Spirals galore

[jetstream]

This past winter was very challenging giving few clear skies and hopefully the past couple of clear nights are an indication of things to come. The sky offered 20 UMi in direct vision and 17 Umi once in a while briefly popping in view. The scope was the 15" dob with the 20 HDC/Nikon HW 17/14.

I do enjoy the bright face on galaxies that give up their spirals so first on the list was M51 with the 20mm- what a great view and the 17mm HW really gave a superb look to the spirals. M101 can be difficult to pull spirals out of - the 17mm diminished them a bit tonight but the 20mm gave such a good view of the off centered arms- well worth visiting here.

And then there is M81... under good conditions this shows me 2 short, sharp spirals- a challenge for sure and worth the pursuit.

I closed the evening with Markarians Chain- I counted 15 galaxies seen twice but 14 more of the time, what a fantastic object giving 8 (or 9) galaxies in the FOV of the 20mm Lunt. I must hunt down this rogue galaxy and identify it-its in the main section and very faint. All in all a pretty good night and it sure feels good to observe again. More galaxies were seen sky surfing Virgo and Uma- the count was roughly 100 galaxies, not too bad for an hour and a half of observing.

[niallk]

Great report Gerry - yeah Makarians Chain is really an amazing sight 

[Paz]

Great report, hope there are more good spells of clear skies to come.

[Pig]

Nice one Gerry, hopefully you will get more clear skies from now on ? 

[Stu]

Lovely report Gerry, shame you've had poor skies for a while but hopefully it will improve now.

I've not really heard reports of seeing spiral arm in M81 before, it's only ever been an oval glow for me so that must have been very satisfying.

Does this chart help with the missing galaxy at all?

Stu

[PaulB]

Reading the report. You had a good night. The views through the 15" must be worth the effort after star hoping to target. I too was finally able to use the Mk1 EB over the Easter full Moon bank holiday.

I want to know why the skies are only clear at full Moon?

Anyway like you. I had a good night observing doubles and some fuzzies with my C9.25. 

[jetstream]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Lovely report Gerry, shame you've had poor skies for a while but hopefully it will improve now.

I've not really heard reports of seeing spiral arm in M81 before, it's only ever been an oval glow for me so that must have been very satisfying.

Does this chart help with the missing galaxy at all?

Stu

Thanks Stu, great map. I'm looking at Stellarium as well to narrow the possibilities and I guess its time to get the orthos out in the area, this should help quite a bit. I'm hoping to assemble the 24" today if it doesn't snow and this thing might reveal a bit more of the Chain. M81 is worth the trouble and under good conditions will reveal 2 spirals and is pretty sensitive to eyepiece focal length. My 10" will show them but it they are more difficult than in the 15".

Your big dob and also the Mewlon will show them, nice scopes BTW!

[Stu]

Good stuff Gerry, was your galaxy on there? Skysafari will go alot deeper than that, I just limited it to a few more than the 8. Somewhat useless map attached but it shows how many are there!

Great news about the 24"! I had been wondering when it would arrive finally. That really should be amazing under your skies.

Need to get my dob somewhere dark again. Bignor is quite good but the light domes from the coastal towns seem to be getting worse.

The Mewlon is excellent, and I'm sure the contrast would help pull the detail out.

[jetstream]

45 minutes ago, Stu said:

Somewhat useless map attached but it shows how many are there!

Lol! Holy cow, piles of galaxies in there! As always it takes me time to figure out what I've observed. Yes try to get to a dark site for galaxy season if possible. Its been a while since I've set out to observe them seriously and I feel a round of it coming. NGC 3628 In the Leo triplet showed its dust lane well last night, another favorite. This one shows excellent in the binos, as do a few other bright galaxies.

Thanks Stu, I now want a Mewlon lol!

The ability for some scopes to excel in contrast puzzles me, but it sure does show in the views. I want to try that bright galaxy up at the top of Uma and over a ways, forget the name but its bright and we'll see how the bigger scope does on these types.

How long does it take for you to travel north and east nearish Scarp?

[Stu]

57 minutes ago, jetstream said:

Thanks Stu, I now want a Mewlon lol!

Tee hee

57 minutes ago, jetstream said:

How long does it take for you to travel north and east nearish Scarp?

It's probably 4 hours or so Gerry. I did take my scope with me when I went up to the Lake District but the weather was cloudy so I didn't get a chance to try it. Skies should be pretty dark up there.