Izar,clusters and galaxies

[jetstream]

It is so good that Izar is back, this double is easily one of my favorites. The 15"/plossls/binos gave great views at 95x and 167x and split nicely at these mags, no need for more. That bright little blue ball hanging of of Izar is an amazing sight

Up from Arturus, M3 was waiting to be viewed and what a view it was! The best I have seen this object, which leads to M13...even being low in the sky the presentation it gave was so fulfilling, literally lol! The cluster was filled, packed with stars and thankfully still looked like the spider plant sketch. The number of stars visible was mind boggling, oh and I must mention a couple of small lanes cut up M3, very nice.

So off to Markarians Chain... I got 14 galaxies confirmed for sure and the whole area was lit up with fuzzies, some faint, some not so faint but piles showing tonight. 7 were got in the Leo triangle and the Triplet shone brightly. I must look at M101's map tonight, I saw some really bright chunks in the arms and need to revisit whats all in there, they caught my eye anyway.

One last thing, before Gemini disappears I figured I'd give the Medusa neb (SH2-274) a go- it was actually easy to see in the 10"/21E/OIII and it does look like an ear! Glad to bag another neb in the area.

Conditions were 21.6mag and transparency excellent, getting better as the night progressed. I love these cold fronts

[Piero]

Great stuff Gerry! it has been a while I have been intrigued by this Markarian chain, and this even more after last thread aboyt this by John. I bet under 21.6 mag, the view must have been gorgeous! Super!

[scarp15]

Good read Gerry and to be reminded as to what is there and what is on the way, still awaiting favourable conditions here, the 15", plossls, binos, combination is performing well. 

[laudropb]

Very good report of a productive session. A most enjoyable read.

[jetstream]

Thanks everyone.

I forgot to mention M42, I caught a fleeting glimpse of it as it fell behind the trees The binos not only gave a great view of the nebula, they made me feel I was in the core when looking at it...

[Helix]

Epsilon Bootis is one of my favourites also. Great read as always.

[Special K]

Hey Gerry, nice report!  M3 is nice and high now giving M13 some competition.  Another very good glob, for sure. 

I'm curious how M84 and M86 appear in your dark skies. Recently someone posted a nice short exposure photo and I was surprised how comet-like they look, which is essentially what I see in the EP.  I thought I was struggling with focus on these as they seem quite diffuse and gaseous in appearance as compared to others like M82.  

Markarians is a joy....I must get back there as soon as possible before the moon intervenes again. 

Edit:  actually you saw Barry Wilsons photo of the chain too!!!  Just went back to look at that photo and saw you commented on it!

M42 is slipping away quick, and nice you got another look!  I started a session last week with it, swapping out filters etc.  Still stunned how vast it is!  

Clear skies.

 

[jetstream]

These 2 galaxies are really bright- my locating beacons when "I point and shoot" to find the Chain. I always focus on a star before doing DSO so its one less thing I have to think about.I'm tracking down a few mag 15ish galaxies that pop in and out of view and just grabbed a copy of mod Uranium235 Chain image/map, very helpful.

I like to follow the Chain too Kevin but then I get lost in other galaxy fields lol!