This week I was my first ever trip out to a dark sky site with a telescope for serious DSO observation. I found a good site about 15km out of town as the crow flies, which is nice and dark with good horizons. Being only a 15 min drive at most, it is also handy. During the two nights, I noted light domes from Renmark and a fainter glow from Cooltong to the S/SE. The Renmark light dome actually reduces significantly during the night as civilisation goes to bed and what not. The N, NW, NE and E horizons are completely free of any light pollution. Being a galaxy observer, this site has completely opened new doors for me which I could only have ever dreamed of back at my old place in Melbourne with its obstructed horizons and light pollution.
I was trying to decide which scope to take, the 8" or the 12", I figured let's go the whole hog and get the big gun out, only to discover the knob on one of the truss blocks has disappeared, likely during the move, and the mirror, well that could use a clean
So yeah the 8" it was. The first night was windy and transparency was poorer than on the second night.
Date: 9-10th Feb 2016
Time: 22:00-02:30
Scope: 8" F/6 dob
Seeing: 4/10
Transparency: 3/5
Dew: nil
NGC 2024
Fantastic sight at 70x. The structure was near-photographic with that classic fir tree appearance bisected by a thick dark lane. A narrower dark lane splits off to the NE at the base of the "tree".
IC434/B33 Horsehead
The faint ribbon of IC434 was visible without a filter. I have a good idea of the location of the Horsehead without consulting a chart, located SE of two mag 7.5 stars straddling IC434. I could infact make out a very faint indentation in the correction location without filtration. Impressed!
NGC 2023
This is a reflection nebula surrounding a mag 7.8 star midway between the HH and NGC2024. It appeared fairly bright at 70x, with a sharp dropoff in brightness along the western edge while it fans out E of the star.
IC 435
The smaller, fainter cousin of NGC 2023 located 21' E of 2023. Surrounds a mag 8.3 star and appeared small and diffuse at 70x.
NGC 2175
BN, Orion, RA 06 09 40, Dec +20 29 15, Size= 40x30'
Elongated 'C' shaped asterism of 2 dozen or so stars anchored by a mag 7.5 star at the foot of the 'C'. At 54x, a diffuse nebula encompasses the 'C' with the brightest section surrounding the mag 7.5 star. The UHC greatly enhanced the nebula, now appearing as a large irregular glow centered on the bright star, with darker voids permeating the region NW of the star.
NGC 1365
GX, Fornax, RA 03 33 36, Dec -36 08 25, Size= 11.x6.2' , Mag V= 9.6
Small compact core which appeared slightly elongated N-S at 92x, with a wide, fainter diffuse bar running E-W. Spiral arms faintly visible, with the eastern arm slightly brighter. I should've used more magnification.
NGC 2997
GX, Antlia, RA 09 45 39, Dec -31 11 25, Size= 8.9x6.8' , Mag V= 9.6
Small dense core at 92x with an uneven surface brightness elongated halo which exhibited a flattened southern edge. A mag 11.7 star sits at the SW edge of the halo and another mag 12.7 star is at the E end.
UGC 5470 Leo I
GX, Leo, RA 10 09 21, Dec +12 13 26, Size= 11.7x8.5' , Mag B= 11.2
Located only 20' N of Regulus, which proved to be a nuisance. My first dwarf galaxy observation. Faint, nondescript moderate sized haze at 54x. A pair of mag 12 stars sit 5.5' to the NE of the centre.
UGC 5373 Sextans B
GX, Sextans, RA 10 00 52, Dec +05 15 05, Size= 4.9x3.0' , Mag V= 11.3
Easily picked up at 54x. Faint, moderate sized haze slightly elongated E-W. Two mag 13.2-13.4 stars sit just off the N edge. Increasing magnification to 70x I got the impression of somewhat uneven surface brightness.
NGC 2683
GX, Lynx, RA 08 52 42, Dec +33 25 20, Size= 9.3x2.2' , Mag V= 9.6
What a lovely galaxy! Gorgeous bright spindle at 54x. A tiny core within the bright central bulge was seen at 92x, with thin extensions orientated NE-SW. The western side appeared fainter than the eastern. A mag 13.1 star sits at the NE end and a brighter mag 11.6 star is located 2.8' SE of the core.
NGC 3003
GX, Leo Minor, RA 09 48 36, Dec +33 25 22. Size= 5.8x1.3' Mag V= 11.5
Stubby, elongated 3:1 E-W at 150x. Brightens slightly toward the centre.
NGC 3021
GX, Leo Minor, RA 09 50 57, Dec +33 33 14, Size= 1.6x0.9', Mag V= 12.3
Located 30' NE of NGC 3003. At 150x, it appeared to have higher surface brightness than 3003 with an elongated 2:1 bar running E-W surrounded by a small diffuse halo. A mag 11.3 star sits just 1' to the SE and a mag 14.6 star was seen on the northern edge of the halo.
NGC 2903
GX, Leo, RA 09 32 10, Dec +21 30 07, Size= 12.6x6' , Mag V= 9.0
Bright, tight core surrounded by a large elongated 2:1 N-S halo at 92x. Halo brightens towards the core and it seemed to be brighter along a narrow strip aligned with the long axis through the core. A mag 13.9 star sits adjacent the eastern edge of the halo. At 150x, a seperate knot/stellaring was spotted intermittently at the north end of the halo. Looking up the notes in the NGC/IC project, this has its own designation of NGC 2905 and is apparently a HII region. Nice! The galaxy itself appeared to have slightly uneven surface brightness at this magnification.
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Hickson 44
NGC 3190
GX, Leo, RA 10 18 06, Dec +21 49 59, Size= 4.4x1.5' , Mag V= 11.1
Brightest in a group of four with NGC 3193 6' NE, NGC 3185 11' SW, NGC 3187 5' NW. Rather high surface brightness at 150x, with an elongated NE-SW spindle-like form with a stellar core and faint halo. A mag 14.4 star sits 1.2' SW.
NGC 3187
GX, Leo, RA 10 17 48, Dec +21 52 23, Size= 3x1.3' , Mag V= 13.4
Very faint nondescript smudge at 150x. A pair of mag 14.4 stars sit adjacent to the E and S.
NGC 3193
GX, Leo, RA 10 18 25, Dec +21 53 37, Size= 3x2.7' , Mag V= 11.2
Round with high surface brightness at 150x, smaller than 3190 with a dense core. A mag 9.6 star sits just 1.2' N.
NGC 3185
GX, Leo, RA 10 17 39, Dec +21 41 18, Size= 2.3x1.6' , Mag V= 12.0
Slightly elongated E-W at 150x, mildly concentrated toward centre.
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NGC 3344
GX, Leo Minor, RA 10 43 31, Dec +24 55 19, Size= 7.1x6.5' , Mag V= 10.2
Stellar core at 92x, with a larger, faint, diffuse slightly elongated E-W halo. A close pair of mag 10.3 and 11.8 stars sit superimposed on the eastern edge of the halo. At 150x a third, mag 13.9 star was seen closer to the core which itself now appeared as a dense concentration.
So that concludes the first night of observations, Part 2 will follow shortly...