The Great Bear and the Bear's Paw

[mike.brightmore]

Last night (20/21 September) was reasonably clear after the clouds passed over so still inspired by Mark's (mdstuart) galaxy quest I thought I'd have a look at a few more. The intention was, like Mark, to look for the faint ones in Aries but as Ursa Major and the Plough were just above the rooftops I started with Bode's.

M82 - The Cigar Galaxy is always a pleasure and though low in the sky much of the detail was still discernible, like the dark, dusty patches and the bright star forming nodes. Quick image below.

There are quite a few galaxies in the M81 Group but 81 and 82 are the only two I've observed.

M81 - Bode's Galaxy - 81 and 82 are best seen in the same field of view but with the C11 and 40mm EP I have to look at them separately. 82 is edge on whereas 81 has its face turned more towards us. Its core is much brighter and the spiral arms are only just visible.

NGC 2537 - The Bear's Paw Galaxy. Lynx is not a constellation that springs to mind too often. Possibly because with no stars brighter than Mag 4 it doesn't stand out at all. But it does have a few gems - probably a lot more. The Bear's Paw galaxy really is an odd shape and does look like an animal's footprint (not sure about a bear's though). It has a bright horsehoe-shaped crescent and a bright centre with dark 'pads' in between.

NGC 2419 - The Intergalactic Tramp / Wanderer. This is a globular cluster not a galaxy but I love it and when in Lynx I cannot miss out on it. Most globs are 25k to 35k light years away but the Tramp is nearly 300k LY from us and from the galactic centre - so way out in intergalactic space - though still part of the Milky Way. It must be, come to think of it, the furthest Milky Way object we can see. If I could have a holiday home elsewhere in our galaxy it would have to be there. The views towards our galaxy and out to the rest of the universe must be phenomenal. I did try a quick image but passing clouds kept getting in the way so for purposes of illustration I've taken the liberty of including one I prepared earlier.

M74 face-on spiral galaxy in Pisces. Getting closer to Aries now, but in all the astrophotos M74 is an incredibly beautiful object. Its bright core shows up well and there is just a hint of its near perfect spiral arms swirling right into its core. I like the three nearby stars that remind me of a miniature Mickey Mouse head.

Now 3.00 a.m. and have been under the stars since 8.00 p.m. happy as a little sandboy. Didn't get to many galaxies though mainly because I've borrowed a friend's Helios 120 mm (f = 1000mm) refractor which I really enjoyed using for a change. But that's another report. By this time Orion was climbing over the conifer edge with Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and the three belt stars well in view. Betegeuse was twinkling like mad (far more than the other stars) so I had to watch it for a while in case this was its swan song. That gave me the mad idea of staying up for possibly the first image of M42 this season. Another maddish idea was going to the coast with my camera (only half a mile away) to see if I could see the zodiacal light in the east over the North Sea just before sunrise. Any thoughts of Aries galaxies, M42 and the zodiacal light all ground to a halt when everything disappeared behind a thick blanket of cloud. Still there's always another night.

[iamjulian]

I like the look of that last spiral. What Magnitude is that one?

Also like the sentiment that there is always another night. So true.

[mike.brightmore]

Hello Julian

M74 has a visual magnitude 0f 9.4 with generally low surface brightness in the spiral. It's usually regarded as the most difficult Messier for amateur astronomers.

[iamjulian]

Thanks Mike, I shall leave that one for a bit then

You did a great job with the photograph.

[Doc]

Thanks Mike sounds like a great night.

Two targets here for me to put on my next list they are Ngc2537 and Ngc2419.

I have tried numerous times with M74, it's just to dim in light polluted skies to see.