Triangulum - a mixed bag of DSOs

[Mike JW]

M33 in Triangulum is rightfully a favourite for observing so on this outing I made a point of avoiding it!

NGC 969 and NGC 978 are the Webb Society Galaxy of the Month, see https://www.webbdeepsky.com/galaxies/2020/galaxy/december  .

RFGC 355 is a nice edge on mag 15 galaxy                                                           RFGC 384 (UGC 1281) at mag 12 is always worth a visit with its two companions.

 

UGC 1975 - a  tiny spiral at mag 15.4 makes for a challenge.                                 UGC 2083 is a mag 15, 81,000lyrs across and has a bar.                                                   

 

Finally we have UGC 2023 which has a low surface brightness, is face on and irregular.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Mike JW

[Martin Meredith]

Lovely collection of objects. Triangulum has some decent sights.

I observed the NGCs this time last year, and they fit comfortably into a single field of the Lodestar. They're also listed as members of the VV catalogue, VV 1034 and 1035. This is a field where a noisy stretch is worth it in my opinion to bring out more detail (including just a hint of some rather far-flung arms for the face-on spiral NGC 974). I was forced to check whether these are real or imagined and I find them present on the SDSS image (below) which also shows just what a beauty this galaxy is. 

VV 1034 is NGC 970, the smaller galaxy (pair?) mid-way along the right hand edge of the equatorial triangle at the top.

 

Its great to see some UGCs too. In EEVA mode these galaxies can show some fine detail. I really like your UGC 2023 -- it's intriguing shape makes me want to find out more. The only one I've observed is UGC 1281 but I have it filed under its Flat Galaxy Catalogue entry (FGC 195)

Martin

[Mike JW]

Martin, I sometimes wonder about buying an 8" quattro to get these wider shots.

Re NGC 974 - indeed what a beauty. I did notice at the time I possible hint of a noise pattern that would correspond to the far flung arms. Below is the shot re-tweaked and yes there is the hint of those arms. Also just below 974 is a tiny galaxy as per the SDSS image.

 

[Bill S]

Like you, Mike, I was prompted to look at NGC 969 etc. because it is December 2020's Webb Deep Sky Society's Galaxy of the month.

There looked to be a few small faint fuzzies in the area between the NGC 974 and 978 so did a plate-solve and annotate. (No I didn't. astrometry.net and ASTAP did...)

 

 

Great fun!

Regards

Bill

[Mike JW]

Thanks Bill, makes a good addition with your annotated image. Mike

[Mike JW]

I have paid another visit to Triangulum.

RFGC 553, NGC 973 (mag 13 spiral, 200,000 lyrs across)                                     RFGC 514 UGC 1856, an edge on spiral, mag 14 and about 130,000 lyrs across.   

A definite favourite and the we get IC 1815 as a contrast                                    Just above the core, is a hint of an angled dust lane?                    

(the lenticular below it) and 3 others all accompanied by star (SAO 55664)

 

 

RFGC 528, UGC 1924 - tricky mag 15 edge on spiral plus 11 Tri thrown in.        RFGC 506, UGC 1820 , another mag 15 edge on spiral

 

Still quite a few more targets in Triangulum to visit - six WBL groups and 15 VV galaxies.

Mike

[stash_old]

Thought I would swing around and have go - hope you dont mind.  Ngc783/5 plus ngc798

Edited December 20, 2020 by stash_old

[Mike JW]

Hi @stash_old

Don't mind at all, it works well when folk add into a thread with their observations and other information. I think it also helps other people to see what can be achieved (or not) with different scopes/settings/cameras. I am not an expert on this lark but for myself I feel I get sharper stars with shorter subs and more in the stack. Certainly the noise level drops especially if I get to 20 plus in the stack.

Thanks for posting,

Mike

[Martin Meredith]

Happy new year everyone! We haven't had any posts in the observing section in 2021 so I thought I'd add one of mine from last November in Triangulum. 

This is NGC 925, a type Scd barred spiral with very clear, loose, flowing arms, both containing knots of star formation. There is more than a hint of a dust lane to the left of the bright streak at the centre.

When this first popped up on the screen my comment to self was 'how come Messier missed this one?' After M33, NGC 925 is the second brightest galaxy in Triangulum. A surface brightness of 23.3 overstates the case I feel, and I suppose comes from dividing by a relatively large area. Mike or others, have you observed this visually?

Martin

 

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[Mike JW]

Hi Martin, thanks for adding into the Triangulum feast of DSOs.  Your shot came out well and with some nice detail to enjoy. Visually with the 20 my notes tell me I saw the central wide oval shape with a hint of a core. No more detail than that from poor GB skies. Whilst many folk would love to have a 20" for Deep Sky, I soon realised that to get significant detail in GB skies a 24" might be considered the minimum. (I regularly compared my 20" views to my mates 24" views. The 24 was always so much better.) I have yet to visit 925 with the camera.

NGC 925 is about 30 million lyrs away. You mention it is a barred spiral - did you miss out the 'B' i.e. should it be SBcd?

Various articles on this galaxy looking at the way stars are rotating around the core - I lost the plot on reading them but it appears the rotation pattern is muddled. The southern arm is more together, with the northern arm being a looser structure. Possibly the bar is rotating slower than the spiral arms.

Mike

[Bill S]

I thought NGC 925 rang a bell. I looked at this back in September and was pleased to find this other Triangulum galaxy. I see from Wikipedia and one other source that it is called the Amatha Galaxy. I have not found out where this name comes from.

Any ideas? 

I also did a quick plate-solve + annotate to see what faint galaxies are in the field.

 

NGC 925 is a member of the NGC 1023 group of galaxies. The group is part of the Virgo Supercluster, which is then part of the Laniakea Supercluster and so it goes on...

Bill

[Mike JW]

Hi Bill,  Thanks for the annotation - I guessed the faint fuzz spots might be galaxies. 

Mike

[Mike JW]

Hi, At last a clear spell so here is my visit to NGC 925 with the 15" Dob.

 

 

Also visited NGC 672 (SBc) and IC 1727 (SBm). (The pair are VV 338 - I might add this shot into the VV thread as well). They are interacting and share a common envelope of gas and are thought to lie within a dark matter filament in this rather sparse part of space. They really are close to each other - just 88,000lyrs apart. 

A nice edge on galaxy at the bottom - about 500 million lyrs away. Also another tiny galaxy just to the left of NGC 672

Finally here is NGC 784 which lies in the same dark filament as  NGC 672.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Mike JW

[mdstuart]

Just enjoyed reading this fantastic thread. Good to see that Owens galaxy of the month is inspiring people.

Here is my list of triangulum visual observations with some overlaps with your images. It needs updating with my more recent 20 inch viewing!

Mark

[Mike JW]

Hi Mark,

Good to hear from you. Triangulum is a wonderful constellation to visit and thank you for adding in the list. I have just spent a happy two hours in Triangulum and will post SHK groups from Tri ( in the SHK thread) and some VV galaxies from Tri in the VV thread.

Mike

[Martin Meredith]

Nice observations Mike. Triangulum really is a great constellation.

Thanks Mark for that list. The group around NGC 1060 and 1066 that you've observed is a wonderful sight in EEVA and is known as WBL 085. Here's a shot I took a couple of months ago. There's quite a few unlabelled objects that really merit the term 'fuzzy' in this picture.

[Mike JW]

Hi Martin - indeed it is a wonderful sight. I shall visit this area when I chase up the WBL groups - endless pleasure.

Mike