Leo galaxies

[Walshie79]

At last a clear night with no moon, and much less of the murk that has been such a pain the past week. So took the binoculars out to try and finish off the Leo Messiers, as it was well placed and had several fainter stars visible.

M65 and 66 I had seen last year, just went back to check on them. 66 is easy, 65 a bit harder but revealed itself quickly enough. Then on to the faint trio 95/96/105. M105 I had just managed to pick out with averted vision a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't find the other two. But tonight after again finding M105 straight away, 10 minutes of standing in the dark slowly revealed them. M96 was seen first, a very faint smudge but definitely there in an empty space south and a bit west of M105. 105 was by now just about a direct vision object, but it took about another 5 minutes before M95 came out of hiding. I saw it first by looking at M96 where it briefly popped out at the side of the field, then by starting from an upside down triangle of stars to the south and moving up. It is very faint, as difficult as M74 I reckon.

Actually saw the line of stars leading from Alphard towards Corvus, including Crater- they have been hazed out all week. Then a quick look up at Ursa Major, saw M97 and M106 which was very conspicuous right overhead. Virgo next!

[andrew63]

The Leo galaxies are nice - always a treat to see several in the same field. The Virgo and Coma ones are a bit more challenging i find, and a minefield to sort one smudge from another !   Good luck.

andrew

[Walshie79]

Had another peek tonight, 65/66 well visible again, also M105 and M96 but couldn't see M95 this time, perhaps the transparency is a bit worse than Sunday night (which was much colder). Had a look towards the Virgo cluster and managed to pick out M99, a faint smudge with averted vision that seems to hang just off a 7 or 8 mag star. A couple of times I could intermittently see a core to it. Couldn't find M98 or M100, but I'm sure they are possible as they are about the same magnitude.

[Qualia]

Great stuff, Walshie and glad to hear you're having a good time this galaxy season. I'm sure another night you'll have luck with the aforementioned galaxies. Some nights galaxies pop out at you, other nights its a different game. Perhaps its due to many factors, not least transparency, darkness and fatigue.

[wookie1965]

3 years ive been trying see the Leo Trio, went out last night looking again got fed up after half an hour so pointed at Jupiter then my back locked fell to the floor with no feeling in right leg had tp be picked up by my son and wife. Great night no Trio again and left in agony.

[niallk]

3 years ive been trying see the Leo Trio, went out last night looking again got fed up after half an hour so pointed at Jupiter then my back locked fell to the floor with no feeling in right leg had tp be picked up by my son and wife. Great night no Trio again and left in agony.

Hope you are ok?

[wookie1965]

Went doctors having already been diagnosed with two collapsed discs he said either see it settles down or its and operation not good. Thank you for your concern.

[Tomjo59]

I find with the faint galaxies that it's a matter of 'getting your eye in' - once you manage to spot one, you can spot others much more easily - especially in a 'target-rich' area like Leo-Virgo.

Sorry to hear about the back Wookie - I had two prolapsed lumbar disks when I was 23 - eventually had an operation which fixed it.

I did get mine trying to push a broken-down Mk 1 Ford Escort though, not trying to spot faint fuzzies!

Hope you recover quickly.

[Walshie79]

I agree with the above comment, and also I find faint galaxies/nebulae easier to see if they are near a fainter (6-8mag) star, or form a kind of shape with a group of faint stars. For example, M105, M109 and M99 all lie near faint stars, and by looking at the star I often find that the galaxy pops out automatically. M95 and M96 lie in a big empty space and averted vision for them (especially M95) means focusing on nothing- which is much harder.

M97 forms a diamond shape with three faint stars, and so it's easy to look in the right place. Even M74 makes a kind of triangle shape with two stars, so I know where to look. M33, on the other hand, is spread out over degrees of no man's land, no stars as a guide so just point halfway between Hamal and Mirach and hope it pops out.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great reports, and sorry to hear of Wookie's back problems. Hope it gets better.

I agree with Rob: getting your eye in is the trick. First you find the Messier fuzzies, then you start adding Caldwells, then Herschel 400s, and then you start itching for a bigger scope (again )