Galaxy trucking

[Davesellars]

So....  last night it was clear and I setup at approx 8:30pm.  Iwas in fact a little tired from the previous night's marathon effort however a clear night is not to be sniffed at in these parts!

Looking through the finder and 24mm Pan at M42 something was clearly amiss.  The sky was a murky soup filtering everything.  Even M42 was struggling with much less detail showing.  I swung round to a few different locations generally to be met by more soupy stuff and considerably brightening of the background.   The Double Cluster and M45 looked fine but it was going to be useless for faint fuzzies.

I decided to wait back inside and have a sandwich while planning some targets for if the transparency should get better.  Ursa Major has plethora of galaxies from the Herschel 400 list that I am yet to get through so I made this the primary area to look at.

9:30pm - the sky was looking even worse......  naked eye the sky was covered in soup.  uurgh

10pm - magically the sky had darkened signalling a return to normal transparency - so it was a go.  through the eyepiece it was indeed much better and the murk had cleared considerably and Ursa Major was also now quite high making it ideal for those galaxies.

First I thought I'd try a go at a nebula:

NGC 2264 - Christmas Tree open cluster with nebulae - Fine sparse open cluster with good shape but with no nebula to be seen  Starting to get a bit low though so will try this again another night

So onwards to Ursa Major...  Most observations are with the 14mm Delos

M97 Owl Nebula - this showed clearly and brightly with no filter.  Good test of transparency!

M108 Galaxy - This can be a tricky customer if the conditions aren't good but this was clearly seen directly with a touch of detail and mottling / brightening across the galaxy.

NGC 3631 Galaxy  - bright but with no detail nor discernible core

NGC 3729 Galaxy - distinct oval shape and clear but diffuse and again no obvious core brightening to speak of.

NGC 3718 Galaxy - A bit dimmer than 3729 perhaps because it's larger.  Quite diffuse.

M109 Galaxy - this surprised by popping with considerable detail.   a bright central core however the barred structure was quite visible with mottling and brightening also surrounding the barred central structure although arms as such could not be seen.  The angular nature of the the galaxy was very obvious.

NGC 3953 Galaxy - quite diffuse across the galaxy but with reasonable brightness.

NGC 3917 - (edge on?) galaxy, faint but quite obvious with a small bright core across it.

NGC 4026 Galaxy - very bright small core extending both sides  Very obvious edge on structure.

NGC 4088 Galaxy - What is this?  It's relatively large, very diffuse across the entire galaxy and completely irregular in shape.  I try a bit more power on this but it refuses to give any more detail but no more could be prised from it.  I would like to return to this another night though to see if more can be gained as it looks of considerable interest.

NGC 4085 Galaxy - Quite a bit more difficult to view as it's so diffuse needing some averted vision to help show the fine oval shape.

NGC 4100 Galaxy - Another slightly difficult one without any detail.

NGC 4157 Galaxy  - Quite large and extended, difficult to view needing some averted vision to get a bit more from it seeing the difference in contrast of the core to the outer edges of the galaxy.  The galaxy almost stretches visually into a mag 10.4 star.

M101 Galaxy - Tricky customer as always but the core is easily visible direct vision with a touch of fluff around it.  No more detail.

NGC 5473 Galaxy  - Quite bright elliptical but diffuse nature.

NGC 5474 Galaxy - considerably more difficult and nearly kicked my butt for trying... very faint and needing averted vision to confirm.

A short break to look at the sky and shot over to Leo for one particular galaxy:

NGC 2903 - Very bright and showing considerable structure across its face with mottling and a central band of the core showing brighter than the rest of the galaxy.

Now over to Draco for a few more galaxies to finish the evening...

M102 - Very bright squished oval - no other specific interest.

NGC 5907.  This is quite something and is a huge object with the 14mm Delos.  It is however very diffuse needing some work with averted vision to get the extra extension to the galaxy which really fills the view.  While there's no real detail to be seen within the galaxy (perhaps a touch low for this) it's a magnificent one to observe for its sheer size!

NGC 5905 and NGC 5908 - A little way from NGC 5907, these two can just be seen. 5908 is direct vision however 5905 at mag 12.5 with what looks like very low surface brightness needs averted vision to see anything.  I repeated the averted vision with movement to confirm.

It was approx 1:30am and getting seriously cold.  I'd have continued but the previous night's observing was also taking its toll so I decided to call it a night and pack up.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Davesellars said:

have a sandwich

A full belly is worh at least 0.5 mag !

Great list,  a lot there new to me.  What scope are you using ?

 

[Davesellars]

Thanks!  I was using the 12” dob.

[Cosmic Geoff]

An unusually clear night here in the late evening. I found I had a good view of M81 with the C8, so checked down the rest of Starsense's galaxy list. Saw M81, M94, M106, M82, M51, M64, M87, M63, NGC2903, M66, M96, M86, NGC4725, M105, M65, M84, NGC4449,  M88, NGC4526.  Faintest was about mag 9.5

[Davesellars]

Nice one Geoff!  Good list of galaxies there.  The C8 is a great scope for galaxies.

[BiggarDigger]

Excellent haul there, especially with the false start.

2 hours ago, Davesellars said:

.....the sky was covered in soup. 

I was out for a few hours last night and managed to bag a few new galaxies in Coma Berenices and around the head of Leo, but for me, the Bowl of Virgo was full of vegetable broth so thick your Granny would have been proud!

Richard

[Littleguy80]

Another great session, Dave. It's looking clear tonight, do you have the stamina for another session?  

[Davesellars]

49 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Another great session, Dave. It's looking clear tonight, do you have the stamina for another session?  

If it's clear I'll be out!!!  Besides, this looks like the last night for some time if the weather forecast is to be believed so I can have a rest tomorrow night!

[domstar]

Mmmmm galaxies. I haven't seen any apart from Cetus A since autumn. At the moment it's still too cold to venture away from my balcony so it's open cluster and doubles time for me. You've whetted my appetite for spring.  

[Whistlin Bob]

Sounds like a great session. Thanks for sharing; I think I'll try to work some of these into my next observing session.

[Eastman]

Great session, nice write up.

[Stu]

Nice one Dave. Managed to miss this somehow but glad I found it, a very good session and interesting write up.