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Old 09-01-2011, 11:03 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
Bright the hawk's flight

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Observing Report 30/12/10 – 2/1/10

Observing Report 30/12/10 – 2/1/10

I have managed a few night out recently. Conditions have been pretty good with some very steady seeing but some haze and LP as usual. Overall the last week has been pretty rewarding!


All observations made using Dobsonion mounted 305mm Newtonian reflector at f/5. Eyepieces use are 34mm Meade 4000(44x) 24mm Panoptic (67x) 13mm Nagler T6 (115x) or 13mm Nagler with Barlow (230x)

Charts - Uranometria 2000 (2nd ed.) Data derived from Uranometria (2nd ed) Deep Sky Field Guide.

Observations 30/12/10

NGC 2061 Open Cluster in Columba
RA 05 44 06.0 Dec -33 56 00 Diam’ 10 No of Stars 11 Brightest Star Mag 11.0 Type ast? (Possible asterism)
From Alpha Columbae (Phact) there is a wide line of 3 stars visible in finder 45’ to f. Middle tsra of this group is a group of 4 stars with brightest about mag 7. Just about 20’ to f of this is a sparse cluster of about 10-12 mag 13 or dimmer stars which nearly fills FOV at 44x. Info from the Deep Sky Field Guide indicates that brightest star is mag 11 but was not obvious.

NGC 2090 Galaxy in Columba
RA 05 47 01.7 Dec -34 15 02 Mag(V) 11.2 Dim’ 4.9x2.4 SB 13.7 Type SA(rs)c II-III

From NGC 2061 move about 45’ to Sf. Faint elongated glow is visible at 44x. At 115x spindle shape is obvious and hints of spiral arms are seen. DSFG indicates many field stars are visible in envelope, counted 3 on N side and 1 on p side.

Notes added post observation. Object was listed by Dunlop as 594. Classification is indicative of an unbarred spiral (SA) which confirms to image here: http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngcdss.cg...5&f=GIF&c=none
Also the 3 stars noted on the N side can be seen in this image.

Alnitak (Zeta Orionis, Struve 774) Triple star in Orion
RA 05 40.5 Dec -01 57 AB PA 166deg Sep 2.6” Mag A 1.9 Mag B 3.7
BC PA 8deg Sep 59.8” Mag B 4.2 Mag C 8.5

Appears as wide double with mag 8.5 companion 60” away. Increasing magnification to 230 just separates the brighter star, increasing power to 375 gives a very clear separation.

Notes added post observation. Haas notes as “grand!” and colours as yellow and silvery yellow. Colours were hard to perceive but a very interesting triple to test your instrument on.

Sigma Orionis (Struve 762) Quadruple star in Orion
RA 05 40.5 Dec -01 57 AB-C PA 238deg Sep 11.5” Mag AB 3.7 Mag C 8.8
AB-D PA 84deg Sep 12.7” Mag B 3.7 Mag C 6.6
AB-E PA 62deg Sep 41.5” Mag B 3.7 Mag C 6.3

Brilliant quad system just to Sp of Alnitak. Primary is a bright star which almost appears to have a greenish tinge (Haas notes as straw yellow) Faint close companion about mag 9 is just S. Wider mag 6 tertiery and quad companions are to N.

Observations 1/1/11

NGC 1055 Galaxy in Cetus
RA 02 41 45.8 Dec +00 26 33 Mag(V) 10.6 Dim’ 7.6x2.7 SB 13.7 Type SBb: sp II-III

From Delta Ceti move 30’ Np to pair of stars about 10’ apart. Target lies to S of them. Faint but appears large, has a faint star on S edge. Little structure seen
Notes added post observation. Class indicates a barred spiral with a spindle appearance nearly edge on. Notes in DSFG indicate a prominent dust lane. Photo of galaxy is here http://www.ngcicproject.org/dss/n/1/n1055.jpg
From comparison of visual and this photo the part of the galaxy above (N) of the dust lanes was not visible and I only saw he brighter Southern part. There are 3 stars showing in the photo to the Np (top right of the image) one of these would be the one I have noted.

Observations 2/1/11

NGC 289 Galaxy in Sculptor
RA 00 52 42.3 Dec -31 12 22 Mag(V) 11.0 Dim’ 5.1x3.6 SB 14.0 Type SB(rs)bc I-II

Locate Alpha Sculptoris by naked eye. Mag 7 star lies 1.5deg to Sp. Target is 1deg to S. Quite faint, skyglow was significant and low position made hard to see. Appeared elongated with possible bar.

Notes added post observation. Observation of bar is confirmed by classification. DSS image at http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngcdss.cg...5&f=GIF&c=none is indicative of bar. Extended and large outer spirals were not visible.

NGC 288 Globular Cluster in Sculptor
RA 00 52 42.5 Dec -26 34 51 Total V m 8.1 Brightest Star V m 12.6 HB V m 15.3 Diam’ 13.0 Conc Class 10

From Deneb Kaitos (Beta Ceti) move S to prominent triangles of stars. Just past second triangle is a fainter elongated one. Target lies 1.5deg to Sp of f star in this triangle. Fairly large, not concentrated (see notes above conc class 10). Averted vision appears to give it a slight elongation towards f direction. Appears to have a number of slightly brighter stars olong S edge. Averted vision alos allows dozens of stars to be resolved, direct vision only allows a dozen or so to be seen clearly.

Notes added post observation. Image at http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngcdss.cg...6&f=GIF&c=none does show a slight off center arrangement of the brightest part of the cluster and a number of bright stars to the f side which may account for my observation of an elongation in that direction.

NGC 254 Galaxy in Sculptor
RA 00 47 27.7 Dec -31 25 22 Mag(V) 11.7 Dim’ 2.5x1.5 SB 13.0 Type (r)SAB(r)0+

Mag 7 star 1.3deg to p of NGC 289, target lies just to Sp of this star. Very small but clear patch with star in same field. No structure obvious.

Notes added post observation. Image at http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngcdss.cg...5&f=GIF&c=none shows little structure that could be seen visually.

NGC 1448 Galaxy in Horologium
RA 03 44 32.4 Dec -44 38 32 Mag(V) 10.7 Dim’ 7.6x1.7 SB 13.3 Type SAcd: sp II-III

Very elongated, spindle shaped. Some structure is evident. Bracketed by 2 stars to the South and 1 to the North all about 7mag

Notes added post observation. Image at http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngcdss.cg...5&f=GIF&c=none show some knots and mottling which agrees with DSFG description of knots ands with my observation of some structure.

NGC 1433 Galaxy in Horologium
RA 03 42 01.6 Dec -47 13 15 Mag(V) 9.9 Dim’ 6.5x5.9 SB 13.7 Type (R’)SB(r) ab II

Strong stellar core, suggestion of bar with some ephemeral envelope. Bar appears to run EW, faint star to S.

Notes added post observation. Image at http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngcdss.cg...5&f=GIF&c=none shows a nearly complete ring formed around this galaxy which is what is indicated by the prefix (R’) in the class noted above. This was hard to distinguish but the remainder of the observation is confirmed by the image with the strong bar and bright core.

NGC 1512 Galaxy in Horologium
RA 04 03 54.3 Dec -43 20 58 Mag(V) 10.3 Dim’ 8.9x5.6 SB 14.4 Type SB(r)a I

Bright bar runs roughly NS.


Malcolm
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Old 10-01-2011, 08:30 PM
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Suzy
Searching for Travolta...

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Whoa, what a report.
I also really enjoyed the addition of the post obs.notes. Thanks for that great journey you took me on at the eye piece. This is the level of reporting I hope to achieve one day.

By the way, what is the "p" in north, south etc.?
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Old 10-01-2011, 08:47 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
Bright the hawk's flight

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Thanks Suzy. Getting detail in reports is really just about taking the time, use resources and take careful notes. I have just started doing the Post Obs notes as I often find I need to check what I have written to ensure it is accurate and to make sure I have observed what I thought I had. Often in doing that I find out new info that enlightens the whole experience.
The reason I use "p" and "f" (for preceeding and following) is that I find that easier to understand than east and west. If I am looking at an object in the eyepiece and I want to mention a star on the one side of it, I anly have to watch for a few seconds to see it move and I know if the star is preceeding or following the object as it moves and don't have to think about translating that to east or west. For the same reason it would be easier to follow if someone else is using my notes. I had the idea after reading Hartung's who did the same thing and made using his book very easy.

Malcolm
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Old 10-01-2011, 09:16 PM
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Suzy
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Thanks so much Malcolm for explaining that.
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