Jump to content

Galaxies from a town


Rose

Recommended Posts

Am I wasting my time? I am looking for the Leo triple tonight. The skies are transparent (or were until clouds came in not long ago! - hoping they will disappear though!) and the moon isn't up yet. I'm 90% sure I was looking in the right place but nothing. Do I need to keep trying or are they just out of reach in a city location? Basically the skies are about as good as they get here at the moment.

For the record, I'm using a 150mm reflection with 24mm eyepiece and the only other galaxy I know I've managed to find is Andromeda.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure how bad your light pollution is but the Leo triplet does has a reasonable surface brightness (well two of the three galaxies, NGC 3628 is a little more diffuse) and should be visible in a 150mm scope.

The two Messiers (M65 and M66) should appear like two elongated smudges, parallel to eachother an running North to South. The feinter NGC galaxy will appear even more elongated on an East West plane.

Happy hunting!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some nights there are odd seeing conditions when fuzziness shows up easily and bright stuff is hazy. Leo triplet looked fine tonight and also a load of the easiest galaxies in Coma Bernices.

If the light pollution is bad and you're sure of the right area try a bit more magnification to blast through.

The easiest from town at the moment are M81 and M82, M106, M94 and NGC2903 in Leo's front is brighter than the triplet,

Nick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks both, sounds like a bit more patience is required. I will hopefully have the chance to have another go tonight.

Will also try for M81/82.

Really need to try to get out to somewhere dark, but having no transport of my own makes this tricky!

Rose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The moon has been up and nearly full over the last few nights. That makes galaxies hard to see.

Now the moon is gone try again as that can make a huge difference.

M51 is another one to try at the moment. Its relatively easy to find and see..

Mark

Sent from my BlackBerry 9320 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depending on how bad your light pollution is, apart from a very select few, I would not go for galaxies from home. Having said that M81 and M82 (members of the select few) are nicely placed at the moment, if you can get to locate them before moon rise. Otherwise look out for the brighter globular and Open Clusters, M3 and M44 (Beehive) currently for instance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.