Study of M99 Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices

[DarkerSky]

12 April 2010

Scope: 16" Lightbridge

Limiting Magnitude: 5.1 / 5.2

Transparency: 3/5

Temp: +6c to +3c

Cool NE breeze

Intermittent low cloud

Study of M99 Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices

21.30 UT to 23.00 UT

Spent an hour and a half studying the M99 spiral galaxy in my 16" LB on 12 April 2010. Picked it up by star hopping to 6 Coma - the lowest of 3 stars in an obtuse angle roughly midway between Denebola in Leo and Vindemiatrix in Virgo.

6 Coma was just naked eye at Mag 5.05

Using stellarium I could see a line of 3 fainter stars falling down to the left of 6 Coma. Navigated down to the middle one of these 3 fainter stars and then just off to the right M99 came into view.

At x107 magnification in my 17mm Baader Hyperion it appeared at first as a roughly circular patch of faint light with a gradual soft brightening towards the core. Some faint stars were noticed close in.

Using my lumicon deep sky filter at x107 the galaxy became a bit brighter. Careful study showed a slight elongation to the core.

Spent a good half hour at x215 magnification with the lumicon filter. Gradually detail began to reveal itself in moments of good seeing. First off, two 'ears' of material became apparent to the NW and SE of the core. These were not as bright as the soft core, but slightly brighter than surrounding halo material.

Between the core and the 'ears' the galaxy's centre now took on a more twisted appearance, almost like an 's' on its side.

Hints of a curved band of material to the west of the core also kept coming and going. Careful study with averted vision did pick up a very faint area of material that was brighter in the NW - and corresponds to the outermost spiral arm of the galaxy.

To the East, the core seemed to push out more, giving it a more bulbous appearance on the eastern edge of the core. A faint soft glow of material was observed off this, again to the east.

Very faint twinkles of light kept coming in and out of vision all around the North and the East. One of these was pinpointed and plotted on a sketch as a star.

Afterwards I had a look at a photo of M99 and saw that this star "could" be a brighter notch in the galaxy itself.

Sketch in the sketching section

[Doc]

Fantastic.

This is something I'm going to attempt when I feel better and get down to my dark site. I've only got a visual skies of mag 4.2 so getting real detail from galaxies is hard.

You have done fantastic though Seb, keep posting these in depth reports.

[pvaz]

You damn "16inchers" keep making me jealous! When I spend my savings on a big dob I'm gonna tell my wife "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!".

Great observation! Seams like a very interesting object with large apertures.

[oceanheadted]

Excellent report, I must spend more time looking at my targets - patience patience!

[DarkerSky]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Mick. Hope you're better soon. With a 4.2 sky you're doing impressively well with what you're getting.

Paulo. Go buy that scope man . You can blame me, just don't tell her where I live !!

OHT. It is amazing how much you can pick out when you keep looking. I tend to have both eyes open and put my hand over my non observing eye. That way my eyes are wide and relaxed instead of in a squint and then I just let it wander around the FOV.

[gliderpilot]

I agree that you pick out loads more with time at the eyepiece. And taking the time to make a sketch forces you to take your time. You don't need a 16" scope, though, go out there with what you've got.

Nice sketch, keep them coming.

Mark