NGG 4384 / Markarian 207

[mdstuart]

After what seems like weeks of cloud, gaps appeared and the moon was out of the way so I decided to get out the 20 inch dob.

The stars were nice and sharp during collimation, a good sign.

The session was cut short but cloud moving in again but I did manage to observe another Markarian galaxy Mrk207/ngc 4384. It is 130 million  light years away and is a visual mag 13 object.

Here is my record.

The galaxy was obvious with averted vision. Small but made a pleasing triangle with the two stars nearby.

Here is a couple of images from the Internet. The first is from the hubble space telescope archives. Lots going on !

This is an image that roughly aligns with my drawing.

So why not try for yourself using this chart as a guide and report back.

Go on, add this to your target list visually, eaa or to image, would love to hear how you get on.

Mark

 

 

 

[DavidR100]

Mark, It was good to see your observation record and the graphics.

My records show that I saw NGC 4384 a couple of months later on 19th April from my favourite North Wales site.  I also recorded the shape as circular, but for me it was faint (two levels brighter than averted vision).  It was a good clear sky at a dark location.  Apologies for finding this before getting a chance to use your charts!

I was more fortunate with the weather; a strong wind on arrival obligingly completely died down once I had set up; the sky stayed cloud free and my equipment dew free. For the first time since the autumn the ground was dry, so no muddy shoes.  It was a bit nippy though - the car roof was frosted when the session finished.  The session felt like hard work with a fair number of very faint galaxies, but with 28 sightings altogether, of which 24 were "first timers", I was ultimately pretty happy!  All galaxies were within a few degrees of Megrez, delta Ursae Majoris.