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Observing session last night from SHO (sorry, it's long)

Astroman

By Astroman
in Observing - Deep Sky

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Astroman

Astroman

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I got the chance to get out in the Stone Haven dome last night to check out the newly refurbished 10” F/7 Treckerscope. (The drive still doesn’t work, but I’d planned on just star hopping anyway.)

First target, (after Sirius for collimation), was Saturn. At 237x, the flattening of the rings is very apparent. (Has it really been that long since I saw Saturn?) It was suprising to me how easily I could pick out all 8 of the Saturnian moons with the additional aperture. With the C8, I’d only get 4 on a regular basis, and sometimes 6, depending on conditions. Cassinni was easy in the rock solid air, but I failed to see Enke, though I didn’t try that hard. The bands on the planet were subtle, yet marked.

My observing plan was to observe several galaxy groups in Leo. Mostly because I’d seen them and wanted to compare them to views from the C8. First up was M95, M96, M105 and the other Ngc’s in the region, (Ngc 3389 and 3384). The M95 & M96 pair were brilliant and fit easily in the 26.6mmEP view at 67x. M96 is a face-on spiral, but not much detail was seen. M95 on the other hand showed a nice, bright bar structure straight through the middle, even at low powers. At 237x, (the limiting mag for conditions), the contrast increased and the structure was plain. Very nice view.

Panning north to M105 and cohorts Ngc 3384 and Ngc 3389 presented a wonderful view of these distant companions. M105 is a huge elliptical, nearly round, but slightly elongated to the northwest. Ngc 3384 is also elliptical, but much more elongated in the same direction. Ngc 3389 is much smaller and fainter, but shows some early spiral details, most noticeably a tidal distortion in the arms, maybe due to gravitational interaction with the other two larger galaxies. On a whim, I just poked around the area and was able to detect, if not really observe, several other galaxies in the region. Will have to return there this weekend, if the weather holds.

M65 and M66 never cease to please! IMHO, this is one of the most rewarding galactic views on the sky. Two very large galaxies easily seen at low (55x) powers in the same EP. Slightly nudging to the north reveals Ngc3628, and even larger, if slightly fainter and more spread out galaxy. M66 is an interesting object, but the disruption in the arms is very subtle. I hope to look closer at this one again this weekend, too. Off to the west of M65 is faint Ngc 3593. I’d seen this one in the C8, but the extra aperture really made it visible. Just a smear on the sky normally, it showed some extended disk with a brighter core. Doesn’t sound like much, but when you’ve only barely detected it before, this is a breakthrough!

The double star Algeiba in Leo, (Gamma Leonis), is a wonderful star party target I show a lot. For those that stick around, I slew to the east to shoe the galaxy Ngc 3227. This one is partners with Ngc 3226, a much smaller galaxy. I’ve never seen it split until last night. I split Algeiba at 111x, slewed over and Boom! Both galaxies, plain as day. It was a real thrill to see it with my own eyes!

The last objects were M46 and M47, a couple of open clusters in Puppis. I wanted to see specifically the planetary nebula Ngc 2438 in M46, but can never remember which one it’s in, so I look at both. (Go ahead, laugh.) This goes along with looking for M108 and finding M97 and vice versa. Anyway, M47 is a nice group of bright stars, but doesn’t have a PN in it. Doh! M47 is the one, and at 67x the planetary pops right out. Crank it up to 118x, add the UHC filter and it becomes a “Wow!”. Almost perfectly round and uniformly bright ring shaped, Ngc 2438 looks like a slightly fainter M57. At mag 11, it’s fainter and at 1.0’ diameter it’s only slightly smaller. But seeing it among all the 10th mag stars in M47 is a treat.

Well, as always, as soon as I get going out there, I want to keep trying things, but it was getting later, so I needed to call it a night. As I get to know this scope, I really look forward to fixing the drive and doing some real science with it. There’s an occultation tomorrow night that I’ll miss, but plenty of variable stars I already know and many future GRB’s for the camera!

Woohoo!

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Astroman

Astroman

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To be honest I'm just going to get my charts because I

don't recognise some of those objects :oops:

This is one reason I don't post observing sessions much-nobody knows what the h**l I'm lookin' at! :lol: That and, I don't image them, and you can barely see them anyway. :D

But thanks, I did have a good time. 8)

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Andrew

Andrew

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Great report Astroman. Please keep them coming and make them as detailed as you want - there isn't enough visual observing reported on this forum IMO

I always like to hear about those extra details that you can pick out under the best conditions and it's nice to hear about some objects that aren't on everyone's list of targets.

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FLO

FLO

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Great report Astroman. Please keep them coming and make them as detailed as you want - there isn't enough visual observing reported on this forum IMO

I'll second that,

I'll need to reread it with StarryNight to get the full picture 8)

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Astroman

Astroman

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Thanks guys. M47 with Ngc 2438 is an open cluster, as is M46, but what the heck. I'm pretty sure you guys could see the galaxies in Leo though, right? Also, if you can see Sirius, you can find M46 & 47-they're just east a couple degrees. If not, when you visit. 8)

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Kaptain Klevtsov

Kaptain Klevtsov

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If I get lucky with the lottery I'll turn up on your doorstep with a big grin and gifts.

A goto mount, a Meade advanced RC 'scope and some CCD gear, just to stir things up :lol: .

Siriusly though ( didn't win tonight ) Sirius is very low down for me, kind of poking between houses low down, but I'm not saying that I'm not tempted to travel for a glimpse.

Captain Chaos

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Astroman

Astroman

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You should really call first, CC. Just in case I'm not here, I'd hate to see all that gear stuck by the side of the road as the dogs chase you down the street. :D Besides, you could pick up a real RC in Flagstaff on your way down here. (See other thread for links.) :lol:

Kidding aside, if I got lucky with the lottery, I'd love to ship you guys here, as I've said before. Barring that, if you guys are ever in the neighborhood, do feel free to set up a visit. We'd love to show you some nice, dark, steady desert skies. :D

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barkis

barkis

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Long nothing AM, that was a super account of a viewing session. You are akin to those before us. Those dedicated astronomers who mapped the stars, spending hours at a time carefully logging their positions before committing them to charts. The old saying we stand on the shoulders of giants is very true. There is a tendency to get preoccupied with imaging these days, but before anyone takes me to task on that, I am hoping soon to embark on that very endeavour. I am merely applauding someone who has shared an experience with us, and I thank him for that. It made very good reading.

Ron. :lol:

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