14 April - Big Dob sings "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

[alanjgreen]

Date: Saturday 14^th April 2220-0225am        Scope: 20” f3.6 Lukehurst Dob with Paracorr (fl = 2089mm)

 

“I’m a Believer”

Seems like a lifetime since I was out with the scope! Last decent session with big dob was 20^th March, just a couple of moon affected sessions in between.

The sky was clear last night but gave the impression of there being some high cloud. But when its new moon so you have to make the effort…

I was surprised that it didn’t really get dark until 10pm (that’s cuts a big hole into galaxy season for the night).

I was setup and ready by 2230 and slid the roof open on the shed to reveal the twinkle, twinkle of the stars...

 

“You Really Got Me”

After confirming my two star alignment using a quick trip to M3 globular, I set off for my only “planned” target = NGC4151 & SN2018aoq. Finding the correct galaxy took a few moments as there were three to choose from. Once the correct one was picked then the second nearby galaxy really helped me to orient myself against my pencil sketch that I took outside with me. I tried Ethos13 (x150), E10 (x200), E8 (x250) & E6 (x350) eyepieces on the galaxy. The supernova was best in the E6, the triangle of three stars (one is the SN) are easy to spot around the halo. I was able to hold the SN in direct vision. It was clear in the E10 & E8 too. But I needed averted to pick it out in the E13 (the two stars in the triangle were still easy in the E13).

There have been so many supernova in Ursa Major “this season” that I have lost count of how many I have seen, I must be into double figures by now (need to go back and count them up from my notes one rainy day!)

 

 “Crazy”

Next up, more galaxies of course!

M51 – If you have to start somewhere then it should be M51! As the night was warmer I was a bit more daring with my eyepiece use and as the heater was not deployed (until later in the evening!) I was able to freely swap and change them without messing with cabling and such. M51 was surprisingly good in the ethos6 (x350), it was bigger than the FOV and the arms were really bright. I was able to make out some of the area where the arms leave the central core (this area is usually the hardest to make out at lower powers as your eyes just get overwhelmed by the bright arms circling around). So I guess the golden rule is, if the target is bright enough then don’t be afraid to throw some magnification at it…

 

“I can see clearly now”

M101 – Next up, M101 which really had been a let-down under those moon affected evenings just passed. Tonight it was back “almost” to its best. In the E8 and E10 it filled the whole FOV. The upper arm travelling across the top and down the right was obvious straight away (it ends in a bright area of an internal NGC). The other main arm to the left travelling down from some bright NGC down and under was more of a challenge and took some time to come to my brains attention. The final two arms (seen previously) were just not possible. But I was impressed by the sheer size of the cloudy surface area presented in front of me.

 

“This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)”

Copeland's Septet (Hickson 57) – Right, onto some difficult stuff as its getting darker and I am expecting the conditions to peak and go off according to the weather forecast   Nexus got me and the ethos10 into the right place but the galaxy bunch were hard to find. A very faint hazy patch was spotted in the view and in went the E6! Now I see them! After spending some orientation time and trying to count the individual patches as they area drifted across the view. I started to “get my eye in”. The galaxy out on its own was the easiest to spot, the next three are very close together and were really appearing as a single patch, I caught a couple of cores in the patch on a few occasions. The final three were all seen having decent core brightness. I swapped to the E8 and the view was pretty similar and it allowed a bit more drift time for me to “observe” too.

“I Got You (I Feel Good)”

Mice galaxies (NGC4676) – Another “hard one”. I had tried this with a hint of moon last time out and seen nothing at all. Tonight with the E8 and a bit of searching I finally spotted two tiny faint dots to the left of a bright star. This is a challenging object for sure.

 

“Oh, Pretty Woman”

Needle glx – Onto the Needle. In the E8 the edge on galaxy stretched across the whole 100 degree FOV. The core was wide and bright. The dark central lane was seen clearly cutting across under the core region. Maybe this was my best view of this galaxy?

 

“Hold On, I’m Comin”

Whale glx (NGC4631) – Onto another favourite of mine, the Whale. In the E8 it was huge and its tiny companion NGC4627 was clearly seen. I love watching the strange shape just drift across the view. The central lane was not seen but it was still and enjoyable visit.

 

“It’s Not Unusual”

NGC4861 (ARP266) – This is a strange one for sure. At first I thought that I was struggling to find it as all I could find was some fuzzy haze that seemed to stretch between two stars. I marked it to check this morning on the internet… And that is what it looks like. It appears to have no clear core just a huge area of star birth at one end. (Unusual)

“You Can’t Hurry Love”

NGC5033 – I would love to see more of this side on galaxy (Maybe one day?). In the E8 two black patches (where the arms are) are there but alas no arms visible.

 

“Build Me Up Buttercup”

M94 – In the E8, M94 is a lovely sight. It is just so “round”. If you were making a galaxy from scratch then this is how it would look = “perfectly formed”. A lovely bright core then perfect dust halo then perfect black circle indicating arms. (damn – when will you show me your arms?)

 

“This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)”

Dwarf Galaxies in the NGC 5353/4 Group – I happened upon a great target – a five galaxy group. Unlike some of the earlier “harder” stuff, these galaxies were very obvious in the E10. First you see a lovely bright pair then you notice two more underneath and finally a fifth off to the right. I spent some time and marvelled at the view.

“He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother”

Cocoon glx – Another great target. In the E10, the two galaxies were big and clear. The larger brighter one seems to curve over towards its smaller “brother”.

 

“I Heard It Through The Grapevine”

M81 + M82 – I don’t seem to visit this area of sky too often as its just not well placed above my shed. But tonight the time was right and I had a clear shot at. I swung M81 into view of the E10. I was a bit disappointed! It was definitely better than last time out (with the moon) and I could see the huge inner realms of the galaxy clearly. With time, I could trace out most of the outer edges (it really is a huge galaxy when it’s “all there”) I just wished the outer realms had been clearer (maybe next time!). Over to M82 and it was a lovely sight, wide and chunky. There was one clear black “dart” cutting into the galaxy but again a hint of disappointment as I have seen it better before. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

 

“What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted”

NGC4236 – I spotted 4236 on the screen nearby and nudged over wondering if I could get it avoiding the shed roof… Well I am certainly glad that I did, what a surprise… ITS HUGE! It filled the FOV of the E10 as a long thick ghostly patch. I could trace the edges but there was not a lot of detail within it. I was a nice treat.

 

“Double on Nothing”

To keep myself entertained, I decided to crawl through any and all “double galaxies” (close companion galaxies) that I could see on my Sky Safari screen. Here are some of the best that I happened upon…

4125 + 4121 – E10. Small bright galaxy with smaller fainter companion

4036 + 4041 – E10. One edge on and one side on in same FOV. Bright cores and halos seen in both.

3894 + 3895 – E10. Two small bright galaxies close together.

3690A + 3690B – E10. Two very small bright galaxies very close together. Nice.

3718 + 3729 – E10. Two side on galaxies in same FOV. One larger and fainter. Nice to see two side on as most of these pairs seemed to be edge on.  

3756 + 3738 – E10. Another wide pair of side-ons. One easy and the other fainter that the other.

M106 + 4248 – E10. Lovely large side on galaxy with bright core and nice wide halo. Smaller companion nearby (just in FOV).

 

“Suspicious Minds”

NGC4449 – E10. This is another unusual galaxy. It was bright but the shape was strange, sort of “fish” like. Worth a look if you get the chance…

 

“Runaway”

I had been watching a wet haze rise from the southern horizon and decided that my time was nearly up for the night. I had a quick trip over to M13 and tried the E6 and E8 for some fine bright views but my eyepieces were cold by this time and soon misted up. I had added my heater tape onto the E10 some time back and it was clear to the touch of my fingers just how cold the other ethos were compared to their heated companion

A final quick look at the Double Double and then the Ring Nebula then it was time to pack up.

 

“I’m still a Believer”

The weather forecast seems to suggest another trip or two out later this week! But the hours of darkness have started their diminishing path towards summer. Still it was nice to be out in my shoes (rather than snow boots) and I managed all but the last hour gloveless too!

Maybe spring is coming…

 

Clear Skies,

Alan

[domstar]

What a track list. Your excellent report had me humming and singing.

[David Levi]

Excellent report! I really like in inclusion of photos to illustrate your targets.

[Eastman]

Great report Alan,

Nice number of objects you been visiting, I really like the way you discribe those objects.

5 hours ago, alanjgreen said:

“You Really Got Me”

And now I'm stuck with you really got me in my head!

[FenlandPaul]

Great, entertaining report, Alan. You can Hoover up a lot of targets on a Spring evening!