15th May 2012 - Even More Ursa Major Galaxies

[Double Kick Drum]

Yes, a quick 50 minute mid-week stint in Ursa Major and I managed to find four more galaxies.

None of them were easy in my 5 inch refractor but here goes....

NGC 2768 - Mag 9.9 - S.Br 13.7 Beyond the plough, in between Nu and Omicron and just to the South of 16 Ursae Majoris. Feint averted object with a hint of ellipse.

NGC 2985 - Mag 10.4 - S.Br 13.3 North of the M81 group. I moved from 22 to 27 Ursae Majoris and continued for the same distance again. Slightly easier to see, staying in my averted gaze.

NGC 3877 - Mag 11.0 - S.Br 13.0 Two feinter pairs of stars straddle Chi Ursa Majoris. Very feint galaxy is right next to the farthest of the four from the orangey bright Chi.

NGC 4051 - Mag 10.2 - S.Br 13.3 Found this the hardest to see. The core popped in and out of my averted view perhaps because it is very close to an 11th magnitude star.

I need something a bit more rewarding to see as these feint galaxies don't give away very much!

__________________________________________________ ______

Observing Session: Tuesday 15th May 2012, 22:35 hrs to 23:25 hrs BST

VLM at Zenith: 5.1

New - Revisited - Failed

[rory]

great going my good man, thats getting toward to limits of that scope is'nt it ?

i suppose being up toward the zenith gave you better odds at least. but i take my hat of to you sir.

[Double Kick Drum]

great going my good man, thats getting toward to limits of that scope is'nt it ?

i suppose being up toward the zenith gave you better odds at least. but i take my hat of to you sir.

Yes, I am running out of galaxies to go for. There are still a few in Virgo and minor constellations. Otherwise I will have to wait for Autumn and Pegasus and Cetus, though there are only a handful I think I will be able to find there.

I will probably move focus from the Summer to more open and globular clusters. By which time (wife allowing) I will have doubled my aperture and joined the Dobsonian crowd.

ps. I mis-read one of my Greek letters. Nu should read Upsilon for NGC 2768.

[Mike73]

I'm back at work for another 2 weeks so while these evenings are so light I'm missing out on these midweek sessions but its good to see you guys still getting out there.

Just curious but have you seen NGC 5173 in Canes Venatici near M51? I tried picking it up on Friday but couldn't spot it, must of been looking in the wrong place I guess?

[Double Kick Drum]

I'm back at work for another 2 weeks so while these evenings are so light I'm missing out on these midweek sessions but its good to see you guys still getting out there.

Just curious but have you seen NGC 5173 in Canes Venatici near M51? I tried picking it up on Friday but couldn't spot it, must of been looking in the wrong place I guess?

No, the only one that I have seen in the Eastern part of Canes Venatici (other than M51) is NGC 5195 - ie. the companion of the Whirlpool. I did try for NGC 5353, which is a little farther South but failed to find it when trying to navgate across from M63.

I'll check it out on my database.

Does it have a high surface brightness?

Most of the galaxies I have spotted in that region are over on the Western half of the constellation. I think my Canes Venatici galaxy count stands at 12 at the moment. The Whirlpool galaxy and Whale galaxy (NGC 4631) are probably the pick of them.

[Mike73]

Cant find any details about its surface brightness but think its within your scope magnitude range.

Was just curious, it eluded me the other night but I will be back.

[m_j_lyons]

Great job with a 5"! Keep it up!

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice catch DKD. I have not bagged NGC 3877 yet. Should give it a go.

[Double Kick Drum]

All four galaxies were quite close to the limit on that particular night. I don't think there are any easy ones left, without getting a bigger scope.

Time to start saving!