September Challenge Object (GX) - NGC6221

[iceman]

Hi all.

We'd love you to take part in the September Observing and Imaging Challenge (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=69,226,0,0,1,0). Please post your reports, sketches and deep-space images of NGC6221 in this thread. Discussions about the images can also be in this thread.

Please ensure the images obey the posting guidelines when you attach them.

While it would be nice if the report, sketch or image were taken in the month of September, it's not essential so feel free to post older reports and images if you're unable to take some new ones.

We look forward to seeing your contributions!

[astro_south]

Found this galaxy quite easily (as I had seen it before). What wasn't so easy was the proceeding spiral arm that it has. It took some looking and averted vision, but after a while it became quite prominent. This could have been due to the ever changing conditions (about half an hour after a thunderstorm had passed through the site at Leyburn). The seeing was average at best and there was a lot of moisture in the air adding to a brighter sky which made it difficult at first to see the spiral arm. Eventually the spiral arm and the core of the galaxy formed an arch. My field sketch shows the halo of the galaxy brighter than it probably was and seems to indicate an oposing spiral that wasn't visible in the eyepiece - just my heavy hand adding the halo under the red light.

[dhumpie]

Very very nice. Can't remember if I have seen this one yet...

Darren