Meade Lightbridge Observing report as of 27.3.2009

[Doc]

Meade Lightbridge 16" Dobsonian FL1829mm F4.5

27.3.2009

Seeing Mag 4

No Moon.

I wasn't holding out much hope for tonight after I watched the weather it said cloudy and rain, but I set up anyway and I'm glad I did.

I started viewing about 19.30 and of course the first object was Saturn. I was not dissapointed I clearly saw both bands and 5 moons easily stood out. The image was incredibly sharp and I thought this is going to be a great night.

As I was in Leo I thought I would try the Leo Triplets. Have never been able to see these from my light polluted back garden but tonight the sky was really clear. I could easily make out M65 and M66 at mag 12.7 while scanning the sky in my 25mm TAL at x73, I could make out the bright centre cores surrounded by a grey circular smudge both similar in size. I tried the 8mm Hyperion at x228 but no extra detail emerged. The third member of the triplet NGC 3628 I was unable to find but it is 13.4 maybe my limiting magnification in around mag 13.

I then moved further towards the body of Leo to hunt for the M105, M95 and M96. This proved quite a search but finally after about 20 minutes I found them while sweeping the area with my 32mm TAL at x57. These are extremely dim at between 12.5 and 13.5 mag. They appeared as very dim grey smudges with bright cores. No definite shape was seen . All three would not fit into the FOV of my 32mm.

While in the area I tried hunting down Arp94 or otherwise known as ngc3226 and ngc3227 but unfortunately I couldn't find them.

I then moved on to double check NGC 2392 the Clown Face or Eskimo Nebula in Gemini. The last time i was out I saw it "Pulsate" but after talking to other members of the forum I started having doubts so I rechecked and this time there was no pulsating. The nebula looked blue and very small. The pulsations must have been down to high cloud.

My next constellation was Canes Venacti and the M51. Compared to the last viewing a few days ago this seemed like a new object. It looked fantastic, very bright with both cores showing. Could clearly see a gap between M51 and Ngc 5195 but no bridge was apparent. I could not believe how much brighter this object appeared compared to the last time I saw it. Just goes to show that seeing really matters, from a dark site this object must look fantastic in this scope.

Next in Canes Venacti I tried the M94 a 13.1 mag Spiral galaxy . Wow what a treat this was it showed a bright core with large grey circular smudge. Pretty big and stood out very well against the darker sky. Considering this one is between 14 to 33 million light years away it is very bright. Really liked this one and it was pretty easy to find.

Next staying in Canes Venacti I dropped down to the Globular Cluster M3. This was the best object of the night , maybe of the year. It is one of the most spectacular globular clusters I've seen ranks with M13 easily. At 18.6' and a distance of 30,000 light years it's quite large and very compact. In the 21mm at x 87 it looks awesome, so bright and I could resolve maybe 10 stars but the core is so bright. Putting in the 8mm Hyperion at x 228 it is simply fantastic, fills the whole FOV and I counted at least 50 stars that were resolved. I was gobsmacked by this object considering M3 consists of 500,000 stars it was an amazing sight.

By now the clouds had started rolling in so I had one last look at Saturn. I now managed to bag 6 moons. On one side were..Titan, Tethys, Encelude with hyperion a long way out. On the other side of Saturn was...Dione, Rhea. Mimas was according to C du C next to Dione but I could not see this one and lapetus was a long way out and again could not spot it. Shame because if I did I would have bagged 8 moons.

What a night I can now add another 7 Messier objects to my list.

A great night.

[Andrew*]

Very enjoyable report. Gives me inspiration to get out with the 16" again.

Only managed to see NGC 3628 once, and that wasn't with teh 16", so I'm eager to see whether I can see the central lane under my mag. 5 skies.

Well done on getting 6 Saturnian moons - know which ones?

Andrew

[Sam]

Great report Doc, could you see the spiral arms of M51?

[Doc]

Very enjoyable report. Gives me inspiration to get out with the 16" again.

Only managed to see NGC 3628 once, and that wasn't with teh 16", so I'm eager to see whether I can see the central lane under my mag. 5 skies.

Well done on getting 6 Saturnian moons - know which ones?

Andrew

I did make a note and on one side were..

Titan, Tethys, Encelude with hyperion a long way out.

On the other side of Saturn was...

Dione, Rhea.

Mimas was according to C du C next to Dione but I could not see this one and lapetus was a long way out and again could not spot it.

Shame because if I did I would have bagged 8 moons.

[Doc]

Great report Doc, could you see the spiral arms of M51?

Thanks Sam.

I saw the spiral shape pretty well defined and within the gray smudge I could see darker patches of the spiral and a very bright core.

So to answer your question maybe but it was very hard to see.

[acey]

Nice report - good to see that the Eskimo has calmed down!

Good seeing certainly makes a difference - an object barely visible one night can be clear as a bell on another. You got a great batch of objects there. Persistence pays off!

[Talitha]

Congratulations on bagging seven more Messiers, that's great! Sounds like your transparency was above average if M51 looked like a new object.. don't you just love it when the sky finally decides to make it easy on us?

[mdstuart]

Great report you certainly had a good night. Iapetus should be easy if you can see those other moons, check again on Stellarium before you go out. I can see 5 moons with my 10 inch scope and I am trying for Encadeus but I am still struggling..

On the galaxy front try Virgo and M84/M86 and then look left and up to see if you can make out the others in the chain. With my old 4.5 inch I could see none but now I can get about 6 or so...

I also love M3, it is just awesome in the 10 inch, as you say zillions of small pinprick stars rather than the fuzz of my old 4.5 inch.

I am working through galaxies in the illustrated guide to astronomical wonders which someone on here recommended. Just finished CVN and COM and moving to Virgo..

Try looking for NGC 4490 / 4449 and then 4111 on a clear night, all three show up fairly well in my scope on a good clear moonless night...

Mark

[Doc]

Thanks Carol.

And thanks Mark for the galaxy info I'll add them to my list.

As for the Saturian moons, I know I should have spotted lapetus and I knew where to look but it was not there.

Strange I know but it will come. I've seen it before but not this time.