mdstuart

John It was one of those very transparent nights! I went out and spent two hours looking at loads of galaxies in Virgo across to Hercules. Sounds like you had an excellent session as well. Mark

Gina Yes, very dry air. Currently showing 49% which is VERY dry for this time of the evening. Mark

Do you have any local astro club as getting another pair of experienced eyes on the scope is a good way forward. I am sure you will get a good image once you identify and resolve the issue. Mark

M51 is very distinctive when you find it with its two fuzzy patches.. The best nights in the UK are when we get clear air from the north or northwest which improves transparency. Over recent days the air is coming in from Europe and it's less clear. Mark

It's just the public DSS image...not mine ? visually the object was just discernable in my 16 inch scope with averted vision.

Well I had a splendid time viewing loads of fuzzies including NGC 4413. I find the Virgo galaxies harder to spot than they should be as they are often elliptical without bright cores and Virgo is quite low down..

I am planning to do a little bit of galaxy hunting in Virgo ..starting with NGC 4413 near M86.. Mark

So we have 20 minutes of astro darkness before the moon rises tonight. Use it wisely ?

Have a look at this. Parralax can be measured to close stars with amateur telescopes. https://www.quora.com/Has-an-amateur-astronomer-measured-a-stellar-parallax

Tony It is actually the summit of Fan-y-big. Took me 3hrs to get there from the campsite. Mark

Just back from an enjoyable time at the swag astro party. As always I was made very welcome and caught up with some friends. We enjoyed touring the skies with my little 127mak. We looked at doubles for Nick and then a few galaxies including NGC 2903 and NGC 4565. Today I walked up to the Brecons. It was further than I expected but the views, the skylarks and birds of prey were amazing. Thank you Freff for organising it. Mark (the galaxy hunter)....and sometimes other stuff. Mark

http://images.mantrapskies.com/catalog/NGC/NGC4157/index.htm Another pic of that awesome galaxy...plus some blurb..

Two comets to look for later. Iwamoto and 46p