A night with a Lion and a Bear

[Kon]

Not literally a Lion or a Bear but galaxy observing in Leo and Ursa Major. I realise that I have not written any reports for a while despite I have been out observing quite often. After the kids went to bed last night, I got my 8" Dob out with the aim of some galaxy spotting. I started with a few winter favourites before Leo and Ursa Major were in good place.

M42 will soon disappear behind trees so I gave it a quick view. Surprisingly the greenish nebulosity was extending much more beyond the wings which is a good sign of decent transparency (although no reds or teal colours when I know transparency is at its best). I then looked some open clusters around Canis Major; M47 and NGC2423 showed a nice spread of stars. I then moved down a bit to look at M46 but somehow I could not spot the planetary within M46 (I had in the past) despite trying with OIII as well (I wonder if my magnification was too low, I used my ES 68 24mm EP and ES 82 14mm); either way the clusters looked great in these wide FOV EPs.

Leo was positioned in good place in my SE direction. I started with the Leo triplet; M65/66 and NGC3628 looked great in the same FOV. M65/66 smudges without much structure but NGC3628 showed a nice elongated shape. I then moved to k Leonis and spotted the NGC3377; the nearby NGC3367 was not visible. Moving downwards I spotted M105 and the accompanying NGC3384. M95 and M96 were easy to spot. Using my Rigel I got at the Algebra and looked for NGC3227 and there it was a nice smudge of light. Further up, I managed to see  the Leo Quartet; that was the first time to observe it and although I could not make any structure, it was great to see them in the same FOV (I realised that transparency was getting a bit worst.); NGC3187 was not visible so i should probably call it the Leo triplet 🤣.

After a tea break to warm up,  I hopped to Ursa Major. I started with two old favourites, M108 and M97 (Owl nebula). M108 showed a nice elongated shape and the Owl a bit fearless tonight (a sign of not so great transparency). I moved Phecda and spotted M109; quite bright and a nice disc shape to it. NGC3953 was barely visible. My star hoping was messed up and I could not find the nearby NGC3893. I moved on Alkaid. I got my first sight of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) for the first time. That was an OMG moment! I could not believe my eyes seeing M51 and the NGC5195 together. At low mag the two galaxies did not show much details apart from a darker notch between them but when I moved to my 14mm EP, some arms could be distinguished and the arm connecting M51 to NGC5195 was apparent. I kept swapping the 24 and 14mm EPs since they brough different details. I loved it! I was buzzing with excitement! I tried higher mag but the seeing was not taking it. After that excitement a second OMG moment was when I found the the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). A lot larger than I thought for a galaxy. It just stood out from the background as a smudge of diffuse light. I have read other reports here taking about arms/dust lanes but  I could not make any features and I want to revisit when seeing is better. I finished with M81/M82. I had seen them last year but this time I felt that I could make more details; M81 with its disc shape appearance and the M82 with its elongated cigar shape (thus the name) looked fantastic in the same FOV.

I wanted to stay out longer but I knew I had to be up early with the kids so I had to call the night. It will be on top of my most memorable observing sessions. The highlight it was for sure M51/NGC5195 and I want to revisit for sure. As I am writing this report, I am still buzzing with excitement and I can recall all these galaxies very vividly.

I realised that in my excitement I forgot to take a look at Markarian's Chain which is an awesome sight (I saw it a few weeks ago); it was supposed to be my last target before packing up.

[Captain Scarlet]

Very nice to read Kon. I too have intended to look at Markarian’s Chain a couple of times recently and forgotten to! I’ve only ever been there once, a couple of years ago. I recall an endless field of fuzzy patches. Thanks for the reminder.

Magnus

[Epick Crom]

12 hours ago, Kon said:

Not literally a Lion or a Bear but galaxy observing in Leo and Ursa Major. I realise that I have not written any reports for a while despite I have been out observing quite often. After the kids went to bed last night, I got my 8" Dob out with the aim of some galaxy spotting. I started with a few winter favourites before Leo and Ursa Major were in good place.

M42 will soon disappear behind trees so I gave it a quick view. Surprisingly the greenish nebulosity was extending much more beyond the wings which is a good sign of decent transparency (although no reds or teal colours when I know transparency is at its best). I then looked some open clusters around Canis Major; M47 and NGC2423 showed a nice spread of stars. I then moved down a bit to look at M46 but somehow I could not spot the planetary within M46 (I had in the past) despite trying with OIII as well (I wonder if my magnification was too low, I used my ES 68 24mm EP and ES 82 14mm); either way the clusters looked great in these wide FOV EPs.

Leo was positioned in good place in my SE direction. I started with the Leo triplet; M65/66 and NGC3628 looked great in the same FOV. M65/66 smudges without much structure but NGC3628 showed a nice elongated shape. I then moved to k Leonis and spotted the NGC3377; the nearby NGC3367 was not visible. Moving downwards I spotted M105 and the accompanying NGC3384. M95 and M96 were easy to spot. Using my Rigel I got at the Algebra and looked for NGC3227 and there it was a nice smudge of light. Further up, I managed to see  the Leo Quartet; that was the first time to observe it and although I could not make any structure, it was great to see them in the same FOV (I realised that transparency was getting a bit worst.); NGC3187 was not visible so i should probably call it the Leo triplet 🤣.

After a tea break to warm up,  I hopped to Ursa Major. I started with two old favourites, M108 and M97 (Owl nebula). M108 showed a nice elongated shape and the Owl a bit fearless tonight (a sign of not so great transparency). I moved Phecda and spotted M109; quite bright and a nice disc shape to it. NGC3953 was barely visible. My star hoping was messed up and I could not find the nearby NGC3893. I moved on Alkaid. I got my first sight of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) for the first time. That was an OMG moment! I could not believe my eyes seeing M51 and the NGC5195 together. At low mag the two galaxies did not show much details apart from a darker notch between them but when I moved to my 14mm EP, some arms could be distinguished and the arm connecting M51 to NGC5195 was apparent. I kept swapping the 24 and 14mm EPs since they brough different details. I loved it! I was buzzing with excitement! I tried higher mag but the seeing was not taking it. After that excitement a second OMG moment was when I found the the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). A lot larger than I thought for a galaxy. It just stood out from the background as a smudge of diffuse light. I have read other reports here taking about arms/dust lanes but  I could not make any features and I want to revisit when seeing is better. I finished with M81/M82. I had seen them last year but this time I felt that I could make more details; M81 with its disc shape appearance and the M82 with its elongated cigar shape (thus the name) looked fantastic in the same FOV.

I wanted to stay out longer but I knew I had to be up early with the kids so I had to call the night. It will be on top of my most memorable observing sessions. The highlight it was for sure M51/NGC5195 and I want to revisit for sure. As I am writing this report, I am still buzzing with excitement and I can recall all these galaxies very vividly.

I realised that in my excitement I forgot to take a look at Markarian's Chain which is an awesome sight (I saw it a few weeks ago); it was supposed to be my last target before packing up.

Great report Kostas! I can visualise what you saw through your detailed descriptions. M51 and companion galaxy sound awesome, you guys up north sure have the better galaxies. Wishing you more clear skies!

Joe

[Kon]

7 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Great report Kostas! I can visualise what you saw through your detailed descriptions. M51 and companion galaxy sound awesome, you guys up north sure have the better galaxies. Wishing you more clear skies!

Joe

Thanks Joe. I think if transparency was better it would have been even better. You know, I would trade them for your Eta Carinae any time 😉. What constellations are you limited for galaxies?

[OK Apricot]

Great report and a great night by the sounds of it - I can feel your excitement. M51 really is a gorgeous target! 

[MalcolmM]

Very enjoyable read, thanks for posting. I was looking at some of your targets the other night and it's very interesting to read your descriptions of them. You've a lot more light gathering power than me, I only managed a Leo Doublet  

Malcolm

[Epick Crom]

2 hours ago, Kon said:

Thanks Joe. I think if transparency was better it would have been even better. You know, I would trade them for your Eta Carinae any time 😉. What constellations are you limited for galaxies?

Yeah let's trade one day mate☺️. For Galaxies down here the best constellations are Eridanus, Fornax, Dorado, Tucana, Sculptor,Hydra and Centaurus. I can also view Virgo and  Leo to the north. Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici are quite low down. Of course we have the Magellanic Clouds but you guys seem to have so many bright individual galaxies like M81, M82, M51 etc..  I was looking at Eta Carina Nebula last night, my jaw was on the floor 🤤

[Kon]

1 hour ago, MalcolmM said:

Very enjoyable read, thanks for posting. I was looking at some of your targets the other night and it's very interesting to read your descriptions of them. You've a lot more light gathering power than me, I only managed a Leo Doublet  

Malcolm

Thanks Malcolm. My 8" Dob is really delivering very well and I have fairly dark skies that also help. Seeing conditions will also affect what I see. A few weeks ago I could only see galaxies up to mag 10-10.5, so it is really a game of catching the right weather which is rather rare in UK.

[Kon]

4 minutes ago, Epick Crom said:

I was looking at Eta Carina Nebula last night, my jaw was on the floor

I think you should write a report so my jaw can drop from the description as well 🙂.

[Epick Crom]

14 hours ago, Kon said:

I think you should write a report so my jaw can drop from the description as well 🙂.

Comming up shortly..