Dark skies are back

[mdstuart]

So true darkness tonight is from 9.53pm until the moon rises at 22.06pm.

Pick an object and make those 13 minutes count.

I will be testing my new dob mount...on NGC 5166 an edge on galaxy in CVN....whilst in the vicinity if I have time I will see if I can discern NGC 5157 NGC 5187 and even arp 334. Here is 5166.

5157 at mag 13 might be easier to see than 5166 which is mag 14 but just like Sue French I am a sucker for edge ons. ARP 334 is also mag 14 but then it is 330 million light years away. Here is ARP 334.

If you need a map let me know and I will send you a pdf

So join me on this quest and post your observation on here.

Mark[emoji3]

[mdstuart]

So these turned out to be tough even in my 16 inch Dob. To be fair it was not the best night with a lot of haze visible in the daylight earlier.

I managed to see NGC 5157 just with averted vision.

NGC 5166 was not visible despite a lot of attempts with the black towel over my head!

Surprisingly I could see ARP 334 with averted vision. It was larger than 5157 with a uniform low surface brightness but easier to pick out than 5157 in my judgement.

Will try 5166 again on a clearer night!

Mark