Galloway Moncreif Golfcourse.

[bomberbaz]

On my way down to my stargazing spot last night(sunday)I saw this along with it's mate. Good omen

Actually it was difficult as you can see from the other picture the sky is full of crud (from saturday).

H-head was a maybe seen, can't  say it was a definate.
Highlights were getting down to mag 14.2 galaxy (470mly away), a quasar in virgo (circa 2 billion ly), sirius b (the pup, unconfirmed) and M51 the most detailed view i ever have had. Distinct swirl, highly detailed  structure of the merging pair and the bridge clearly visible. The main galaxy detail was almost jumping out at x170, stunning.

Best bag, the quasar, best view, M51. I never thought such detail was possible visually. 

Hoping Friday might offer up a focussed but short session. Trying to keep swmbo happy too. 

[wookie1965]

Wow great skies and a great haul. 

[Dave scutt]

Great report. 

M51 was my favourite the other night It was the first time seeing the arms/swirl they had so much detail, looking forward for next clear night. 

Dave

[Ships and Stars]

Great report, M51 is wonderful when conditions play along. 14.2 mag is getting seriously faint in my book, and will have to try for a quasar sometime, have never seen one!

[bomberbaz]

12 hours ago, Ships and Stars said:

Great report, M51 is wonderful when conditions play along. 14.2 mag is getting seriously faint in my book, and will have to try for a quasar sometime, have never seen one!

14.2 was the faintest possible smudge you can imagine, I blinked it into view. It was NGC 3357 which is elliptical and appears to have a very bright core NGC 3357  It is this core which helped it stand out no doubt. 

One of the great things about my setup is the scopes DSC, it is incredibly accurate, to within 1/8 of a degree this night so really does help confirm your target object.

Ref: quasars, they really are nothing to view but it's a bit like the horsehead, we go for it because it's there. Incidentally it was 3C 273 which has reported range of 1.5 to 2 BLYears, I obviously went for the furthest. 👍😁

And your spot on about M51, it was exquisite. There are not enough adjectives to describe how beautiful it was last Sunday. It will be on my hitlist for sure next time I get out.

[Ships and Stars]

2 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

14.2 was the faintest possible smudge you can imagine, I blinked it into view. It was NGC 3357 which is elliptical and appears to have a very bright core NGC 3357  It is this core which helped it stand out no doubt. 

One of the great things about my setup is the scopes DSC, it is incredibly accurate, to within 1/8 of a degree this night so really does help confirm your target object.

Ref: quasars, they really are nothing to view but it's a bit like the horsehead, we go for it because it's there. Incidentally it was 3C 273 which has reported range of 1.5 to 2 BLYears, I obviously went for the furthest. 👍😁

And your spot on about M51, it was exquisite. There are not enough adjectives to describe how beautiful it was last Sunday. It will be on my hitlist for sure next time I get out.

I don't think I've seen 3357, I looked back through some notes and I've spent  a fair bit of time on galaxies in Leo, so well done! I know what you mean by blinking it into view, hoping someday night vision becomes more affordable, wanting to give that a go, but on the other hand, nothing really replaces seeing something just with the naked eye, some lenses and mirrors.

I'd never be able to see so many objects without GOTO, it's a little off sometimes, but I'll use Periodic Error Correction in the Synscan menu to fine tune an area. I think DSC sounds a bit more accurate and probably easier to use in many ways than the Synscan, but it's still a real timesaver. 

Something over a billion light years away must be worth a look!