First time galaxy hunting

[Apollo Paul]

Three clear nights in a row. This is more like it.

The last two i decided to look for galaxies.

Ursa major, canes venatica, leo and virgo were my targets.

After drawing some crude maps to look over i decided it was time to

hunt some down.

I started observing later than usual so they would be easier to spot.

Started at 10.00 pm on ursa major.

M51,101,106 to start off.

M106 was my favourite of the three as it was the most obvious

M101 was barely visible, M51 a bit better than M101.

Moving across to M63 and M94 in canes venatica.

Both were obvious and one of them had a bright central hub.

Finally i looked at M64 in coma berenices, another easy target, a nice galaxy.

To finish the second night off i had a look at a couple of globular clusters M3 and M53.

M3 at 159x looked good with averted vision. Many stars were resolved. M53 was still a blob at this mag.

Finally i had my first view of saturn with my dob. Low in the sky at 136x looked quite nice.

Last night I viewed the leo trio in the same field of view for the first time. And the other leo trio further up, just fit

in the same field at 40x. Then i went back to ursa major and looked at M108 and M97(owl nebula).

The owl nebula to my eyes looked greyish blue, and was larger than i expected. I could not make out the eyes though.

Over to virgo i had a hit list. Most of these were just below an imaginary line from Vindemiatrix and Denebola.

I became a bit confused with a couple of them, but managed to id most.

M59,60 were in the same field of view, as was M84,M86.

Others i found were M100, M88, M87. I became a little confused and didnt know if i had spotted M89 or M90 or both.

By this point i was going round in circles. I then moved down to view M49, then spotted M104 between spica and algorab.

Once again i ended the session viewing saturn.

Overall i was very pleased and suprised that i found fuzzy targets so enjoyable to look at. Many of them had their own charactoristics.

Some were easier to see than others, some were best viewed with averted vision, others with higher magnification. I will return to some of them for closer inspection for sure.

Sorry the report wasnt that detailed as i am relatively inexperienced.

Paul

[Bart]

Paul

Some night by the sounds of it. The galaxies are my passion. You're not the only one to get confused in Virgo and Coma, there are so many there. Ursa Major is full of them too. Some nights they are definitely clearer than others, when the transparency is good. Sometimes the sky looks good, but when you go to a galaxy you spotted previously, its not as easy to find, or not as impressive as before due to moisture or dust in the air. Some nights, its great, they stick out nicely. Its especially nice to see two or more galaxies in the same field, always gives me the impression the universe is choc-o-bloc with them and amazes me that here we are sitting on a tiny planet looking out at them, so far away.

Globulars are exceptional too. M13,3,5,92, 53, all beautiful and a wonder of nature.

Springtime.....aaahh, lovely, except for the sub zero wind chill currently being experienced

Barry

[swamp thing]

Nice report Paul, some fine targets there.

Spring time, so many Galaxes .......so few clear nights

[Double Kick Drum]

Congratulations on a couple of very productive nights.

There are so many galaxies between Virgo and Ursa Major. A great area of the sky!

[Apollo Paul]

Thanks for taking the time to read people.

I wasn't expecting three productive nights. After viewing M81/82 and the leo trio

at the end of the first night, third time lucky on the third(due to trio), they gave me the drive to view galaxies on the last two nights

I will look forward to finding more galaxies. Yes, i will be looking forward to viewing M5,M13,M92 globs.

Like you say Barry, there is so much out there. I often wonder if someone or something is looking back at us.

Paul

[cotterless45]

Superb, we've had a lovely run of cold clear skies with dry air, seeing has been amazing. Don't forget M102 and M109, they don'get much attention!

Nick.

[andrew63]

Great few nights by the sound of it Paul - there's enough out there to last a lifetime...

andrew

[crashtestdummy]

Another good haul,seems as though spring has well and truly started now.

[Stargazer_00]

It really is galaxy season. Great haul and thanks for the report

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great haul of fuzzies, nice report!

[scarp15]

Productive evening, good to read so many vibrant and fresh accounts.