Still waiting...

[Pixies]

... for that elusive crystal clear night. Lots of reports of fantastic sessions recently, and with 2 clear moon-less nights forecast, I had hoped for some faint fuzzies and had drawn up a list of some suitable targets.

Wednesday night was cloudy until 1am, and even then there was a high haze. Tonight promised more, with clear blue skies all day. However, the transparency was really bad and it might as well have been a midsummer night with the brightness of the sky. I don't know if it was light pollution from the snow on the ground, or a thin cloud/haze, but the sky was blue and only the brightest stars visible.

I thought I'd start with some of the usual subjects for moonlit nights:

Sigma Orionis first, but could not see the fourth star. I then watched the Trapezium for a several minutes, but it only showed the 4 main stars and not a hint of 'E', which I've been seeing regularly this winter (as regular as it can be, with the infrequent clear nights recently).

Then Tegmine. Again, not as successful as before, unable to split the tight pair, just resolving them at x300 magnification.

The Eskimo nebula was pretty good. The central star visible with averted vision (x150) without filter. With the UHC filter, the nebulosity was wider, but the bright centre missing.

X Cancri was nice and red. I had to guess the location of the constellation of Cancer to start with, as none of it was visible to the naked eye.

 

I knew it was likely to be a hopeless task, but I thought I'd try for some of the brighter galaxies in Leo, especially as I had my first success with the Leo Triplet recently. So I tried there again. I managed 2 out of 3, but M65 and M66 were very faint and I could only make then out with averted vision and bumping the scope. Next I tried for the Leo I group (for the first time). I managed M105 and the nearby NGC3384 - both a little easier than I expected - and also M96, but M95 eluded me. 

 

My original plan was to try and see Markarians's chain. Something I've always wanted to do, as it appears so beautiful in any images I've seen of it. My planned observing list included the brightest members plus a few others in the Virgo galaxy cluster. I had even cleared the snow from the western end of the garden path, so I could set the scope up and face North-East over the house towards the darkest part of the sky (usually). But I wandered down and when I looked up, I couldn't even make out Virgo, just Arcturus above it. So I decided to call it a night.

 

One day....

 

[Voyager 3]

Nice omnivorous report pixies ! I can feel your pain of not seeing cancer - for this reason I still haven't fished M44 😳 . Gotta get some clear night today I hope 🤞 .

[Epick Crom]

Great report Pixies! Sorry to hear about your skies, hopefully you will get a nice dark sky soon.

[wookie1965]

Wow what a list I've never seen M65 and M66 from home so you have better skies than me. 

I got the Eskimo neb for the first time in my Tal no central star but I will try with my 5" next time. 

[Pixies]

Ok - a bit of a better night, last night. Clear Outside was positive for a few hours before midnight and at 9pm it was looking great. The clouds had cleared, the sky looked very transparent (certainly much more so than any time recently). A brisk SW wind though, and the threat of dew. Nice and mild, too. No gloves tonight!

Started with the Trapezium in Orion and it proved how good the seeing was. The E star was visible with direct vision and for the first time I saw the F star! It was popping in and out of direct visiblity, but definitely there.

Then on to Auriga: M35, M36, M37 and NGC1664 (12mm BST always provides a good contrast)- all not as bright as I've seen them. I noticed that the southern sky was starting to look a little 'milky' now.

Tegmine next. With the 7mm Ortho (x170) I was on the verge of a split, but with the 6mm Ortho (x200) it was definite. Another thumbs-up for the good seeing.

Feeling confident, I went for the Intergalactic Wanderer! Found it, but blimey, it's small and faint. More like a faint galaxy than any globular clusters I've observed before. 

Now for the real faint fuzzies:

Leo I group - more luck this time. M105 and the nearby NGC3384 were found quite easily as before  - and also M95 and M96, which took a little hunting around to find them. All faint and really needing averted vision.

Leo Triplet. Bagged all three this time. M65 and M66 the brightest of the 3.

The transparency of the southern sky was definitely getting worse now. The haze/high cloud was building and I thought it was better to try a different direction. So high NE still looked good. So I went for:

M51. The Whirlpool galaxy was bright and the 2 cores clear with direct vision. There was a faint hint of some structure, too - which I've never observed before from the back garden. Transparency was still good in this part of the sky. Spent quite some time marveling at the view. Thought I'd check SkySafari for other bright galaxies in this direction...

M94: What the..!!! Why has no one mentioned this before?! M31, M81/M82, the Leo triplet - these are all recommended 'beginners' galaxies - but this is something else! It's SO bright. It looks like a large bright planetary nebula! To say you could see it with direct vision was an understatement, and I could see the extended fuzziness with some structure too, like faint rings around the core. It does look more like a PN to me. Love it.
 

Then I hopped over to M106. This was great too. Not as concentrated as M94, it's stretched out and appears quite large and elongated; its light spread out in a long oval with obvious differences in density. These two are going on to my frequent contacts list!

However, very soon they started to fade and I noticed the high cloud had reached overhead. Also, the temperature suddenly dropped and I could now see my breath, even though it was still well above freezing. So I called it a night. Best one in ages.

 

[Epick Crom]

Good job getting the Intergalactic Wanderer. That globular is an incredible 300,000 light years away!

[Stardaze]

Great couple of sessions there @PixiesPrompts me to get a little more organised again with my sessions! I've made a note of a couple elements (haven't looked for the wanderer) there that I'll search for. Was out myself both nights and the viewing seemed very good, but I plumbed for some soft targets both nights. Must download some ready made lists again. 

Looks like there could be a possibility tonight but it's still very windy so a night for the binos maybe..

[Kon]

Excellent report! I am so jealous, I have not had a clear night for ages! I will try M94 since you seem really amazed about it!