Galaxy #2

[toetoe]

Being only new to this, the smiles on my face just keep on coming knowing that i am going to keep on seeing things for the first time. A few nights ago i saw my 1st Galaxy, NGC2640 sth west of Delta Velorum, have not been able to view it a 2nd time tho, i just can`t find it again.. Last night i saw my 2nd Galaxy NGC5128 nth of Omega Centauri. As i am only using a very small scope using the 10mm eye piece as i have found that the 4mm is just no good (no clarity) i am so happy to be able to view these galaxys, clusters and what ever else i can find as i have had my scope for only 4 weeks now. Both galaxys were nice sized fuzz balls to view but boy, was i over the moon looking at them...:astron:

[ving]

I have spotted that one myself. well done :)

there is definitely some sense of achievement in finding galaxies isnt there. :)

you might find the galaxies easier to spot in a bigger EP tho. try a 25mm first to spot them then zoom in. :)
i dont know how dark your skies are but your 4mm is probably cutting too much light out to get the detail you are after.

[rumples riot]

I agree with ving, use a large EP, however, I have found that viewing them in a smaller EP just looses some of the light and magic of galaxy hunting.

Still great to see you are viewing these targets. Just remember magnification is not as important with deep sky objects.

[rmcpb]

Is this a case of reverse aperture fever? How many DSOs can Peter see in his little scope. Sounds like a great thread.

Cheers

[ving]

you know its quite a challenge. I did a similar thing with my 60mm refractor. it's quite amazing what you can see with those lil' things... I was really suprised.

I used to go to the forums at astronomy.com and I started a thread there called "club 60mm" its amazing how many people gave feed back there of the various DSO they had seen in there lil' scopes :)

[toetoe]

I used the 20mm EP to scout around with until i saw the object in question then went to the 10mm. This is the EP that i use mostly all of the time. 3 weeks ago, work has started on continuing the dead end street which i am on the corner of now and the local council put a new power pole on our nature strip with a very nice bright light on top of it which shines my backyard up. What a bugger... So i guess the 4mm will have some problems with that..

[Brendan]

im impressed peter, i've got a 150mm reflector and NGC5128 still eludes me, seen it once in a 400mm reflector.
I am inspired to go galaxy hunting to night :cool:

[Vermin]

I'll never forget the first time I saw one. I found out later it was NGC55. I just stumbled upon it while scanning around the sky with my 100mm refractor. Wonderful stuff.

I can't wait to see it and NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) with the 16" though!

[iceman]

I'm looking forward to galaxy and planetary neb hunting in the dark skies of Wiruna this weekend!

[toetoe]

I would realy like to see what i have through something a lot better than what i have.. oh well, all in good time..

[Striker]

I agree....the satisfaction of finding galaxies is tremendous.....specialy when you type in the galaxy number and push GOTO......lol....

[toetoe]

Do the LX200`s have a button for coffee???? :)

[ving]

white n' 2 thnx tony :P

[RAJAH235]

What makes you say that, Peter? :evil: :D L.

[evo]

Hi all,

Beautiful night last night in Sydney, though being in the city plenty of light. Thought I'd have my first serious attempt at a Galaxy and tried my hand at finding NGC5128. Absolutely no joy though. Was using a 25mm eyepiece on my 8" reflector, but, alas, no joy.

Kept plugging away at it for about 1/2 hour till my head kept hitting the scope as i was dozing off!

Is it possible to see this galaxy through city lights? Should I be using a larger eyepiece...do larger ones exist?

Any help appreciated!

Kind regards, mike

[ving]

Hi mike,
I have the same dob and use my 25mm to scan around too. I live in campbelltowns outskirts tho so my skies are probably maginally darker.
I have to admit that when i first tried to find cent a it was dificult. you should be able to see it tho. I dont know what your conditions were like last night but altho the sky was very clear the seeing was really bad with heaps of moisture in the air. I didnt even bother going out to look.

try on a night of good viewing and you should do well :)

[Starkler]

Galaxies are the hardest targets of all under light polluted skies.

One of the brightest ones ngc253 is barely detectable from my home due to it being a large one, meaning the light is spread out and masked by the bright sky background.
Smaller tighter ones are easier to see such as M104 and the spindle galaxy.

Use the 25mm to starhop, then increase the mag to view.

I have an observing technique that helps. Wearing a top I pull it up over my head and around the eyepiece to shield all extraneous external light. Hardly elegant but it sure helps!

[evo]

Great - many thanks Geoff and Ving - will be on the case tonight!

Don't know if I should open up a different thread for this, but how can you tell if the seeing is good or bad. Being a complete novice, is there some control test one can do to determine the seeing? Is there a measurement for seeing?

thanks, mike

[ving]

thats a good question...

try this link on for an explanation....cloudy nights (http://www.cloudynights.com/howto/seeing.htm)

[evo]

Thanks once again Ving. Great article! Not sure I've ever experienced the Airy disk or the associated diffraction patterns of a star, so looks like I'm going to have to settle for pretty crappy seeing here. No matter - it will be all the more special when I do get out to a decent viewing area!

[Starkler]

evo if you can get stars sharply focused in a 9 or 10mm eyepiece the seeing is ok . If they focus to a blob, or a dancing blob you wont be doing any useful planetary observing.

[ving]

the only way i get the airy disc and defraction rings from my place is to put my 80mm aperture stop on. as they explain in the article, the smaller aperture is looking thru a smaller column of air so thats why i get it with the aperture stop i guess :)

this is the first time I've looked into seeing really.

[evo]

Thanks chaps - Why is it every answer seems to raise 2 new questions! I'll take in the great info you guys have provided and come back in a few days methinks!

Cheers, mike

[ballaratdragons]

Hi Evo-Mike and Peter,

I can understand your excitement over finding a galaxy!

THE EXCITEMENT DOESN'T GO AWAY!!!

Last night I had a perfect seeing sky, large aperture scope, I am at high altitude, and have dark sky. So I already have a head start.

Although I have been looking through scopes for 20 years, last night was the first time I have solely concentrated on 'Virgo Galaxy Hunting'.

At first I scanned the area with a 30mm SuperView. At the first Galaxy spotted, I changed over to a 15mm Plossl EP and left it in for most of the night, because everywhere I moved the scope within the area I found more Galaxies. I stopped counting after 30 and just kept finding more and more.

This was not in the busiest section of Virgo. That will keep till tonight (if we get good sky).

But my point is: there are some fairly bright galaxies in the Virgo region you should be able to find even with moderate light pollution, and scan the area with a low power EP to find then first.

I got down to 6.5mm on some of the brighter ones but they were getting very faint.

As far as the excitement goes, I kept annoying my Missus with comments like <i>'Wow, you should see this one'</i> and<i> 'jeez, there's 5 next to each other, come and look'.</i>

The excitement is what makes it worth it, whether you can only just make out Jupiters Moons for the first time or have found very, very distant groups of galaxies.

Be excited, like the rest of us. We are all still seeing things for the first time! and report them, some of us may not have seen them yet.

Congrats on finding the ones you did find.

[evo]

Very excited today. Another beautiful night last night. Clear skies, but plenty of light as usual. Anyhow, set out once again to have a shot at NGC5128. Again no joy after trying for a good 45 minutes.

Turned my attention to Virgo and M104. Took me about 1/2 hour and finally at about 12:30am found the bugger. Joy of joys!

Had a crack at finding some of the galaxies in the Virgo cluster. No luck until I stumbled on one very faint object. Was a little lost and I think it was actually M49 (NGC 4472) which is a bit of an outlier to the main galaxy cluster. Is this possible? Is this the brightest of the galaxies located around here? If anyone can help me appreciated!

Anyhow then managed to lose it, by which time I was exhausted and couldn't find either of the galaxies again. Spent the next 15 minutes just gazing naked eyes at the beautiful sky, picking off constellations, wondering why I hadn't done this years ago!

Regards, mike

[toetoe]

I get excited when i find something with my great big powerful 4.5 Tasco, can u imagine the excitment when the time comes when i upgrade to something simular to you guys and gals. :)

[ballaratdragons]

Evo-mike,

This is off SEDS site:

<b>M49 is one of the brightest Virgo Cluster member galaxies with its mag 8.5, which corresponds to an absolute magnitude of approximately -22.8, regarding its distance of about 60 million light years. It is one of the giant elliptical galaxies in this great cluster. </b>

Look here: http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m049.html

Sounds like what you saw. Well done.

If light pollution allows you, try searching the Fornax Cluster.


Peter,

Don't worry about being in a hurry to upgrading your Tasco, my old 4.25" gave me magnificent views. I actually miss it.

[ving]

i need a laptop :(

well done on finding galaxies... its quite fun hunting them hey?

[ballaratdragons]

David,

Laptop????

Notice the recent spurt of Galaxy sightings are on <b>Dobbers!</b>

Me, Geoff, Evo-mike. And Peter's 4.5" Tasco too!

Any message there? Hint, Hint.

[ving]

well I need it to take my cartes du ciel outside so i can spot the galaxies... or rather know where they are. my palm software doesnt incleude alot of objects

[CosMos]

Evo, NGC 5128 is difficult under a light polluted sky in an 8". I remember looking for it with an 8" under such conditions, the limiting mag. must have been about 4. I never had a finderscope but once on the field, it took a good minute or so for the galaxy to start appearing. The first thing I noticed was the dark lane as it was darker than the background light pollluted sky. After a while, the tenuous glow grew larger. Sky conditions really affect this galaxy. If you get a chance, look for it under a reasonably dark sky with 7x50 binos. A small bundle of delight.

[MiG]

I'd say that having the diffraction limit 2.5 times lower than your usual 200 mm aperture is more of a factor than anything to do with the turbulence cross section.

[RAJAH235]

Evo, A simple way of testing the "seeing" is to, > on a DARK night at a Dark site, pick a constellation & take note of the # of stars & mags. Then, from where ever you are, on any night, you can just count how many stars you can see in the same constellation. Gives a quick result.
HTH. :D L.

[evo]

Thanks for the replies CosMos and Rajah235. I look forward to taking your sound advice when the skies eventually clear up!

Best wishes, Mike

[Striker]

Thats cause we only have to push a button to find it.....lol