May 9, 2013: A superb night of galaxies

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Yesterday evening it cleared up very nicely indeed, so I set up the scope while it was still light, but the powertank on the charger, poured over the Sky Atlas 2000.0, Stellarium, and the Revised Shapley-Ames Catalog for interesting targets, and fretted as a band of cloud passed at about 22:30. By 23:15, all was clear, bar an occasional wisp of cloud.

I aligned the big finder with the scope on Denebola, and first hunted down NGC 3810 nearby. It showed up fairly easily as a quite extended diffuse blob, with hints of a rotation illusion, which I have seen before in (barred) spirals which are (nearly) face on (it is a spiral, I found out later). A bit further west I looked up NGC 3705 (elongated, not very easy) as a stepping stone to NGC 3692, but although I spotted some vague hints of something fuzzy, I could not make up my mind whether it was really there, so it remains unlogged. Back east of NGC 3810, and very close to Denebola, I found NGC 3872 as a faint, somewhat elongated blotch. I was very pleased with that as I had previously marked it in the atlas with a "?" indicating a difficult one.

Encouraged by that, I swung east to M98, which showed up quite well, indicating good transparency. From there I hopped to the location of NGC 4168, which showed up immediately as a compact ellipsoidal blotch, best in averted vision. I noticed that nearby, close to a small triangle of stars, NGC 4193 was marked on the map, as I had not put an arrow or ? by it, I assumed it was probably too faint, but gave it a try, and lo and behold, in exactly the right spot, a small elongated blotch showed up. Although it is mag 12.4, its surface brightness is decent due to its compact size. A bit northwards NGC 4189 could be found, much more extended, but readily visible in averted vision. As I was in the neighbourhood, I just had to spot NGC 4216 and NGC 4206, just to the east of the little group I had just seen. Both are nice side-on galaxies, with the former being much the brighter and easier (like a small NGC 4565). Westwards again, a short star-hop brought me to NGC 4037. Though at 11.9 it is not that faint, it is quite a diffuse object, roughly circular (it turned out to be a face-on barred spiral). Hard in averted vision, also due to nearby mag 8 or so star.

Dropping southwards brought me to NGC 4124, a much easier object which seemed to grow on you: one minute you are staring at a blank piece of sky, the next a galaxy suddenly looms into view. This again shows how much you need to take time on objects like these. In a rush, i would have missed this. Despite taking time, NGC 4067 played coy, and all I got was the occasional tantalizing hint. Might want to try this one from a really dark site.

Encouraged by finding quite a few objects I wasn't planning for (and getting new 7 galaxies in quite a short time), I decided to go through Markarian's Chain once more, to see if i could pick out a couple of objects I had missed before. M84 and M86 were obvious of course, and I spotted the Eyes (NGC 4435 and NGC 4438) nearby very easily. Lovely group of galaxies. Below M84 and M86, NGC 4387, NGC 4388, and NGC 4425 had taken up their usual stations, but near a star just east and a bit south of NGC 4387 I spotted a very faint blotch in averted vision: NGC 4407 (a.k.a. NGC 4413). At mag 12.7 not an easy target at all! It is slightly elongated, and showed no central condensation. Moving eastwards past the Eyes, I picked up NGC 4461 with surprising ease, this is a highly elongated galaxy, SB0 type, good surface brightness neatly sitated between two mag 9-ish stars. Just to the north, and west of the northern of the two stars, a faint circular glow could just be made out in averted vision: NGC 4458, another link in Markarian's chain. Further upwards along the chain, NGC 4473, NGC 4477, and NGC 4459 were found easily in their correct positions, but NGC 4474 was new to me. It is very small, elongated, and has decent surface brightness. I moved northwards to spot M88, which some people include in the chain, and then dropped to M87, which is always a fine sight. I should at some point try to see if the jet can be picked out at high magnification, but tonight I had other targets in mind.

I had a quick look at Saturn, but even at 119x the seeing caused all sorts of ripples in the view, so I decided this was going to be a DSO night, not a planet night.

Moving to Porrima, to track down a few fuzzies that eluded me previously in hazy conditions, I hopped to the location of NGC 4684, and after a few attempts was rewarded with a clear elongated patch; not bright, but unmistakably there. Just south NGC 4691 was more rounded and a bit more elongated. I then had a bit of a fruitless hunt for NGC 4818 and NGC 4731, but did stumble upon an old friend: NGC 4697, which is quite easy despite the low altitude. NGC 4699 was a revisited more purposefully, but although it was brighter than the first time I picked it up in hazy conditions, it showed no further detail.

Moving away from Virgo, which by now was movig towards some trees to my west, I moved to Bootes. I had no luck (some glimpses, nothing firm) with NGC 5523 and NGC 5653, but NGC 5557 showed up quite readily, as a compact ellipsoid. Just across the border with CVn, I managed NGC 5395 (the Heron Galaxy), which was elongated, and very faint, averted vision only. I thought I got a glimpse of its companion, but I could not repeat that, not pinpoint its position so I left it at that.

Further north, close to a fairly bright star I encountered NGC 5353, NGC 5354, and NGC 5350, a magnificent triplet (core of Hickson 68). I first spotted what I thought was one galaxy southwards of the star, but got hint at 93x with the 22mm that there were in fact two. At 119x with the 17T4 there was no room for doubt, as two objects in close interaction showed up, like a smaller version of the Eyes. The lower (NGC 5353) is more elongated, whereas the upper (NGC 5354) is round. To their north I could make out a small patch of fuzz east of the aforesaid star, much more diffuse than the previous two (averted vision only, the other direct vision). This was NGC 5350, a face-on barred spiral. Lovely group to observe. There are several other galaxies in the neighbourhood,but I think I might need more aperture for them. A bit further north I did locate NGC 5383, a somewhat extended patch of fuzz, averted vision only. NGC 5371 was nearby, bit more compact, and a bit brighter than the previous one. I briefly tried NGC 5112, but no luck, and ended on M63, a lovely galaxy in CVn (and the subject of some brilliant images on SGL lately).

Clouds were now rushing in, and as it was 2:00, it was a good moment to pack up the kit. All told a great session full of galaxies: 39 total, 20 new to me, 19 old friends. The odd failure is to be expected.

After I brought in the kit, and waited for the condensation to clear before storing them, I treated myself to a well-deserved tot of single malt. Putting my notes in order and making sure I had not double-logged things, I was very pleased to see the galaxy count is now 354 . It is just amazing what treasures are still to be found even with a fairly modest 8" aperture. There is more up there that I can find, I do not doubt. I can put off getting that 11" - 12" scope for a while yet.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I always enjoy reading your reports.

Thanks for sharing them.

[cotterless45]

Very enjoyable, noted the ones that I haven't spotted. Send some clear sky this way, no Moon , just clag , need

clear skies,

Nick.

[cotterless45]

Few more galaxies in Bootes, it is a remarkably rich area and well placed just now,Nick.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Few more galaxies in Bootes, it is a remarkably rich area and well placed just now,Nick.

Thanks for that. I will use gimp to rotate that list (seriously, handy list to have)

[Stu]

Lovely report as always Michael. Out of interest, what are your skies like at best in terms of NELM? Mine vary from about 4.5 at absolute best to probably about 2.5 to 3 but it varies across the sky due to localised LP as I'm sure it does for most of us.

Second question, what sort of magnification/exit pupil do you find works best on these galaxies?

I have a x0.5 focal reducer which I am thinking of trying on my mak to bring the focal length down and make it more suitable for this kind of observing. It does mess with the focal point though so I need to do some experimenting to see if I can get it to focus.

Cheers

Stu

[Double Kick Drum]

So much packed in there it is hard to know where to start but 350 + galaxies in eight inches of aperture is a fantastic return.

A great report. I think the only galaxy of your new finds that I have managed is NGC 5557 in Bootes.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Lovely report as always Michael. Out of interest, what are your skies like at best in terms of NELM? Mine vary from about 4.5 at absolute best to probably about 2.5 to 3 but it varies across the sky due to localised LP as I'm sure it does for most of us.

Second question, what sort of magnification/exit pupil do you find works best on these galaxies?

I have a x0.5 focal reducer which I am thinking of trying on my mak to bring the focal length down and make it more suitable for this kind of observing. It does mess with the focal point though so I need to do some experimenting to see if I can get it to focus.

Cheers

Stu

Hi Stu,

NELM varies a lot, but it is not too bad, and on transparent nights I have seen mag 5.5 stars in the Pleiades, and mag 4.5-5 at zenith does occur reasonably often. Skies are frequently good enough to pick out M101 in 10x50 and 15x70 bins. Regarding exit pupil: I generally start at 3.1mm (the 31T5 Panzerfaust), but the main galaxy hunting tools are the 22T4 (2.2mm exit pupil) and 17T4 (1.7mm exit pupil). Some compact ones are better at 1.2mm exit pupil with the 12T4. Sometimes I want to get a 14mm Delos or XW to get a 14mm exit pupil as well. The optimum exit pupil depends heavily on conditions and the object, and as much as I like to match magnification to seeing on planets, I like to match exit pupils on DSOs. Planetaries often take a very small exit pupil, down to 1mm, or even 0.7 for the near stellar ones.

I personally would not go for the focal reducer (I have one for the C8 but only plan to use it for imaging). You do not really gain more FOV with respect to a 2" EP with twice the focal length of a 1.25" EP combined with a 0.5x reducer. Usually, the extra glass reduces throughput a bit, and there are all sorts of problems with correct spacing.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

So much packed in there it is hard to know where to start but 350 + galaxies in eight inches of aperture is a fantastic return.

A great report. I think the only galaxy of your new finds that I have managed is NGC 5557 in Bootes.

Thanks DKD. This was one of those nights that everything seemed to come together nicely.

[Stu]

Thanks very much Michael, very useful info. As suspected my skies are a fair amount worse than yours but I will still try to have more of a go with these galaxies on good nights. I can see M51 reasonably ok in the mak so will persevere.

Understood re the focal reducer, I have it already but not using it so will put it up for sale.

Cheers,

Stu

[KevUU]

Really good read Michael, thanks, sounds like a great night too.

I (still) haven't made it into Virgo but have spent a few hours today planning my running order, even armed with my guide (OITH) and PSA and SkySafari+ it's been complicated so I can't imagine how lost I would get trying to work it out as I went along!

I'm glad of your note about 4407/4413, SkySafari+ showed it as 11.9 but I see DeepSkyPedia agrees with you.

And I'd missed 4425 entirely - although I think these fainties will be beyond my reach anyway...

Interesting that your sky is usually 4.5 to 5, I assumed you had better than that given your results. My garden is usually between 4.8 and 5.1 (caveat on my approximation skills though) so perhaps I need to buckle down rather than blaming the skies. To be fair my problem isn't so much LP in the sky as much as stray light getting to my eyes from neighbours' windows and a streetlight - I haven't worked out how to block it yet as fence panels / windbreaks aren't an option and putting a towel over my head just fogs the ep. Back to the head-scratching there I think.

Thanks

[cotterless45]

Try getting a few extendable washing line poles putting them in holes at night then sling some throws between them . Works for my 9 streetlights, security lights and neighbours who have no curtains. Surely they can't all be exhibitionists.

In the meantime it's all all about achievable targets and working with seeing/ transparency. Reckon

we are about a 5 here, just look forward to a few visits each year to pristine sites and

clear skies,

Nick.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Really good read Michael, thanks, sounds like a great night too.

I (still) haven't made it into Virgo but have spent a few hours today planning my running order, even armed with my guide (OITH) and PSA and SkySafari+ it's been complicated so I can't imagine how lost I would get trying to work it out as I went along!

I'm glad of your note about 4407/4413, SkySafari+ showed it as 11.9 but I see DeepSkyPedia agrees with you.

And I'd missed 4425 entirely - although I think these fainties will be beyond my reach anyway...

Interesting that your sky is usually 4.5 to 5, I assumed you had better than that given your results. My garden is usually between 4.8 and 5.1 (caveat on my approximation skills though) so perhaps I need to buckle down rather than blaming the skies. To be fair my problem isn't so much LP in the sky as much as stray light getting to my eyes from neighbours' windows and a streetlight - I haven't worked out how to block it yet as fence panels / windbreaks aren't an option and putting a towel over my head just fogs the ep. Back to the head-scratching there I think.

Thanks

Thanks Kev. That night I would say it was closer to mag 5.5. One other thing is that practice makes if not perfect, a lot better. Averted vision becomes second nature, and you have a much better idea what to look for.

[Stu]

I lied! My skies are down to mag 5 NELM tonight near the zenith. Shame I can't stay up too late tonight but have just had a little session, very nice.

[Special K]

Very comprehensive report, lots of good suggestions in there too, thanks. You certainly deserved that tot at the end! 354 galaxies is a massive count. I can probably claim about 10, but think I struggle given aperture.

I also assumed you had much better visibility than I have in Herts but is not a huge difference. I can make out all seven stars of Ursa Minor and think a good night gives me just under a 5.0

One thing you mentioned interested me and had a question. If the seeing was bad for Saturn I thought the seeing would be bad for DSOs too. Is it because Saturn is low and the seeing obviously better near Zenith?

[Special K]

Try getting a few extendable washing line poles putting them in holes at night then sling some throws between them

Good idea and think I may look into building some contraption to shroud my scope from the street lights. I sunk our trampoline down 3 feet in the garden last year and have kept the side poles which could be handy. The pit itself would have been ideal but has the trampoline in it; and I'm certainly not up to digging another one!

[KevUU]

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I (still) haven't made it into Virgo but have spent a few hours today planning my running order

[...]

My garden is usually between 4.8 and 5.1 (caveat on my approximation skills though) so perhaps I need to buckle down rather than blaming the skies.

Buoyed by this discussion and aided by really clear skies after a "wet n 'orrible" sort of day, I managed most of my running order from my garden last night, including some additions from your report. Even as Virgo drifted down to the West and the background became pea soup, I was still pulling out mag 11.5 blobs, absolutely amazed at what 8" can do

Thanks for your relentless enthusiasm and encouragement Michael, I don't think I'd have bothered with galaxies last night but for this thread.

[cotterless45]

The 200 Dob is all you need, that and what one vital thing that we didn't manage here !

Clear skies,

Nick.