December 19, 2014: VERY short session; galaxy count reaches 495

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

On December 19 I suddenly spotted the sky was crystal clear, despite near gale-force winds, so I set up the scope in record time in a sheltered corner of the garden to get the remaining 7 galaxies to hit 500. I first aligned the finder on Messartim, and star hopped to M74. Tricky object as ever, but definitely there. Clouds were racing in so I quickly swung to NGC 514. Quite tricky, but a fairly compact fuzzy blotch fairly close to a foreground star could be spotted in averted vision. It seemed to have some degree of central condensation. I had to wait briefly as a cloud swept by, but could then move south to NGC 524 (Herschel 400 object). This was much easier, and a very nice round fuzzy patch.

At this point a large bank of cloud rushed in, and I beat a hasty retreat, as rain threatened. Whisked the scope inside, and had to settle for a galaxy count of 495. Must hope for a single decent session (or two or three lightning sessions) to hit that 500. Still, two new objects in about 10 minutes is not bad

[mister_wavey]

good luck on reaching your 500th observation this year.

I'm beginning the Herschel 400 on the next cloudless evening. I notice that with M82 the list, that's one down already

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

good luck on reaching your 500th observation this year.

I'm beginning the Herschel 400 on the next cloudless evening. I notice that with M82 the list, that's one down already

Thanks. Not 500 in one year, 500 galaxies total. Given I had reached 475 last summer I had hoped to reach 500 this year (easily). The weather had other ideas, but I might yet reach it.

The Herschel 400 list is a very nice one. Have you tried the Caldwell list already?

[YKSE]

Two new galaxies in 10 minutes! Talking about efficiency   We keep our fingers crossed for one or clear nights before the year end.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Pah, a full 5 minutes per galaxy! Last session I got one new galaxy every 3 minutes (OK, the first five almost fit into a single FOV of the 31T5, but still). I am clearly getting slow

[Special K]

Nearly there! The weather outlook doesn't bode well with all these Astro presents people will be getting shortly ;(

Good luck and clear skies, Michael!