Oh what a night

[Lee M]

There's a song in there somewhere.

[Lee M]

That shouldn't have happened. I'll post a report in a mo.

[Lee M]

I can't get a carriage return atm for some reason so I'll keep v short. M3, Virgo galaxies (the TLAO tour, every one), M13, M5. All first time views from my back garden, which still had a fair bit of direct illumination last night. Absolutely brilliant. Love those globs - need darker sky view soon!!!!!

[Double Kick Drum]

Look forward to the full version. Virgo is a great patch of sky.

[KevUU]

Virgo galaxies (the TLAO tour, every one)

This sounds good, looking forward to the full exposition now

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I can't get a carriage return atm for some reason so I'll keep v short. M3, Virgo galaxies (the TLAO tour, every one), M13, M5. All first time views from my back garden, which still had a fair bit of direct illumination last night. Absolutely brilliant. Love those globs - need darker sky view soon!!!!!

Are you using IE10 on Windows 8 perhaps? Maybe you can write the report in a text editor and cut and paste it into the browser (or use Chrome or Firefox or another browser).

[Lee M]

Are you using IE10 on Windows 8 perhaps? Maybe you can write the report in a text editor and cut and paste it into the browser (or use Chrome or Firefox or another browser).

Ah. Yes. Have dear old Microsoft been 'improving' things again? Loads of rubbish I don't want and stopping things I do want working. Joy!

[Lee M]

Right, Firefox installed, where were we?

After marvelling at M3 for a little while I had a quick look at M81 & 82 & the Leo Trio to see how visible galaxies were from the garden. They looked reasonable so I decided to have another try at Virgo. I'd tried a few nights earlier but just couldn't see anything at the suggested starting point in TLaO near Vindemiatrix & Struve 1689. At that point I'd come to the conclusion that I'd have to leave galaxies for my dark site.

After 5 to 10 minutes of checking back and forth between the scope and TLaO i was certain I was looking at the correct patch of sky but I was struggling to see anything fuzzy. Then with a little patience, averted vision and a bit of tube jiggling I just made out NGC 4762 and after a couple of minutes more the vaguest hint of NGC 4754. Vague but there!

So feeling a little geed-up by the sucess but not overconfident as they'd been very feint I followed the next hops in the finderscope over to 34 Vir. After a couple of attempts at finding the 'right' southwest, M49 was refreshingly easy to spot. NGCs 4469, 4526, 4535 took a while longer but all eventually revealed themselves in that order.

Feeling pretty bullish now. On to the next series of hops using just the low power EP.

M60 - no problem, NGC 4638 - yep just, M59, 58, 89 and 90 followed on without any problem.

From M90 back to M89, across to M87 and down to Markarian's Chain. NGC 4438 was where I joined the chain and scanned across to M86 & 84. Back to NGC 4438 and its' little sidekick was surprisingly easy to see.as a discrete object from its neighbour. NGCs 4461, 4473 and 4477 were small, feint but undoubtedly there. Skipping down to M88 & 91 was a breeze.

I hopped my way back down Markarian's Chain then 'leapt' down to M99. This was aided by a nice little conical group of stars that guided me in to it and on to M98.

The final step / leap was south to NGC 4216. A bit out on a limb compared to so some of the others but by this point I was absolutely 'on it' and found it with no trouble.

So from a point of not expecting too much I'd managed to complete the TLaO Virgo tour and found every one. I was pretty chuffed to say the least. I've got to admit I didn't spend too much time 'enjoying the view' and eeking every last whisp of structure out of them. In most instances I was just delighted to be sure something was definitely there.

It was midnight, I was starting to get a bit chilly but with a great clear sky above me I just had to have more.

I'd looked up M5 earlier in the evening (way too low) so I flicked back through the pages of TLaO towards it and noticed M13 - ooh best Glob in the northern hemisphere eh - right. I quickly found it and wasn't disappointed. Switched to a 15mm EP and lost myself in it for about 15 minutes. More sparkly lovliness.

The cold was starting to seep in now so I decided to finish off the evening with M5. Trickier to find but I think possibly even better looking than M13. I can't wait to compare them again soon.

So, in 3.5 hrs I'd managed 30 galaxies, 25 new to me. 3 new globs (taking my glob count to 4). And 16 more Messiers ticked off.

I rolled into bed a rather chilly but very happy chap. It certainly went some way to making up for the last few weeks.

[Special K]

Thanks for the full version, Lee! Interesting comment on M5 comparison with M13. I'll have to look this up as I have recently been working on objects in that area. I had a look at M53 the other night but didn't dwell on it very long. So M3 is a good one?! I'll put that on the pick list too!

[KevUU]

Wow, how brilliant Worth the wait for the full write up, thanks for writing it.

I can't believe the number of little red ovals here in PSA! How have I not made it to Leo or Virgo yet?

[Double Kick Drum]

M60 - no problem, NGC 4638 - yep just, M59, 58, 89 and 90 followed on without any problem.

From M90 back to M89, across to M87 and down to Markarian's Chain. NGC 4438 was where I joined the chain and scanned across to M86 & 84. Back to NGC 4438 and its' little sidekick was surprisingly easy to see.as a discrete object from its neighbour. NGCs 4461, 4473 and 4477 were small, feint but undoubtedly there.

I love that route through the galaxies starting at M60. I also found that "The Eyes" (NGC 4435 and NGC 4438) were easier than I originally anticipated.

Thanks for sharing.

[Lee M]

Thanks for the full version, Lee! Interesting comment on M5 comparison with M13. I'll have to look this up as I have recently been working on objects in that area. I had a look at M53 the other night but didn't dwell on it very long. So M3 is a good one?! I'll put that on the pick list too!

Hi Special K

M53 was my only other glob. I don't remember that being as striking but may have been conditions. I'll have to go back and look again.

I'd recommend M3, 5 & 13. All looked lovely. I'll definitely spend longer on them next time especially if I can get out somewhere dark.

Cheers

Lee

[Lee M]

I love that route through the galaxies starting at M60. I also found that "The Eyes" (NGC 4435 and NGC 4438) were easier than I originally anticipated.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers DKD,

I should have said at the end the hardest ones were the first two. But of course I can't be sure now whether thet really were that feint or I just needed to get my eye in. With 20/20 hindsight I should have gone back to those first two at the end. Probably would have seen them like saucers! ;-)

Lee

[Lee M]

Wow, how brilliant Worth the wait for the full write up, thanks for writing it.

I can't believe the number of little red ovals here in PSA! How have I not made it to Leo or Virgo yet?

Many thanks Kev,

It really puts it into perspective when you find a couple of dozen and that's just a tiny fraction of what's there

Cheers

Lee