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Observing bright Spring galaxies.


cotterless45

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Spring Equinox passes and its spring Galaxy time. I have included the brightest which I have seen from the edge of town with a 150mm for the brightest , up to 200 and 250 mm. Magnification is from x40 up to x120 where sky contrast (new moon) allowed. I enclose some observations.
Let's start with Cor Caroli ( Charle's the first heart) to Chara, the fabulous Hunting Dogs ( Canes  Venatici) . These are used by the herdsman ,Bootes to round up the great bears. These are my favourites that I like to revisit,image.thumb.jpeg.38b2e5dd5aaecee7adc8a03

Over to Coma Berenices, the Melotte 111 can be spotted buzzing in one corner.
M64, Blackeye Galaxy (+8.5) 150 mm showed dark lane.
M85 (+9.1) suitable for small scopes.
M88 (+11) elongate even in 70mm
M91 (+10.2)
M98 (+10.2) for larger aperture.
M99 (+9.8)
M100 (+10.4)
NGC 4394 (+10.9)
NGC 4565 (+9.6) C37 , the needle Galaxy , finest edge on spiral, over 200mm will show the dust lane, glorious.
NGC 4725 (+9.2)
NGC 4889 (+11.4) C35
NGC 4559 (+9.9) C36.image.thumb.jpeg.a78c309b3fbf33a9eb9196b

Draco next , curling around the pole,
M102 (+9.9) bright core with mottling at x120.
NGC 4125 (+9.8) ellip. Galaxy.
NGC 4236 (+9.7) use low magnification, difficult.
NGC 5982/85 nice pair, surprisingly worth it ,
NGC 5678 spotted by averted vision nearby (+12)
NGC 5907 (+10.3) at x80.
NGC 6503 (+10.2)

 

Ursa Major is packed with galaxies, some brighter ones, I include my observations,

M101 (+7.7) just so huge and diffuse, best with low power binoculars.
M81 and M82 (Bode's)
M109 (+9.8)
M108 (+10.0)
NGC 2841 (+9.2) nicely bright.
NGC 3077 (+9.9)
NGC 4051 (+10.3)
NGC 4088 (+10.5)
NGC 3184 (+9.8) little pinwheel
IC 2574 (+10.4) Coddington nebula , a barred spiral.

image.thumb.jpeg.b2cb5acf9d94dc0b1fe6acb

Virgo follows Leo, there are 10,000 galaxies in the Local Supercluster, our local group is at its edge, centred on four huge elliptical galaxies ,M49, M60, M86 and M87. The northern part blends into the Coma Berenices, hence the Virgo Coma cluster.

M94(+8.4) the brightest here !
M58 (+9.8) nucleus with 70mm , small fuzzy spot.
M60 (+8.8), easy ! NGC 4647 is on the edge for larger aperture.
M61(+9.7), small scopes, compact bright with mottling in 200mm.
M49(+10.0)

Markarian's Chain.
M84(+9.3) , small scopes,bright core, showing bright and circular at x40 with
M86(+9.2)
NGC 4435(+9.9)
NGC 4697(+9.3)

M89
M87(+8.6) small scopes,x120 shows strong central core.
M90(+9.5) bright nucleus.
M104 (+8.5) Sombrero Galaxy with
NGC 4697(+9) above and NGC 4699(+9) at 3 degrees north.
NGC 5634 (+9.6) small scopes.
M59(+11) at x120 in 150mm shows a uniform patch with a core like M87.
NGC 4649 (+8.8)
NGC 4486 (+8.6)
NGC 4374 (+9.4)
NGC 4472(+8.4)
NGC 4303 (+9.7) large and bright.
NGC 4435 (+9.9) above and NGC 4438, the "eyes"
NGC 4526 (+10.7) edge on.
NGC 4535 (+10) barred spiral.

 

Out of interest there's the brightest and first found quasar here,
3C273 (+12.7) at 12h29.1m. +02 03', possible in a 150mm.image.thumb.jpeg.389cb699325e199ed096003

There's so very much to enjoy , give these galaxies a go to see what you get. You'll often hear "Spring galaxies" , such a fantastic sight out of our galaxy to other folk's homes !

Clear skies and new moon !

nick.

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fantastic list of targets there Nick and thanks for sharing......made a little list for elan which include

4565,3184,3344,2903,3521,5363...and others that I need steves I-pad for!..i highly recommend ngc 5746 blade and pearl galaxy on the far left of virgo..easy to hop to and a wonderful sighthttp://dso-browser.com/dso/info/NGC/5746/galaxy

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Nice lists Nick, I'm still trying to image small galaxies in Leo, don't think I'll manage much more due to the rubbish weather.

Will have to move along to Virgo

Got a image of 3C273 somewhere.

Dave

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My spring list is getting longer and longer, hopefully i'll get more than the 10 or 12 winter sessions I managed.

Thanks again for putting these lists together. I just wonder if there is any chance of the moderators creating an "Observing - Lists" subforum to store these in, so they don't get lost among the reports?

 

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Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to put this together. There seems to be a daunting amount to look at in the Spring. One of the nice things about being a beginner is you never know what's going to come over the horizon next, and a list like this whets the appetite. Looking forwards to hopefully catching a few of these as the moon moves out of the way. :icon_biggrin:

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Nick how silly of me your list is already on all the atlases, NGC's Nick's Galaxy Catalogue, that what I will call it  from now on. I was half hoping I was going to get out tonight with the 70mm ED to revisit the Trapezium to try for E and F with Piero in mind, without the Moon, but it would seem clouds rule the day again.

Alan

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Great list and nothing beats being armed with intended targets beforehand. Makes for a productive session.  Markarian's Chain is tremendous to find and feel I've only scratched the surface of the Virgo areas. I did manage the Eyes on the Friday night at SGL which was nice.  

The pulsar sounds very rewarding! Must try for this one too.......so little time :)

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If anyone uses SkySafari or SkyTools, I've create this as an observing list, if you want to save and import it. (Also created as a simple CSV, if of interest to anyone).

NicksSpringGalaxies.stx - SkyTools

NicksSpringGalaxies.skylist - Sky Safari

NicksSpringGalaxies.txt - cvs.

 

Enjoy, I think this is going to take me a fair few sessions and a couple of dark site visits :-)

 

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5 minutes ago, rockystar said:

If anyone uses SkySafari or SkyTools, I've create this as an observing list, if you want to save and import it. (Also created as a simple CSV, if of interest to anyone).

NicksSpringGalaxies.stx - SkyTools

NicksSpringGalaxies.skylist - Sky Safari

NicksSpringGalaxies.txt - cvs.

 

Enjoy, I think this is going to take me a fair few sessions and a couple of dark site visits :-)

 

Brilliant, thank you!

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10 minutes ago, rockystar said:

If anyone uses SkySafari or SkyTools, I've create this as an observing list, if you want to save and import it. (Also created as a simple CSV, if of interest to anyone).

NicksSpringGalaxies.stx - SkyTools

NicksSpringGalaxies.skylist - Sky Safari

NicksSpringGalaxies.txt - cvs.

 

Enjoy, I think this is going to take me a fair few sessions and a couple of dark site visits :-)

 

Thanks rockystar. Just added it to Skysafari. Cheers! :) 

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