Galaxy Hunting

[Epick Crom]

Hi my fellow stargazers! I spent a lovely moonless night last night searching specifically for galaxies, with varying degrees of success.

First up was Pegasus. I tried for NGC 7814 first up. Located near by Algenib ( Gamma Pegasi), I searched fruitlessly for 20 min before giving up. Next try was NGC 7331. I think I messed up the star hop on my way there and ended up hopelessly lost😢. It's located in a difficult region to get to that's for sure! I think I will wait for it to culminate higher over here before I try again as that area was quite low down in the north.

Turned to the long winding constellation of Eridanus next and hit instant paydirt. Starhopping from Epsilon Eridani led me to NGC 1269. Success! A fine diffuse glow. Nearby was the star Acamar, I've read about it but never observed it. Turning my 10 inch dob onto it revealed a beautiful double star with twin white components. Lovely. A quick starhop got me into neighbouring constellation Fornax. More happy hunting here as I found NGC 1097 then NGC 1316 (Fornax A) in quick succession. Both beautiful and bright galaxies, Fornax A in particular was fascinating as I could also see it's companion galaxy NGC 1317. 

NGC 1365 was found next, a beautiful barred spiral galaxy shining at mag 9.5. I could just make out the barred spiral structure in this galaxy. Awesome! I tried to find the planetary nebula NGC 1360, also in Fornax but this one eluded me. 

After my deep sky session I decided to treat myself to some bright eye candy, namely Venus which was glowering in the west. I cranked up the magnification to 300x and enjoyed the sight of Venus almost exactly at half phase. A great time spent observing as always. Wishing you all clear skies!

Joe

[callisto]

Thanks for sharing your obs 

 

Mark

[Epick Crom]

3 minutes ago, callisto said:

Thanks for sharing your obs 

 

Mark

Thanks for reading it Mark! All the best

[Stardaze]

Super Joe. 

[Epick Crom]

55 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Super Joe. 

Thanks Stardaze 👍

[Kon]

Nice report Joe and excellent targets there despite some frustration.

[Epick Crom]

8 hours ago, Kon said:

Nice report Joe and excellent targets there despite some frustration.

Thanks Kon. Galaxy hunting is tough business, especially in suburban skies. I need to find a dark site ASAP!

[Kon]

8 minutes ago, Epick Crom said:

Thanks Kon. Galaxy hunting is tough business, especially in suburban skies. I need to find a dark site ASAP!

I personally find galaxies harder to locate/observe than the nebulas. I always thought you had fairly dark skies from your reports. What bortle are you?

[Epick Crom]

34 minutes ago, Kon said:

I personally find galaxies harder to locate/observe than the nebulas. I always thought you had fairly dark skies from your reports. What bortle are you?

I agree, galaxies are the most difficult class of objects to observe. My skies are bottle 7 (I'm 8km away from Perth City)

[Voyager 3]

3 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

I agree, galaxies are the most difficult class of objects to observe. My skies are bottle 7 (I'm 8km away from Perth City)

Like Kon , I've never thought this would be the case . I've always thought your skies are ~Bortle 3 skies from your reports . 

Oh man , would you believe it , you've done TERRIFIC observations from your light polluted location !!!!!

[Epick Crom]

Thanks Voyager 3! I've never really know my bortle level until I checked today, I'm right at the edge of a red zone. I've never really been to truly dark skies to observe. One day!

[Kon]

8 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

My skies are bottle 7 (I'm 8km away from Perth City)

That's really impressive that you get to see all the fuzzies from there. It shows some great visual skills. Do you use a GoTo or manual Dob? Star hoping must be quite challenging.

[Epick Crom]

Thanks Kon, starhopping is a breeze most of the time using my 9x50mm finder scope. I do not have GoTo. I observed for two years using binoculars before moving up to a telescope, that helped me a lot learning star patterns. Naked eye the Milky way is weakly visible, but the Magellanic Clouds cannot be seen naked eye. I think I'm closer to bortle 6 then 7, as my skies sometimes seem "dark" to me. It's hard to say as I have never been to a truly dark sight so have no comparison. What bortle are your skies? Thanks

[Kon]

@Epick CromI am bortle 3 to 4 (my E has some light pollution). I am away from big cities with only 3 neighbours 😇. Several targets are naked eye objects and Milky Way is a bright arch and does so dark lanes.

Kostas

[Epick Crom]

2 hours ago, Kon said:

@Epick CromI am bortle 3 to 4 (my E has some light pollution). I am away from big cities with only 3 neighbours 😇. Several targets are naked eye objects and Milky Way is a bright arch and does so dark lanes.

Kostas

Lucky you Kostas! There is a dark site 1.5 hr drive away in a forest, due to work and kids haven't had time to go yet😢

[bomberbaz]

good report, I always try to have a go for something I know is going to be hard to see, always makes it that bit more rewarding when you get it

[Epick Crom]

I like your philosophy @bomberbaz! Finding difficult targets is always satisfying. Clear skies to you.