Last nights report.

[Stridor]

A pretty good night last night, pity it`s a bit of a wait for a dark sky!  Anxious to get going I started with M3 Globular cluster in Canes Venatici; even without a fully dark sky, still an impressive object (I did return to it later when fully dark!)     M13 was of course superb at 129x mag; a real dense sphere of stars: also in Hercules, other interesting globular clusters were M92, with a bright concentrated core, and NGC 6229.  NGC 6210 also in Hercules is a Planetary nebula which does show itself as a blueish disk which tended to `blink`.  In Ophiuchus I was using a bit too much magnification (73x)  for the obvious Open cluster IC 4665. In Coma Berenices I bagged three nice Spirals; NGCs 4565 / 4559 & 4494; 4565 appeared quite large with a bulging core. Another Globular cluster, also in Coma B is M53.   Into Canes Venatici I locked onto three more Spirals; NGC 5005; 5033, and 4631 which was really impressive; in fact I couldn't believe just how large it appeared; it appears as a long glowing streak with a central bulge ( I would be interested to know if anyone else has viewed NGC 4631 and been as impressed as I was!? ).

Really low in the sky, and only just in view for me were M10 and M12 two Globular cluster in Ophiuchus; M12 especially is a really great object with a great many stars that can be resolved.   I couldn't pack up without looking at M57 in Lyra; a lovely object at 73x mag; still a bit low in the sky it didn't work quite as well at 129x mag;  having said that, M12 in Ophiuchus (even lower!) was better at 129x mag. I finished the night with one last Globular cluster in Coma Berenices, NGC 4147.  All round, a rewarding session with great seeing; and barely a hint of dew!

 

[Stu]

Nice report Stridor. Still plenty to see despite the light evenings. It's very nice not having to battle dew all the time isn't it? ??

[Piero]

Nice writing up Martin!  It seems a lot of fun to me! 

 

[Knighty2112]

Nice report. With LP where I live, and the lighter nights now I'm going to concentrate for the next few months on just Planetray and lunar views (with the odd look at some globulars a too occasionally). Always a pity that the warmer weather and the longer days don't suit  looking for DSO's well, but still always something to,view at least.  

[Helix]

Hi Martin,

Very nice report. Thanks for posting.

NGC 4631 or the Whale galaxy is very impressive galaxy. It has a small/dwarf companion galaxy NGC 4627 on the top (depend on your image orientation). These two galaxies are my favourites. 

If you look a half of degree to the South West then you will see the Hockey Stick galaxy or two interacting galaxies NGC 4656 and 4657. It is another example of peculiar galaxies and a joy to observe.

Kind regards,

Tatyana