re M104 Sombrero Galaxy

[Julian]

had a look at the Sombrero galaxy saturday night through a 20inch, at a dark sky site, just would like to know how much detail you should see?, it looked very dim to me.

[dannat (Daniel)]

Dim in 20" with no moon & dark sky, sounds not quite right

I looked at it last night with a 6" & 4" binocular, easily visible but what I might call dim, the 20" should blow both of these instruments away

What power were you using , was it rising ?

[Julian]

Originally Posted by dannat

Dim in 20" with no moon & dark sky, sounds not quite right

I looked at it last night with a 6" & 4" binocular, easily visible but what I might call dim, the 20" should blow both of these instruments away

What power were you using , was it rising ?

it was quite low on the horizon

[dannat (Daniel)]

that explains it, wait tll its at 30deg or better above horizon

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

I was using my 20" f5 on it at Snake Valley on the weekend. It is an object that needs to be high and good transparency to be visually pleasing, but around 1-2am Sat morning it was stunning. I had looked at it in the 20" before but low in a moderately light polluted area and over the top of a roof line. At SV the core was bright, the dark lane looked like it was drawn with a pencil and the halo "below" the dark lanes was clearly visible.
On Sat night/Sunday morning transparency was nowhere near as good so was not as stunning.

Malcolm

[SteeDee87 (Steve)]

This thread just inspired me to get out and try for the Sombrero Galaxy. I had never seen a galaxy through my scope (12" LightBridge) before. Until tonight. Sombrero Galaxy located after a few minutes of scanning and changing eyepieces. I have fairly light polluted skies and a SERIOUSLY annoying street light shining right down my driveway but still managed to see it. Was very faint. Highlights of tonight's session. Sombrero Galaxy, Saturn and the Jewel Box. Awesome! Cons of tonight. Mosquitoes!

[Suzy]

You know, every time I look at the Sombrero galaxy (M104) it looks different. Malcolm is spot on- transparency is everything.
Thru a 10" it's an easy spot with street lights around and lots of light pollution. After 3 years of observing it regularly (isn't it an object we always include on our lists?) I've only had two memorable nights where it looked amazing. I'd agree with what's commonly said of the rarity of only getting about four nights of the year with amazing seeing conditions. Funnily enough, the first occasion was only at 8pm when everyone had there lights on. It was fairly high in the sky at around 55 degrees. The dark lane cut a striking black line- I've never seen it look so good since. A couple of hours later, I was back out there again and couldn't wait to get more goodness from it. Alas, it looked like every other session observed on it and showed nothing outstanding. Just a greyish fuzzy spindle with brighter halo in the middle. So the transparency at that moment must have been amazing.

The second time was a doozy. Embarrassingly funny story here.... It was late at night around 1am- many people had turned off their lights (esp. next door!) so the sky was noticeably darker.

I thought I'd stumbled across a galaxy I'd never observed before. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. It was a ridiculously bright spindle. The core was so bright that it was easily visible in my finder as a star. The core was easily distinguished, sitting above the galaxy plane with it's round shape so prominent it looked a tennis ball lit up. And oh my gosh- the colour of the galaxy- it was a vivid golden colour. I couldn't take my eyes off it for a long time. Had the galaxy remained a fuzzy grey colour as is a normal observation from my site, with a soft whitish glow around the core and a dark lane that's just there- then it would've been easy to identify as it. The Scorpion shaped asterism sitting next to it in my finder (commonly called "jaws") is a popular guide for star hopping so you think this would have been the clue that I was on M104 now wouldn't you lol. I spent a good week trying to find this new galaxy I'd observed. Along with the Scorpion asterism, the star Porrima was used as a guide for where it sat & then I measured the sky using my hand to where my red dot finder was pointing- so it was a fairly small patch of sky. From his dark sky site, I had poor Ron observing every galaxy within that area so we could find out what this magnificent spindle shaped galaxy was that I'd seen. As a seasoned observer, it had him scratching his head over it despite saying to me, "now are you sure it's not M104?!" My insistence to the contrary became his determination lol. There was nothing there except M104. I had to surrender.

I was mightily embarrassed. And there taught me a valuable lesson on how different a galaxy can look upon each viewing. This is why every time I observe these days- if M104 is in the sky, it will always get observed!

I hope my story will inspire new people to observing to keep re-looking at it, that includes through the course of the night. The same applies to DSO's in general actually, but as M104 is a fairly bright object, I'm guessing it's changes are more noticeable. This galaxy takes high magnification well btw. In my 10" dob I observe it using a 10mm (120x) or a 7mm (170x) eyepiece very successfully.

This thread HERE is a highly educational thread for observing galaxies and Michael's post- refer post #35 has valuable information on how to observe it successfully- probably one of the best posts I've seen around.

For anyone needing helping finding M104, take a look at posts #36 & #37 in the above link for an awesome explanation & map on how to find M104 using the Jaws/Stargate asterism (that Scorpion looking asterism that I mentioned earlier).
That link is a worthy bookmark!

[astroron (Ron)]

Quote)
I had poor Ron observing every galaxy within that area so we could find out what this magnificent spindle shaped galaxy was that I'd seen. As a seasoned observer, it had him scratching his head over it despite saying to me, "now are you sure it's not M104?!" My insistence to the contrary became his determination lol. There was nothing there except M104. I had to surrender.

Suzy,my hair just got a lot greyer over that week trying to find your fantastic galaxy
Cheers

[Nikolas (Nik)]

It's so hard to find in light polluted melbourne!!

[goober (Doug)]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

It's so hard to find in light polluted melbourne!!

Agreed, but certainly possible. I had a great view of it at 3:30am one night years ago with my 101mm APO. A 20" from a dark sky site should monster it.

[andyc (Andy)]

Nice story Suzy!

I had a wonderful view of M104 from Heathcote last month using my 16", the galaxy filled a fair bit of the field at 150x: and the dust band was wonderfully crisp, with the glow from the 'underside' bulge quite distinct. Magnificent, dominating the field, and decidedly 'bright' around the nucleus as galaxies go. Almost felt like viewing a photo in some ways! Didn't see any colour but my eyes aren't so good at that. It was visible as a smudge in the 30mm finder.

A few weeks later from Melbourne suburbs with the same scope, and the galaxy was, as you'd expect, significantly fainter and smaller. Had to hop to it from the north of Corvus. This time the dust band was much less sharp at the edges, though still with a little width to it; the galaxy appeared noticeably smaller, and there was not much sign of the glow of the lower part of the bulge. Still an impressive view, given the size, structure and brightness of the galaxy, but not as field-filling or brightly imposing as a dark-sky view.

[tonybarry (Tony)]

I had the pleasure of viewing M104 last week from Linden (NSW) in the 30" Rev. Bob Evans' Starsplitter dobsonian telescope.

I had previously seen this galaxy in a Meade LX90-8" from Western Sydney light polluted skies.

My eyesight is not that great anymore (fifty four years have had their effect) but this galaxy was simply incredible. The central dust lane was clearly evident, and the far side bulge was easily seen. My only regret was that we did not have enough time to study the DSO more fully.

Regards,
Tony Barry
WSAAG

[Julian]

thank you to everyone for your imput.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Can anyone answer, with a 5 inch APO refractor what is the best magnification to view/photograph this elusive galaxy and any tips?

[Suzy]

Thank you Andy, and I really enjoyed your story too!
I very much enjoy reading Sombrero obs., to many of us it's our favourite galaxy isn't it. It is mine anyway.

Edit: hold on, did Julian just say 20"???
Phoaaaaaarw!

[MattT]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

Can anyone answer, with a 5 inch APO refractor what is the best magnification to view/photograph this elusive galaxy and any tips?

The best views I have in my 6" f8 achro are with a 10mm Pentax XW, can make out the dust lane( just) from Melbourne and easily see the dust lane from dark sites.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

cheers Matt, how large does it appear say in relation to jupiter?

[Julian]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Thank you Andy, and I really enjoyed your story too!
I very much enjoy reading Sombrero obs., to many of us it's our favourite galaxy isn't it. It is mine anyway.

Edit: hold on, did Julian just say 20"???
Phoaaaaaarw!

yes that's right Suzy, a 20 inch SDM Dob.

looks like if i had waited, i would have seen the Sombrero in all it's splendour!!

that night we were up at Heathcote, never mind

[goober (Doug)]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

cheers Matt, how large does it appear say in relation to jupiter?

M104 is larger than Jupiter ... Jupiter maxes out at around an arc minute from memory. M104 is about 5' across (but much more diffuse).

[MattT]

Thanks Doug,
Nik I binoview planets and M 104 is quite large in the XW 10. Have just bought a pair of 28mm RKE eyepieces which some say are the bees knees for binoviewing and am keen to try bino's on DSO's other than bright nebs and globs...watch this space!