M83 PinWheel Galaxy

[ZeroID (Brent)]

The stunning picture on the home page inspired me to attempt M83 visual tonight.
Auckland turned on a cold southerly to clear and stabilise the skies and despite an 80% moon giving some problems with glare I managed to find M83 in the 80mm Achro in the high eastern sky. Took about 20 minutes of watching before it began to appear in averted vision and I had to sheild the ambient glare from my eyes. Found the location with a 20mm SV EP, a small curved asterism with three 'pointer' stars directing to the centre of the curve. Pinwheel is the third part of the triangle formed by the last star (Mag 9, no ID in Stellarium) and HIP66539 (Mag 7.15). I then went to a 15mm SV and then finally 2 x Barlowed it which surprisingly gave the best view due to contrast improvement I think.
Mag 9 was the limit of the 80mm, not too bad considering.

Very very dim, slight glow of the core, occaisonal glimpses of the swirl of the arms and what appears to be a triangle of brighter points at the outer edges. Not sure if these are stars behind the galaxy or within.
My third confirmed Galaxy. Sculptor, Sombrero and now M83.

Still haven't quite got the Ob going yet otherwise I would be using one of the bigger scopes. Hopefully I may find time to wire and organise it more over the weekend. With Daylight savings gone and much colder nights it gets hard to get much done after work.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

The stunning picture on the home page inspired me to attempt M83 visual tonight.
Auckland turned on a cold southerly to clear and stabilise the skies and despite an 80% moon giving some problems with glare I managed to find M83 in the 80mm Achro in the high eastern sky. Took about 20 minutes of watching before it began to appear in averted vision and I had to sheild the ambient glare from my eyes. Found the location with a 20mm SV EP, a small curved asterism with three 'pointer' stars directing to the centre of the curve. Pinwheel is the third part of the triangle formed by the last star (Mag 9, no ID in Stellarium) and HIP66539 (Mag 7.15). I then went to a 15mm SV and then finally 2 x Barlowed it which surprisingly gave the best view due to contrast improvement I think.
Mag 9 was the limit of the 80mm, not too bad considering.

Very very dim, slight glow of the core, occaisonal glimpses of the swirl of the arms and what appears to be a triangle of brighter points at the outer edges. Not sure if these are stars behind the galaxy or within.
My third confirmed Galaxy. Sculptor, Sombrero and now M83.

Still haven't quite got the Ob going yet otherwise I would be using one of the bigger scopes. Hopefully I may find time to wire and organise it more over the weekend. With Daylight savings gone and much colder nights it gets hard to get much done after work.

Good Observation for an 80 mm in a moon lit sky.
Just one thing , all the stars you see in your telescope and with the naked eye are in OUR galaxy
Cheers

[Suzy]

Hi Brent,

Thanks for your report.

I was disappointed with my first view of M83 as it was so highly billed.
But I've since come to learn that a dark site is vital for it. I've only observed it twice and not under the best conditions. For me as well (and that's with a 10" dob), it was all core, and I haven't been able to see anything resembling a spiral arm. I'll have to keep going back to it as perhaps one session might bring me some good seeing where I can spot it.
You did very well to spot what you did with your 80mm!!!

From my light polluted suburban backyard, Cetus A (M77) left it for dead- for a face on spiral, it didn't disappoint, resembling a rosette and showing off the disc shape beautifully, and I could even make out the outer extensions of the galaxy coming in and out of view. It had a bright core as well and you could tell it was a barred spiral. Put this on your list for one not to be missed. It was also very easy to find, being only something like one degree away from (uhh i forget name of star) from one of the main stars in the Cetus constellation.
M95, M96, M105 and the Leo Triplet are also easy and fairly bright targets for galaxies. Even under conditions where my primary & secondary mirrors were soaked wet with dew (I know I know, what the heck was I still doing observing ) and the views were dark and pathetic in my ep, I still kept bumping into M95 & M96.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Ron > DOH! of course they would ... thinking about it after it makes sense obviously, thanks for the info.

Suzy > I'll put M77 on the list, and the others, thanks.

Generally speaking, when I say I 'saw' the swirl of the galaxy it was only hints of lighter areas and a faint pinpoint of light at the core. No way could I see the whole galaxy and it was only discenible after about 20 minutes of dark adaptation and averted vision. Also giving the scope a wee nudge so it jiggled slightly seemed to show it, weird.

Wish I'd powered up the mount, even the 114 mm Newt currently sitting on it could have made a significant difference. Weather is looking good for tonight and the next few apparently although the temperatures are down around 6 degrees. I'll try and get it up and going while the weather holds and have another go while it's high in the sky at a reasonable time of night.

Also spotted Saturn and Omega Cent Glob. Moon was blinding even with the scope cap on.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Hi Brent, another galaxy you could try is the Spindle Galaxy (NGC 3115) in Sextans. It's an interesting edge-on S0 type, quite bright and impressive in the eyepiece.
Check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3115

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Cheers Rolf,
They all look to be ( except M77 ) roughly in the same area. So is the moon at present !! Might have to wait a few weeks for a bit darker skies, ... and clear !!
Hopefully I'll get SK II up on the pier and aligned soon. Just got a wee bit more construction to do to support the roof when rotated open.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

Ron > DOH! of course they would ... thinking about it after it makes sense obviously, thanks for the info.

Suzy > I'll put M77 on the list, and the others, thanks.

Generally speaking, when I say I 'saw' the swirl of the galaxy it was only hints of lighter areas and a faint pinpoint of light at the core. No way could I see the whole galaxy and it was only discenible after about 20 minutes of dark adaptation and averted vision. Also giving the scope a wee nudge so it jiggled slightly seemed to show it, weird.

Wish I'd powered up the mount, even the 114 mm Newt currently sitting on it could have made a significant difference. Weather is looking good for tonight and the next few apparently although the temperatures are down around 6 degrees. I'll try and get it up and going while the weather holds and have another go while it's high in the sky at a reasonable time of night.

Also spotted Saturn and Omega Cent Glob. Moon was blinding even with the scope cap on.

Brent, do you have dark and reasonably good conditions from where you observe? I'd sure love to hear your report on M83 thru your 10" if you do get a chance. Meanwhile, I'll keep persevering observing M83.
Though, Mental4Astro (Alexander) did make a good point recently. He pointed out that here in Eastern Australia we've had a ton of moisture in the air the last couple of years (loads of rain) and went on to say that galaxies have been of very poor quality to observe during this time. I've only just started observing galaxies in the last 6mths or so (with exception of M104 & M31) as I wanted to polish my skills on nebulae first, so I wouldn't know what to expect from them normally.

[pgc hunter]

Hi Brent, Suzy and all

Fact of the matter is that face-on spirals are always underwhelming from suburbia. Unfortunately, by their very nature they suffer from low surface brightness, even M83 only manages 13.3 mag/square arc second. Even in my 12", M83 is nothing but a vague fuzzy core surrounded by a faint halo of light. That pretty much describes any face-on spiral I've attempted from my outer suburban backyard.

I would go as far as to say that face-on spirals have the worst image:visual disappointment ratio of any class of DSO (unless you have real dark skies)!!!