A few Herschel 400 galaxies in Bootes.

[Lurcher]

I had a nice clear sky on Saturday night! It's been so cloudy for me (as well as for a lot of other people of course), for a long time, so it made a really nice time to actually enjoy being out with the scope until I was ready to pack up rather than packing up because I couldn't see anything!

I started off with some easy double stars from the telescope's handset whilst I waited for it to get dark, and then moved on to  Messier 90 and some NGC galaxies on the Herschel 400.

I had tried to see and sketch Messier 90 the last time I was out, but incorrectly saw and sketched M91 instead. (Which does go to show the importance of sketching what you see, as it was only by comparing my sketch with images online, that I realized my mistake).

So I was pleased to finally get M90 last night, but this time I was slightly annoyed to find out that NGC 5557 was only a little way from NGC 5544, and so I could've also seen that. (Possibly in the same field of view with longer focal length eyepiece). - I always seem to miss something!

It was nice to see some fairly distant galaxies though, and the scope worked really well again.

Clear skies all. 

[JeremyS]

Cracking sketches @Lurcher 👍🏻

[AlcorAlly]

Thank you for sharing @Lurcher, very nice sketches. Made me curious about NGC 5544 with its unusual shape. 

[SwiMatt]

These look very nice @Lurcher. 

I wish I could say I share the struggle of not being sure what I'm looking at, but I don't have enough aperture for that. If I find a faint fuzzy, it's probably the Messier I was looking for 😂

[Armand Popa]

very nice sketches @Lurcher. How is the quality of the sky at your place?

[josefk]

Super stuff @Lurcher - how do you manage your dose of red light when you're sketching galaxies - have you cracked how to keep it dim enough? 

[Lurcher]

On 06/05/2024 at 06:49, AlcorAlly said:

Thank you for sharing @Lurcher, very nice sketches. Made me curious about NGC 5544 with its unusual shape. 

Thank you. It's a pair of interacting galaxies. Arp 199 I believe. I'd love to see more of the Arp catalogue if I can.

[Lurcher]

On 06/05/2024 at 07:55, josefk said:

Super stuff @Lurcher - how do you manage your dose of red light when you're sketching galaxies - have you cracked how to keep it dim enough? 

Hi. Many thanks. I use a reading light clipped to the side of my clipboard. I've painted over the actual lamp with red glass paint, and I find that just enough light on the sketch pad, and then I just hold the pad down out of the way when I observe. Works ok!

[Lurcher]

On 06/05/2024 at 07:20, SwiMatt said:

These look very nice @Lurcher. 

I wish I could say I share the struggle of not being sure what I'm looking at, but I don't have enough aperture for that. If I find a faint fuzzy, it's probably the Messier I was looking for 😂

Thank you for your great reply! Wishing you clear skies! - I hope you get to see plenty of Messiers and complete your list! I have to say I'm still yet to tick off every Messier too!

[Lurcher]

On 06/05/2024 at 07:41, Armand Popa said:

very nice sketches @Lurcher. How is the quality of the sky at your place?

Hi. Thank you. I don't think It's not too bad. Although they keep building more and more houses and retail units near us which are all just making things worse! I forget which Bortle number I estimated it to be once. Somewhere near to middling. We can just see the milky way going overhead on a clear night. I just wish I had a larger garden so I could set the scope up in different locations!