Moonshots

22 April 2021, 19:30 – 21:10 (BST)

This evening the sky was dominated by a bright gibbous moon high up in Leo. The phase was very similar to that described on 23 March, but this time the seeing was even better. I took the opportunity to capture some images, followed by some observing.

Magnifications used: 171x (DeLite 7mm) and 240x (Nagler 5mm). As the Powermate was still attached to my camera, I used the Orion 2x Shorty Barlow with the 5mm Nagler to also reach a magnification of 480x. Copernicus at that power has to be seen to be believed.

Highlights: In addition to all the incredible detail in and around Copernicus, I also resolved four craterlets in Plato. The northern pair are very close together, which I probably why I didn’t split them last time around. I had fleeting glimpses of the Alpine Valley Rille; it appears to be at its widest in (ironically) the narrowest part of the valley, and so can easily be lost in shadow if the illumination isn’t optimal. Hesiodius A was showing well again, as was another concentric crater, the tiny Marth, in nearby Palus Epidemiarum (below). This was a tough one; the interior of the crater was partly shadowed, and I could only see the inner ring intermittently at the highest magnification when the seeing was perfect.

Nature note:

First swift of the year spotted some distance away to the south. (I needed binoculars to confirm it.)

Galaxies in Leo Minor and Coma Berenices

​16 April 2021, 22:00 – 00:30 (BST)

Seeing: Good

Transparency: Average

Conditions: Chilly, but not quite as bitter as recent nights. Breezy again, but frequency of gusts declined over the course of the session. A few small patchy clouds passing over.

With a new lunar cycle already underway this is likely to be the last deep-sky session for a while. The eyepiece of choice was the 13mm Ethos at 92x.

NGC 3344, galaxy, Leo Minor

Revisiting an object I first saw in subpar conditions in March 2020. Large amorphous round haze; condensed core with averted vision. Two bright field stars superposed on the face of the galaxy in a line east of the core. This is probably the best of the galaxies in Leo Minor.

NGC 3414, galaxy, Leo Minor

Mottled round haze in a busy star-field (the galaxy is surrounded by several moderately bright stars). Bright core, but not star-like.

NGC 3486, galaxy, Leo Minor

Large round haze, gradually brighter towards the centre. The inner region seemed slightly clumpy with averted vision.

NGC 3504, galaxy, Leo Minor

Small oval galaxy, aligned NW-SE; seemed quite bright. Star-like nucleus with averted vision.

NGC 3245, galaxy, Leo Minor

Extended ellipse, aligned roughly N-S. Bright core with averted vision.

NGC 3277, galaxy, Leo Minor

Small, very faint haze east of NGC 3245 (there’s a bright double star about halfway between the two galaxies). Tough to spot; I saw the core (which shows a star-like nucleus with averted vision) before I saw the rest of the galaxy. 

NGC 4203, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Revisiting one from last year. Small round haze south of a bright 8th magnitude field star. Almost on the border with Canes Venatici. Bright core, stellar nucleus with averted vision.

NGC 3995, galaxy, Ursa Major

(Plotted in SA2000, not the PSA.) Very faint round haze, not helped by a bright 6th magnitude field star to the east hindering its visibility. Brighter towards the centre with averted vision.

At 23:10 I was distracted by some birds calling overhead and looked up to see a v-formation of what I assume were ducks or geese flying in an ENE direction, showing up quite pale against the night sky. The calls sounded higher in pitch than the honking I associate with species like greylags; white-fronted geese perhaps?

NGC 4062, galaxy, Ursa Major

Faint elliptical haze, aligned east-west, near the border with Coma Berenices. Not much in the way of detail other than a slight, very gradual brightening towards the centre.

NGC 4150, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Small oval haze; stellar core with averted vision. Faint field star SW, and a brighter one farther west. Another galaxy (NGC 4136) is plotted to the SW, but I couldn’t see it on this occasion.

NGC 4245, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Another round haze with a condensed core. Distinctive curved line of four 11th magnitude stars to the west.

NGC 4274, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Extended elliptical haze, east of NGC 4245. Aligned east-west. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

NGC 4274 area in Coma Berenices (Stellarium)

NGC 4278 and NGC 4283, galaxies, Coma Berenices

Small pair of hazy elliptical galaxies separated by 3 or 4 arcminutes; south of NGC 4274 and in the same field (though only NGC 4278 is plotted in the PSA.) Both show star-like cores with averted vision, but the western member of the pair (NGC 4278) is clearly bigger, brighter and more intense than the other.

NGC 4314, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Faint streak of light NE of NGC 4274 (this is a busy part of the sky for galaxies!). Bright core with averted vision and a faint, approximately 13th magnitude star on the NW tip. (I had my hopes up for a supernova, but it is a foreground object.)

NGC 4251, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Bright little lens-shaped galaxy, aligned east-west. Star-like core with averted vision. 13th magnitude field star to east.

NGC 4448, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Oval haze half a degree NE of bright 4th magnitude Gamma Comae Berenices (occupies the same field in the 13mm Ethos). Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

At 00:10, while taking a break from the eyepiece, I saw a slow meteor pass between the bright stars of Lyra and Draco, heading towards the northern horizon.

With fatigue starting to set in I opted for one more galaxy in an under-explored (for me) part of the sky to round off the session.

NGC 6217, galaxy, Ursa Minor

Amorphous round haze, near a loose band of bright stars. Brightens smoothly towards the centre; has the “feel” of a spiral galaxy even if I can’t see the spiral.

Nature note:

As well as the flock of birds noted earlier, I heard a fox barking very loudly on the street and another flurry of late-night singing from the resident dunnock.

Return to the Coma Galaxy Cluster

​14 April 2021, 21:45 – 23:30 (BST)

Seeing: Average / Good

Transparency: Average

Chilly and windy (again). A few scattered clouds blowing south. The previous night’s attempt at astrophotography was blighted by polar alignment issues and a loose power cable. I did however manage to get a 120-second test shot of the Coma Galaxy Cluster, which showed a surprising amount of galaxies for a single unstacked image (see edited crop below). Bodes well for future imaging runs (if the wind ever drops again).

The galaxies near the centre of this image are over 300 million light years away.

Before diving into the galaxies I warmed up with a look at some double stars and a carbon star:

Izar (Epsilon Bootis)

Tight split at 171x. Pale yellow primary; blue-ish secondary NW. I say “blue-ish” because at times it looked vaguely purple (an impossible colour for a star).

Cor Caroli, Canes Venatici

171x. Brilliant bright double; wide separation. Icy white primary; pale yellow secondary.

Y Canum Venaticorum (La Superba), Canes Venatici

171x: Rusty red-hued star, though the colour is due to carbon, not iron.

NGC 3640, galaxy, Leo

171x. Follow up from previous session. As suspected, higher magnification made the difference. I could see a faint field star north of the galaxy, and a very faint, small fuzzy patch (NGC 3641) a similar distance to the south, only just visible with averted vision.

NGC 3705, galaxy, Leo

171x. Large oval haze. Star-like nucleus with averted vision, which also suggested mottling in the surrounding haze (possible s-spiral?). I missed this galaxy on Monday night and I’m not sure why, because it’s quite impressive – certainly not faint or inconspicuous.

 

NGC 4449 (Caldwell 21), galaxy, Canes Venatici

171x. Revisiting a favourite from the Caldwell list. Fascinating irregular galaxy, showing a lot of detail for a non-Messier object. Oblong haze with a bright bar running through it on a diagonal north-south axis. Averted vision showed a bright central spot on this bar flanked by two fainter ones. Averted vision also showed another spot or clump on the eastern corner (as noted in previous observations).

NGC 4889 (Caldwell 35), galaxy, Coma Berenices

171x. The powerhouse at the centre of the Coma Galaxy Cluster (see above). Faint but obvious, as was its slightly dimmer neighbour NGC 4874. Both galaxies appeared to swell in size with averted vision. As both the seeing and the transparency were relatively good I wanted to see if I could pick out any of NGC 4889’s companions (which I’m sure I’ve glimpsed on previous occasions). Once I got my eye in I could see a faint fuzzy spot (NGC 4886) just west of 4889, in line with the 7th magnitude “finder” star HD 112887. On the other side of 4889 and slightly south was a faint foreground star (no fuzziness), and then, a little farther east, another even fainter fuzzy spot (NGC 4898), forming a near right-angle triangle with two field stars to the south. All these galaxies were still visible when I dropped down to 133x, although it was a little more challenging with the comparatively bright HD 112887 in the field of view.

By now the clouds were getting larger, and reflecting a lot of light from the ground as they drifted southwest. With most of Coma Berenices obscured, I relocated to the constellation of Boötes.

NGC 5557, galaxy, Boötes

133x. Round blur; swelled with averted vision. Averted vision also showed a condensed, bright core with a star-like nucleus. Field star west, fainter one east.

SA 2000 plots a handful of other galaxies here, in addition to NGC 5557. I couldn’t see NGC 5529, but I did catch another one before the clouds got in the way.

NGC 5533, galaxy, Boötes

133x. Inconspicuous oval haze, fainter than NGC 5557. Gradually brighter towards the centre; star-like nucleus with averted vision.

The red light on my torch had been getting steadily dimmer throughout the session and now it was so dim I couldn’t see the star-charts or my notes, so it seemed like an appropriate point to call it a night. Though on the plus side, that dimness may well have helped me to see those faint galaxies in the Coma Cluster.

Galaxies in Leo and Coma Berenices

​12 April 2021, 22:30 – 23:30 (BST)

Seeing: Average 

Transparency: Average

Conditions: A clear sky – albeit a little hazy – and still very chilly. For the first time in ages there was no wind, so it was a long-overdue opportunity to set up the astrophotography rig. Problems focusing the ZWO camera meant I was unable to use autoguiding so I was limited to exposure times of one minute. However, despite this and and other technical issues, I was able to salvage something from the session with an hour’s worth of data on NGC 4565 (below).

While that was in progress I sat down with the XT10 to track down some galaxies in Leo and Coma Berenices. After warming up with a quick look at the Leo Triplet, I moved the telescope south.

NGC 3640, galaxy, Leo

133x. Small oval haze, nearly round, aligned east-west. Bright core. Seemed mottled with averted vision. Possible one or two field stars south of the core (reading up on it later, I might have been glimpsing the core of companion galaxy NGC 3641). Might be worth revisiting at higher magnification on a more transparent night.

NGC 3521, galaxy, Leo

133x. Revisiting this gem tucked away in southern Leo. A large galaxy, relatively bright compared to 3640. Elliptical haze with a bright core and a star-like nucleus, aligned roughly north-south. I know the dark lane is on the western side, but to my eye at least it seemed the cut-off was on the eastern side (repeating the observation I made when I looked at it last year).

M99, galaxy, Coma Berenices

133x. Large round haze, brighter towards the centre with averted vision. I feel like I should be getting more out of this galaxy, but there was only the barest hint of spiral structure tonight.

NGC 4298, galaxy, Coma Berenices

133x. Very faint extended haze, aligned NW-SE. Very faint field star on NE side. Averted vision gave the suggestion of an even fainter galaxy to the east (NGC 4302).

M100, galaxy, Coma Berenices

133x. Similar to M99 on first impression, but larger and slightly fainter. Bright core surrounded by a mottled haze. With time and averted vision a vague spiral impression started to form, though – as with M51 – it’s easier to see the dark crescents either side of the core than the spiral arms themselves.

NGC 4340 and NGC 4350, galaxies, Coma Berenices

133x. Revisiting another pair from last year. Two small galaxies in same field, both showing star-like cores. Western one (4340) rounder; eastern one (4350) edge-on with a rough north-south alignment, perpendicular to 4340. 4350 has a brighter, more concentrated core. 

NGC 4450, galaxy, Coma Berenices

133x. Ghostly round glow, aligned north-south. Gradually brighter towards the centre. Increases size with averted vision. Field star to SW.

I rounded off the hour with a look at the same galaxy I was imaging, NGC 4565. Not much I can add to previous notes, although I did look for companion galaxy NGC 4562 which lies at one end of a distinctive arc of stars leading from 4565. Despite my memorising its location, as expected it was a little too faint for me to detect. I think on a really good night it might just be visible in my scope, but tonight was not that night.

Nature note:

Distant noises of foxes barking and revellers revelling (the pubs reopened today after a v-e-r-y long time). Also, while struggling to get PHD2 to work I heard a slurping noise from the pond and looked round to see that a fox had sneaked into the garden for a cheeky drink. Apparently the two telescopes, the laptop and the cursing astronomer were not enough to put it off.