ObsRep 17 April 2001
As I was driving home after work, I was struck by how clear the sky was, nary a cloud to be seen. The weather forecasts had given reports that were grim for astronomers, so this was a pleasant surprise.
So, as soon as I got home, I put the telescope outside to cool down, and went back to continue the usual household activities. At around 9pm it was still clear, except for some crud at the horizons, particularly due south. Overhead, it was clear, and to the west also clear, in fact the skies looked nicer than they had last Saturday. If I were more dedicated, I would have driven up to Lake Sonoma (about an hour) for darker skies, but this was a case of "carpe noctem"
| Observer | Robert Leyland |
|---|---|
| Date | 17 April 2001 |
| Time | 2130-0015 PDT (1430-1715 UT) |
| Location | Novato CA. 38N 122.6W Elev 500' |
| Weather | 9°C Temp, 80% Humidity (10°C/65% later) |
| Seeing | LM 5+, excellent steadiness, and good transparency |
| Visibility | Bay Area light dome obscures horizon to the east |
| Equipment | 8" F6 Dobsonian, Pentax XL eyepieces |
At the start of my session I like to check the seeing conditions on a few bright objects, and as my target tonight is LEO, I went for M65/66 and NGC 3628. The Messiers show up well, and so does 3628, things are definitely looking good for tonight.
So continuing from where I left off Saturday, it's off to Regulus to find the nearby group of galaxies. I can't find Leo I which is very close to Regulus, perhaps there is some trick to it, or I'm being overly optimistic about my 8" Dob.
Unless otherwise noted, all the objects mentioned are galaxies. Leo is a great place for galaxies.
Moving out from Regulus to Nu Leo, to 23 Leo (a pretty yellow-orange color), and then a bit more finds galaxy NGC 3020 (and its pals 3016, 3019 and 3024). Averted vision is needed to see these as the faintest non-stellar objects. They seem to form a cross with a very faint star as the fourth limb of the cross.
Inside the triangle of Omicron (Subra), Xi and Omega is the cluster of galaxies NGC 2911, 2914, 2919. I could only see the brightest with averted vision, tapping the telescope showed a hint of fuzziness; once again I couldn't identify which of the individual galaxies I was seeing. The brightest appeared a little elongated, and one other seemed circular.
These have been tough going, happily NGC 3041 is comparatively easy to find off Eta Leonis, above Regulus. It appears wedge shaped, pointed at a dim star, but I may just have been fooled by the adjacent star, it is kind of neat looking, and right at the limit of direct vision in the 8".
My next target was NGC 2964, but on the way I star-hopped over NGC 3067, which is pretty faint and at the end of a 3 star linear asterism. Describing an entire galaxy as "merely a smudge" seems unfair, and triggers a sense of awe. Is someone there looking back here, and writing "it just a smudge"?
On to NGC 2964,and its companion NGC 2968. The triangle asterism that points to these is easy enough to find, once I backtrack to Mu Leonis after a couple of false starts. The two nebulous patches fairly leap out at you. The larger is most obviously elongated, and the smaller more circular. With direct vision I can hold both, but it is easiest to look directly between them. A very nice view.
Hiding nearby, off the other end of the triangle, is galaxy NGC 3032. It takes averted vision to see this, a patch of a galaxy shape, between two stars. It is hard to tell but it may be marginally elongated slightly off axis between the two stars.
At 10:55 there was a really nice meteor, which passed through Corvus (SSE), did anyone in the south SF Bay Area see it?
Moving to the field between Algieba (gamma Leo) and Adhafera (zeta Leo), the first target is NGC 3162. I find it inside a curving V of stars. It is very diffuse galaxy, well spread out, and needs averted vision to hold.
Easier to spot are NGC 3190 and NGC 3193. 3190 is "sharp as a tack" edge on, and 3193 is a lovely circular core. They are easy to find next to a "three in a row" asterism that bisects the line between Algieba and Adhafera. According to NSOG there are four galaxies here, and we saw them all with Dick Flask's 17.5" on Saturday. I can only see 3, with 3185 a little further away, needing averted vision to bring in. The dimmest NGC 3187, was faint even in Dick's telescope,and I don't see it at all. While viewing 3185, a nifty satellite flew right through it.
Things get harder here, as I can't quite pick out NGC 3177. The star-chart in NSOG is limited, and I can find a star triangle as described, but the small thing in the center seems too small.
Moving down to Algieba, the pair of galaxies NGC 3226/3227 are awesome, so close together, but still distinct at 65x. Quite bright, direct vision spots them, but averted brings out the shape, and splits them. Together they look like an exclamation mark!
In the same FOV as 26/27 is NGC 3222, but it is dimmer, and I need to keep Algieba out of view as it drowns it out otherwise.
Moving out from Algieba to two really faint galaxies, NGC 3301 with direct vision and NGC 3287 averted vision only. 3301 has a nice sharp shape, elongated toward the double star (Struve 1448, easily split, but nice contrast). NGC 3287 on the otherhand is very diffuse, and really needs averted vision to see this lumpy piece of faintness.
All in all a very comfortable evening, there sure are a lot of nice galaxies in the happy hunting grounds of Leo.
I wish I could keep going, but work tomorrow, and a few creaks in my joints from finder-scope follies, convince me otherwise.