Another great observing night - mainly Gemini and CVn

[Mark at Beaufort]

Two nights in a row - this is the UK I thought

Again started with Comet Panstarrs but this time rather than the Binos I used my 4" APO frac with the 13mm Ethos - tail very clear and I even got my wife to view it - this is a first.

Switched over to the 10" Dob and referred to my DSOs list produced by http://www.deepskywatch.com/deepsky-guide.html

Choosen constellation started with Gemini - so many great star clusters. These are the viewed objects NGC 2129, 2395, 2420, 2266, 2355 and 2304. If you like Planetary Nebs you always think of the Eskimo but there are two others - side by side NGC 2371 and 2372. They are faint and I needed the 8mm Ethos to find them and even then I switched to the Nagler 3-6mm zoom to really split them.

As Canes Venatici was nicely placed I returned to some old favourites - M3, M94 and M63. Whilst in the area also viewed NGC 4618, 4485 and 4490.

Finally onto the Herschel 400 list and a return trying at viewing NGC3912 with my 10". This time I produced a detailed map from Stellarium to cross match my 13mm and 8mm Ethos EPs. I spent some time and eventually with averted viewing saw this very faint glow. Now feeling really good I viewed 2 more galaxies from the list, both in Virgo - NGC 5566 and 5576.

So a great viewing night and again no dew problems.

Mark

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. What a treat to have a few nights in a row! NGC 2371 and NGC 2372 are two lobes of the same planetary, as I understand it. I UHC filter helped me a great deal in finding them/it

[Mark at Beaufort]

NGC 2371 and NGC 2372 are two lobes of the same planetary, as I understand it.

Thanks Michael I was not sure. They looked like a double star but two 'fat' ones.

[Double Kick Drum]

Great report.

I managed to see NGC 2371 / 2 myself last night with my 5" refractor. With the UHC-s filter, it was a bit easier than I thought it would be. It gradually came through as a slim and feint figure of eight with time at the eyepiece.

Just ten Herschels to go. Good stuff!

[cotterless45]

Neat weather, looks like dark night 3 coming up !

Love the Cocoon NGC4490, can take a lot of mag to tease out details.

Have a look at "La Superba" next time, it stands alone, lovely,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Superba

Nick.