Supernova (again) plus lots more

[John]

Another clear and dark night here last night. Probably a 7 out of 10 in terms of sky transparency. Naked eye limit at zenith was around magnitude 5.5. Again armed with the 12 inch dobsonian I covered targets in Leo, Virgo, Coma Berenices, Canes Venatici, Ursa Major, and finally Hercules and Lyra. I alternated between tougher and easy targets. I always try and find some easy targets at the end of a session rather than packing up on a negative note having not found something !

 

In the Virgo / Coma Berenices area there are so many galaxies visible with this aperture that you can easily get lost - they keep popping into view as you sweep around with a low powered eyepiece. I found 75x (21mm eyepiece) was a good general viewing power last night to darken the background sky and then using 8mm (200x) or occasionally 6mm (265x) to tease out smaller, fainter targets (eg: the supernova). These are 100 degree field eyepieces though so you still see a decent amount of sky with them.

 

In Leo:

 

Double stars:

 

Algieba (Gamma Leonis) and Iota Leonis

 

Galaxies:

 

NGC 2903

NGCs 3226 and 3227 (a close pair just E of Algieba and quite faint)

M105, M95, M96

M65, M66, NGC 3628 (Leo Triplet)

 

In Virgo:

 

Double Star Porrima

 

Galaxies:

 

M61

NGCs 4281, 4273, 4268 and 4277 (very faint) with supernova SN2020ftl shining dimly at around magnitude 14 just N of the core)

Markarins Chain galaxies M86, M84, NGCs 4388, 4387, 4435 and 4438 ("The Eyes"), 4458, 4461, 4473 and 4477 (the last two are in Coma Berenices)

 

Also in Coma Berenices:

 

Galaxies:

 

M64 (the "Black Eye" galaxy and it was showing the structure that it is named for)

 

Globular clusters:

 

M53 (nicely resolved at 200x, one of the more distant clusters)

NGC 50503 (very, faint, indistinct and scattered globular cluster. Hard to see even with 12 inches of aperture and low power and hard to believe that its classified as a globular)

 

In Canes Venatici:

 

Globular cluster M3 (simply magnificent at 200x, resolved deep into its core and surrounding sprawling mass of stars)

 

Galaxies: M51 and NGC 5195 (the "Whirlpool" and showing faint spiral structure, nearly at the zenith). M51 was clear in the 50mm finder scope as well.

 

In Ursa Major:

 

Galaxies:

 

M81 and M82 (never miss the chance to see these two. M82 showing several dark rifts at 200x and M81 quite a bit of outer halo)

M101 (not always easy to spot this faint face on spiral. It's big with a low surface brightness. Was visible as faint patch in 50mm finder last night which shows that the sky there was quite dark)

 

In Hercules:

 

Globular clusters:

 

The "Great" globular cluster M13 and the also far from shabby M92 both showing very well as their home constellation climbed into the sky. As with M3 and M53 earlier, superb resolution at 200x with this aperture. The dark 3 bladed "Propeller" structure just off centre in M13 was clearly defined.

 

Finally, in Lyra:

 

The famous "Double, Double" Epsilon Lyrae very nicely split at 200x at at the same magnification the equally famous "Ring Nebula" M 57 showing some nice structure despite being still low in the sky.

 

All in all, another very enjoyable session under the stars. And another clear one tonight perhaps ?.

 

Attached is a recent image by Luca Grazzini of supernova SN2020ftl in Virgo mentioned above. It is a type 1a supernova and was discovered at magnitude 16 on the 2nd April. The host galaxy, NGC 4277 is 101 million light years from us.

 

[cloudsweeper]

Great report, John.  I also had a good session (report to follow), but M3 (GC) with your 12" was a big improvement on the pale patch I saw with just over three inches!  (But I did enjoy beautifully sharp stars!)

Doug.

[Paul73]

Nice report Kohn. You certainly covered some ground!!

Paul

[JeremyS]

A highly productive night, @John. Thanks for your report!

[John]

I'll add tonights haul to last nights thread.

12 inch dobsonian again (3rd night in a row !). Got the Supernova SN2020ftl. Looked similar brightness to last night ~mag 14 ?

New galaxies tonight were:

Leo:

NGC 3193, 3190 and 3185 which are 3 of the 4 Leo Quintet in the lions "neck"

NGC 3605, 3607, 3608, 3626 and 3596 in the rear end of the lion.

Virgo:

NGC 4179

M 49

NGC 4526 and 4535 (the latter is known as "Copelands Lost Galaxy" and it's a faint surface brightness face on spiral)

M 87 (no jet, alas)

NGC 4478 and 4476

M 58, M 59 and M 60

NGC 4638

M89 and M90

NGC 4550 and 4564

And finally the "Siamese Twins" galaxies NGC 4567 and 4568 showing their "V" configuration quite nicely I thought at 122x (Ethos 13mm) as they interact together. Photo below by NASA.

Another fine night and I decided to stop at those two constellations rather than venturing into Coma Berenices tonight. I found the larger scale map of the Virgo / Coma cluster in the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas very useful for navigating around this multitude of fuzzies.

Hope others have enjoyed these clear dark skies as well

 

[wookie1965]

Wow I would love to have your sky I can only see smudges of M81 and M82, Great report and what a haul.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Excellent report John.

I concentrated on Virgo last night and will write up a report sometime this morning. I tried to view the SN last night and although I could be see the galaxies NGC 4273, 4281 and 4270 I could not resolve NGC4277 neither could I make out any stars in the correct position. So I failed to see the SN.