Bl lac quasar

[mdstuart]

After observing a few galaxies I went for something different.

Lacerta was high in the east which is good for me so I had a go at this quasar.

I drew the view and then checked.

I had a clear dot marked where bl lac is located.

It was at my limit so about mag 14.5 I would guess.

Nice to see something special at 900 million light years.

Very rewarding after failing to spot Pluto the other night.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_Lacertae

Mark

[John]

Great report Mark and congratulations on Bl Lac 

I've yet to see a quasar. Mag 14 is just a touch too faint for my skies - are there any that are mag 13-ish ?

[mdstuart]

I have now submitted my observation on the AAVSO web site. You can then plot a curve and see how your data fits..

Mine is the Mag 14.5 dot on the right!..Perhaps my guess was slightly high as it looks like 14.7 is the right figure?

John - I have now observed a few Quasars. There are a few that reach mag 12/13 at maximum brightness:

3C 273 in Virgo of course - SEEN

3C 66A in Andromeda

BW Tauri

Markurian 421 in UMA - SEEN

Markarian 501 in Her

3C 371

W Comae Berenices

PHL 1811 in Cap

and BL Lac! - SEEN

As you can see I have seen three off this list so far

Regards

Mark

[cotterless45]

By jinks, this is faint stuff indeed. Brilliant results.

I did spot a 6" hedgehog in the early hours by the tripod , does that count ?

Nick.

[John]

Thanks for the list Mark - I need a challenge ! 

6" Hedgehog - SEEN ( we have one who wanders about the flower beds while I'm observing  )