2 Great Galaxy Nights

[Tamtarn]

Last Wed night was a very clear night at home.....no moon no cloud and naked eye stars down to 6.5mag. I decided to search for some galaxies using my Astronomy Atlas Of The Stars.

I started with the Grus Trio NGC 7582..7590..& 7599. Wow !! I had only visited them a couple of times before but Wed night was really special. Each galaxy quite bright and with averted vision the shape contrast and detail was amazing. Using the 17t4 and the 10XW I was mesmerized with what I saw. I then moved on to Grus 7213 and 7135...Pavo 6744...Lepus 1832...Eridanus 1052 and 1421...and finished with Cetus 1073 and 1055 a bright edge on very nice. A range of 9.1-12.1 mag...all in all a great wander around.

Friday night conditions were almost as good. I chose a particular area on Map 22 Reticulum and Dorado finding the galaxies with the 17t4 and detecting detail with the 10XW.

Reticulum...The first was 1313 a large bright face on detected quite a lot of detail compared to other galaxies this size...1511 a bright half edge on...1559 a bright face on...1672 a spiral...1543 oval shape bright centre...1574 circular glow.

Dorado... The first a bright pair 1549 circular 1553 oval...then 1566 a bright spiral.

I was very surprised at the brightness of all of these galaxies, some smaller than others but still very bright. This group of galaxies are definately not "faint fuzzies" in the 12". All are quite bright and a variety of different types. They range from 9.1-11.9 mag. Definatly worth a look in reasonably dark skies with an 8-10".

Even David ventured out for a look :thumbsup: and he also commented on how bright and contrasty the galaxies were that night.

I must say that I'm finding it much easier now having a good atlas and the 17t4 and 10XW to enjoy a good night finding many more galaxies concentrating on one planned area rather than hopping around too many constellations in one night.

Also I guess we're lucky to have a home site that enables us to see the smaller galaxies so well on a good night.

We now also have a DGM GCE Galaxy Filter and found on the smaller bright galaxies seen listed above it seems to give more contrast and over a period of time at the EP you are able to extract more detail and allows you to see a hint of spiral arms with averted vision...it performed well. Better than on the larger 253 and 55. I'll use it more in the coming months when we see Leo and Virgo again and give a more detailed opinion at a later date.

Wednesday and Friday would have to be my best nights ever observing galaxies :D :D

Barb

[glenc]

Nice report Barb. I have been looking at many of those GX with my 12" too.

[gaa_ian]

Very nice report Barb
I was going for a bit of hop around the southern Galaxies on Sat Night too.
With the 18" there were more that I could count around 1365 in Fornax !
I am looking at getting a Herald Bobroff Atlas to guide me around these deep sky wonders.

[stephenmcnelley]

Sounds like a wonderful time, galaxy gazing really is a game of determination and patience, it is so rewarding to have a night like you described, makes us wish we were there.
I could look at a galaxy of interest for 45 minutes easily, soaking up the details, the 10" demands that time!
Great report:thumbsup:

[glenc]

Interesting image of NGC 1313 on APOD today
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0611/topsyturvy_eso_big.jpg

Unusual Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313
Credit: Henri Boffin (http://homepage.oma.be/hboffin/Work/hboffin.html) (ESO), FORS1 (http://www.eso.org/instruments/fors1/), 8.2-meter VLT (http://www.eso.org/outreach/ut1fl/), ESO (http://www.eso.org/about-eso/)
Explanation: Why is this galaxy so discombobulated? Usually, galaxies this topsy-turvy (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5403974888855118935 ) result from a recent collision with a neighboring galaxy. Spiral galaxy (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/spiral_galaxies.html) NGC 1313, however, appears to be alone. Brightly lit with new and blue massive stars, star formation appears so rampant in NGC 1313 (http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/phot-43-06.html) that it has been labeled a starburst galaxy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starburst_galaxy). Strange features of NGC 1313 (http://www.aao.gov.au/images/deep_html/n1313_d.html) include that its spiral arms are lopsided and its rotational axis is not at the center of the nuclear bar. Pictured above (http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2006/pr-43-06.html), NGC 1313 spans about 50,000 light years (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html) and lies only about 15 million light years away toward the constellation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation) of Reticulum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reticulum_constellation). Continued numerical modeling (http://ifa.hawaii.edu/%7Ebarnes/transform.html) of galaxies like NGC 1313 might shed some light on its unusual nature.

[stephenmcnelley]

Sure is a thing of timeless, violent beauty.
thanks for the image.