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First clear night in ages here in Sydney, though first quarter. But I had to make a stand to this challenge of finding a few faint fuzzies from home that I hadn't tracked down before! I loaded the big Odyssey II with the 3" Celestron FirstScope finder I made, a couple of EPs & binos in hand.
First target was NGC 1300 & 1404 in Fornax. Found the chart, placed the circle over it, aimed & looked through the eyepiece... BANG, there they where! Dead centre! I was most surprised that I was able to glimpse these two galaxies through this much maligned little FirstScope! From Sydney & first quarter Moon. I've always said that this little scope is really only a rich field scope, at f/4 and with a spherical mirror.
To make sure this was no fluke, I then had a crack at NGC 1549 & 1553 in Dorado. Same procedure, and looking through the EP, again dead centre. What most intrigued me here was the structure that can be seen in these two galaxies. I'd like to have a crack at them from a dark site.
Last was the PN NGC 1360. This one did prove tricky to spot through the eyepiece, not because of lack of tracking it down, it was there, but a very, very faint puff of smokeiness.
Definately keeping these circles as a permanent feature in my kit now!
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