December 16, 2014: Short session full of galaxies in Cetus

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Managed a short session this evening, hunting down some more galaxies in Cetus. Conditions weren't perfect, with the lights of the football field shining brightly. Beggars can't be choosers, so I swung the scope towards theta Ceti, and managed to bag a series of galaxies in quick succession. First up was NGC 584, an elongated blotch between two mag 7.5-8 stars. A bit eastwards, NGC 596 was a bit easier, close to a brighter star (two Herschel 400 objects bagged!). Due south, I was surprised to pick up a faint circular patch, in just the right place to be NGC 600. Further east, another elongated blotch betrayed the location of NGC 615, yet another Herschel 400 object. Just a bit further east again, NGC 636 could be spotted (more difficult).

Elated by this success, I dropped a bit south, into a bit more murk, and picked up NGC 681 near Baten Kaitos. Very faint next to and slightly under a mag 8.5 star. Fairly elongated and quite hard. Further south still, NGC 720 (H400 again), was quite a bit easier (still hard though, must visit this again under better conditions). Moving back northwards, NGC 701 proved a bit too hard, so I moved eastwards and north to NGC 788. Rather hard, more extended and quite fuzzy, but moving the scope gently showed that the faint patch moved with the stars. North of that NGC 779 proved a good deal easier (H-400 again). Onwards and eastwards, NGC 895 proved less elusive than last Saturday, and showed up as a faint oval patch. East and a bit southwards, I thought I glimpsed NGC 991, but I could not really pin down the location, and the shape seemed far too elongated (perhaps a line of foreground stars at the edge of visibility). A bit northwards and to the east I could make out NGC 1022 (final H-400 object of the evening) as a round hazy patch.

Clouds were now rushing in from the west, so I packed in the scope, pleased with 11 new objects including 6 Herschel 400 objects, and just two failures. Not bad for a 35-40 minute session. My galaxy count is now at 493, tantalizingly close to 500. One more session this year should bag me the required 7 galaxies

[DeepSkyBagger]

Excellent evening Deep-Sky Bagging! You potted some difficult objects there. I haven't seen any of those, though every one is on my Lifetime Observing Programme. They're a little low for me, mostly -6 to -7, but given a very good night, my light pollution horizon should drop low enough for me to have a go.  Thanks for sharing.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Thanks. These objects were as far south as I can go really, unless I go to a dark site with a clearer southern horizon. There were a few objects further south still (NGC 908 and NGC 613, both in the Herschel 400) that were beyond reach. Had the clouds not rushed in, I was hoping to get the group around NGC 470, but also NGC 488 and NGC 524 in Pisces to boost my galaxy and Herschel 400 counts further.

[swamp thing]

Not got these myself Michael. Good hunting buddy. Cetus is in my "to do" list

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Cheers, Steve. I have now got a couple in Pisces in sight for a next session. Higher up and easier, but Cetus has more goodies as well.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Not got these myself Michael. Good hunting buddy. Cetus is in my "to do" list

BTW, would love to hunt in Cetus with a 20" monster like yours

[Special K]

Wow, that's short work in 35-40 minutes!  You definitely had a battle plan.  Excellent results, Michael.  These faint fuzzies may not always reveal a lot of details but it's pretty exciting to see them all the same.  I've not gone galaxy hunting recently, but saw M81/M82 the other night which was a huge refresher!

[DeepSkyBagger]

I got 4 galaxies in Pisces on 23/11 - NGCs 63, 95, 125 and 128 (mislabelled in my report as being in Andromeda). See http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/231391-faint-fuzzies-231114/