Virgo Galaxy observations

[Nexus 6]

Hi SGL, took the time last sunday to have a good look at some of the galaxies in Virgo some of which I have observed before but wanted to confirm a more detailed view of some of them.

My lighty detailed logs going over the past 3 years show my list of Messier objects as 21, not that many for such a long time at the eyepiece, many of them I have seen many times, I guess its the attraction of some wonderful objects that does that.

As follows up until the Sunday 3rd April, M1, M3, M5, M11, M13, M16, M27, M31, M32, M35, M36, M37, M42, M44, M45, M52, M57, M81, M82, M104, M109.

Notes from sunday morning

Scope Celestron CPC 925

Eyepiece Televue Panoptic 35mm

Power 67x

Seeing 6/10

Transparency 5/10

Wind Light

Temp 6 deg C

Targets M49, 58, 59, 60, 64, 85, 104

I used the Revelation rdf to target Denebola and then panned along to the East to try and find M98 or M99, both of these objects are not as luminous as some in Virgo with apperent visual magnitudes of around 10 for both. The result was nothing to see, this made me suspicous of the conditions or perhaps my kit, I checked this by going back to Denobola and then using the go to on Delta Virginis, with that done I then used the rdf to pinpoint its position so I then had a line of sight between it at Denebola and knew that M49 would be roughly halfway between the two, sure enough after a few minutes I had it and was surprised by its luminosity, the visual mag, Vm, is around 8.4 I took the time to observe it the elliptical shape was evident.

Vindemiarix, Epsilon Virginis has an apparent visual magnitude of around 3, it was showing naked eye and I slewed to it, the many Messier objects around this part of the sky were targets I decided to speed things up and use the go to on a few of them.

The highlights were both M59 and 60, M58 was far more difficult to make out with a Vm of around 10 but I believe it should have been possible to have all 3 within the fov, anyone wish to confirm this?

M61 was a surprise with a Vm of around 9.7 it showed fairly well, the shape showed a circular form showing it is a spiral galaxy.

M104 an object I have seen before but a favourite, a Vm of approximately 8.5 the Sombrero galaxy was a tremendous sight even at such low power and the familiar shape was obvious although small, a pleasure to observe.

I went on to the constallation Coma Berencies to have a look at M85 a lenticular galaxy with a Vm of around 9 it was fairly easy to see with an obvious rounded shape. On to M64 the Black-Eye galaxy another excellent object it has a Vm of around 8.5 similair to M104 in that respect and it showed, M64 has an unusual shape or it appeared so to me, looking similair to a peanut in some respects.

A couple more were also observed, M87 and M100 both of which I will have to observe agian, bringing the total to 30

A look towards Saturn completed this session for me it was a very enjoyable one with it not too cold and virtually no wind.

Most importantly I had some decent low power views of a good few objects and felt I learnt a bit more about them, even with the electronics coming into play.

Clear Skies

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report! Virgo is a great place to increase your Messier count. I found M100 and M99 both a lot easier than M98, which eluded me a while. All three should be doable in your C9.25. M84 and M86 are a great pair to visit when next you have a chance, as you can get 7 galaxies in one FOV there with my C8.

Clear skies!

Michael

[Doc]

What a great night and wonderful report. I agree with Michael head for M84 and M86, I managed to get 6 galaxies into my FOV I've posted a sketch to show you what you will see.

[Nexus 6]

Hi Michael and Mick, thankyou for the responce and the tip on M84/M86, I will be taking the time to observe that area of the sky when I am next out.

Best wishes