by Tom Campbell
| Observer | Tom Campbell |
|---|---|
| Location | Somewhere in Southeast Kansas (Long: 95W 12' Lat: 37N 48') |
| Equipment | Discovery DHQ 8" dobsonian |
| Eyepieces | 1.25" Plössls - 25mm (49x), 15mm (81x), 10mm (122x), 6mm (203x) |
| Time | 10:15pm - 11:00pm CDT (03:15-04:00 UT) |
| Transparency | Mostly Clear (7/10) |
| Seeing | Mostly Stable (7/10) |
| Weather | Temperatures in the 50s. There was a slight breeze. |
| COMA BERENICES | NGC-4450 |
|---|---|
| LEO | NGC-3190, NGC-3193, NGC-3593, NGC-3626, NGC-3640, NGC-3686, NGC-3810 |
Today's weather was mostly cloudy, and the weather forecast predicted that the clouds would last throughout the night. However, as evening wore on, the clouds began to break apart, and by sunset, the sky was almost cloudless. Knowing that at 10:00, McDonalds would once again turn on their promotional searchlight, I decided to pack up and head out into the country. I hoped that the sky would remain clear long enough for me to bag a few more Herschels.
When I arrived, there were only a few small clouds along the horizon. However, my observing chair was dew-covered within a few minutes. The sky conditions weren't the best, but it was at least clear, and with that large searchlight, conditions were a lot better here than they would be at home.
| NGC 4450 | Coma Berenices | Spiral Galaxy | 10:15pm CDT |
|---|---|---|---|
| RA: 12h 28m 29s | Dec: +17° 05' | Mag: 10.9 | |
This galaxy was found by starhopping from 6 Com to M 100 and then on to NGC 4450. It is fairly bright with a stellar core. The best view was at 88x. | |||
| NGC 3593 | Leo | Spiral Galaxy | 10:30pm CDT |
| RA: 11h 14m 37s | Dec: +12° 49' | Mag: 11.9 | |
This galaxy was a little brighter than I expected. The core was stellar and gave the appearance of an edge-on spiral. It looked like a long, thin sliver of light. The best view was at 49x. | |||
| NGC 3626 | Leo | Spiral Galaxy | 10:50pm CDT |
| RA: 11h 20m 04s | Dec: +18° 21' | Mag: 11.8 | |
This faint, elliptical-shaped galaxy had a stellar core with averted vision. I could barely make out its orientation. The best view was at 49x. | |||
| NGC 3640 | Leo | Elliptical Galaxy | 10:50pm CDT |
| RA: 11h 21m 07s | Dec: +03° 14' | Mag: 11.4 | |
This was a small, faint galaxy with a fairly bright stellar core. It was slightly oblong, but the shape was difficult to determine. The best view was at 81x. | |||
| NGC 3686 | Leo | Barred Spiral Galaxy | 11:15pm CDT |
| RA: 11h 27m 44s | Dec: +17° 13' | Mag: 11.9 | |
This galaxy was really faint, appearing as nothing more than a slight brightening of the background sky. The best view was at 49x. It was located next to a bright star, which made viewing it even more difficult. | |||
| NGC 3190/3193 | Leo | Interacting Galaxies | 11:25pm CDT |
| RA: 10h 18m 06s | Dec: +21° 50' | Mag: 11.8, 12.1 | |
NGC 3193 is slightly brighter than NGC 3190 and is slightly elongated. Its core is stellar with averted vision. NGC 3190 was next to a bright foreground star and was difficult to determine its shape. Its core was also stellar, but the galaxy was smaller. | |||
| NGC 3810 | Leo | Spiral Galaxy | 11:30pm CDT |
| RA: 11h 40m 59s | Dec: +11° 28' | Mag: 11.4 | |
This galaxy was extremely faint and fairly small. With averted vision, the core almost appeared stellar. The shape was difficult to determine, but it appeared round. | |||
The sky conditions were starting to worsen, and Leo was starting to sink down in the western sky, so I decided to call it a night. There were still four more Leo galaxies on my list, but all were too faint for me to see in these conditions with my 8" dob. I'll have to try again on a more favorable night.