Observing Report 28th January 2011

[Moonshane]

Observing Report 28th January 2011

Location Cheshire, England Latitude: (53°N) Longitude: (2°W)

Equipment – f5.3 300mm Orion Optics UK Dobsonian, Televue and Baader Genuine Ortho eyepieces

Main Target: Ursa Major

I have never really spent much time in Ursa Major finding some of the many galaxies and other features within this huge constellation. Usually the worst light pollution from my house is in the north west (Manchester) and so the sky where UMa is positioned is often the worst from this perspective. Also, from my site this constellation is partially hidden for a lot of the year. However, tonight I wanted to try and find some of these objects as many of them are new to me.

I started with the most obvious and easily found galaxies within the area, Bodes Galaxy Messier 81 and the Cigar Galaxy Messier 82. I found these with the 35mm Panoptic which showed them both together and in nice context with the surrounding star field. However, switching to the 13mm Ethos, a lot more contrast and detail was possible, even in my light polluted skies. Messier 81 showed a bright core and a good deal of faint glow surrounding this. Messier 82 is a long slim galaxy, with possibly a hint of mottling and a brighter core too?

I then searched for NGC 2841 which is a much smaller galaxy than M81 and M82 and quite easy to find. It had a rounded appearance and the usual bright core of most galaxies. I also tried another galaxy quite close by, NGC 3079. Although I could detect what I thought was a subtle hint of the object, I was not completely satisfied – one for darker skies I think. I also tried for NGC 3184 but again no chance – I think by now there was a high fine cloud which I did not initially see and this will have made life very difficult.

The next object was a real treat and one to which I will certainly return. The Owl Nebula, Messier M97 was initially misidentified as I did not realise the size of it. I then located it and there really is no way it can be confused with anything else in the area. It is a large white hazy ball, somewhat like the Dumbbell but with no 'bite marks'. This target was helped with the UHC filter and even better with the Oiii filter. Even with these filters, I could not detect the dark areas which give the feature it’s name (said to resemble eyes). Close to Messier 97 is a galaxy, Messier 108. This was difficult to see but with averted vision I could just see the long slim galaxy, although no detail was observed. I tried to locate M109 but this was too faint for my skies tonight. After some of these failures I decided not to bother with the galaxies described as having low surface brightness in The Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders book I had been using.

After this concentrated effort I took a tour of some of the easy to find objects and the first of which was the wonderful multiple star system, Zeta and 80 Ursae Majoris, better known as Mizar and Alcor. For this object the 18mm Baader Genuine Ortho is perfect and frames the stars really well.

Another of my favourites is Messier 35 in Gemini and the 13mm Ethos really brings clusters like this to life. After soaking up the view of this open cluster (with a fine peppering of background stars) I thought about finding the small associated cluster, NGC 2158. This was quite easy to find and noted as a faint but apparent block of faint stars, very tightly packed and very nice indeed. I suspect this would be even better at a darker site.

As usual, I had a quick tour of the Orion Nebula and another go at splitting Sirius but to no avail even with an occulting bar – the main star was reminiscent of a disco ball!

I was about to pack up when I remembered that there was a supernova currently in a galaxy (NGC 2655) in Camelopardalis. Despite searching for some time I could not find this galaxy – could have been the conditions, possibly me being tired and cold but I gave up and decided to try next time out. Hopefully with more planning I can be more successful with this before it dies down.

With the cloud starting to build I wrapped it up for the night, quite satisfied with two new Messiers and two new NGCs ‘in the bag’. My lists are never immense in number but I always enjoy the finding and the observing of each one with a decent amount of time.

Cheers

Shane

[nicnac]

sound like you had a cracking night.

good report

[Moonshane]

cheers Nick - sure did!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. M81 and M82 form a wonderful pair. I just hooked out a drawing I made in 1979 showing M81 and M82, together with NGC 3077. The latter is a smaller galaxy roughly the same distance from M81 as M82 is. All three fitted into the FOV of a 25mm ortho in my 6"F/8 Newtonian (just over 1 deg at 48x). I'll try the other two NGCs you got when the weather clears.

If you have another go at M109, why not try M106 as well, I found it far easier. SN2011b is a bit of an awkward star-hop away from M81/M82, but they do form a good starting point. Better luck next time.

[Hypernova]

It sounds like you had a good night's observing despite the LP and the conditions. I must try to observe some of the less obvious galaxies around UMa, in particular NGC 3077 which is very close to the pair of M81 and M82 but one that I never get around to observing.

Hang in there though on the SN front, you will find it eventually it should be a doddle to see through your 'scope despite the LP when you track it down. Have a look around the area in Stellarium and try to look for easy to remember asterisms in the stars between the galaxy and Polaris, that's how I managed to find it anyway and I wish you the best in your search

[Moonshane]

cheers Tom

Just managed it thankfully! (the SN).

I bet it's a lot better in darker skies though.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

cheers Tom

Just managed it thankfully! (the SN).

I bet it's a lot better in darker skies though.

Congratulations . I saw SN2011b from the suburb I live in, without LP filter. Darker skies would bring out the galaxy more, but I do not think the supernova would be more impressive than it already is.