Galaxies and Ice Giants

4 October 2018, 21:45 – 00:00 BST

Conditions: The seeing was quite good but the sky was a little hazy, affecting the transparency.

NGC 7479, galaxy in Pegasus
Viewed at 133x (9mm Nagler): faint, extended streak of light with bright star at one end and a fainter one at the other. First impression - not unlike NGC 891. Sky transparency not good enough to see spiral arms, but suggestion of mottled structure along central axis.

NGC 404, Mirach’s Ghost, galaxy in Andromeda
Follow up observation at 240x (5mm Nagler). Showed up very well. High power made it easier to keep Mirach out of the field of view and to see more detail in the galaxy itself: condensed core and suggestion of nested structure rather than smooth gradation – arranged in two or three “shells” of brightness.

Neptune
Appeared as a blue “out of focus” star. The colour made it stand out from neighbouring stars. Hard to resolve, even at 240x. Two faint stars in vicinity.

Uranus
Obvious green-grey disc even at 133x. Clearly resolved at 240x – no detail or moons seen.

NGC 7331, spiral galaxy in Pegasus
Bright core, extended envelope, sharp cut-off on one side, indicative of dust lane. Very much like a smaller copy of M31. Could probably take 240x.

M74, spiral galaxy in Pisces
Faint, but still obvious despite its reputation as the toughest Messier. At 133x it showed a condensed core surrounded by a large faint disc. Hard to see any detail, but darker areas possibly indicating regions between spiral arms.

NGC 772, spiral galaxy in Aries
Small asymmetric patch of light, lacking same degree of condensation as M74. Seemingly irregular. My old notes tell me that I did see this with the Vixen 102, describing it as looking like a "ghost globular".

NGC 925, spiral galaxy in Triangulum
Extremely faint, amorphous patch of light. Could be easily overlooked if just sweeping through the area.

M33, spiral galaxy in Triangulum
Seemed positively bright compared to the previous three galaxies. One spiral arm clearly seen: clumpy patch of light curling from core towards a bright field star. The question remains (as with NGC 891) as to how much of this I would be able to see if I wasn’t already familiar with the photographic representation.

A quick look at the M31 satellite galaxies:
M32, Andromeda: star-like core.
M110, Andromeda: faint field star nearby perhaps matching location of globular? Maybe that's wishful thinking, but the G1 globular should just about be within my the range of my scope. Will need a detailed finder chart or photo to verify.

A quick look at two open clusters in Perseus:
NGC 1528 & NGC 1513: misty patches at 50x, partially resolved.

NGC 1664, open cluster in Auriga
Very distinctive cluster; stars form an outline resembling a kite or a stingray.

NGC 1579, emission nebula in Perseus
Very faint patch of light, possibly doubled. Somehow managed to lose track of it when I put in the Ultrablock. Though I might have been hampered by condensation.


Eventually the session was curtailed by condensation on the secondary mirror (although the primary remained dry). Could mean that I’ll be limited to two-hour sessions between now and spring.

Nature Note:
3 frogs in the pond: 1 big, 2 small.