I got side tracked on Saturday night (11/25/00) what with the seeing so good and Jupiter and Ganymede waltzing on the stellar ballroom. Why seeing was so good I even tried a few doubles with the 18. Zeta Orionis which is normally a bright ball of mush with dancing diffraction spikes has a cute companion! :) Imagine looking at doubles on a new moon weekend with a 45 dob. What a waste! :) Doubles are for moon lit nights! :)
Lest everyone think I was total whacked out of my gourd, I did get on over to NCG 891 and found it enchanting. But the real fun was Abell 347. Again using the S&T article on 891 and Skymap Pro on the laptop, my observing partner and I tracked down 11 more galaxies in and around the central 40' of Abell 347. According to SkyMap Pro they are:
| Name | Type | Mag | Size | Con |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 898 | Galaxy | 12.9 | 1.8'x0.4' | And |
| NGC 906 | Galaxy | 12.9 | 1.8'x1.6' | And |
| NGC 909 | Galaxy | 13.3 | 54.0"x54.0" | And |
| NGC 910 | Galaxy | 12.2 | 2.0'x2.0' | And |
| NGC 911 | Galaxy | 12.7 | 1.7'x0.9' | And |
| NGC 912 | Galaxy | 15.0 | 54.0"x48.0" | And |
| NGC 913 | Galaxy | 15.8 | 30.0"x12.0" | And |
| NGC 914 | Galaxy | 13.0 | 1.8'x1.3' | And |
| PGC 9180 | Galaxy | 15.0 | 54.0"x29.0" | And |
| PGC 9203 | Galaxy | 15.7 | 54.0"x35.0" | And |
| PGC 9152 | Galaxy | 15.7 | 1.3'x1.1' | And |
| PGC 9196 | Galaxy | 15.6 | --- | And |
DO remember that often the listed magnitudes are off by 1 or more magnitudes. These 'catalog' magnitudes are often "photographic magnitudes" not visual (I am fuzzy on the difference but I know that is often the case). I in no way, shape, or form, believe I was looking at 15th magnitude faint fuzzies. Most were visible without averted vision and I would guesstimate the most difficult at 14th magnitude at most. There were more pfaint pfuzzies to be pfound in Abell 347 but...
Unfortunately, two fall nights under the stars caught up with me. After 8 hours of observing on Friday night (11.24.00) and only 5 hours of sleep, I ran out of steam after about 6 hours of observing Saturday night (11.25.00) or I would have bagged more items in Eridanus. I do love fall and winter observing as you can put in 6 solid hours of dark sky observing and be in bed by 2am (90 minute drive). :)