The Skull and the Silver Coin

2 November 2021, 21:45 – 23:45

Seeing: Poor

Transparency: Good – Average

Conditions: A still, windless night after a surprisingly warm sunny day (but the lawn was still very muddy from the rain of recent days). In the afternoon I walked up to North Foreland, where the countless strands of spider-silk backlit by the sun made the farmer’s fields look like they were covered with fine silver blankets. The Clear Outside forecast (which is usually pretty reliable) was confidently predicting cloud and fog after dark, but it mostly remained clear, with just a few patchy clouds gathering in the northeast. However there was a lot of moisture in the air, mostly affecting the eyepieces. The low sunlight during the day had also left me with quite the headache; it took more of an effort to concentrate on what I was seeing, so I was pretty tired by the second hour of observing.

Also of note: a couple of bright blue flashes of light somewhere to the south which I thought might have been early fireworks, but there was no follow-up sound. Perhaps a distant storm was passing through the Channel.

NGC 246 (Caldwell 56), planetary nebula, Cetus

92x + OIII filter. Large (for a PN) bulbous haze; barely visible without the filter and still quite faint even with it in place. Speckled with 3 or 4 faint stars, one of which is presumably the central illuminating star. (The three brighter stars form an isosceles triangle.) This slightly punctured, speckled appearance made it seem like a cross between the two PNs NGC 6781 and NGC 6804 in Aquila. When observing an object for the first time I try to go in “cold” with little or no prior knowledge, but in this case I was vaguely aware that NGC 246 was nicknamed the Skull Nebula. With averted vision it does indeed have a blotchy, skull-like appearance. It’s certainly a more appropriate nickname than the “Pac-Man Nebula” which, confusingly, is also the informal name for NGC 281 in Cassiopeia.

NGC 253 (Caldwell 65), the Silver Coin Galaxy, Sculptor

92x. After several previous failed attempts to spot this galaxy I wasn’t getting my hopes up, but – after careful positioning of the scope to see through a gap in the neighbours’ foliage – I finally saw it as a large, faint and rather elongated ellipse angled NE to SW. Two field stars to the south and another one north, with a few fainter stars superposed on the galaxy, including one just west of the core. Averted vision showed the galaxy brightening smoothly towards the centre, but no bright core/nucleus or other details were apparent. Although faint, it wasn’t “vanishingly” faint like some of the more challenging objects I’ve tracked down, so I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to see it. I guess the sky conditions have to be just right. Having an Ethos also helps; I’m not sure I would have spotted it in any other eyepiece.

It’s a challenge for me to see any galaxy below -20 degrees declination, so although it wasn’t visually impressive, the fact I can see NGC 253 at all demonstrates that (like M83) it must be a spectacular sight from more southerly latitudes.

While in the area I also looked for globular cluster NGC 288 (which lies a couple of degrees south of NGC 253), but I couldn’t see it with any degree of confidence. I guess it must lack the central condensation of more typical globulars, plus the obstructing foliage didn’t help.

M77, Seyfert Galaxy, Cetus

92x. As per previous observations. Small, bright galaxy with an intense star-like nucleus. The nucleus seemed blue-ish, but this may have been because I had just come from Delta Ceti (which looks very blue in the Ethos). The surrounding haze swells with averted vision. Bright field star to the east. This is one galaxy that benefits from higher magnification.

A faint point of light was just about visible in the 9x50 finder at the corresponding location, but was impossible to tell whether it was the galaxy or the adjacent field star (or a combination of both).

NGC 1055, galaxy, Cetus

92x. North of M77. Very faint streak of light forming a triangle with two bright field stars to the north. Another fainter field star on the western end of the galaxy.

NGC 488, galaxy, Pisces

92x. Faint round haze west of a bright field star. Star-like core with averted vision. Another fainter field star on SE of galaxy. Visually, this one reminded me of NGC 278 in Cassiopeia.

The PSA plots a couple of other galaxies in this region, but I was unable to see them. I then relocated to M74, but the so-called Phantom Galaxy was even fainter than usual, at which point I noticed that the eye-lens of the Ethos was starting to succumb to the condensation. With the clouds starting to encroach from the northeast, I switched to the 7mm DeLite and made a return trip to M77.

M77, Seyfert Galaxy, Cetus

171x. The oval shape of the galaxy was more pronounced at this magnification, and there was more distinction between the bright core and the nucleus embedded within it, but the poor seeing smeared out any fine detail I was hoping to see. The core still seemed slightly blue, but not as much as at 92x.

Although the DeLite has a similarly-sized eye-lens to the Ethos, I thought the raised eye-cup design might provide better protection against the condensation. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, so I was forced to switch eyepieces again.

After a first look at M42 for the season (just clearing the fence) and quick trips to M78 and the Pleiades, I rounded off the session with a look at one of the best open clusters of the winter.

M37, open cluster, Auriga

133x and 50x. Magnificent as usual: a water beetle with a jewelled heart. Looks best at low-to-medium powers. The 24mm Panoptic’s field is wide enough to show a bright orange-red star southwest of M37, contrasting with the pale red star at the centre of the cluster.

Other notes:

I glimpsed a few faint meteors while I was taking breaks from the eyepiece. I also heard a few more Redwings flying overhead.

Rhubarb Supernova

16-17 July 2021, 23:45 – 01:15 (BST)

Seeing: Average

Transparency: Average/poor

Conditions: After a run of cloudy nights, a very mild, cloudless evening with a light breeze blowing from the north. (And a near first-quarter moon sinking in the west.) I spent a lot of time carefully aligning and calibrating the astrophotography rig, only to find out later (for reasons I haven’t yet figured out) that it had stopped tracking after a few minutes, leaving me with over an hour’s worth of star trails. Oddly, it started tracking again (or attempted to, given that the autoguider had long since lost its target star) on the last few frames. I suspect a loose or snagged cable is the culprit, but I haven’t been able to replicate the fault in daylight. (This is the experience I expected to have when I first attempted this type of astrophotography back in 2018, not three years in. Oh well…)

While that was in progress (or not), I revisited some summer favourites with the XT10 at 133x: M57, M56, Albireo and M27. The dumbbell’s central star was visible again (with averted vision), but not as easily as it was at 171x.

Then, with my eyes sufficiently dark-adapted, it was onto some special extragalactic targets: 

BL Lacertae, Active Galactic Nucleus / Blazar

133x. Not the most visually exciting object (it looks like a faint, inconspicuous star in a field full of stars), but at approximately 900 million light years this is the second-farthest thing I’ve seen (after quasar 3C 273). I had to consult the MSA (chart 1123) to track it down, and even then I had to make a rough sketch of the field stars to be sure I had seen it.

BL Lac usually fluctuates between magnitudes 14 and 17, which would normally put it out of range of my scope, but it’s been exhibiting a lot of activity over the last few months and is now brighter than it’s ever been, currently pushing 13th magnitude.

SN 2021rhu, Supernova in galaxy NGC 7814, Pegasus

At long last, a supernova bright enough for my scope, and in a place where I could see it. That said, I had to wait for Pegasus to clear the neighbour’s fence before I could get the XT10 on it, but even though it was still low in the sky, the supernova was immediately obvious at both 133x and 171x, shining relatively brightly against the faint haze of NGC 7814 at approximately magnitude 12.5. It appeared as an intense star-like point slightly east of the galaxy’s centre (I wasn’t able to see the galaxy’s dark lane). Quite an impressive sight considering it’s 40 million light years away (but bad news for anyone unfortunate enough to be within a few light-years of the explosion).

Apparently SN 2021rhu (with that name I can’t help but think of it as the “rhubarb supernova”) is a type 1a supernova. This is caused by a white dwarf accreting matter from a nearby companion star until electron degeneracy pressure can no longer support its mass – resulting in a rapid collapse, a runaway nuclear reaction and a spectacular explosion that rips apart the entire star.

Also: I was treated to three very bright passes of the ISS over the course of the evening. One pass was so bright I could see a halo around it.

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I went out again the following night (17 July – 18 July) for another attempted imaging run which resulted in 8 minutes of perfect data followed by another hour or so of trailed images. [Insert expletives here.]

Fortunately I was able to salvage something from the session by sticking the camera on the XT10 and grabbing some data on Jupiter while a Ganymede shadow transit was in progress (below).

Detail-wise, there wasn’t much to choose between the image and the eyepiece view (at 240x): the brown barges above the NEB showed up well, but I didn’t spot the string of white ovals in the southern hemisphere (which are just about visible in the full-size image).

I also had a look at Saturn as it emerged from behind the neighbour’s tree. Several moons were visible and lots of fine detail was briefly visible in the planet and the rings, although the seeing quickly deteriorated.

I also had another look at SN 2021rhu (at 240x). The supernova was still quite prominent despite my eyes not being properly dark-adapted. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s still visible in August once the moon has got out of the way.

Nature note

The mosquitoes were out in force on both nights; in all the years I’ve been doing astronomy I’ve never been bitten quite like that before.

Globular Clusters in Hercules and Galaxies in Draco

11-12 May 2021, 22:45 – 01:15 (BST)

Seeing: Average

Transparency: Average

A breezy night with occasional gusts. Some high cirrus cloud early on; this blew away and the sky remained clear until about 1 AM. It had been a warm day, so the temperature was relatively mild at the start of the session, but it soon fell away and became quite chilly by the end. No condensation though.

Satellites and space junk everywhere I looked (including through the eyepiece). More planes than last year too.

At this time of year I always find myself drawn irresistibly towards globular clusters (no matter how many times I’ve seen them before) so I began the session with a tour of some of the season’s best.

M5, globular cluster, Serpens Caput

133x and 171x. As per previous observations: lovely, well resolved cluster with a bright, condensed core. Its stars seemed to have a considerable spread of magnitudes, with the most prominent member lying just southeast of the core. Another slightly less bright star is offset to the SW, forming a tight triangle with two other fainter stars. Reading up on M5 the next day I learned that both of these bright stars are variables: V84 (an RV Tauri star) and V42 (a Cepheid) respectively.

See: https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/hunting-bright-variables/

Another distinctive feature was a chain of stars curling around the NE side of the cluster, like a spiral arm. Not a great deal of difference between the two magnifications, but the stars did seem to “pop out” more at 171x. No colour to the cluster (or its individual stars) that I could perceive on this occasion.

While at 171x I also had a look at the nearby double star 5 Serpentis, comprised of a bright white primary and a dim secondary roughly NE. The secondary seemed to have a pale violet/indigo(?) hue, but it was very subtle and mostly likely caused by a contrast effect with the primary.

M13, globular cluster, Hercules

171x. Tonight M13 looked like a sprawling sea monster compared to M5. No individual stars stood out from the crowd, but there was good resolution across the face of the cluster. It took me a few minutes to “get my eye in” before I could spot the Y-shaped propeller feature, but once I did it was quite obvious. Nearby galaxy NGC 6207 (with its false nucleus) also showed well at 171x.

NGC 6229, globular cluster, Hercules

171x. Small and ghostly compared to M13. With averted vision the cluster swelled in size, and the core glowed with a soft intensity. After a few minutes of observing the cluster started to look a little mottled around the centre and grainy on its outskirts, but no stars were resolved other than a very faint star trailing to the east, of which I had only fleeting glimpses. (Most likely a foreground Milky Way star.)

M92, globular cluster, Hercules

171x. A bright, underrated globular with a very condensed core. Lots of stars resolved at 171x, but the oval shape noted previously starts to break up, although the area around the core still appears somewhat elongated. Other distinctive features include two straggly arms of stars roughly trailing to the north and south, and another tighter one folding back on itself east of the core.

NGC 6543, Cat’s Eye Nebula, Draco

171x and 133x. Another late spring/summer favourite. Impression much the same as last year: vivid, pale green ellipse – slightly misshapen. The central 11th magnitude star wavered in and out of view using direct vision, sometimes holding steady for several seconds at a time depending on the seeing. The view at 133x was similar, but the green colour was more intense.

NGC 6503, galaxy, Draco

133x. (The one that Herschel missed.) As per previous observations. Extended ellipse; not much brightening towards the centre, other than a vague impression of mottling/clumpiness.

NGC 6340, galaxy, Draco

133x. Round fuzz (fainter than 6503), roughly east of a double star. Star-like nucleus with averted vision.

NGC 6643, galaxy, Draco

133x. Faint streak of light east of and parallel to two field stars. A little brighter towards the centre with averted vision. This one looked like a ghost of NGC 6503.

While in the area I noticed a very distinctive W-shaped asterism in the finder, near 44 Draconis and later identified as Kemble 2. The eyepiece view revealed a few more stars in addition to the core five, but the best view was through the 9x50 finder.

Psi Draconis, double star, Draco

133x. One I’ve been meaning to revisit for a while (I always get distracted by the Cat’s Eye Nebula). A really lovely, bright double – at 30 arcseconds, wide enough to split (barely) in the 9x50 finder. In the main scope it appeared as a pale yellow-white primary with a pale blue-white secondary.

I couldn’t find galaxies NGC 6412 or NGC 6140 for some reason, though I suspect some high hazy cloud was starting to interfere with the transparency. With more clouds gathering low in the southwest (and a fox barking very loudly from the same direction), I decided to round off the session with another old favourite at a very high magnification.

M57, Ring Nebula, Lyra

428x (7mm DeLite + 2.5x Powermate). At this magnification the target crosses the field of view so quickly you need to get the scope ahead of it to give yourself time to have a decent look. The inner part of the ring looked a little ragged at this power, but unsurprisingly there was no sign of the central star, not even a hint of a glint. I think I’d need an equatorial platform (and near-perfect conditions) to stand even a chance of picking it out from the gauzy central region.

As the bright clouds pushed across the sky there was just time for a quick return visit to M13 at the same power. The sheer volume of stars was a little too much to take in during the short time available; at this magnification it looked less like a sea monster and more like a hanging basket brimming over with bright and unruly flowers; the entire field of view clotted with ancient starlight.

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.

More Spring Galaxies (Leo Minor to Boötes)

​6 April 2021, 21:30 – 00:30 (BST)

Seeing: Good 

Transparency: Average / good

Another very cold, gusty night, with another brief snow flurry during the day. Patchy clouds blowing south again (more so than the previous night). No condensation.

I started the session by revisiting Ursa Major’s two “Alula” doubles, but at a higher magnification.

Nu Ursae Majoris (Alula Borealis)

171x. As per last night: Pale yellow-orange primary and a faint secondary south. Oddly, despite there being a more comfortable gap between the two stars at this magnification, the secondary seemed fainter tonight.

Xi Ursae Majoris (Alula Australis)

171x. A paper-thin but clear split at this magnification. Two almost identical yellow-white stars; primary north, secondary south.

NGC 3430, galaxy, Leo Minor

133x. Very faint, amorphous patch of light; gradually brighter towards the centre with averted vision. This is the most prominent of a group of galaxies in the same small patch of sky, but only this one and NGC 3395 are plotted in the PSA.

NGC 3395 and 3396, interacting galaxies, Leo Minor

133x. Faint pair of galaxies angled towards each other, like a smaller, fainter version of NGC 4567/4568 in Virgo. The western one (NGC 3395) seemed slightly bigger and brighter. Averted vision suggested star-like cores in both galaxies.

NGC 3413, galaxy, Leo Minor

133x. (Plotted in SA 2000). Super faint smear of light, aligned north-south. Only visible with averted vision.

At this point the clouds were becoming larger and more frequent (blowing to the southeast), so I had to keep hopping from one clear patch of the sky to the next to stay ahead of them.

NGC 3242 “Ghost of Jupiter” (Caldwell 59), planetary nebula, Hydra

133x. Bright blue-green oval of light (seemed especially vivid after those faint galaxies). Appeared brighter on the northwest side. Similar impression at 171x, but less intense and softer-edged. Suggestion of darker core with averted vision.

65 Ursae Majoris

171x. Lovely triple star system; good split at this magnification. Two close stars with a more distant one trailing to the east.

NGC 4111, galaxy, Canes Venatici

171x. Bright streak of light with a bright core (as per last night).

NGC 4138, galaxy, Canes Venatici

171x. Faint round haze south of a field star. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

I couldn’t locate the other galaxy (NGC 4143) plotted near here, so I spent the next few minutes revisiting some old favourites: M3 (showing a lot more stars at 171x), NGC 4565 (171x and 133x) and M51 at 133x. M51’s structure was visible with a little effort, but it looked more like a ring than a spiral tonight.

NGC 2300, galaxy, Cepheus

133x. One of the most northerly DSOs visible in my scope. Appeared as a small, condensed galaxy; bright core with averted vision. While using averted vision I had the impression of a larger, fainter galaxy above it (confirmed as NGC 2276), near a bright field star. 

NGC 2268, galaxy, Camelopardalis

133x. Very faint oval haze. Increased in size with averted vision, which also revealed a small bright core.

NGC 5448, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Very faint streak of light, a little brighter towards the centre with averted vision. Almost disappeared in direct vision. Located in the southeastern corner of Ursa Major, east of Alkaid.

NGC 5676, galaxy, Boötes

133x. Large faint oval galaxy, gradually brighter towards the centre with averted vision. The most prominent member of a small gathering of galaxies in northern Boötes.

NGC 5689, galaxy, Boötes

133x. Faint streak of light – lens-shaped or edge-on; smaller than NGC 5676. Stellar core with averted vision.

IC 1029, galaxy, Boötes

133x. Very faint streak of light west of a field star. Like a ghost of NGC 5689, but rotated 90 degrees. Brighter star-like core with averted vision. Located about half a degree from NGC 5676. 

NGC 5631, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Conspicuous round oval haze in a sparse star-field. Condensed stellar core with averted vision.

I couldn’t find nearby NGC 5585 (I think galaxy fatigue was setting in), but I did see a dramatic multiple star system west of its location (Struve 1831). I didn’t want to finish the night on a blank, so I tracked down one last galaxy just over the border in Draco:

NGC 5678, galaxy, Draco

133x. Slim oval smudge of light flanked by two field stars. Only very slightly brighter towards the centre with averted vision. Nice pale orange and blue double star due east (Struve 1872?).

Nature note: 

Aside from a fox barking in the distance and two cats fighting out the front, it was very quiet again.

Spring Galaxies (Ursa Major to Corvus)

5 April 2021, 21:30 – 00:30 (BST)

Seeing: Average

Transparency: Average / good

A very cold night for April (there was even a light shower of sleet and snow during the day), with a strong gusty wind blowing from the north. No surprise then that I was wearing full winter gear, but at least the grass was dry and relatively mud-free. As I wanted to minimise the time spent taking my gloves on and off, I stuck with just one eyepiece for the entire session: the 13mm Ethos (a proven galaxy catcher) at 92x.

While my eyes were still dark-adapting, I warmed up with a couple of double stars in Ursa Major:

Nu Ursae Majoris (Alula Borealis)

Pale yellow-orange primary with a faint (possibly blue) secondary quite close to the south (10th magnitude at 7 arcseconds). A third (presumably unrelated) star nearby. An attractive sight to begin the session.

Xi Ursae Majoris (Alula Australis)

White “elongated” star, like a filled-in “8”. Not quite resolved at 92x, but enough to tell it’s a double.

At this point, while glancing away from the scope, I spotted two meteors. The first one (at approx. 21:45) passed through Sextans, heading southwest. About five minutes later another one flashed high overhead through Auriga, heading west. The second one was very bright, although not bright enough to leave a trail or be classed as a fireball. 

On a less interesting note, the sky was crawling with satellites tonight, though I suppose we’re entering that time of year when they’re visible for longer.

M81, galaxy, Ursa Major

For once I didn’t allow myself to get distracted by M82 and, after a while, there was a suggestion of a hazy extended halo, doubling the size of the galaxy. The spiral arms themselves remained elusive, but the haze on the eastern side seemed slightly more prominent, separated from the core by a darker area. The effect was so subtle I can’t really count it as a positive identification of spiral structure, but it does illustrate that most of the time when you’re looking at M81 through a small-to-medium scope, you’re really only seeing the galaxy’s innermost regions.

NGC 3079, galaxy, Ursa Major

Rather faint streak of light aligned roughly north-south. Somewhat brighter towards the centre with averted vision. Similar size to M82. Also: colourful orange / yellow-white double star in same field to east.

NGC 3432, galaxy, Leo Minor

Long, very faint streak of light aligned roughly NE-SW between two field stars. At least three faint field stars superposed over the galaxy.

NGC 3294, galaxy, Leo Minor

Large oval blur, roughly aligned east-west. A little brighter towards the centre with averted vision.

NGC 3310, galaxy, Ursa Major

Small, bright round galaxy south of a bright star. Bright core with averted vision.

NGC 3631, galaxy, Ursa Major

Large, round and diffuse; bright core with averted vision. Suggestion of asymmetry in the halo – I’m guessing this is a spiral galaxy. Also: a bright double star to the southwest.

NGC 3938, galaxy, Ursa Major

Another large round blur, gradually brighter towards the centre. Again, like 3631, a very vague suggestion of spiral structure – seemed brighter on the eastern side. This galaxy is a long way from any useful field-stars, making it tough to find via star-hopping.

NGC 4051, galaxy, Ursa Major

Amorphous round fuzz east of a field star. Star-like nucleus with averted vision.

NGC 4013, galaxy, Ursa Major

Small, lens-shaped streak of light aligned NE-SW. At first glance it appears to have an intense star-like nucleus glinting like a diamond, but I strongly suspect this is a foreground star. (Subsequently confirmed when I looked up the spectacular Hubble image of this galaxy.)

NGC 4111, galaxy, Canes Venatici

An oval smudge of light just over the border from Ursa Major. Bright core with averted vision; another double star to the north.

Next, a detour to Coma Berenices for one new galaxy and one old favourite:

NGC 4494, galaxy, Coma Berenices

Round fuzz ball near the Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111). Bright core, stellar nucleus; looks a lot like a stray elliptical from the Virgo Cluster. Surprised I haven’t seen this one before, but there is a very distracting galaxy nearby…

NGC 4565, Needle Galaxy, Coma Berenices

Beautiful edge-on galaxy, a spring favourite. Dark dust lane visible with averted vision, becoming harder to see the farther it extends either side of the core. Field star NE of the core.

This was followed with a few more favourites in the shape of M101 and M51 and a quick trek along Markarian’s Chain in Virgo. I’ve had better views of these galaxies before so didn’t take any notes on this occasion. At this point the constellation of Corvus was emerging from behind the neighbour’s tree, so I made my annual attempt to track down the Antennae galaxies…

NGC 4038 and 4039 (Caldwell 60 & 61), interacting galaxies, Corvus

With the exception of M83, spotting galaxies south of about -15 degrees declination is a real challenge from my location. But after carefully sweeping north-northeast of 5th magnitude 31 Corvi I spotted an extremely faint glow within an upside-down y-shaped asterism of stars. With time and averted vision the glow took on a vague shrimp-like appearance, with the northern component looking slightly brighter. I made a rough sketch of the field just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. Of course, the famous tidal tails would be beyond the reach of my telescope even if the galaxies were overhead, but I was pleased to confirm that the view tallied pretty well with Phil Harrington’s sketch on his challenge page , albeit much, much fainter.

I rounded off the session with quick looks at the globular clusters M5, M3 and M13. Compared to the other two with their tightly condensed cores, M13 looked like a bonbon coated with sugar crystals. (It was late; I was ready for chocolate.)

Nebulae in Monoceros

15 March 2021, 19:45 – 22:30

Seeing: Average / Poor

Transparency: Average (cloud permitting)

A cool evening (after a mild day) with bands of high, hazy cloud drifting across the sky. Very light condensation on the telescope tube. The gentle breeze was a welcome change after a run of very blustery weather over the last few days. 

With the nights getting shorter and a new lunar cycle already underway, this was probably my last opportunity for a while to explore the winter Milky Way, so I started at low power (50x) with the 24mm Panoptic, plus the OIII filter to pick out some nebulae. When using this filter you have to cup your hands around the eyepiece to get the best out of it, as it does tend to reflect stray light bouncing off your eyeball. (I’ve noticed this before, but tonight it was more prominent than usual, particularly on the right hand side of the field of view.)


NGC 2359, “Thor’s Helmet”, emission nebula, Canis Major

50x + OIII filter. The nebula showed up clearly with this eyepiece/filter combination, but only the brightest sections were visible tonight. Averted vision showed a bright spot on the northern part of the nebula.

The area northwest of NGC 2359 is rich in nebulae according to every chart I’ve seen, but nothing obvious jumped out at me when I scanned this region. Pushing on into Monoceros, I arrived at…

NGC 2237-9, Rosette Nebula, Monoceros

50x + OIII filter. Visible as a very large, structureless haze surrounding open cluster NGC 2244. The nebula appeared widest and brightest on the north and west sides.

After sweeping north, to the Christmas Tree cluster, and then west, I stumbled upon something I hadn’t seen before:

NGC 2245, reflection nebula, Monoceros

50x + OIII filter. Although catalogued as a reflection nebula (I didn’t know this at the time, as the chart doesn’t make a distinction between reflection and emission nebulae), it showed up very clearly as a small, fuzzy patch of light immediately southwest of a bright 8th magnitude star. Averted vision showed it to have a bright core. Increasing the magnification to 171x (no filter) improved the view considerably: now I could see an 11th magnitude star embedded in a wide, comet-shaped swathe of nebulosity fanning out to the southwest. Reminiscent of nearby NGC 2261 (Hubble’s Variable Nebula) but with a curved rather than a pointy apex. There was a hint of similar (albeit fainter) nebulosity corresponding with the position of nearby NGC 2247, but some hazy cloud pushed in before I could confirm it.

Relocating to a cloud-free (for now) part of the sky:

M97, Owl Nebula, Ursa Major

50x + OIII filter. Viewed at low power with an OIII filter, the Owl Nebula actually looked “bright” for once, appearing as a round, soft-edged disc of light. At 171x (no filter), it was faint, but the dark “eyes” were just about visible.

NGC 3893, galaxy, Ursa Major

171x. Follow-up from the previous session. At this magnification the companion galaxy (NGC 3896) was visible with averted vision as a small, faint patch of light roughly east of the main galaxy, and adjacent to a 13th magnitude field star. Together, the two galaxies resembled a subdued version of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and its neighbour as seen through a small telescope. Magnification makes the difference on this one; NGC 3896 was much harder to distinguish from the 13th magnitude star when I dropped down to 92x.

NGC 3166 and 3169, interacting galaxies, Sextans

92x. Pair of small oval galaxies in same field of view, separated by a few arcminutes. Similar in size, but the western galaxy (NGC 3166) has a much brighter core. The other galaxy (NGC 3169) is just west of an 11th magnitude field star.

With more clouds pushing across the sky from the west, I called it a night.

Three Galaxies in Ursa Major

9 March 2021, 20:00 – 22:00

Seeing: Average

Transparency: Average to terrible (deteriorating because of high cloud)

It was relatively mild when I took the telescope outside, but the temperature plummeted over the next two hours (although there was no condensation). Very light wind. Hazy, high altitude cloud increasing steadily over the course of the session.


NGC 2261, Hubble’s Variable Nebula, Monoceros

133x and 171x. Appeared quite bright considering it had already crossed the meridian (into the more light-polluted part of the sky). Fan-shaped nebula pointing south. Star-like point at apex. No structure visible, but the nebula seemed more diffuse on the western side and sharper-edged on the eastern side.

Sirius: Viewed at 333x (9mm Nagler + 2.5x Powermate), but no sign of the Pup, even when I held Sirius just outside the fov. Possible it might have been covered by one of the diffraction spikes.

NGC 2392, Eskimo Nebula, Gemini

333x. Central star and shell structure showing well with averted vision. In moments of good seeing the inner shell seemed slightly misshapen with three bright segments, plus a small dark area around the central star (this may have been a contrast effect).

Zeta Cancri was a clean split at 333x, when the seeing allowed. This system is a good test for seeing conditions during late winter / early spring.

NGC 2841, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Large streak of light with a bright core. Star off western end. I’ve seen this galaxy before, but tonight it was a consolation prize after failing to spot NGC 3079 (that one will have to wait for a better night).

NGC 3675, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Oval patch of light aligned north-south. Brighter towards centre. One star off southern end. Appeared to be a dark cut-off on the eastern side.

NGC 3893, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Large oval haze, gradually brighter towards the centre. Faint star of approximately 13th magnitude just west of the core (not to be confused with a supernova). This one is worth revisiting as it has a faint companion galaxy on the opposite side which I might be able to spot on a better night.

NGC 4051 and 4111 were next on my target list, but the clouds got to them first. I did however stumble upon a nice triple star system southeast of Chi UMa: the western component being a very close double. (Identified in NSOG as 65 UMa.)

With haze now blotting out all the faint galaxies (even M106 was barely visible), I decided to quickly revisit a bright double star before packing up.

Algieba, Gamma Leonis

133x and 171x. One of the season’s best double stars. Orange primary (west), pale yellow secondary (east).


Nature note:
At least 11 frogs in the pond, some of them quite vocal. Another unexpected vocal performance came courtesy of a Dunnock which briefly burst into song at 9pm and again at 9:30.

Galaxies near the Zenith

26 April 2020, 22:00 – 00:30

Conditions: Chilly, very light breeze. Patches of high cirrus and vapour trails lingering across parts of the sky (fortunately not the part I was looking at). Very heavy condensation by the end of the session.

Seeing: Good / average
Transparency: Very good (condensation aside)

Having imaged M101 and its companion galaxies the previous night (see below), I was keen to see how much of this view I could replicate visually in the XT10, especially with M101 nearly overhead after nightfall. I used Sky Atlas 2000 to get my bearings and left the PSA indoors for once (and with hindsight it was just as well I did, because the pages would have been a soggy mess by the end of the session).

The eyepiece of choice for such a large, low surface brightness galaxy was of course the Ethos 13mm (92x).

M101, Pinwheel Galaxy, Ursa Major
This was, without doubt, the best view I’ve ever had of this often frustrating galaxy. With averted vision the spiral pattern was vaguely discernible for the first time, even if it did look a bit like an untidy old spring (and it still didn’t come close to the best views of M51). The eastern spiral arm was particularly loose, though it’s easy to confuse this with the nearby curving line of field stars, which gave the galaxy the appearance of a ragged number 6.

I didn’t have to nudge the scope too far to find the first companion galaxy:

NGC 5474, galaxy, Ursa Major
Visible to the south-southeast of M101 as an amorphous round glow. Gradually brighter towards the core with averted vision, but the core itself appears offset from the centre in the direction of M101.

NGC 5473, galaxy, Ursa Major
Very small, round, condensed galaxy near a bright star, north and a little east of M101. Easy to overlook because of its diminutive size. Bright core.

NGC 5485, galaxy, Ursa Major
Same distance again, roughly east of NGC 5473, but larger and fainter. Brighter towards centre with averted vision. Apparently a background galaxy rather than a physical companion of M101.

NGC 5422, galaxy, Ursa Major
North-northwest of M101, opposite side to NGC 5474. Small needle-streak of light pointing back towards M101. Forms a near-rectangular trapezoid with three field stars of equal brightness. Bright core with averted vision. Most likely another background galaxy.

I’d spent over an hour studying this small patch of sky (and I was impressed by what I’d seen) so I took a break from the eyepiece to check the transparency. Looking directly towards the zenith, the faintest star I could see was 82 Ursae Majoris, which has a listed magnitude of 5.46. This is about as good as it gets for my observing location. Unfortunately the condensation was on its way to becoming about as bad as it gets for my location: the steel tube of the telescope already had a light coating of moisture, and beads of dew were forming on the Sky Atlas.

As I was pushing the scope towards the next target, I saw a bright meteor at 23:25: a late Lyrid burning a trail towards Polaris.

NGC 4236 (Caldwell 3), galaxy, Draco
Emboldened by my success with M101, I thought I’d have another attempt at NGC 4236. Tonight it was visible as a very large (even for the Ethos fov) and long streak of light, of extremely low surface brightness. It was only through tube-tapping that I was able to spot it; had I not known it was there I wouldn’t have seen it at all. After staring at it (and around it) for several minutes I could start to detect a very vague brightening towards the centre, but nothing more than that. Visually, the only thing interesting about this galaxy is its size, and - unless it it plays host to a supernova - I doubt I'll revisit it.

NGC 4128, galaxy, Draco
Small, faint streak of light near a gathering (not a cluster) of bright stars. Bright core with averted vision. Not far from NGC 4236.

NGC 5982 & 5985, galaxies, Draco
As per previous observation: short bright streak (5982) and a round faint glow (5985). No sign of 5981.

NGC 5963 & 5965, galaxies, Draco
Faint round galaxy (NGC 5963) with a field star just southeast of the core. The other galaxy (NGC 5965, in the same fov) is fainter, larger and more elongated. Apparently their proximity is just a chance alignment: NGC 5963 is 40 million light years away; NGC 5965 is 150 million light years away.

NGC 5907, “Splinter Galaxy”, Draco
Large, razor-thin, edge-on galaxy. Not bright (compared to say, 4565) but still an exquisite sight. Brighter towards the centre with averted vision. The eastern side of the galaxy seemed to have a sharper cut-off when I looked at it, even though photos show the dust lane to be on the western side (perhaps in this case it has a feathering effect).

NGC 5879, galaxy, Draco
Faint oval glow south of bright star. Bright core with averted vision.

NGC 5866 (M102), galaxy, Draco
As per previous observation of this object: small and relatively bright spindle galaxy.

With the eye-lens of the Ethos rapidly succumbing to the condensation, I swapped it out for the DeLite, but quick looks at M92 and M13 in Hercules confirmed I was fighting a losing battle, so I called it a night. The scope was dripping wet, the Sky Atlas was heavily beaded with dew and my notebook was almost too damp to write in. With hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t try any imaging tonight. That would not have ended well.

With a new lunar cycle already underway and bad weather forecast for most of the following week, that might be the end of my galaxy season for this year. If so, it’s been better than I could have hoped for, with lots of new observations added to the log, including several (NGC 4889, M83 etc.) I didn’t think were possible from my location. And I’ve probably still only seen a fraction of the spring galaxies that are available to my scope.

Nature note:
Two bats flying over the garden at dusk!

Galactic Multi-tasking

25 April 2020, 22:15 – 00:30

Conditions: Cold, with a light breeze

Seeing: Good
Transparency: Average

Lately I’ve been using one telescope at a time (i.e. observing or imaging, but not both). On the evening of 24 April, with clear skies forecast for the entire night, I hauled both rigs into the garden and began the careful process of assembling, balancing and polar-aligning my astrophotography set-up. An hour later I was ready to begin imaging … at which point clouds rolled in from the north and completely covered the sky. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, and it probably won’t be the last, but that’s English weather for you.

Undaunted, I repeated the process the following evening and this time the skies stayed clear. My imaging target was M101 (more on that in the next post), and while that was in progress I used the XT10 to track down some more galaxies around the Virgo/Coma border. (As I’ve discovered this spring, there are always more galaxies…)

All observations carried out at 133x (Nagler 9mm) unless otherwise stated.

NGC 4212, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Smooth oval glow, gradually brighter towards the centre. Possible extended bar-like core. (Photographs show no such feature, although there does appear to be a brightening along the long axis, which is possibly what I saw.)

NGC 4216, galaxy, Virgo
Pretty impressive edge-on (or close to edge-on) galaxy with very bright core. Suggestion of dark cut-off on eastern side.

NGC 4267, galaxy, Virgo
Round haze with bright core. Averted vision revealed stellar nucleus and several faint field stars.

NGC 4168, galaxy, Virgo
Faint round haze west of NGC 4216. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

NGC 4178, galaxy, Virgo
Very faint extended haze west of bright star. Low surface brightness object; easier to see when the star is out of the field.

NGC 4124, galaxy, Virgo
Another very faint oval haze, aligned roughly east-west. Brighter core and stellar nucleus with averted vision.

NGC 4293, galaxy, Coma Berenices
As per previous observation of this object. Extended lens-shaped galaxy. A little brighter towards the centre with averted vision.

NGC 4147, globular cluster, Coma Berenices
I’ve seen this cluster before, but it makes a refreshing change from all the galaxies nearby. That said, it’s a typical NGC globular: round, condensed, grainy with averted vision, but not resolved.

24 Comae Berenices, double star
Attractive pairing. Yellow primary and a pale blue secondary (some 20 arcseconds west).

NGC 4651, “The Umbrella Galaxy”, Coma Berenices
Large oval haze, aligned east-west. Brighter towards centre, mottled envelope.

NGC 4710, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Edge-on “spindle” galaxy, quite bright, aligned SW-NE. Field star east of nucleus. Seemed mottled with averted vision, particularly north of the core.

NGC 4689, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Large round haze, low surface brightness. A little brighter towards the centre with averted vision, but otherwise featureless. Two field stars to north.

I took a break from galaxies to look at M5 again, before revisiting one of the galaxies I saw on Monday.

NGC 5846, galaxy, Virgo
Appeared as before, but this time I could just about see the bright spot (corresponding with NGC 5846A) south of the nucleus with averted vision. It almost looks like the core of NGC 5846 has split into two unequal parts.

With the imaging run nearing the end of its sequence, I changed the Nagler 9mm for the DeLite 7mm (171x) and rounded off the session with a look at two planetary nebulae in Hercules.

NGC 6210, planetary nebula, Hercules
Very bright blue-green ellipse. Seemed brighter on the western (leading) side.

IC 4593, planetary nebula, Hercules
Very small, almost stellar disc of blue-grey light, east of bright star. Best seen using averted vision (because the 11th magnitude central star overwhelms the nebulosity in direct vision). Nice close double star to the east.

Spring Galaxies

22 – 23 April 2020, 21:45 – 01:30

Conditions: Breezy, cool. Light condensation (mostly on the star-charts)

Seeing: Initially good, but deteriorated considerably after midnight
Transparency: Average

The previous night/morning I went out sans telescopes to observe the Lyrid meteor shower. After about an hour all I had for my trouble were cold feet and a stiff neck. But hey, that’s meteors for you.

Tonight I returned to deep-sky observing, but before I went out I watched live on YouTube as SpaceX launched another sixty Starlink satellites into orbit, raising the total to 420 (of a planned 12,000!).

I began with some galaxies in northern region of Ursa Major. All observations carried out at 133x (Nagler 9mm) unless otherwise stated.


NGC 4036, galaxy, Ursa Major
Oval galaxy with a bright core – possibly bar-shaped. Mottled outer envelope.

NGC 4041, galaxy, Ursa Major
In same fov as 4036, albeit a little larger and fainter. Brighter towards the centre.

NGC 3945, galaxy, Ursa Major
Small, round and condensed. Stellar nucleus with averted vision. Field star to south.

NGC 4125, galaxy, Draco
Bright, elongated galaxy with bright field star to east. Very bright extended core.

I then pushed further north to look for NGC 4236 (Caldwell 3), but after initially thinking I’d seen something, it stubbornly remained invisible. This galaxy is notoriously faint apparently, so my failure to spot it didn’t come as a complete surprise. (I’ll try again with the Ethos on a better night.) Next stop: Virgo.

NGC 4753, galaxy, Virgo
Large oval haze, east of Porrima. Fairly dim overall but brighter towards the centre. Mottled outer envelope with a suggestion of a dark cut-off on the NW side.

NGC 4699, galaxy, Virgo
Round haze, very bright star-like nucleus with averted vision. Mottled envelope. Near Psi Virginis.

NGC 4293, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Faint elongated ellipse, quite large. Two field stars at either end of the long axis and two more on the northeast side, but no detail other than a vague mottling. North of 11 Com and not far from M85.

NGC 5746, galaxy, Virgo
Edge-on “needle” galaxy hidden away in eastern Virgo. Looked quite impressive with averted vision (especially considering it’s 95 million light years away), but dimmed as soon as 4th magnitude 109 Virginis crept into the field from the east. Brighter towards centre; maybe a dark lane slightly offset from core on eastern side.

NGC 5363, galaxy, Virgo
Round galaxy south of bright star. Bright core and stellar nucleus with averted vision. Couldn’t see nearby NGC 5364.

NGC 5653, galaxy, Bootes
Very faint round galaxy near Rho Boo (plotted in Sky Atlas 2000, not PSA). Brighter towards centre with averted vision. Possible barred core.

NGC 5466, globular cluster, Bootes
Follow-up observation at 133x. Seemed fainter tonight. Large, low surface brightness. This object requires patience: after a while some stars gradually popped out with averted vision.

At this point I had a quick break to eat a banana (well, if it works for tennis players…). When I returned outside I found a snail crawling across my sky atlas (just as well it’s laminated). I intercepted it before it reached M101 and picked up the session with an old favourite:

NGC 4565, Needle Galaxy, Coma Berenices
Bright and beautiful. Still the best edge-on galaxy. Twice the apparent size of NGC 5746.

NGC 4559, galaxy, Coma Berenices
As previous observation last year. Seemed a little faint tonight.

NGC 4414, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Elliptical shape, brighter towards centre. Stellar nucleus with averted vision. Hint of dark cut-off on western side.

NGC 4631 (“Whale”) & 4656 (“Hockey Stick”), interacting galaxies, Canes Venatici
Already past the meridian and starting to descend into the murky part of the sky when I caught up with them, so neither galaxy at its best. Still impressed though by how large they are, particularly 4631. NGC 4657 (the “hook”) was very faint – just visible with averted vision as an extension on the eastern edge of 4656.

NGC 4203, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Small round galaxy near a bright 8th magnitude star. Bright core with averted vision. Nice double star (Struve 1615) close by to the southwest: pale yellow primary and a pale blue secondary (due east).

NGC 4214, galaxy, Canes Venatici
Extended misty patch; brighter towards centre with averted vision and a suggestion of mottling. (I had a better view of this galaxy in 2019; think I need to revisit it on a really good night). In photos it looks similar to NGC 4449.

NGC 4244 (Caldwell 26), galaxy, Canes Venatici
Large, faint edge-on galaxy. Fairly easy to spot, but tough to make out any detail other than a subtle brightening towards the centre.

NGC 5982, galaxy, Draco
Brightest member of the Draco triplet (although I could only see two of them). Appeared as a small round galaxy with a bright core.

NGC 5985, galaxy, Draco
Large round galaxy in same fov as 5982. Low surface brightness. The third member of the trio (5981) is probably too faint to see from my home location.

At this point I upped the magnification to 171x (DeLite 7mm) and had a quick look at some old favourites: M13 and M57. And then it was on to Cygnus for a planetary nebula I haven’t seen for sixteen years.

NGC 6826, “The Blinking Planetary”, Cygnus
171x. Pale green disc near the bright double star 16 Cyg. The nebula brightens with averted vision, causing the blinking effect (although this is by no means unique to NGC 6826). The central star was flitting in and out of view, its visibility affected by the deteriorating seeing.

I also had another look at NGC 6543 (which looked so good the other night). This time the central star wasn’t visible at all, so I dropped back down to 133x for the remainder of the session.

NGC 6939, open cluster, Cepheus
Rich little cluster with two lines of stars forming a distinctive right-angle.

NGC 6946, “The Fireworks Galaxy”, Cygnus/Cepheus
Amorphous round glow near a distinctive triangle-shaped pattern of stars. It’s unusual to see a galaxy in such a rich star-field, but it needs to be much higher in the sky for me to have any chance of spotting the spiral structure. (I did see this one with the SP-102 back in 2004, but it was extremely faint in that scope.)

Nature note:
The tadpoles are getting noticeably bigger. The resident pale adult frog was also present, as well as one of last year’s froglets, sitting on the access log.

Hickson 68

12 April 2020, 21:30 – 22:45

Conditions: getting chilly, breeze picking up. Cloud cover increasing gradually. Sporadic flashes of lightning way off in the northeast.

Seeing: Poor to average
Transparency: Poor

The original plan was to photograph a galaxy or two, but as the sun set and patches of haze and cloud began to advance across the sky I abandoned that idea and hauled out the XT10 for an impromptu observing session. It was also an opportunity to put my newly restored wooden garden table to the test. (As I found out on 22 March, balancing Sky Atlas 2000 on a chair is not a practical way of going about things.)

I started with some double stars again, looking at Polaris, Cor Caroli and Izar (Epsilon Bootis). The latter was more challenging than it should have been due to the indifferent seeing, but still an impressive sight with a distinctive orange primary and a very close secondary lurking within the diffraction rings.

M94, galaxy, Canes Venatici
171x. Bright fat oval, like an unresolved globular (as noted previously). Very bright towards the centre.

I then moved over to the eastern part of Canes Venatici to investigate HCG 68, one of the few Hickson Compact Groups within range of my scope. According to sources online, these galaxies are 100 million light years away.

NGC 5353 & 5354, interacting galaxies, Canes Venatici
133x and 171x. A pair of small, very close galaxies, resembling eyes in a mask. Their long axes were angled towards each other, not unlike the 4485/4490 pair (also in CVn), although this pair were more closely matched. The southernmost galaxy (5353) was a little brighter and more condensed than 5354.

NGC 5350, galaxy, Canes Venatici
133x and 171x. Very faint round haze close to bright orange-hued star. In same field as 5353/5354 pair.

NGC 5371, galaxy, Canes Venatici
133x and 171x. Very faint amorphous haze; quite large. A little brighter towards the centre with averted vision.

The observations at 171x were mirrored at 133x: the lower magnification had less contrast, but this was balanced by the surface brightness being concentrated in a smaller area. Either way, these galaxies were a lot easier to see than Stephan’s Quintet (arguably the most famous Hickson group).

The clouds were starting to gather overhead at this point, so I called it a night.

Nature note
Two large frogs in the pond and 1000+ tadpoles!

The Lion’s Tail

26 March 2020, 20:30 – 22:15

Conditions: Cold and breezy (again). No clouds, no condensation.

Seeing: Poor to average
Transparency: Poor

Breeze aside, the forecasts on clearoutside.com and other websites predicted a really good night for observing. However, as soon as I went outside I could tell it was going to be a challenging session. Although the stars were out and astronomical twilight had passed, the cloudless sky seemed unusually bright, particularly the western half – which was dominated by a weird glow that had no obvious source. It seemed too bright and too big for the Zodiacal Light, although that may have contributed to the overall glow. Add to that an excessive (even by 2020 standards) number of satellites crawling across the sky and weird rummaging noises coming from the overgrown parts of the garden (I never did identify the culprit(s)), and it was altogether a very strange evening.

I started by looking at some double stars with the 9mm Nagler (133x). Polaris, Mizar/Alcor and Gamma Leonis have all been previously documented, but I did observe one new double while star-hopping to a galaxy.

54 Leonis, double star, Leo
A pretty pair of bright stars – close (6 arcseconds), but clearly separated at 133x. White primary and a green/blue secondary. (There are no green stars, so this must be a contrast effect.)

NGC 3344, galaxy, Leo Minor
133x. An extended, irregular misty patch with 2 bright foreground stars superimposed. Admittedly the conditions weren’t ideal, but its apparent “shapelessness”, along with the two field stars, made it seem more like a reflection nebula than a galaxy.

Despite the adverse conditions I had a go at “mopping up” the dozen or so galaxies on PSA chart G (The Lion’s Tail). Several of them weren’t visible tonight, but I did observe the following:

NGC 3607 & 3608, galaxy pair, Leo
Two faint misty patches comfortably in same fov at 133x. Similar size, but 3607 seemed brighter than 3608.

NGC 3626, galaxy, Leo
(Caldwell 40) 133x. Faint ellipse, aligned roughly north-south. Stellar core with averted vision.

NGC 3655, galaxy, Leo
133x. Ghostly ellipse, rather faint. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

NGC 3593, galaxy, Leo
133x. Faint ellipse not far from the Leo Triplet, aligned east-west. Brighter towards centre with averted vision.

The Leo Triplet galaxies themselves were unimpressive tonight, even when I dropped down to 92x. I had also planned to track down some galaxies in the north-western corner of Coma Berenices, but that didn’t last very long…

NGC 4448, galaxy, Coma Berenices
92x. Ellipse near Gamma Comae Berenices, aligned east-west. Brighter towards the centre.

And with that uninspiring description, the session kind of fizzled out. The curious glow had subsided somewhat, but the sky transparency was still very poor. Globular cluster M3 still looked impressive at 133x, albeit a little washed out. It just wasn’t a night for galaxy hunting. Still, I can’t complain. To get this many (relatively) clear nights over a new moon period is rare for any time of the year, let alone early spring.

Galaxies, Globulars and a Comet

23 March 2020, 20:30 – 23:30

Conditions: Another cold, breezy night. The wind wasn’t as excessive as it was on Sunday, but still too severe for astrophotography. After the rigours of the Virgo Cluster this session was somewhat unstructured, and it took me a long time to properly get going. Though with hindsight I think my eyes hadn’t fully recovered from the previous night. Peering at faint galaxies can be surprisingly tiring.

Seeing: Good
Transparency: Average

Comet C/2019 Y4 (Atlas)
Viewed at 133x (Nagler 9mm) and 171x (DeLite 7mm). Other than having moved near a different star it appeared much the same as it did the previous night. Though without the glare of Rho UMa affecting it, there did seem to be a hint of a stubby tail to the southeast.

While I was in the area I took another look at M81, M82 and NGC 3077 at 133x and 171x. Nothing to add to previous notes. I think I’ve reached the point with these galaxies (particularly M81 and M82) where I’d need one of those rare nights of excellent transparency to eke out any more detail.

M94, galaxy, Canes Venatici
171x. Bright core; mottled outer envelope. Again, not much to add to previous notes.

The Leo Triplet, as imaged on the following night (24 March)

M65, galaxy, Leo
133x. Large, extended galaxy with bright core. Suggestion of dark and light bands on eastern side (dust lane and spiral arm).

M66, galaxy, Leo
133x. Initially appears smaller than M65, but with time the fainter outer regions became more apparent and the overall shape seemed more irregular than M65. Stellar nucleus, but the surrounding core region seemed larger than the one in M65.

NGC 3628, galaxy, Leo
133x. Third member of the Leo Triplet. A large, faint, boxy galaxy. The dust lane was just about visible with averted vision, but this galaxy really needs a night of excellent transparency to get the best out of it.

NGC 3521, galaxy, Leo
133x. Large oval galaxy, aligned north-south. Bright stellar nucleus. With averted vision it seemed more elongated and elliptical, with a suggestion of a dark lane on the western side. Quite an impressive galaxy tucked away in the southern reaches of Leo.

NGC 4429, galaxy, Virgo
133x. A quick sweep along Markarian's Chain and then south to pick up a galaxy I missed last night. Bright smudge of light, aligned east-west, just south of bright star. Core seemed slightly offset to the east.

M53, globular cluster, Coma Berenices
133x. Subtle, very pale blue tinge. Quite well resolved with averted vision. Large outer halo of faint stars at this magnification; loses starfish shape noted previously. Still no sign of NGC 5053!

M3, globular cluster, Canes Venatici
133x. Bigger, brighter, bolder than M53. Lots of stars resolved with direct vision. Averted vision revealed a roughly triangular pattern of star chains pointing west.

NGC 5466, globular cluster, Boötes
133x. A first foray into the hinterlands of Boötes. After drawing a blank on NGC 5053 I wasn’t confident of finding this one, but it showed up without too much difficulty, appearing as an extended misty patch. Rich sprinkling of faint stars with averted vision, but no sign of the central condensation typically seen in globular clusters. Not striking as globulars go, but certainly unusual and worth tracking down.

NGC 5248, galaxy, Boötes
(Caldwell 45) 133x. Faint oval, brighter towards the centre. Faint stars SW and S of core.

NGC 5866 (M102?), galaxy, Draco
Viewed at 133x and 171x. Bright little lens-shaped galaxy forming a triangle with two field stars. Symmetrical shape and no detail that I could see (I think I’ll need higher power to stand a chance of spotting the central dust lane), although the 7mm DeLite seemed to show fainter “extensions”, increasing the length of the galaxy. Worth seeing, regardless of its disputed Messier status.

Exploring the Virgo Cluster (Part 2)

22 March 2020, 21:00 – 23:45

Conditions: A very windy night with strong, frequent gusts. Quite cold too by the end of the session.

Seeing: Good
Transparency: Average

A challenging night’s observing to say the least, with star-charts threatening to take off in the wind and stray light encroaching from just about every direction (seriously, why don't people draw their damn blinds/curtains anymore?). All observations carried out at 92x magnification with the Ethos 13mm (it was too gusty to attempt anything higher and I really needed that huge field of view so I didn’t get completely lost). Finding a galaxy in the Virgo cluster is easy; the trick is knowing which galaxy you’re looking at.

Comet C/2019 Y4 (Atlas)
Found it at last, lurking very close to the red-hued star Rho Ursae Majoris. On first impression it looked much like one of the galaxies in the vicinity, albeit a little fainter than I was expecting. A stellar nucleus was visible with averted vision, at the centre of a large, extended coma. I couldn’t see any sign of a tail, but the light from Rho UMa made it hard to pick out any kind of structure.

With that out of the way I resumed my expedition into the heart of the Virgo Cluster, this time picking up from near Vindemiatrix (Epsilon Virginis).

NGC 4762, galaxy, Virgo
Small, edge-on galaxy positioned between two field stars. Bright, needle-like core.

NGC 4689, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Large, faint round galaxy, a little brighter towards the centre.

NGC 4654, galaxy, Virgo
Large, amorphous galaxy, a little brighter than 4689. Three bright field stars on western side.

NGC 4639, galaxy, Virgo
Faint, extended galaxy in same field of view as 4654. Stellar nucleus with averted vision and faint star just east of the core.

M90, galaxy, Virgo
Following on from previous observation (it seemed a little fainter tonight). Large, extended galaxy with very bright stellar nucleus. I couldn’t see the “shell” structure noted previously, but there did seem to be a sharper, darker cut-off along the eastern side.

NGC 4571, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Back across the Virgo/Coma border. Very faint galaxy immediately SW of bright star. Barely visible with averted vision.

M91, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Fairly large round galaxy with bright, but not stellar core. Seemed like there was a dark area east of the core, but the wind made it hard to be certain.

M88, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Bright elliptical galaxy with field star NW and two more SE. Slightly extended core. Seemed to be a faint spot east of the nucleus; in some moments it appeared star-like, in others it was fuzzy.

NGC 4474, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Small round galaxy southwest of M88. Brighter towards the centre.

NGC 4459, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Compact little galaxy just west of bright field star. Very bright core, but not stellar.

NGC 4477, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Bright, round galaxy. Stellar core; otherwise featureless. The northern end of Markarian’s Chain, depending on where you take the starting point (some extend it to M88).

NGC 4473, galaxy, Coma Berenices
Elliptical galaxy – smaller than 4477, but with a brighter core.

NGC 4458 & NGC 4461, galaxy pair, Virgo
Close pair of galaxies in Markarian’s Chain. Both small, but 4461 clearly brighter and more elongated than 4458.

NGC 4435 & NGC 4438, interacting galaxies, Virgo
“The Eyes”. Bright, well-matched pair. 4435 has a very bright core, but 4438 is larger, more extended – and also distorted. The core brightness is probably similar to 4435, but less concentrated.

M86, galaxy, Virgo
Large round galaxy. Brightness increases smoothly towards the core; at the centre of which resides a stellar nucleus, but otherwise this galaxy appeared featureless. NGC 4402 suspected with averted vision to the north, but not confirmed.

M84, galaxy, Virgo
Another bright elliptical. Not as large as M86, but has a very bright core.

NGC 4388, galaxy, Virgo
Inclined, narrow galaxy forming an equilateral triangle with M84 and M86 (but not as prominent as those two giants). Brighter towards centre.

NGC 4387, galaxy, Virgo
Faint little galaxy at the centre of the M84/M86/NGC 4388 triangle. (All four galaxies in the same fov at 92x.) Stellar nucleus with averted vision.

NGC 4440, galaxy, Virgo
Bright, round galaxy. Brighter towards core.

M87, galaxy, Virgo
Not surprisingly, the biggest, brightest galaxy observed tonight. Large bright core, but no stellar nucleus that I could see. Large halo extending almost halfway towards NGC 4478. Of course, astronomers have known for a long time about the super-massive black hole at the centre of M87, but now that we've seen it, observing this galaxy takes on a special significance. Truth be told, there's not much to see in the way of detail (you need a very large telescope to glimpse the jet), but that didn't stop me from staring at it for a long time.

NGC 4478, galaxy, Virgo
Companion to M87. Like a smaller, ghostly light echo of its monstrous big brother.

And then, to round off the session, a quick excursion to the southern region of chart B1.

NGC 4665, galaxy, Virgo
Bright little elliptical galaxy. Bright centre; field star to south.

NGC 4636, galaxy, Virgo
Bright compact galaxy with mottled outer envelope hinting at structure (though, looking at online images later, I may have been deceived by an unusual smattering of faint foreground stars). Home of a recent 12th magnitude supernova – though I arrived about a month too late to see it.

There are still plenty more galaxies to see in the Virgo Cluster (and many of the ones I’ve already logged are worth revisiting at a higher magnification), but this feels like a good place to stop for now.