Galaxy hunt!

[toml42]

I'm going to try a more focused approach tonight, usually i'm zooming all over the place visiting old favourites and picking up the occasional new one - tonight i'm going to get comfy and try and blast through some of the many galaxies in ursa major.

Spotting m81 / m82 last week was one of the biggest rushes i've had, and i want to see how many more i can get

i've done m81/m82 and m51 so far, of the remaining messier galaxies in ursa, are any particularly difficult that perhaps i should avoid for now?

anyone have any particular favourites?

[toml42]

Despite the conditions tonight being nowhere near as good as i was hoping (poor transparency, intermittent thin clouds, residual bbq smoke from next door...) I managed to bag three more galaxies!

i found m108 first, as an edge on galaxy it had a fairly apparent disc shape to it, and wasn't too difficult to spot.

m109 was second, i found this one a little trickier to find, possible due to worsening conditions, but once i'd found it the core was visible to averted vision.

i had some trouble with m101, probably because it's larger and more diffuse, and in the pictures at least the core doesn't look as bright as in other galaxies. Got it in the end though, but only just, it felt like it was really testing the limits of what i can observe from my location.

I'll certainly be looking again when things are a little clearer

[Neilius]

Its been a brilliant night up here in Yorkshire - clearest night with good seeing for ages; since last winter, in fact.

I would have a look at the south side of the sky - Eagle nebula and Wild Goose Nebula amongst others (sorry, forgot their names!) all in a band. M25 and M22 are there; check Stellarium!

[waccoo]

In and around Ursa Major, Canes Venatici is chock full of easy to find Galaxies. M63, and M94 are easy fines even in smaller cities.

Coma has M64 and the northern Virgo cluster.

Virgo: M59, 60, 84, 86 and 87 are relatively easy to see.

If you aren't too far north M104.

Braver souls would try for the brighter items in Draco.

As it is, we are getting into the Summer Globular season and galaxies are on the way out, but, there are still some fine easy finds even with brighter skies.

[toml42]

I managed to grab m63 and m94 last week, but virgo is fairly badly positioned for me right now. never mind, i can wait

[Nexus 6]

Good stuff Tom! M81 and M82 are brilliant,

as you say, Virgo has gone now but a target to look forward to seeing in the months ahead is M31 (NGC 224) the Andromeda galaxy in Andromeda, together with its companion galaxy M110 (NGC 205) they are a great sight!

I had a look the other morning it was good to see them back again

Clear Skies

[swamp thing]

i found m108 first, as an edge on galaxy it had a fairly apparent disc shape to it, and wasn't too difficult to spot.

Sounds like that was M97 which is very close (about 1 degree) to M108.

M108 will definitely appear edge on in your scope.

Good job on the others.

Regards Steve

[acey]

i've done m81/m82 and m51 so far, of the remaining messier galaxies in ursa, are any particularly difficult that perhaps i should avoid for now?

M101 in Ursa major can be tough as it is large and has low surface brightness, so needs a dark sky. The planetary M97 (Owl Nebula) can also be tough in a bright sky though a filter will help. (Maybe you've seen it already).

M51 is actually in Canes Venatici though most people would think of that bit of sky as Ursa major.

[toml42]

I did find m101 a few nights ago, but it was definitely more difficult than the others. I saw m97 the same night and managed to get it in the same FOV as m108, which was a pleasant sight

[acey]

Great - in that case why not have a go at the non-Messier NGCs in Ursa Major - there's lots to choose from. Try ones in the Herschel 400 list.

[whirlpool5194]

You did very well to bag m101 from home!! Yo must have very good skies....

Wp