1st April 2013 - PanSTARRS At Last... And Some New Galaxies

[Double Kick Drum]

The first clear sky at home for nearly a month, I finally took my chance to view comet PanSTARRS. In binoculars it appeared more condensed than nearby M31 and the tail seemed quite short and wide, to the North. Not satisfied, I turned the scope on to it. Wow! A much clearer view. The comet looked quite stellar but more of the tail was visible and looked a very fine sight.

I also had a look at M44 whilst deciding what to look for around Leo.

My next target was Sextans, just to the South of Leo. The galactic pair NGC 3166 and NGC 3169 were quite easy to find to the South of 19 Sextantis and were quite simiilar in appearance, easy to see in the 8mm eyepiece with averted vision.

With one eye on the clock (and not staying out too late due to an early start Tuesday), my final new targets were NGC 2964 and NGC 2968 in the North of Leo. The former was a struggle to see, despite being quite easy to locate. The latter proved too feint.

Tonight looks promising, so hopefully there will be more to add later.

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Observing Session: Monday 1st April 2013, 20:45 hrs to 22:00 hrs BST

VLM at Zenith: 5.2

New - Revisited - Failed

[Special K]

Well done DKD, it is a relief not to lose out on PanSTARRS before it disappears again. Like you, last night was my first chance of seeing it and got it in the bins first. My view in scope wasn't ideal and was nearly out of time by the time I got it. Saw a lot of tail in the view but my vantage point was quite windy so didn't observe very long. I was struggling with the star hop from Andromeda so worked my way up to it from the treeline. Good luck if you're continuing tonight. I had a full session last night so can't face another chilly one tonight!

[KevUU]

Nice to see some reports pouring in, and with green in them too

Congrats on PanSTARRS (I haven't had chance to look but am too excited by new scope to care).

Cheers DKD

K

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report as usual DKD. Congrats on getting the comet, and some nice galaxies again. NGC 2964 is still on my todo list (I was focusing northwards last night, so skipped Leo).

[Double Kick Drum]

Nice to see some reports pouring in, and with green in them too

Congrats on PanSTARRS (I haven't had chance to look but am too excited by new scope to care).

Cheers DKD

K

PanSTARRS gets very close to M31 in the next couple of days, so if you get the chance - its worth a look.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Cloudy here at the moment. Fingers crossed for tomorrow

[Special K]

All fingers crossed here in Herts! Got out at 5:30 this morning and observed Saturn on the buildup to sunrise. Arcturus slowly receded. Bit of cloud then though but still was nice.

Clear skies