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Meade Lightbridge Observing report as of 7.4.2011

Doc

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Doc

Doc

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Meade Lightbridge 16" F4.5

7.4.2011

Crecent moon gone by 22.00

About 5°C

Seeing Mag 4.2

This is my first observing session for a long time due to my heart bypass, but I'm feeling much better so decided to venture outside and get myself back into the hobby I love.

I have viewed the following objects many times so will not go into details about them as they will be similar to all my past observing logs, suffice to say I saw the following:

M3

M53

M44

M67

M64

M87

M84

M86

M60

M59

M89

M90

M49

My next object was a favourite of mine the mighty M51 and it's companion Ngc 5195 this fantastic galaxy was quite easy to see through my 28mm uwan at x65. Both smudges had distinct cores and with prolonged looking maybe a hint of the bridge but I'm not really sure about that. The 16mm uwan at x114 showed a much larger image and again maybe a line between the cores. No internal structure within the arms was visible. M51 covers an area of 17' x 12' and shines at mag 8.4 and is 37 million light years from Earth.

Onto Canes Venacti next and an unusual shaped galaxy Ngc 4449. This is known as the Box Galaxy and you can see why. Through the 28mm uwan you can see a distinct rectangular shape with a slightly brighter core. It is 6.2' x 4.4' in size and shines at mag 9.4.

Staying in Canes Venacti my next target was Ngc 4214, this turned to be a bit of a challenge but eventually I found it. This galaxy is 8.4' x 7.9' in size and is 9.7 mag, but to my eye looked a lot dimmer. No shape or core was seen, just a very dim oval shape.

Next one was an awesome galaxy to view known as Ngc 4490 & Ngc 4485 or also known as ARP 269 or The Cocoon Galaxy. Through the 16mm uwan Arp 269 looked fantastic, it looked a little brighter then it's designated 9.8. I could make out the "L" shape but could not seperate the two galaxies Ngc 4490 & 4485. I even tried my 7mm Uwan but still could not get a clear black devide between them. The main galaxy Ngc4490 is 6.3' x 3.1' in size and it's comapnion which is 4' NW and is 2.4' x 2.4' in size and mag 12 in brightness.

Still in Canes Venacti I came accross Ngc 4631 also known as ARP281 or Herring Galaxy, or the Whale Galaxy. This was an easy one to see at mag 9 and 15.5' x 2.7' in size. Through the 28mm eyepiece this galaxy looks like a beautiful slash accross the night sky. It appeared slightly larger at one end and had a mottled central region. I could just make out a bump ontop of this galaxy which is actually Ngc 4627. I tried to find Ngc 4656 which should be within the FOV of 1.26° but i could not see this galaxy which is mag 10.1.

I then went hunting for IC 820 also known as The Mice, I star hopped to the exact location but try as I might, I could detect nothing. Also known as Arp 242 is very dim at mag 14.1 so it's not surprising from my light polluted back garden I didn't see anything. I will check this one out at my dark site.

Over to Coma Berenices next for my final object the mighty Ngc4565, what a sight this one was. It is stunning and is your quintessential edge on spiral galaxy. I tried all eyepieces on this one and the best was the 16mm Uwan. This galaxy is 15.8' x 2.1' and shines at 9.6 mag. I could detect a brighter core and maybe a dust lane to the north. I also detected a 13 mag star above the centre of the galaxy.

Thats another 2 Hidden Treasures, 4 Herschel objects, and one Caldwell object.

Hope you enjoyed my report.

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Nice report! You clearly had an excellent night. I spotted 4490 on March 11, but failed to get a handle on 4485, but then I have a rather modest scope compared to a 16". The whale is quite easy, but I have not yet found its companion (NGC 4627). NGC 4449 is an odd one, it is strikingly similar to a (much fainter and smaller) SMC.

NGC 4565 is just amazing, isn't it.

Cheers

Michael

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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Nice report as always Mick. At SGL6 I stood with John (jahmanson) and we went galaxy hopping. John was using his 6" Mak/Newt and I had a Skywatcher 150PS reflector. We both easily saw NGC4631 (the Whale) and we also glimpsed NGC4656 (the Hockey Stick). It just shows how a dark site can improve things.

Mark

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