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cheers guys! Eugene, I'm also curious to see what winter skies will be like here, should be pretty nice under a high pressure with no wind. Colder air holds less moisture so in theory should be clearer with less muck and particulates. Joe, I thought about catching that one, but got caught up in the Leo Cluster. Just too much stuff to see!
Anyway, on to part 2:
These observations were done on the 12-13th. This night was noticeably more transparent than the 9th and also far less windy. Seeing was better aswell. It was calm except for a brief period of wind just before midnight, but thankfully that only lasted maybe an hour. Another first for me is seeing the Gegenschein , which appeared as a large faint haze between Regulus and Cancer.
Date: 12-13th Feb 2016
Time: 22:30-3:30
Scope: 8" F/6 dob
Seeing: 6/10
Transparency: 4/5
Dew: nil
NGC 1232
GX, Eridanus, RA 03 09 45, Dec -20 34 45, Size= 7.4x6.5' , Mag V= 10.1, SB= 14.1
Faint, tight core at 150x. The core appeared slightly elongated E-W and is surrounded by a large faint round halo with uneven surface brightness. A pair of mag 13.9 and 14.6 stars sit along the northern edge of the halo. A mag 9.6 star is located 7.4' E of the core.
Abell 12
PNe, Orion, RA 06 03 17, Dec +09 38 46, Size= 37x37" , Mag V= 13.9
Initially appeared as an 'extension' of the glare of MU Orionis at 150x with an OIII filter so studied the scene a bit to make sure I was actually seeing the real thing. I was able to eek out a round ghost nearly touching MU, best seen with averted vision. Increasing magnification to 240x helped as the planetary was clearly seen with averted vision as a round ghostly apparition in the glare of MU. I suspected annularity which was confirmed upon viewing images of the object.
UGC 3214
GX, Orion, RA 04 58 47, Dec -00 06 21, Size= 1.2x0.6' , Mag B= 14.3
Mildy concentrated at 150x, elongated 3:1 spindle of light. A trio of mag 12.9-14.8 stars lies ~1.5' NW.
UGC 3207
GX, Orion, RA 04 57 01, Dec +02 10 38, Size= 1.5x0.5' , Mag B= 14.1
Mild concentration toward centre at 150x, elongated 2:1 NW-SE. Galaxy MCG+00-13-035 is located 5.5' NW and a mag 8.1 star sits 6.8' south.
MGC+00-13-035
GX, Orion, RA 04 56 49, Dec +02 15 18, Size= 1.1x0.6' , Mag B= 14.6
Located 5.5' NW of UGC 3207. I used a trio of mag 12.5-13.5 stars roughly 5' to the east as a guide to help me find it. Extremely faint, nondescript mote flickering in and out of view.
NGC 2149
BN, Monoceros, RA 06 03 31, Dec -09 43 50, Size= 3x2'
Stopped here on my way to the Toby Jug nebula (which I didn't see). Reflection nebulosity centered on a mag 12.6 star. The western edge of the nebula drops off sharply in brightness roughly aligned with the star in a N-S direction. The eastern side fans out from the star in a roughly quarter-moon shape and is highly diffuse. Images of the object show a vague T-shaped void, reminiscent of NGC 1999 in Orion, but far less striking.
NGC 1672
GX, Dorado, RA 04 45 43, Dec -59 14 52, Size= 6.6x5.5' , Mag V= 10.2
Very tight, bright core at 150x with a diffuse bar oriented E-W and surrounded by fainter halo. A diffuse extension was seen curling NE from the eastern end of the bar with two mag 12.4 and 12.8 stars superimposed.
NGC 1566
GX, Dorado, RA 04 20 01, Dec -54 56 16, Size= 7x4.7' , Mag V= 9.8
Bright with a very tightly packed core at 150x, with an elongated 2:1 halo oriented N-S. After a bit of observation and using averted vision, I could vaguely make out the two spiral arms amongst the diffuse haze but they were difficult to see. A mag 14 star sits at the northern end of the halo and another mag 14.5 star sits nearly equidistant at the southern end.
NGC 3936
GX, Hydra, RA 11 52 20, Dec -26 54 14, Size= 3.9x0.6' , Mag V= 12.2
Appeared as a narrow streak of light at 150x oriented NE-SW 6:1. At 240x it brightens slightly to centre and I suspected uneven surface brightness. A mag 12.4 star lies 4.9' SW and a pair of mag 13.5-14.5 stars lie 3.5' NE.
NGC 5084
GX, Virgo, RA 13 20 17, Dec-21 49 40, Size= 9.3x1.7' , Mag V= 10.8
Appeared as a small, bright spindle with a bright, nearly stellar core. Points to a mag 8.2 star 11.4' to the east. The eastern extension pierces a triangle of mag 13-14.2 stars just 2.2' from the core. At 240x a mag 14.9 star was seen 1.5' N of the core.
ESO 576-G031
GX, Virgo, RA 13 20 40, Dec -21 58 58, Size= 1.1x0.9' , Mag B= 14.1
Located only 8' SW of NGC 5084. Faint fluff at 92x, slightly elongated N-S. Faint, elongated 2:1 N-S at 240x, with a mag 14.6 star located only 45" SE.
NGC 5068
GX, Virgo, RA 13 18 55, Dec -21 02 19, Size= 7.2x6.3' , Mag V= 9.8 , SB= 13.8
Thick, stubby bar oriented N-S 2:1 at 92x surrounded by a faint circular halo with uneven surface brightness. A mag 13.5 star sits just off the NE end of the bar. The halo appeared more pronounced west, south and SE of the centre of the galaxy, with the NE region around the superimposed star fainter.
NGC 5078
GX, Hydra, RA 13 19 50, Dec -27 24 36 , Size= 4x1.9' , Mag V= 10.8, SB= 12.8
Small, bright spindle at 150x oriented NW-SE with a very tight core. Eastern side brighter with hints of a dust lane along the western edge. At 240x, the presence of a dark lane was more obvious, with glimpses of it seperating the fainter western portion of the central bulge. A mag 14.3 star sits just off the SE end. Galaxy IC 879 lies 2.4' SW.
IC 879
GX, Hydra, RA 13 20 35, Dec -27 30 41, Size= 0.8x0.3' , Mag B= 14.1
Located 2.4' SW of NGC 5078. Faint smudge at 150x, about 1/2 the apparent size of 5078. At 240x it appeared slightly elongated in nearly the same position angle as 5078.
NGC 4565
GX, Coma Berenices, RA 12 36 21, Dec +25 59 19, Size= 15.8x2.1' , Mag V= 9.5, SB= 13.2
Impressive sight at 92x with a bright central bulge and long thin needle-like extensions. Dark lane was faintly visible with the northern portion fainter than the southern. The galaxy extended nearly halfway across the 92x FOV. A mag 13.3 star sits adjacent NE of the core.
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Abell 1367 Leo Cluster
RA 11 44 29, Dec +19 50 21
One of my absolute favourite things to do is observe galaxy clusters and this one did not disappoint. I would normally print off detailed charts from Cartes Du Ciel or DSS images from Wikisky to guide me, but my printer is not set up yet so simply used the MSA. I sketched up a map of the starfield and each galaxy as I observed them. I observed 14 galaxies around the centre of the cluster but loading up CdC it is clear that I've just scratched the surface. While a lot of these galaxies were seen at 150x, I will describe my observations at 240x, which revealed the smaller, fainter objects.
NGC 3842
Size= 1.4x1' , Mag V= 11.8
Brightest in the centre of the cluster. Concentrated towards core with a mag 15 star just 40" SE of the core.
NGC 3841
Size= 0.9x0.4' , Mag V=13.8
Located 1.3' N of 3842. Faint and round.
CGCG 097-090
Size= 0.6x0.4' , Mag V= 14.7
Tiny, extremely faint. A mere 1.1' W of 3842 and a mag 15.4 star was seen flickering in and out of vision just 35" NW.
UGC 6697
Size= 1.9x0.4' , Mag V= 13.6
Located 3.3' W of 3842. Very faint, strongly elongated.
NGC 3845
Size= 1.3x0.5' , Mag V= 14.2
Very faint, slightly elongated E-W 2:1 with slight concentration. Located midway between NGC3844 2' to NW and a mag 11.2 star 2' SE.
NGC 3844
Size= 1.2x0.2' , Mag V= 13.9
Located 5' N of 3842 and 2' NW of 3845. Elongated NE-SW with a highly concentrated core. Brighter than 3845.
NGC 3840
Size= 1.2x0.8' , Mag V= 13.8
Located 3' N of 3844. Faint with a small round core.
NGC 3851
Size= 0.3x0.3' , Mag V= 14.4
Located 4.7' ENE of 3842. Extremely faint and highly difficult. A mag 14 star sits 44" west.
CGCG 097-112
Size= 0.9x0.3' , Mag V= 14.1
Small, faint, elongated N-S with a nearly stellar core. Located 10' NE of 3842.
UGC 6719
Size= 1x0.7' , Mag V= 13.6
Located 14' NE of 3842, appeared round and diffuse. Forms a triangle with a pair of mag 12.2 and 13.4 stars to the N/NE.
NGC 3837
Size= 0.6x0.6' , Mag V= 13.3
Second brightest in the core of Abell 1367. Lies 3.6' S of 3842 and appeared small and concentrated.
CGCG 097-101
Size= 1.0x0.8 , Mag B= 15.1
Located 7.5' SSE of 3842 and adjacent a mag 14.8 star to the south. Very faint with a tight core.
IC 2951
Size= 1.5x0.4' , Mag V= 13.5
Located 15' SW of 3842. Sits at the western end of a row of three mag 12-13 stars. Faint and elongated.
UGC 6683
Size= 1x0.4' , Mag B= 15.2
Located 2' west of IC2951, very faint and appeared slightly elongated E-W.
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