Galaxy hunting in the warm

[gliderpilot]

102 Skywatcher Pro on EQ-5, WO Binoviewer x45 and Ethos x113.

Amesbury, UK

NELM Ursa Minor >5.6; milky way clearly visible

I set up my refractor under a slowly darkening sky that still held the warmth of the day – those hard, cold winter days seem to be behind us now. After the sky had darkened, I went out at 2130 (BST) to find a glorious sky. The winter constellations of Monoceros and Auriga were setting in the west, Leo was on the meridian with bright Saturn below the lion’s hindquarters and Ursa Major was directly overhead on the zenith.

The lovely open cluster Melotte 111 or Berenice’s Hair was an easy naked eye object with its many stars hovering to produce the gossamer threads for which the constellation is named. Virgo was immediately alongside holding her many galaxies in the “cup” so a wonderful night beckoned.

In addition to some deep sky hunting, I needed to test my new finder made from a binocular lens, a Lidl telescope eyepiece and diagonal and plywood and plumbing parts. I wanted to see what benefit it offers over a conventional straight through finder and to check that it will actually hold alignment – despite its heath robinson appearance.

First target was Saturn with several bands and moons visible with hardly a tremor. It is a striking sight with its rings edge on and the endless moon parades as the satellites pass back and forth. After a quick sketch and checking that the finder was successfully maintaining alignment with some induced bumping and nudging, I moved on to the Leo Triplet adjacent to Saturn. An easy star hop put the galaxies in the binoviewer x45 field of view. After several minutes adjusting to the view, I swapped for the 8mm Ethos (unfortunately just the one, not in binoviewer mode!). Both M65 and M66 showed some detail at mag 9-10 including a brighter core but there was no real sign of NGC3628 and at M14.0, this is not a true surprise.

Next on the list was M53 a globular cluster in Coma Berenice’s adjacent to a distinctive asterism near alpha CB. This globular clump of stars appeared as a bright, circular and relatively uniform cluster, not much sign of mottling or star lanes but still a wonderful sight. Again, I used the binoviewer to provide a wide field of view and then zoomed in with the Ethos – a powerful combination.

Moving through CB – and enjoying not cricking my neck by using a right angled finder – I centred on M64, the Black Eye Galaxy. This appeared as a wide oval glow with a bright core but no sign of the black eye, even with x113. I guess this may need a bit more aperture. Post observation note: several websites claim a minimum of 6 inches to see the black eye.

Before calling it a night, I wanted to scan the Virgo galaxy cluster with the binoviewer rather than make a detailed sketch. I am not too familiar with the Virgo galaxy cluster as the shorter nights at this time of view limit the number of times I have observed one of the sky’s highlights. After starhopping twice in opposing directions, firstly heading east from Denobla and secondly to the west from Vindemiatix in Virgo, I soon got lost in a field of faint fuzzies without any bright stars to gain a reference. I don’t know how many galaxies I saw but there is enough there to keep me busy for a few clear nights yet!

Having used the right angled finder, I wonder how I got on without one. It is so much easer to use and certainly saves a cricked neck when observing towards the zenith. It holds alignment fairly well and is therefore a keeper. Like many projects, I can instantly see a few improvements that could be made but these are of low benefit and as it works and I can live with it.

So all in all a good night. 1 naked eye open cluster, Saturn & moons, 1xglob, 1x galaxy pairing, 1x solo galaxy and a score of faint galaxies in the Virgo cluster.

Mark

[Talitha]

Great report Mark, thanks! And congratulations on the success of your right angle finder... my 120 SkyWatcher is a lot easier to use since I purchased one.

[Andrew*]

Lovely report indeed - some tricky objects for the aperture there but you did well.

Beautifully written too

Andrew

[Doc]

Fantastic well written report I really enjoyed reading it.

After viewing M53 you should have dropped down to view M3 would have looked awesome in your 8E

[omneferuss]

Sounds like a good night well spent! Mark, I was almost there with you as I read it..

I'd love to take a peek thru those bino viewers.. bino's at 45x mmmmmmm..