anyone else seen NGC 4449

[Daniel-K]

last night while the moon was dropping i located NGC4449 by far the best object of the night i just wanted to see if anyone else has observed the HA regions in this galaxy.

Dan

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have logged NGC 4449, which looked like a miniature of the SMC to me: a sort of irregular box shape. I did see some blotches or brighter patches in it, but I am not sure that those are the H-alpha regions. Could try a UHC or H-alpha filter next time I look, just to see if the blotchy appearance intensifies.

[Mike73]

Just looked at in on Skysafari and it does look pretty interesting.

Does anyone know where to find detail maps of galaxies which will identify Ha regions and NGC's within the actual galaxies themselves? 

[Daniel-K]

Michael thats exactly right a miniature SMC the shape is fantastic and those bright parts on the edge are just fantastic. I hope they were HA regions or maybe bright clumps of stars either way this is super galaxy to observe and study

[faulksy]

i have seen it, it was nice

[Special K]

Hey Dan, glad you mentioned this, I was inspired to have a try!  I had a look this morning as part of an overdue look into the treasures of Canes Venatici.  The moon had set about 4am and the transparency was pretty good.  I had to spend some time learning my way around first and started with NGC4490 which was very obvious in the eyepiece and a pleasant little view, then on to M106.

By the time I managed to drop on NGC4449 first light seemed to creep up behind me about 5:30 and it was nearly game over.  Had the UHC in my back pocket too but will have to save that for another day.   The moon will be advancing too much now to get a decent look so I’ll have to come back as an early evening target in a few weeks.  What I love about this Constellation is its altitude in our skies.  Near Zenith viewing is always best for these fuzzies, especially with my limited aperture!  Good luck with the filters and hope you can see some of the finer details.

[Moonshane]

I sketched this the other night and certainly got the oblong shape. It's a bright galaxy and easily seen in my 12" dob even with a lot of light pollution. I'll be looking again at a better site and with a bigger scope though now you've mentioned this!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I am not surprised at you getting it in a 12" as it was fairly easy in my 8" (from my suburban garden)

[mdstuart]

Dan

My notes say it is one of the brighter galaxies as I was able to see it without needing to use averted vision. I recall the boxy shape but not the HA regions.

I do not think there are any maps with HA regions visible to the eye out their as such but there are a number of galaxies where you can pick them out. They are only visible to the eye in "local" galaxies. NGC 4449 is "only" 12 million years away.

M33 has a bright HA region that looks like another galaxy and has a label NGC 604!

There is a fainter galaxy NGC 2366 in Camelopardalis where I have seen a HA region. Here is the thread.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/176294-galaxy-hunting-in-camelopardalis/

Some others where I recall that the mottling of star forming areas is possible to see include:

NGC 2403 / M82 / M83

Mark

[Daniel-K]

Mark have you tried it in your 14"?

[mdstuart]

Not yet..Now that you have highlighted it I will make a point of going after it again..

I really must go back to lots of targets!

Mark

Sent from my BlackBerry 9320 using Tapatalk

[Moonshane]

here's my sketch from the other night. I have inverted the colour of course.

[Daniel-K]

was this from your garden shane?

[acey]

It's in the Caldwell list (number 21). Checking my notes I find only two observations, both back in 2003 with an 8". On 7th March 2003 I wrote "Aligned NE-SW, feathery to SW side, box- or fan-shaped at x60 and x150, patchy appearance." Should give it another look.

On the same night between 10pm and midnight I observed 4111, 4138, 4244, 4214, 4490, 4485, 4656, 5005 and 5033, all of which were of interesting appearance in the 8".

If you're interested in HII regions in NGC 4449 then check out this research article:

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1101.2614v1.pdf

[Moonshane]

was this from your garden shane?

Hi Daniel

Yep, this was in my garden with my 15mm TV plossl at 89x. I think a dark site would 'create' more detail (and background, or I should say foreground, stars)

[Daniel-K]

Hi Daniel

Yep, this was in my garden with my 15mm TV plossl at 89x. I think a dark site would 'create' more detail (and background, or I should say foreground, stars)

its a good comparison for me as i was at delamere when i observed this and i could see the core as a very tight point of light and another single point of light  in the galaxy but most like that was a star.  Sane you should come out to delamere with us sometime

[berkonights]

last night while the moon was dropping i located NGC4449 by far the best object of the night i just wanted to see if anyone else has observed the HA regions in this galaxy.

Dan

don't know it but if it is clear (my scope is based in spain), I'll have a butchers and photgraph it.