Ive done it 250 galaxies

[mdstuart]

Finally some clear skies again so Im on a galaxy hunt.

The best of the last bunch are NGC 2859 and NGC 2685. Both of these are visible with direct vision. NGC 2859 has a lovely ring in the photos, one for you imagers! NGC 2685 is a fien oval galaxy in the plough...

Just before putting the scope away I had a look at NGC 2903 in Leo, an old favorite. It was so big and bright it blew my socks off. After finding all these small, faint galaxies it was just so amazing...

So I am up to 252 galaxies!

Mark

[Doc]

Well done Mark thats some target you have reached.

[John]

Fantastic Mark, well done

Those faint smudges are very addictive !.

Here's to the next 250 ......

[dark knight]

congratulations Mark, take a cyber pat on the back...

[albedo0.39]

Hi Mark - 250 Galaxies.... brilliant and quite some achievement. Have you ever seen NGC 1 & 2 - worth hunting for if nothing else so say "got them"

steve

[Beulah]

Those faint smudges are very addictive!.

Cor, I thought I was the only one!

Well done Mark, that's some score!!

[Darth_Muppet]

A nice reference site showing some good galaxy shapes...not sure if you'd pick any of these up though...

Hogg / SDSS images of selected RC3 galaxies

[russ]

Well done Mark, that's a great achievement indeed. I must track down some of those myself.

Btw you had better update your signature now

Russ

[mdstuart]

No I have not done ngc 1 or 2! I think my tally will increase this Spring as we enter galaxy season as will my ink toner from having to print out all those carte du ciel charts!

Mark

[yeti monster]

Hurrah the fuzzy hunters! Well done sir!

[DarkerSky]

Awesome stuff Mark. I'm itching to get my scope out again for some galaxies. Having a rough time of it at the mo with cloud cover . NGC2903 is one of my favs too - when I can observe it in the evenings it reminds me spring is on its way

[SteveP]

Congratulations Mark on reaching this milestone ... just a few more more to go now!

Steve

[sinbad40]

Can i just ask? Where did you start? I have viewed a few in the past and need a kick to get going again and advice would be welcomed.

Thanks

[pvaz]

Can i just ask? Where did you start? I have viewed a few in the past and need a kick to get going again and advice would be welcomed.

Thanks

If you want a starting point I would suggest the Messier and Herschel 400 catalogs. All the objects there are said to be visible with a 10" under decent dark skies.

You can download this file and filter on the type column by "gal" to get the list of them:

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/95672-dso-checklist-messier-herschel-400-caldwell-colored-doubles.html#post1382146

There are 260 or so in those catalogs combined so that will keep you busy year round.

And Congratulations to Mark for reaching this milestone!

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well done Mark it must give you great satisfaction to find and observe so many galaxies. I am still going through the list of objects defined in my signature below, which has taken so much time many because we have had so few good moonless clear nights of late.

Mark

[dobserver]

Hi Mark - congrats on the galaxy score! Fantastic achievement there

I can see how the critters can be fascinating - I had the pleasure of using a 20" dob last week and I was lucky enough to view quite a few galaxies on an excellent night of seeing. I found the conditions were critical to see them well though, as the next night's transparency was less than perfect and the difference was immense! Makes your record even more impressive when you think how rare these great nights are.....

[Rob]

Nice work.. well done.

[Coco]

Well done Mark,

Ive logged none,,, but Ive got a 12" Dob on the boil...

Guy..

[albedo0.39]

I had the pleasure of using a 20" dob last week

Nice one Steph... ! Must tell me all about it...tempted ?

[dobserver]

To own one that big? No - but to use it was fantastic! Report coming up....

[bish]

Nice one, well done. I've not counted but suspect my tally would only be about 10% of yours. Going to have a crack at the Virgo group the next chance I get.