 and oval. Its got a star not a long way off the NE edge of the halo and the core that is only weakly brighter than the halo is a little offset to the NW making the SE end look bigger. The NW end seems to be a little better in SB than the SE end of the halo. Very diffuse edges.

According to a note by Steve Gottlieb on NGC/IC, this NW spiral arm has its own designation (-94) whereas the whole eg is -95.

And at 1.50am – that was that!


Best,

Les D

Last edited by ngcles; 26-09-2009 at 11:54 AM.
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Old 25-09-2009, 08:38 PM
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Fascinating Les. Your detailed reports are fabulous, pgc Hunter also has great reports. You use a 16" and in this case a 12"?
thankyou
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Old 26-09-2009, 06:24 AM
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Great reports, Les. They, and your wecome advice, are helping me to observe better, plan better and, most of all, start to record them in some form. It might sound funny to non astronomers, but training the eyes to "see" is one of the most important skills a visual astronomer can use. Cheers, Paul.
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Old 01-10-2009, 07:40 AM
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Another fantastic report. Shame about the smoke though....I can't tell you how much I HATE those burnoffs! All of Autumn was ruined here, along with several clear nights.

Nice job with "PGC 8451", mag 16.5 wow! I'm guessing that's one of the faintest galaxies you've ever seen?

Love those small HSB PNe's.
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Old 01-10-2009, 10:15 PM
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Faintest? Dunno !

Hi PGC,

Quote:
Originally Posted by pgc hunter View Post
Another fantastic report. Shame about the smoke though....I can't tell you how much I HATE those burnoffs! All of Autumn was ruined here, along with several clear nights.

Nice job with "PGC 8451", mag 16.5 wow! I'm guessing that's one of the faintest galaxies you've ever seen?

Love those small HSB PNe's.
Re the low magnitude -- the short answer is I dunno. But as said before here and elsewhere, I pay little attention if any to faint/ultra-faint magnitudes because a very substantial majority of them are rubbery to say the least. This one is no different. I've recorded a number of eg's that according to Megastar or Deepsky or other sources are worse than mag 17 and in a friends 50cm we've seen a few in the 18's but they are plainly in error or bear little relationship to a true visual magnitude -- because they were nowhere near ultra-tough to see.

Here's a couple of examples that demonstrate the problem.

Hickson 48 is a small group of galaxies near AGC 1060 (Hydra I) in Hydra. Hickson 48C (PGC 31577) according to Megastar is mag 16.4 and 48D (PGC 31580) is 17.0. Where did those magnitudes come from? Megastar provides a source for the data -- the PGC and it is a good chance in turn they came from the CGCG. How were they measured? At what wavelength? These answers are not easy to discover. The former is visible faintly in 31cm but not the latter -- which can be seen in 46cm and while faint is not a huge stretch (both assume a very dark sky).

Now, I have had a poke around in SIMBAD (have I mentioned before how much I hate the SIMBAD interface?) and it isn't terribly helpful (well immediately helpful) on magnitudes for these two. It does provide some radio flux brightnesses however ...

Sky-Map does not provide a magnitude. Nor does DeepSky. Deep Sky Browser does and they confirm the ones in Megastar and prefix them with a "p" indicating that it is a photographic magnitude but how reliable is that for visual purposes?

So, a poke around in NED however did produce something helpful -- one of the earlier papers from 1989 here:

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/c...;filetype=.pdf

which is a full photometric catalogue of the Hickson groups by the astronomer (Paul Hickson + a few others) who originally compiled the catalogue in 1982.

Now scroll down to P7, Column 8 Hickson 48 and you will find they have photometrically measured B mags of 16.52 and 17.48 -- now at last some useful information. There is an equation/relation somewhere I can't presently lay my hand on that converts these to visual magnitudes but there is a handy rule of thumb (very reliable) that also simply says add 0.9 magnitudes (to make it brighter) and that is a very good v mag approximation.

From that we get approximations of v15.6 for C and v16.6 for D. Those figures are consistent with their eyepiece appearance (well my experience) and are pretty reliable -- they are also somewhat different from the 16.4 and 17.0 we started with and we still don't really know where they came from or how they were measured.

As for all the other faint galaxies in the sky -- the overwhelming majority you won't be so lucky after a 1/2 hour NED/SIMBAD/Sky-Map/Deep Sky Browser interrogation.

The moral of the story is this -- if it's a faint magnitude and you don't know how it was measured, treat it like it is made of rubber. It is a guide no more. You could if you wish have a trawl through the papers etc and maybe just maybe find something truly useful but for many its a long-shot.

Re the PNe -- well my own taste is for the larger difficult PNe (like the Abell catlogue) -- but each to his own. I don't spend a lot of time tracking down near stellar ones that are more of a test of finding skills. For me, not as interesting as the ghostly ones.


Best,

Les D
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