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.)

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.

Canis and Ursa (Major)

12 January 2021, 22:00 – 23:15

Cold, but not as brutal as Saturday. Hazy sky, with bands of cloud waxing and waning in the southwest like a poor man’s aurora. Light condensation on scope.

Seeing: Poor

Transparency: Poor

Given the conditions, and the prospect of cloud ending the session at any moment, I stuck to old (and bright) favourites once again.


Sirius, The Dog Star, Canis Major

171x and 240x. Having recently read that the white dwarf star Sirius B is close to its maximum separation from the primary, roughly 11” east-northeast (following), I wanted to see if I could detect it with my scope. Unfortunately the indifferent seeing quickly put paid to that idea (even Rigel was tough to split tonight), but definitely one to try again if and when conditions allow.

Betelgeuse, Orion

171x. Now looking much more like its old self after last year’s dimming event. A grand view in the DeLite; the orange colour also seemed more intense than last year.

NGC 2392, Eskimo Nebula, Gemini

240x and 133x. Same puffball appearance as Saturday night. Still difficult to make out the shell structure, but the central star was showing well. No colour discernable.


With the clouds starting to interfere I was forced to relocate to the other side of the sky, and with no time to waste consulting star charts, the M81/M82 group was the obvious choice. (At least I can see these galaxies in the finder – just.)


M82, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Tapered streak of light (like a candle burning at both ends). Mottling and dark lane visible with averted vision, but nowhere near its best tonight.

NGC 3077, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Faint, but obvious. Condensed core with averted vision. It still embarrasses me that I never saw this galaxy before March of last year.

M81, galaxy, Ursa Major

133x. Bright core with stellar nucleus. Ill-defined outer haze; I reckon the spiral structure might be visible in the Ethos on a really good night when M81 is near maximum elevation. Dark patches near core were just about visible. Something else I hadn’t paid enough attention to before tonight: the two close foreground double stars in a line southwest from the core; the outermost pair just barely split at 133x.

And so, with the clouds closing in, that was it for the session.

Three Globulars and a lot of Galaxies

26 February 2019, 19:15 – 22:15

Very mild for time of year, a little hazy; some condensation, but not as bad as the last few sessions. All observations with the 9mm Nagler at 133x.

M79, globular cluster in Lepus
Grainy fuzzball – small and condensed, but quite distinctive despite the light pollution in this part of the sky. A single faint star resolved on northern edge (and it is a cluster member, not a foreground star; see the DeepSkyVideos take on M79). I was amazed I could see it so well given its declination (-24 degrees = about 15 degrees above the horizon at culmination).

NGC 2355, open cluster in Gemini
The “leaf” cluster, as described previously. Looked a little hazy tonight.

NGC 2266, open cluster in Gemini
Rich little cluster. Shape resembles a triangle with caved-in sides. Brightest star at southern apex.

NGC 2129, open cluster in Gemini
Two bright stars with a retinue of fainter stars in two lines arranged roughly east-west (southern line straight, the northern one wavy – like an approximation symbol).

M35, NGC 2158, open clusters in Gemini
Latter partially resolved with averted vision; M35 fills the field of view at 133x.

NGC 2419, globular cluster in Lynx
Found it at last (on the third attempt!). The so-called “intergalactic wanderer”. Faint round blur in line with two bright stars. Averted vision increases its size but little else. A few faint foreground stars sprinkled around the cluster, but obviously not associated with it.

NGC 2841, galaxy in Ursa Major
Elliptical shape, stellar nucleus embedded in what looked like a bar-shaped core region. Faint foreground star on western end. Dark lane on southern edge of galaxy?

NGC 2681, galaxy in Ursa Major
Small, round galaxy, fainter than 2841. Stellar nucleus with faint outer envelope. Two stars on western side of galaxy and a fainter one to the east.

M108, galaxy in Ursa Major
Large, extended, seems “mottled” with averted vision. Foreground star near nucleus and another one to the west.

M109, galaxy in Ursa Major
Hazy round blur. Seems kind of faint for a Messier object (albeit a belated entry), especially given all the much more obvious NGC galaxies in and around the same constellation.

NGC 3613, galaxy in Ursa Major
Faint round blur midway between two field stars. Bright, bar-like core. This area (in the bowl of Ursa Major) is one that would benefit from a 50mm finderscope alongside the EZ finder (I was actually looking for 3619).

NGC 3898, galaxy in Ursa Major
Another one inside the body of the Bear. Bright, stellar core; faint outer envelope. Overall, similar in brightness to 3613.

At this point I took a temporary break from galaxies to revisit some familiar double stars:

Mizar / Alcor, Ursa Major
Famous double star in Ursa Major: Both stars well-framed at 133x; Mizar resolves into a pair of icy blue stars.

Cor Caroli, Canes Venatici
Nice split at 20 arcseconds (similar separation to Mizar). Pale yellow secondary?

Gamma Leonis
Closely-paired double. Narrow separation and variable seeing made it tough to discern colours but the primary seemed pale orange and the secondary seemed pale yellow.

Back to the galaxies...

NGC 3607, NGC 3608, galaxies in Leo
Another Leo pair, fairly close together in the field of view. The smaller one (3608) forms a triangle with two stars. Both with stellar cores. Seemed like there were other galaxies in vicinity, but transparency and condensation (and tiredness) made it hard to be sure.

NGC 4565, Needle Galaxy in Coma Berenices
Well this one snapped me out of my tiredness in a hurry. I may have been hasty in stating that M82 was the best edge-on galaxy. After star-hopping to what I hoped was the correct region, it suddenly appeared as a long stiletto of milky light sliding into the field of view. The central bulge was clearly visible with a field star just to the north. The dark dust lane was visible without too much difficulty using averted vision, offset slightly to the north. Easily the night’s highlight despite the conditions and the less than optimal placement. On this evidence, much better than NGC 891, the other well-known edge-on galaxy in Andromeda.

NGC 4631, Whale Galaxy in Canes Venatici
Large, extended. Western end brighter and fatter. Star on northern edge of central region.

NGC 4656/7, Hockey Stick Galaxy in Canes Venatici
Extended blur, smaller and fainter than its neighbour (4631). Tired eyes prevented me from seeing more detail.

I started the evening with a globular, so it seemed apt to finish with one:

M3, globular cluster in Canes Venatici
Rising into view out of the east. A dense fuzzball of stars, well resolved with averted vision despite conditions/tiredness and other factors. After all the colourless galaxies, it seemed to have a distinctly bluish tinge. Weather (and moon) permitting, I’ll be coming back to this object, so it will be interesting to see if this is a real effect (over-abundance of blue stragglers perhaps?).

As I was starting to pack up, the night was capped by a slow meteor which left a brief trail as it descended past Polaris towards the northern horizon.