Virgo galaxies : easy targets.

[cotterless45]

A host of galaxies the other night. I was observing from home at he edge of town with lp and an 8" Newtonian to see what was possible :

M85, M99,M91, M86, M88,M86, M84, M58,M59 and NGC4535.

These were bright and showed detail at x100. I was particularly pleased to see "The Eyes" NGC4435/38 gently glowing together.

A chart of the area looks daunting and there are few that will do with lp,

Nick.

[Double Kick Drum]

Definitely my favourite part of the sky.

Not able to see any detail myself but Mankarian's chain and the surrounding area is packed with galaxies. I look forward to revisiting if I ever get the chance.

[WaveSoarer]

Thanks for the report Nick. I'll look out for these. I was out viewing M96 last night. It took me a while to locate it as I couldn't recognise the patch of sky it was meant to be in through my binoculars (I quite often have these to hand to help me with star hopping). I then changed the route of my star hop and then I noticed what the issue was. Stellarium had superimposed the image of M95 onto one of the stars in my field of view and it made it look way brighter than it actually was. Once I recognised that it was plain sailing. The sky wasn't that transparent, sadly, and my imaging attempts were a bit of a flop. Still, looking forward to viewing the objects you've mentioned.

Dave

[Tinker1947]

Missed this area last year, cloud's ect,,,hoping to clean up on all of them this time round.....

[bish]

If only the street lights didn't burn up my night sky. I went down to my parents the other week to work through the virgo galaxies - of course it was cloudy. The only time I've made it to the Kielder star party in the spring it was total cloud. Might just drive out of town and set up on the side of the road.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice session! It is one of my favourite areas in the sky. I really hope to bag some more shortly (clouds here now )

[Special K]

I like the sound of some easy galaxies! Well done Nick. That's such a rich area you'll be sure of many happy returns. Be good to go for a dark site to get best effect on those targets.

[crashtestdummy]

If anything there are too many galaxies in the area and it can be a little daunting at first glimse but once you learn to recognise a few of the brighter ones you can find your way arround the area alot easier.theres a good 50 galaxies to go at

[cotterless45]

Burnham's lists 220 in Virgo !

Going to "need a bigger boat !"

Nick.

[crashtestdummy]

I think for the full 220 you will need a massive scope.look at pictures.of the leo triplet and theres a dozen small galaxies in the picture,too small for viewing but long exposure shows them up

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have bagged 86 galaxies in Virgo with my 8" scope, and 26 in Coma. A 12" scope should be able to bag far more.

[mjpfc]

I had a look through the other night, but the sky was hazy so I was lucky to spot all the messiers in Cannes V, Coma B and Virgo. As murky as the sky

was I saw saw very little in the way of detail excepting M104, m60, m90. I tried some of my favourites in Markarians chain but gave up, to observe another day.

I spend quite a while each year looking at this area of the sky as it is fuzzy-feind heaven. There is even a spottable Quasar in it, what more can we ask?

Clear skies, Mick

[kirkster501]

If only the street lights didn't burn up my night sky. I went down to my parents the other week to work through the virgo galaxies - of course it was cloudy. The only time I've made it to the Kielder star party in the spring it was total cloud. Might just drive out of town and set up on the side of the road.

Great minds think alike. If we ever get a good night again then that's what I am going to do. These faint objects need dark skies to see them properly. Since Virgo is pretty low in UK it is hard for me from my backyard - above house roofs to my south aspect.

[bish]

Great minds think alike. If we ever get a good night again then that's what I am going to do. These faint objects need dark skies to see them properly. Since Virgo is pretty low in UK it is hard for me from my backyard - above house roofs to my south aspect.

I always laugh when the S@N tell us about 'naked eye' objects and DSO's that are visible in small bins. Of course a large number of us stand no chance. They should say that you need a small pair of bins, a car, a tank of petrol and an understanding wife/partner.

[crashtestdummy]

Im aiming for 150 in the Virgo/coma area and thats pretty much the amount my herschel guide shows but theres a few more shown on another map i have.the cloudy nights are thw drawback for me at the moment not the scope

[crashtestdummy]

I really need 3 decent viewing sessions between 7th and the 18th April and i should get them all plus all leo and ursa major/cabes vebatici,thats 300+ galaxies.if not,they will be there waiting again next year

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

My Galaxy count is at around 285, I am really hoping to hit 300 this year. There are a few promising ones in Draco, and still a handful in Virgo/Coma/CVn that should be in reach under good conditions. In summer, I will be in Italy at a dark site, so some southern bright ones should be within range.

[crashtestdummy]

Mine is much lower than yours but i think i could hit 300 this year if the skies play ball but i have a much bigger scppe which makes it much easier