23/03/10 Observing night + sketch

[orestis]

Hi everyone:hi:,

It was nice and clear and although there was a half moon out lighting up everything i decided to take out the scope.

Well the first thing i looked at was the moon and i saw some considerable detail in the mountain ridge and craters.As i didn't want to take too much time sketching it i just took a photo (attached).

Alpha Crucis-

At 180x magnification i could see the three components.the 2 main stars were of roughly equal magnitude and the other star of about half of the main stars brightness.regarding colours i think that the 2 main were of blue-white appearance and that the other star was of a slight yellow appearance.i also did a sketch (attached).There were some other faint stars but were not drawn on the sketch.

Leo Triplet-

Thanks to malcolm for his advice of only looking for 2 galaxies i finally spotted these magnificent galaxies even though the half moon was out(can't wait to see these galaxies without the moon).Anyway at first i saw a grainy diffuse sort of patch of light right next to a resonably bright star and then a little lower down i saw a faint streaky kind of light.with averted vision they became a bit brighter but moon was affecting the view so i didn't get to see the 3rd one.(ps-i couldn't tell which was m65 and which was m66 but later i checked stellearium anf found out that the fatter looking one was m66 and the other m65).

I had a good night;)
thanks for reading

regards Orestis:thumbsup:

[duncan]

Hi Orestis,

Well done on your sketch and photo. Looks like you are really enjoying yourself. All the best.:thumbsup:
Cheers,
Duncan

[barx1963]

Well done on nabbing the Leo triplet, glad my advice was of some help. The pairing of M65 and M66 is spectacular if you can get a wide enough field that they are both visible.

[Paddy]

Well done indeed, especially with the moon around.

[pgc hunter]

Thanks Orestis, nice job catching the Leo triplet with the moon out!

[orestis]

Thanks guys :thumbsup:

Regards Orestis;)

[ngcles]

Hi Orestis & All,

Great report mate. Very glad you managed to track down the Leo Triplet -- excellent work. The third member, NGC 3628 has very low surface brightness (compared to M65/66) and very easy to overlook with the 'scope you're currently using so don't worry about missing it. In large telescopes it is a wonderfully interesting object -- as is M66.

BTW, you started a thread about southern highlands observing here:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=58582

I replied late and dunno whether you're interested but if so drop me a pm or email me -- my email address is always at the foot of my Deep Sky Delights articles in AS&T.


Best,

Les D