M51 spirals,Leo triplet,Ursa Major triple

[jetstream]

Tonight turned out to have fantastic conditions for a few hours.I checked "cleardarksky" and figured North might be best and it was.Ended up driving 45 miles into above avg transp and the SQM-L gave up a repeatable,solid 21.8.M51 spiral arms have eluded me,other than hints of them,but tonight the arms were seen-not a stunning view,definitely there however.The VX10 gave all it had under my best of conditions.After reading Faulksy's report the Leo triplet was targeted...what a great surprise!With this level of darkness they were very bright and contrasty-they will be visted often.

Last on the menu was to target 3 galaxies seen last time out,in the same FOV again,very faint in Ursa Major.Using a map from MDStuart's great site,the VX was once again enlisted to confirm a sighting.Tonight these galaxies stood out better than before,all in the same FOV of my 17mm widefield.Ngc3998,3982 and 3972 were all in the same FOV-another triple Also had doubles in there,singles....streaks,fuzzies,little glowing ones.This is a great hunting ground.Another great night,tired now, but happy

[faulksy]

Tonight turned out to have fantastic conditions for a few hours.I checked "cleardarksky" and figured North might be best and it was.Ended up driving 45 miles into above avg transp and the SQM-L gave up a repeatable,solid 21.8.M51 spiral arms have eluded me,other than hints of them,but tonight the arms were seen-not a stunning view,definitely there however.The VX10 gave all it had under my best of conditions.After reading Faulksy's report the Leo triplet was targeted...what a great surprise!With this level of darkness they were very bright and contrasty-they will be visted often.

Last on the menu was to target 3 galaxies seen last time out,in the same FOV again,very faint in Ursa Major.Using a map from MDStuart's great site,the VX was once again enlisted to confirm a sighting.Tonight these galaxies stood out better than before,all in the same FOV of my 17mm widefield.Ngc3998,3982 and 3972 were all in the same FOV-another triple Also had doubles in there,singles....streaks,fuzzies,little glowing ones.This is a great hunting ground.Another great night,tired now, but happy

sounds great gerry, i will have to come up to your neck of the woods one day, when you invite me im sure dan will come as well

[John]

Nice report from superb skies by sound of it Gerry 

I was having a peek at some of the UMa and Leo galaxies myself last night. In Leo I picked up NGC 3628, M65  and M66 at the back end of the lion and M96, M95, M105 and NGC3384 at the front. Both groups are compact enough to be in the same FoV if you have a wide enough eyepiece.

Once you get our "eye in" on a dark night these areas of the are full of little patches of light that you can stumble across as you pan around

[jetstream]

sounds great gerry, i will have to come up to your neck of the woods one day, when you invite me im sure dan will come as well

Hey,anytime-the cabin is always heated!Zero guarantees on the weather....-28c last night,should be -5ish now...ice fishing weather.Just have to pick the best time-bring your winter boots or else a gallon of bug spray if later on!

[jetstream]

Nice report from superb skies by sound of it Gerry 

I was having a peek at some of the UMa and Leo galaxies myself last night. In Leo I picked up NGC 3628, M65  and M66 at the back end of the lion and M96, M95, M105 and NGC3384 at the front. Both groups in the same FoV if you have a wide enough eyepiece.

Once you get our "eye in" on a dark night these areas of the are full of little patches of light that you can stumble across as you pan around

Glad you had a good night too John,very fun hobby.I was using my 17mm Ethos a lot last night,getting a coulpe sets of 3 in the FOV,to really get the best view the 10mmE is used-but then the triples disappear,doubles though.Its time to learn how to star hop now,with a RACI-I can do it a bit but not good enough.Will be fun learning.M82 was spectacular last night as well,with the SN faint but visible,M81 took up about 3/4 of the FOV of my 10mmE,biggest seen yet.I'll mark down your DSO seen for a go next time!Thanks for listing

[faulksy]

Hey,anytime-the cabin is always heated!Zero guarantees on the weather....-28c last night,should be -5ish now...ice fishing weather.Just have to pick the best time-bring your winter boots or else a gallon of bug spray if later on!

sounds like , what dreams are made of gerry, realy does

[YKSE]

Nice report, Gerry.

The Leo droplets were the first galaxies I got with 130P in my backyard, only the Messier doublet though.