Galaxies in and around Leo

[RobertI]

Following a good first session at my new observing site, last night I had a second outing with the C8 to explore some bright galaxies in and around Leo. Conditions were transparent but Leo was lowish in an area of sky with some skyglow, so not perfect. 

 

First was M105 and its close neighbour NGC3384, both easy to see in the same FOV at x60, I'm surprised the latter didn't make it on to Messier's list as it was pretty bright. According to SkySafari another mag 12 galaxy NGC3373 was nearby and after getting fully dark adapted I could just make it out, making three galaxies in the FOV. 

 

I tried the 10mm ep giving x120, and this noticeably increased contrast by darkening the sky background, and gave a more enjoyable view. 

 

Scanning across it was easy to find M96 and M95 both larger a dimmer than M105. Scanning further south east, M65 and M66 made a spectacular bright pairing in the FOV. Nearby NGC3628 almost made it into the same FOV. Looking in SkySafari this galaxy has a prominent dust lane and I felt with a darker sky and and higher altitude of the galaxy the dust lane may have been visible. 

 

Sadly the huge Virgo cluster was too low down and rising behind a tree, so I moved on the M94 in Canes Venatici. This was the brightest galaxy so far with a very bright core.  The nearby M64, the Sunflower galaxy was fainter, but easy to find.

 

I finished of with a couple of open clusters M44 and M67, the latter being a compact open cluster benefitting from the higher power to resolve its members.

 

Before packing up I glanced at Orion and stumbled across a fine quadruple system just under Alnitak. This I discovered to be Sigma Orionis and I would recommend anyone to have a quick view of this when they get a chance!

 

Sorry for grey text - cant seem to fix it (mods -help!)

[cloudsweeper]

Nice report, Rob.  I only managed three in Sigma Ori, and in Leo just a couple of galaxies (M65, 66) - sky not too great here, but I'm hoping to increase my galaxy count!

Doug.

[rockystar]

very nice report, and another sigma ori convert

 

[RobertI]

10 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Nice report, Rob.  I only managed three in Sigma Ori, and in Leo just a couple of galaxies (M65, 66) - sky not too great here, but I'm hoping to increase my galaxy count!

Doug.

Hi Doug, yes the fourth member is pretty faint, I reckon I might struggle to see it with a smaller scope.  

6 minutes ago, rockystar said:

very nice report, and another sigma ori convert

 

Thanks Rockystar, good to know I'm not alone. 

[cloudsweeper]

Rob - yes - I was using my 8SE, but as I say, light quality here is not great.  But I still do OK on all the brighter objects!

Doug.