Messier galaxies in Virgo

[WaveSoarer]

As I was lucky enough to have clear skies on the evenings of the 1st, 2nd and 4th of May, I managed to do a tour of the Messier galaxies in Virgo. It was a real lesson in star hopping for me and making the most of the finder scope and the main telescope, with my 32 mm Plossl, eyepiece to navigate my way around. Stellarium is also a very powerful tool for this - though you still have to think carefully about the change to an inverted view at the telescope.

On the 1st May:

M59 and M60

I started at Vindemiatrix and tracked to the right using the finder, and referencing relative to the background stars in Stellarium, until I was in the right region for M59 and M60. The pair occupy the same field of view in the 32 mm EP and they appear as faint fuzzy blobs.

M58

I tracked along the same line using the EQ5's manual slow motion controls, while viewing as I went along with the 32 mm EP, until M58 popped in to view. It's another faint fuzzy blob (a theme developing here) and it's nicely signposted by a neighbouring faint star which makes a clear marker in the EP.

M89

I used the same technique of using the manual slow motion controls and the main telescope again to track diagonally up and to the right. Stellarium, again, was helpful for the line of the track as some unidentified faint stars provided references. The galaxy is another faint fuzzy patch but unmistakable nevertheless.

M90

I continued the star hop as before by slewing vertically from M89, against the pattern of faint background stars, to M90. This galaxy did appear more elliptical and extended than the previous galaxies and was, again, very obvious in the EP.

M91

The hop to this galaxy was, again, carried out with the slow motion controls. I tracked vertically first to a small "U" shape of stars (with HIP61676 at one end) and from there right to M91. This was clearly visible with the 32 mm EP.

M87

I puzzled over how to get to this from M91, without getting lost, and I decided to start afresh from Denebola with the finder. Starting from Denebola I tracked left to the clearly identifiable group containing 6Com. I then tracked down to HIP 60150 (name from Stellarium) and extended a line from it through HIP 60419 and on to M87. I actually blundered into this, which was a very obvious blob in the 32 mm EP, and the nearby Mag 6.25 star clearly marks the galaxy's position and identification as M87 (rather than M84 and M86 which lie close to the track).

M84 and M86

I tracked in the appropriate direction (using M87 and the neighbouring star as an indicator for track direction) and I found both galaxies in the same field of view in the 32 mm EP. A pair of Mag 8.05 and Mag 7.65 stars are also in the field of view and form a T shape with the galaxies.

On the 2nd May:

M88

I managed to overlook this on the previous evening, although it is fairly close in the sky to M91, and I started by tracking from 6Com down to HIP 60150 and then left through HIP 6075 and HIP 60960 to M88. Again I started the hop with the finder and then used the 32 mm EP and the manual slow motion controls on the main scope to do the trickier part of the hop. The galaxy appears as a faint fuzzy patch and is clearly signposted by a faint star, HIP 61170, in the field of view.

M49

This galaxy is lower in the sky than the previous set and I started the hop from Vindemiatrix and I used the finder and the recognisable background stars to track to the right and slightly down to rho-Vir and from the there diagonally down and to the right to get to HIP 61103 and the galaxy. M49 appeared fairly bright and obviously elliptical in both the 32 mm EP and my 20 mm EP.

M61

Although this is just below M49 in the sky, I found it easier to start a new star hop. To the right of Porrima are the pair of the naked eye stars Zaniah and 13Vir. I used the finder to track from this pair vertically to cVir and I then extend the line up and slightly to the left to find M61. The galaxy is pretty obvious, though fainter than M49, and appears as a faint smudge in both the 32 mm and 20 mm EPs.

On the 4th May:

M99

There is a very nice marker group of stars forming a T composed of: 6Com, Hip 59941 and HIP 60210 (which for the cross-bar of the T from right to left) and HIP 59941, HIP 60089 and HIP 60150 (which form the stem from top to bottom). These are all eaily seen in the finder which make finding the remaining set of galaxies relatively easy. M99 is just to the right and below HIP 60089 and it appears as a moderately faint fuzzy in the 32 mm EP and just a hint of the spiral structure appears with my 10 mm EP.

M98

I slewed back to 6Com just using the 32 mm EP and dual axis motors and M98, which is just to the right of 6Com, was just discernible with the 32 mm EP. The 10 mm didn't reveal much as the galaxy is quite faint.

M100

I used the dual axis motors again to slew back through 6Com and across the top (crossbar) of the T through HIP 59941 and HIP 60210 to M100. It appears as a faint fuzzy with the 32 mm EP and the 10 mm EP brings out the core of the galaxy against a faint disc.

M85 and NGC 4394

I used the 32 mm EP and the slow-motion manual controls to slew up and slightly to the right through HIP 60313 and then on to 11Com. From there I slewed diagonally up and to the left to this pair of galaxies. It gave good views with the 10 mm EP and the core of M85 was reasonably clear and NGC 4394 looked like an elongated smudge.

This, I think, is all of the Messier galaxies in Virgo although M104 (the Sombrero Galaxy) is also considered to be in the Virgo group (though it isn't in all lists). It's a bit low in the sky to view from the usual place I set up the telescope in the back garden but I have observed this with my binoculars. It's very obvious and I find it with a star hop that starts at Spica and then right to the pair of stars Algorab and eta Corvi (which are both naked eye from my garden). From this bright pair. I follow the gentle curve upwards and slightly to the left defined by HIP 61212, HIP 61296 and a couple of small asterisms. M104 is just to the left of the upper, fainter, asterism. I'm hoping to observe this with the telescope at some point but it may need me to take a trip to a suitable site.

On the night of the 2nd I also revisted M51 and NGC 5195, which is well placed at the moment and almost vertical. I tried virtually my full set of eyepieces, from the 32 mm Plossl to my 5 mm and, although the cores of the galaxies were obvious with them all, I found that the, as supplied, SW 10 mm EP gave the best views. The bridge between the galaxies was clearly visible as were hints of the spiral arms (there was certainly structure within the halo of glow around the cores). There was also a point of light (star) within the disc of M51 (which is in the 4 o'clock position relative to the core of M51 if the core of NGC 5195 is placed at 12 o'clock) that was clearly visible even with the 5 mm EP. This star shows up in most images of M51, though it is often supressed by histogram stretching. It was by far the best view I've had of M51 and it demonstrared to me the advantage of viewing galaxies when they are close to zenith.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Wow, what a report! I must admit when i looked around here with my manual mount i gave up trying to figure out what was what. Ill have to go back with the goto and make sure i saw them all.

[Stu]

A marathon of star-hopping! Great achievement. Must be very satisfying to get all those. I caught a few the other night but had no idea what I was looking at, not familiar with that bit of sky really and too much LP to be rewarding from home.

Nice report, thanks for taking the time to write it up, will have a go at them if I get a chance.

Cheers

Stu

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great star-hopping and a great report. Next time you visit M84/M86, take some time to pick out the non-Messier objects in the same FOV, there are quite a few well within range of your scope (same as my 8" SCT). In particular, Markarian's Eyes just to the east are well worth a look. The "Ocular" plug-in of Stellarium can be very helpful for the "inversion problem" as it can show the view through the EP as it should be in your scope, even taking into account star-diagonals, etc.

[andrew63]

That's an excellent report - slowly working through that area myself and your description will be very useful.

andrew

[WaveSoarer]

Thanks to all. I had a very enjoyable time finding and viewing each object. I'll also try to find those other objects Michael. I'm hoping to look for Markarian's Eyes, as you suggest, and thanks for mentioning the ocular view plug-in. I did make a number of sketches of the hops I used in my notebook and I tried to describe them here as best I could. It is a crowded area and I was tried to be careful to make sure that I'd actually seen what I was after. A Stu mentions, it is possible to happen upon objects, as I've also done previously, without fully appreciating what they are.

[Double Kick Drum]

That's a very nice report.

Virgo is a great place to spend a night with a telescope. The galaxies just keep coming.

[jason.p]

Nice one, thanks. I started the Virgo clusters on my last clear sky session and started at Vindemiatrix and moving toward Denebola, found the first two (which I assume were 59 and 60) then got confused. I've now drawn up a bit of a plan and await the next opportunity. This time I'll use the 32mm as you suggest. I imagine it will take me a few sessions to work them all out, but it's a great place just to browse around and see so many galaxies in one field.

[WaveSoarer]

Thanks Martin and Jason. Let's hope for another clear spell soon. I set up the scope last night in the front garden and I managed to observe M104 and take a few photos. (yet to be stacked). It certainly has a hat appearance with my 10 mm EP. I couldn't honestly say that I saw much more than this (though there was a hint of the dutsband perhaps) as there is more light out front with a couple of streetlights close by.

Dave

[cotterless45]

What a lovely clear report, thanks for posting. These galaxies keep popping out of the maze !

Nick.

[WaveSoarer]

A maze indeed. Thanks Nick.