December 13, 2014: First C8 session in months

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Yesterday we were promised clear skies, and got them, sort of. Luckily I made an early start, and had the telescope out at about 20:00. I inserted my trusty Nagler 22T4, and decided to go galaxy hunting. I focused on getting some galaxies in the Cetus area first. Two objects I had marked for observation years ago but had escaped me to date were first up. NGC 1073 proved more difficult than the 11.5 visual magnitude would suggest, but gradually I found a persistent faint blotchy patch of haze. This suggest face-on (barred) spiral to me, and some internet searching confirmed this. Location was spot on, and I could find the same place three or four times, so considered it bagged. I then moved slightly west to find NGC 1032. At mag 12.64 this should be a good deal harder, but a little elongated patch revealed itself after some searching in averted vision. This is a side-on spiral/lenticular, and has slightly better surface brightness than NGC 1073. I then moved south, to the area west of Azha (eta Eridani), where NGC 1084 was a very easy target by comparison. At mag 10.7 this is a nice, large patch of fuzz, slightly irregular in appearance (almost a small edition of M33).

Back again in Cetus, just a bit further west, I found NGC 1052 without much difficulty, but NGC 1042 was quite a bit harder. The former is an elliptical galaxy of quite decent surface brightness, the latter is a face-on spiral, with much lower surface brightness, and a faint, blotchy appearance. I had the feeling conditions were getting hazy, and this may have been the reason I failed to get NGC 1022, NGC 991, and NGC 895 in the same general area. I decided to try my luck further north, and still in Cetus, managed to pick up NGC 864. This is another face-on galaxy. It has a star of our own galaxy superimposed, so looks like some asymmetric haze around a star.  Further north still, in Aries, NGC 821 proved hard, but I realized its position was close to a foreground star as well, so I upped the magnification with the 12T4, and spotted what looked like a compact elliptical blob just next to the star. A quick google confirmed the catch.

Clouds were now beginning to move in, so I had a look at some old friends. As Taurus was still clear in the east, I had a look at M1. Sliding in the UHC filter boosted contrast a bit. The 31T5 "Panzerfaust" framed it better than the 22T4. M45 hardly fit in the FOV, and looked better in the 14x70 finder.

As the clouds thickened, I took a break, bringing the OTA and battery pack in. Late in the evening (23:30 or so) the skies cleared and I had another look. Jupiter poked its head over the hedge, but seeing was atrocious, even at 93x with the 22T4. I then turned to M42/M43, which was AWESOME, especially with the UHC filter. The Running Man could just be made out as well (the nebulosity, not the actual shape). Near Alnitak I had a go at the Flame. Some tantalizing hints in averted vision suggested the presence of a nebula, but nothing definite enough to be sure.  I had a brief shot at Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC 1555) but no luck either.

As Jupiter was higher now, I tried again, and the seeing was a bit better, but at 203x in the XW10 the image was far from perfect, so I decided imaging was out of the question. As a finale, I turned to some old favourites: M81 and M82; lovely pair, as ever.

As clouds were encroaching again, I packed up the kit. I had hoped to go for an all-nighter and perhaps image the moon and Jupiter waiting for NGC 4666 to rise with the supernova (to observe my tenth SN), but fog rolled in, and later thick cloud blocked out even the moon. Still, this is the first session in months, and despite quite a few failures, I bagged 7 new objects, and spotted quite a few old friends. Well worthwhile.

[cotterless45]

Neat ! We've had gappy clouds, no scope for an all nighter just yet !

I was looking at M1 last night, trying to decide if it was actually there. Jupiter has been most spectacular high in the sky in the early hours. I like to get out for 3, limber up and observe,

Nick.

[scarp15]

Really good session, making up for lost time. I shall look into those galaxies you have marked up for next time I get out. On Friday evening I managed to get NGC 891, NGC 925 and M74, M77 (which was very bright). M33 and NGC 604 nebula, stood out loud and proud. NGC 404 Mirachs Ghost was lovely to.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Sounds good. I always found NGC 891 very hard (until I looked through Olly's 20" Dobsonian)

[scarp15]

Sounds good. I always found NGC 891 very hard (until I looked through Olly's 20" Dobsonian)

Yes this edge on galaxy was dimmer than I was expecting, though once located, the profile was fairly large and distinct. I managed to increase to medium power but it would not take any more.

[YKSE]

A nice read as always. My C8 is still waiting for it's first chance for galaxy hunt in months.