Just thought I'd post my recorded observations for last Friday night at my southern highlands site. There was a lot of other stuff we looked at including all the summer favourites but these are the recorded observations I made in cleaning out the last galaxies on my list for Reticulum.
Telescope is a 46cm (18") f/4.9 Dobsonian mounted newtonian. Eyepieces used for all these observations were 9mm TI Nagler x247 and 12mm T II x185. The ZLM was about 6.1-6.2 and I'd rate the seeing at 5/10.
The first observation is the "Pyxis Globular", the rest are galaxies.
This is not a certain observation, but I think intermittently I can see it . Appears just to the E of the mid-point of mag 7 & mag 8 *s that are aligned N-S about 13' apart. There are a row of 3 similarly bright mag 12 *s that are not quite evenly spaced. It is near the mid-most of those stars. Intermittent detection possible as a 2.5' diameter round patch of gossamer with no central brightening with about 3 or 4 15th & 16th magnitude *s sewn over. Looks nothing like a GC -- more like a field irregularity. Very populous field.
This is a very, very faint and very small eg, took a while to pick up. Perhaps just 15" diameter elong indefinitely in PA 90 with a mag 15 * just to the N by 1' of the eg. No apparent central brightening. Very, very faint.
This took a long time to finally see, it is a very faint eg. It is superimposed (almost) on a 12th magnitude * seeming to grow out of that star to the N. Very tiny and faint, 15" dia as a very LSB spot with no central brightening. Hardly worth the effort!
Note the R.V!! This is also a very to extremely faint and small eg that is thankfully a little larger and brighter and larger than IC 1960 and IC 1980 (previous). Found due W by 6' from a mag 9 * and presents as a small very LSB spot of haze about 30" dia with a slight broad central brightening and no evidence of zones or nucleus.
Not too bad, found pretty much due N from a 9th mag * by about 13' and almost between a couple of mag 12 *s that are aligned E-W and sep by about 4'. It is pretty small, 40-50" diameter, round with a broad, slight central brightening and seems to have a very small weakly brighter zone in the centre but no real nucleus. Very diffuse edges. Maybe 40" diameter.
Faint but not quite as bad as some tonight! Presents as a very, very small faint fat lens shaped spindle eg maybe 40" x 15" in PA 45 with a slight azonal brightening to the centre. There are a couple of = br mag 12.5 *s to its N with which the eg makes a 3' long I tri.
Again, note the R.V. This is an exceptionally faint eg that is found to the W by about 3' from a very faint mags 12 & 13 pair. It is very very small, maybe 20" diameter patch of gossamer, round and only occasionally visible. No structure discernible. Very nasty!!
This is pretty much immediately visible, certainly faint but not too hard to see. Makes a RA Tri with a couple of mag 12 & 13 *s 3' and 5' distant to the N and NE respectively. Pretty small, 20-30" diameter, maybe slightly elong in PA 90 and grows slightly and broadly to the centre azonally without apparent core or nucleus.
This is another very tiny and faint eg whcih is to the S of an E facing "V" shaped asterism of mag 12.5 to 13.5 *s. Very very tiny, 20" x 10" in PA 90 can only just be held with A.V and grows weakly to the centre without nucleus.
Tis is an exceptionally faint eg that is only occasionally visible with A.V. Small and very elong, maybe 40" x 5" in PA 30 as a streak of tenuous gossamer with no central brightening. Very close to threshold.
Note the R.V!! This is an exceptionally faint eg that is only barely visible occasionaly at threshold as a tiny streak of gossamer 30" x 5" with no structure visible. It is found to the W of the last star in a string that goes single, double, single, single mags 10-12 from SE to NW.
This eg is quite close to a small RA Tri of a 12 and a couple of mag 13 *s where the brightest star is at the RA. It is fairly small, round, pretty faint though it can be easily held with A.V 40" - odd with a slight broad concentration to centre.
This is a barely visible object at threshold. Only occasionally visible as a tiny, tiny streak of gossamer may be 20" long in PA 100 with no structure visible. Only a couple of arc-minutes to the W of a mag 11 star.
These two galaxies are in adjacent fields -- theya re only 12' apart. -29 is foudn to the SW of a mag 9.5 * by about 12'. A very small reasonable SB lenticular sliver in PA 0 with no stars associated. Quite faint but not too bad. Seems to have a very small and faint substellar nucleus. Overall seems about 20" diameter and elong slightly in PA 0.
This eg forms a RA tri with the * and NGC 1527. Probably the brightest seen tonight in Reticulum. 50" dia and slightly elong in PA 90 with a vaguely brighter broad streak through it in PA 90 and there is a mag 13 * just on the S flank of the halo. Overall the eg is oval in shape with a broad streak running through it but no real core or nucleus.
This is a very faint and very elong eg in a pretty non-descript field. Appears in the centre of a very very long I tri -- just W of the Eastmost star at the apex. Very very faint and tiny streak of gossamer, 40" x 5" in PA 90 with a weak central brightening and no visible core.
This is a very, very tiny eg in a non-descript field that is to the S of a small flat I tri of 2 mag 11 and 1 mag 12 * which is at the wide apex. A very very tiny and faint eg, only 20" diameter with a broad slight central brightening, no zones and no apparent nucleus.
This is another field that is pretty ordinary and a very faint eg. It is 5-6' away distinctive pair of pairs of mag 13 stars to the E. Very small and faint, Mod LSB round, 30-40" diameter appears to have a faint, weakly brighter spot in the centre but no real nucleus.
Really enjoy reading your reports Les - methodical approach to planning, viewing & recording, and excellent eyepiece descriptions! Some VERY faint ones there, congratulations!