The Great Quasar Hunt - June 14, 2012

[m_j_lyons]

How do you top a night where you observed two quasars and one supernova? You go to a darker location and focus almost exclusively on quasars in the magnitude 13-14 range. On the night of June 14 I drove almost 80 minutes north of Las Vegas to the Paranaugat wildlife Refuge arriving after sunset but well before true darkness set in. A quiet location but for the highway I used to get there - I didn't realize how much traffic this highway received after dark - not a five minute period went by without cars/trucks speeding by washing over my viewing location with their headlights - I got really good at keep my eyes closed to protect my night vision. And it was dark - this was my first Bortle 1 location with the horizon being completely black except for due south where the light dome of Las Vegas glowed dimly on the horizon up to about 10 degrees. The Milky Way was brilliant. Air temperatures dropped from the mid-90s (F) to the mid-80s (F) and winds dropped to nearly nothing in the hour after sunset. Despite being such a dark location my views of galaxies were never 'crisp' - I've had far better galaxy views from other locations (that are less dark) so there must have been a good bit of moisture in the airmass up high. Stars were clear with beautiful spikes coming from the bright ones.

Several 'visibility test targets' were jumped through as I was waiting for twighlight to fade. The Hercules Cluster (M15), Alberio, and M92 all old friends revisited. My normal test targets - M65, M66, NGC 3628 - were briefly observed a few times over the course of the night but never impressed (which was disappointing).

First hunt of the night was MKN 501 - a mag 14.5 quasar an unknown distance away. I hopped down from Eta Her and found a "V" asterism of roughly mag 8 stars that pointed right to the target area. After camping on a mag 12.6 star I was able to see the faintest galactic haze around a 'star' at the right location - that's the target with the 'star' being the quasar shining bright in the galactic core. Quasar find #5!

Staying in Hercules I went hunting for B3 1715+425 - a mag 13.3 quasar listed at 2.1 Gly distant. I found the start of this hunt a challenge as I started star hopping from Iota Her - which was a challenge to find as it's not an overly bright star and doesn't stand out in the finder scope. I could clearly see it naked eye but had difficulty translating that to the finder scope. I eventually did find Iota and star hopped up to the area via a line of mag 5 - 6 stars to M92. I hopped to the correct location, positively identified the mag 8.4 star that was my 'base camp' for this hunt...then could clearly make out the mag 13 and 13.4 stars nearby but the quasar was nowhere to be seen...it was supposed to be sitting between the mag 8.4 and mag 13 stars...but nothing was there. Upped the magnification from 120x to 240x but it didn't help. No joy on this target. I'm thinking my star chart program must have been off in either magnitude of the target or location...because mag 13 targets were easily seen this night.

Next I swung the scope over to Draco and PG 1634+706 (A Sky & Telescope target this month) - a mag 14.7 quasar listed 7.6 Gly away (but this month's Sky & Telescope said the distance is most likely incorrect due to time/space expansion). I star hopped over from Pherkhad in Ursa Minor to a grouping of mag 6-8 stars and then down to the target area. Positively IDing the quasar was not that difficult tonight as there isn't much else in the immediate vicinity...but a series of mag 12-14 stars ring the area and were all visible. The quasar stood out as a compact star-like body. Quasar #6!

Next down to the tail of Draco for MKN 180 - a mag 14.5 target an unknown distance away. The star hop from the tip of the tail (Gianifar) wasn't too difficult...and I made a postive ID based off where the faint stars were in relation to one another...the quasar formed the corner of a parallelogram with 3 other stars - but it was faint. This was about the faintest target of the night and averted only. Quasar #7.

Next moving up Draco's body to PG 1351+640 - a mag 14.3 quasar listed 1.1 Gly distant. A pretty easy star hop and a line of mag 10 stars pointed right to the averted-only quasar. It was faint but there were stars a little further away that were more faint. Quasar #8!!

A little further up the body and star hopping over from Ursa Minor led to 3C 305.0 - a mag 13.7 quasar listed at 550 Mly distance. The star hop was the biggest challenge here as so many faint stars were visible it was tough for me to keep track of which star I was really looking at. After about 10 minutes of hunting/checking/moving/hunting/checking/verifying I finally made it to the correct target location and could see a faint star-like object in the faintest of haze - that's the target. Several mag 14.x stars were clearly visibile in the vicinity. Averted vision brought out the most of the haze...but the target was not difficult in these conditions. Mark that as #9!!!

Final ultra deep target of the night was IRAS 17371+5615 - a mag 14.0 target listed at 960 Mly. Another challenging star hop trying to pin down faint stars in the head of Draco...eventually did it and camped out on a mag 10.3 star where the quasar was out on a ring of mag 14.x stars in the same EP view. I was able to pin down each of the mag 14 stars with the target quasar being #3 in the line. This was a faint target...but it was there. An even 10 quasars logged!

Time to view a few more old friends - M101 with darkness showing between faint farms, M51 which was the only stunning galaxy of the night with the arms showing about as clearly as I've ever seen them, M63 with the bright core and expansive dim glow, and M94 was just a bright core.

Then down to NGC 4618 and NGC 4625 - both of which were little more than faint smears. 4618 was clearly brighter and the core stood out well.

I finished up my CVn tour with the Cocoon galaxy and companion NGC 4485 - the Cocoon had a bright core and appeared maybe "quarter-on" facing...4485 was non-discript. Their proximity lends itself to interaction but I couldn't see any through the EP.

A great, dark night. Very pleased with the very faint targets I was able to pin down. 6 new quasars observed (+1 more missed) and 3 new galaxies. I'm all smiles (well I am now after a decent sleep).

Happy hunting.

[todd8137]

Very interesting ,great read must have been a great night

Pat

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report of a great session! Congrats on that great haul of quasars (all beyond my scope, except for 3C 305.0, and B3 1715+42, aargh, aperture fever again ).

Note to self: must get that 12" dob!

[Mike73]

Wow!! Sounds like an amazing night.

If and when I get to a really dark site in the upcoming months I'd love to attempt finding some quasars failing that I haven't looked for comets or supernovas yet either.

Great report and thanks for posting.

[mdstuart]

Yes very interesting ...I hve done 3C 273 and OJ 287..have you done that one? Its a double black hole I think!

Mark

[Sam]

That's a fantastic report, very interesting. I might have to go quasar hunting myself.

[m_j_lyons]

Yes very interesting ...I hve done 3C 273 and OJ 287..have you done that one? Its a double black hole I think!

Mark

Yes - back in April I had the chance to get out and grab those two (post). This quest began with the website - "A Fist Full of Quasars". I expanded my hunt using SkyTools 3 which has an extensive database of extragalactic objects. I agree that observing the visible effects of a black hole interacting with another black hole's accretion disk is pretty cool. Happy hunting.

[m_j_lyons]

Wow!! Sounds like an amazing night.

If and when I get to a really dark site in the upcoming months I'd love to attempt finding some quasars failing that I haven't looked for comets or supernovas yet either.

Great report and thanks for posting.

Mike start with the targets in this website - A Fist Full of Quasars - that way you'll have solid finder charts and some description for what you're hunting. Also - be advised that OJ 287 is variable and is definitely on the bright side of it's cycle now. Happy hunting.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I started out on the same site (one more to go of that list). I got OJ287 with my 8" which is only possible in the brightest phase which is presumably when the smaller of the two black holes passes through the accretion disk of the bigger. Seriously weird object.

I will have a look at SkyTools 3. Thanks for posting. I might try to get some time on the 16" RC of our university, and see if I can get some of the fainter ones. I do not know whether I can by pass its goto system, as I am honour bound to find them without . I could of course confirm the sightings by taking spectra if possible.

[Hals]

I now know what my next targets are when it's the right time of year !!

The fact that quasars just look like another field star is immaterial - you've got to just realize what it is you're actually looking at.

Wow.

[AlexxxAA]

Wonderful report!!! I think im going to give a few a try and see how dim of objects my new 12" can capture from here in the suburbs of Los Angeles... If not, Ill wait for the next star party with considerably dark skies. Even finding just one or two here from my house should will be a great accomplishment!!!

[AlexxxAA]

Next I swung the scope over to Draco and PG 1634+706 (A Sky & Telescope target this month) - a mag 14.7 quasar listed 7.6 Gly away (but this month's Sky & Telescope said the distance is most likely incorrect due to time/space expansion). I star hopped over from Pherkhad in Ursa Minor to a grouping of mag 6-8 stars and then down to the target area. Positively IDing the quasar was not that difficult tonight as there isn't much else in the immediate vicinity...but a series of mag 12-14 stars ring the area and were all visible. The quasar stood out as a compact star-like body. Quasar #6!

What month issue is this from? June?

[AlexxxAA]

Scratch that! I just found it! Sorry