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NGC 2841

Daniel-K

By Daniel-K
in Observing - Deep Sky

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Daniel-K

Daniel-K

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i stumbled across this by accident on the 30th NOV i was actually trying to find Bodes above the house. seems im abit out of practice with the telrad :D its Mag9.3 and has a  super bright core and a very distinctive oval shape. when i compared my notes to an image i was very pleased with what i had written down compared to the image on google. this should be doable just in a 8" Dob but it was very easy in my 14".  its located in between ursa major and lynx.

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Daniel-K

Daniel-K

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I saw that galaxy last night....just before I bit on a Mars Bar broke a tooth and then the van wouldn't start leaving me stuck at a dark site with no phone signal.....apart from that I had a great night!  :grin:

http://darkskysketches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/ngc-2841.html

Mike was it frozen? That's the little fella superb galaxy will be going back to this one when I get the 11mm ES :)

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acey

acey

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Frozen chocolate is a hazard for us at this time of year - I've found myself gnawing at some pretty solid Mars Bars during observing sessions but fortunately haven't lost a tooth yet. We need some suggestions for chocolate bars that stay soft in cold conditions.

NGC 2841 is a nice bright galaxy, easy in an 8" from a dark site. I logged it in March 2003 as "bright, large, elongated, with a very bright nucleus and almost cometary appearance." It was almost directly overhead but seen in poor transparency.

It's in the RASC "best non-Messier" list (as a spring object). A great list.

http://messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/rasc-ngc.html

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Mike73

Mike73

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Frozen chocolate is a hazard for us at this time of year - I've found myself gnawing at some pretty solid Mars Bars during observing sessions but fortunately haven't lost a tooth yet. We need some suggestions for chocolate bars that stay soft in cold conditions.

NGC 2841 is a nice bright galaxy, easy in an 8" from a dark site. I logged it in March 2003 as "bright, large, elongated, with a very bright nucleus and almost cometary appearance." It was almost directly overhead but seen in poor transparency.

It's in the RASC "best non-Messier" list (as a spring object). A great list.

http://messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/rasc-ngc.html

I think I'm going to try a Milky Way next time I need midnight observing munchies, should be a bit softer and the name is fittings at least! :)

Some real gems in the RASC (Dyers) list, I just wish someone had written a good reference book to go with it. I'm currently using O'Meara's Hidden Treasures and Ted Aranda's 3000 Deep Sky Objects, could you recommend another good reference book to go with the list Acey?

Two other interesting galaxies I observed that night in that area of sky, NGC 3079 with its small companion galaxy and NGC 2403 which was like a smaller version of M33.

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acey

acey

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A great DSO reference book is the Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects by Luginbuhl and Skiff. Costs about as much as a budget eyepiece but is a lot more useful. It's A4 size, about 350pp, and arranged by constellation, then by NGC number within each constellation. There are detailed descriptions of about 2000 DSOs, based on their observations with apertures 60mm to 300mm. I used it as my field guide for a number of years (ticking off objects in the book) - for an 8-inch or 10-inch it's pretty much everything you're likely to see at a dark site. Each entry also gives the object size, magnitude and surface brightness. There are also charts of various galaxy clusters and groups, and a map of globular clusters in M31. Here's what they say about NGC 2841:

"This galaxy is easily visible in 6cm about 22' SE of 37 Lynxis. The well-concentrated halo is elongated SE-NW, about 3' long; it does not reach a mag. 10 star to the NW, though it extends almost directly towards it. In 15cm the core is about 1' across; the surrounding halo extends to 5' x 1.5', almost reaching the mag. 10 star on the NNW end 2.7' from center. With 25cm the core is about 1' across, fading rapidly at its edges to a smooth halo on the E side of the major axis, and 1.8' NNW of center. 30cm shows the halo to 6' x 1.8' in pa 150 deg. At 150x two brighter spikes seem to extend from the core into the halo along the major axis, reaching about 2' beyond the nucleus on either side; at 225x this is less distinct. The halo is generally dimmer on the E side, yet there is a thin dark streak passing just W of the inner core."

Another nice DSO reference book is the SkyAtlas 2000.0 Companion by Sinnott and Strong. This lists every object plotted on SkyAtlas. Entries are brief: basic object data and and a short description derived from the NGC (I think), plus the object's distance and Hubble class (for galaxies). The entry for NGC 2841 is:

"Very bright, large, and elongated; symmetrical, spiraled, knotty arms; bright, large nucleus. Distance 30 million ly; Hubble class Sb."

I also used this book as my tick list for a while. It's quite a bit cheaper than Luginbuhl and Skiff, though if I could only have one it would be L+S for its wealth of detail. I used both these books when I was working through the RASC Dyer list with my 8".

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Observing-Handbook-Catalogue-Deep-Sky-Objects/dp/0521625564

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Atlas-2000-0-Companion-2nd/dp/0933346956

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