Spring galaxy hunt, and 400+

[YKSE]

Forecast looking very good and stable for this long weekend, never happened since August. A long list(mostly galaxies) prepared for this last chances before white summer.
The Sun sets 21:10 and up 5:10, meaning it only gets dark about 3 hours between 11:30 to 2:30, and shortening.

5/5-2016
Wind: still
Humidity: 80%-90%, dew heater on median power all the time. no problem
Seeing: 3-4 of 10, not good
Transparancy: SQM 20.6 - 20.9, varying, from naked eye M13 visible in DV to baerly in AV.
Scope: C8,  with 80ED as backup

Starting from Lynx which are still high in western sky:
NGC 2691(m13): 68x, a suspected faint patch in AV, 120x showed a round fuzzy in AV.
NGC 2712(m11.9): 68x, suspected in DV, oval shape with brighter core in AV
NGC 2719(m12.9): 120x, edge-on, intermittenly in AV.

down to the Crab and Lion:
NGC 2720(m13) : very difficult, about 145x, about round shape, only intermittently in AV
NGC2730(m12.8): 120x, round shape in AV
NGC 2749(m11.7): 120x, round shape in AV
NGC 2750(m12): Not visible in 120x(maybe seeing has deteriated). dropped to 68x, AV spotted a round shape with brighter core
NGC 3239(m10,7): 68x, almost oval shape with a star in the edge in AV, in 50x, smaller but slightly brighter oval shape.

Yes, my 400th galaxy, horray.

and Virgo of course:
NGC 4123(m11): 68x, round shape with brighter core seen in AV
NGC 4124(m11.2): 68x, oval shape in AV
NGC 4168(m11.2): 68x, round patch in AV
NGC 4267(m10.8): 68x, almost seen in DV, round shape in AV
NGC 4417(m10.5): 68x and 50x, edge-on shape in AV
NGC 4457(m10.7):like 4267, an almost DV face-on galaxy

Last few galaxies felt like more difficult than I had anticipated. Looking up at M13, it was barely seen AV now. time to pack up. Just a little bino tests. 8x40 and 10x42 on M57, it was visible in AV in 10x42, but only intermittently in 8x40. So a 12x bino should be a good compromise for easy travelling to bag the last four southern Messiers.

Just need to clean the ice (yes, ice) on the car glasses before driving home.

Thanks for reading.

[Special K]

Great result on those galaxies!  Thanks for posting. Glad you're getting in those sights before the white summer!  

[Piero]

Nice one!  and congratulations for your 400th galaxy! 

[mdstuart]

Nice list. .I note you do not go beyond x 120..Sometimes a bit more power can bring out some of the smaller fainter galaxies better by darkening the background sky...

Mark

 

[Mark S W]

 Congratulations are you 400th that is quite the milestone.

One question and  please forgive my ignorance but what is a white summer

[jetstream]

Excellent report Yong! I'm glad you snuck a session in before your skies lighten.

[estwing]

congrats Yong well done on reaching 400 before the white out!...as Mark says power helps that background...clear and darker skies!

[YKSE]

11 hours ago, mdstuart said:

Nice list. .I note you do not go beyond x 120..Sometimes a bit more power can bring out some of the smaller fainter galaxies better by darkening the background sky...

Mark

 

Yes, you're right. part of the reasons is that most targets are larger than 1', my perceptions so far is that magnificaion to size 120' and 180' in combination of exit pupil around 3mm to 1.5mm give me best brightness for detection, I would have doubled the magnifciaitons if I had a 16"; another reason is that I'm still in the stage of having fun to see new DSO than enjoying picking up details in DSO, and I have a long to-do list with this 8" (over 2000 potential galaxies).

Thanks for the advice, I'll try to put it in practice in my coming sessions

[YKSE]

7 hours ago, Mark S W said:

 Congratulations are you 400th that is quite the milestone.

One question and  please forgive my ignorance but what is a white summer

In mid-summer (around 21 June), up in this latitude, the Sun sets around 22:30. goes up about 3:00, there's practically no darkness, there comes the word "white summer".

[laudropb]

Very nice report of a very productive session.