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Old 27-01-2010, 11:36 AM
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Observing Report 26/1/10

The final observing session with my 12" dob. It was just another freezing summer night here in Melbourne, thick jackets were the order of the night. Dew was heavy, and really it felt like any night in July due to the wintry cold and dew.

Seeing was terrible, really appalling, the worst I've seen for a while. Conversely, transparency was fantastic, the best I've seen for a while. I was going to do some planetary nebula observations while the moon sets, but one look in the eyepiece had me inside having a late dinner instead. I had mushy stars at only 176x, however as the night wore on, seeing seemed to improve slightly. But still entirely inadequete for observing Mars and Saturn.

Time: 1:30am-4:30am
Scope: 12" F4.6 dob
Seeing: 2-4/10
Transparency: 5/5
Dew: Heavy
Temp: very cold

Sirius
Split at 283x.

HICKSON 40
Started the session with this fantastic group of galaxies about 304 million light years away in Hydra. I actually found it by accident on sky-map.org while checking out a nearby galaxy cluster! Took me 3 tries to pinpoint its location, but once I found it the clump was quite obvious at 176x. After observing it intently, 3 seperate clumps of galaxies were seen at 176x. I decided to increase mag to 353x in an attempt to split each member- I will now list each galaxy below as I saw it.

MCG-1-25-9 (40a)
GX, Hydra, Size= 1.3x1', Mag V= 12.8, SB= 13.1

Largest and brightest of the group, condensed core at 353x, fairly bright, round.

MCG-1-25-10 (40b)
GX, Hydra, Size= 1.1x0.7', Mag V= 14.0, SB= 13.6

Second easiest of group to see at 353x. Stellaring visible intermittently in core. Faint, round.

MCG-1-25-8 (40c)
GX, Hydra, Size= 1.1x0.3', Mag V= 14.9, SB= 13.6

Extremely excessively faint at 353x, glimpsed only occasionaly. Elongated NW-SE, attached to (40b) at southern end.

MCG-1-25-12
(40d)
GX, Hydra, Size= 0.9x0.4', Mag V= 14.2, SB= 12.9

Located NE of (40a). Faint, elongated at 353x, with a mag 14 star adjacent the southern edge of galaxy.

-----------------------------------
Next was a trio of galaxies in Puppis. This group which includes IC 2377, 2375 and 2379 is infact extemely faint, despite looking the part on DSS images! Almost invisible at 176x, although increasing power to 283x bought them out.


IC 2379
GX, Puppis, Size= 1x0.7', Mag B= 14.6, SB= 13.9

Part of a group with IC 2375 and IC 2379. Extremely faint at 283x, round, faintest in group of 3 after IC 2379. Two 11th mag stars are located approx 6' NE and SW of galaxy.

IC 2375
GX, Puppis, Size = 1.9x0.4', Mag B= 14.1, SB= 13.9

Brightest of 3 with IC 2379 and 2377. Strongly elongated at 283x, faint. Located 5' due east of IC 2379.

IC 2377
GX, Puppis, Size= 1x0.6', Mag B= 14.4, SB= 13.7

Very faint, round at 283x.

---------------------------

ABELL S 617
Two galaxies were spotted in this rich cluster in Hydra. Located about 463 million light years away. The cluster was easy to find located near Alphard, and 4 bright stars arranged in a line cut across the cluster itself.

ESO 565-30
GX, Hydra, Size= 1.6x1.0, Mag B= 13.47, SB= 13.8

Visible as a small, slightly elongated N-S smudge at 176x. Increasing power to 353x revealed a slightly condensed core. A mag 10 star lies 6' NW.

LEDA 93971
GX, Hydra, Mag B= 15.08

Faint, tiny, although surprsingly easy to see at 353x. Located a mere 1.5' E of a mag 13.4 star. The core appeared to be condensed, almost stellar.

-----------------------

NGC 3521
GX, Leo, Size= 9.5x5' Mag V= 8.9, SB= 12.8

A lovely bright spiral in Leo. Elongated NNW-SSE, with a bright stellar core visible at 176x. The western edge appeared to be sharply defined when compared to the eastern edge, which appeared diffuse. This is due to dark obscuring matter at the galaxy's western edge. Hints of the dust lane itself were seen, as very faint glow could be seen beyond the light cutoff at western edge.

NGC 3495
GX, Leo, Size= 4.6x1.3', Mag V= 12, SB= 14.8

Seen as a thick, short, stubby streak, with low surface brightess and elongated NNE/SSW. Mag 4.8 star 58 Leo located only 11' W interferes with observation. A distinctive triangle of Mag >14 stars is located between the galaxy and 58 Leonis.

M104 Sombrero Galaxy
GX, Virgo, Size= 8.7x3.5', Mag V=7.9, SB= 11.9

A favourite of mine. Always spectacular in the 12"! Decided to ramp up the mag on this one.....at 283x the core region appeared to be a very high surface brightness oval haze rather than a stellaring, and the dust lane was very well defined and stretched atleast 1/3rd of the FOV with averted vision. Faint extensions of the galaxy could be seen extending across half the FOv. The bulk of the galaxy lies to the north of the dust lane, with only a faint haze visible to the south. A mag ~13 star lies 6' N of core.
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Old 27-01-2010, 12:07 PM
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Dave47tuc (David)
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Nice report Sab
I always use that 13 mag star Nth of M104 to see how faint I'm getting when I look around this field. Some nights you cant see it some nights no problem.
MCG galaxy's as well your a legend.
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Old 27-01-2010, 07:33 PM
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cheers Dave...I remember when I was using the 4.5" newt and seeing all those exotic catalogue numbers in the MSA and wanting to bag just atleast one
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Old 27-01-2010, 08:30 PM
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Great report SAB. I have been looking at Puppis too, but not as deep as you can go. Some really faint ones bagged there. Looking forward to the "reborn dob" and how it compares with what you're seeing now. I'll have to put off my Puppis part 2 until the moon clears off. We also have a trough with storms for the next few days. Must be the influence of the SDM rebirth!
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Old 28-01-2010, 12:13 PM
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Apparently, I was introducing astigmastism by shimming the mirror in order for it to *sort of* hold collimation ,and now with the addition of fans and much more accurate collimation aswell, it's certain my views will be better
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Old 29-01-2010, 09:35 PM
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Some nice observations there, Sab, especially with ordinary seeing. You do very well with some very faint galaxies. I'll have to have a go at Hickson 40 and the Abels that you described.
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Old 29-01-2010, 09:42 PM
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Excellent report!

Cheers Petra d.
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Old 30-01-2010, 06:24 PM
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Very nice report Sab,

You certainly got quite a lot of galaxies in that one night Great work keep it up if melbourne weather permits,its been cloudy up here all week .

Great read
Orestis
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Old 31-01-2010, 10:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddy View Post
Some nice observations there, Sab, especially with ordinary seeing. You do very well with some very faint galaxies. I'll have to have a go at Hickson 40 and the Abels that you described.
Thanks mate. Hickson 40 should be quite nice from your dark skies with the 16". Use high power (300x or more) to seperate the 4 brightest galaxies. The 5th member at Mag 17 is beyond amatuer reach.

Quote:
Originally Posted by orestis View Post
Very nice report Sab,

You certainly got quite a lot of galaxies in that one night Great work keep it up if melbourne weather permits,its been cloudy up here all week .

Great read
Orestis
Cheers mate, it's the moon that's got me shackled to the house this time
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Old 02-02-2010, 11:50 AM
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Great stuff, SAB. Why the final report with the 12"? Getting rid of it?
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Old 02-02-2010, 11:54 AM
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Yes, I'm getting rid of the 12", I'm sick of it not holding collimation, I'm sick of the constant thermal problems, I'm sick of the constant worries whether or not its the seeing , the astigmatism, collimatiom etc etc


Hence why I'm converting it into an SDM


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Old 02-02-2010, 11:57 AM
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Hence why I'm converting it into an SDM
Is that code for a refractor
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Old 02-02-2010, 12:02 PM
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Quote:
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Is that code for a refractor
N0, it's a code for "super duper maddog newtonian" "D
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Old 02-02-2010, 12:03 PM
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Ah, just seen your other SDM thread. Nice....
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Old 02-02-2010, 12:05 PM
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It is going to be super nice, can't wait!!!!!
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