Fremont Peak, 5 March 2005 (Sat)

by Bob Jardine


Observing Report -- Fremont Peak -- 5 March 2005 (Saturday)

My main project was hunting Herschel-2 objects. Also did a few H-400 repeats. Plus some eye candy, of course. Dr. Kingsley had a Supernova on tap. Also, as usual, I had one Asteroid on my list.

Observed with my 17.5” f/4.5 LTD Mark III.

Saturn & moonsI forgot to prepare with a chart for Hyperion and Mimas. I drew a diagram; the next day, I sorted them out via SNP. Missed them both, even though both were in good positions. It was probably too early in the evening (only 7:20 -- so not fully dark) for Hyperion, and I probably didn’t use enough power for Mimas. Serves me right for not being prepared.
NGC 2467OC and EN, Puppis -- This object was the topic of some TAC emails and other discussion last month. When I had first seen it a couple of years ago at Montebello, I logged it as an OC. That’s the way it is listed on some atlases, and with light pollution and smaller and mediocre optics back then, I completely missed the nebulosity. This time, it was quite different. I started with a 35 Panoptic -- it was a largish round puff of light. Then at 182X with an Orion Ultrablock filter: round nebulosity around one bright and several dimmer stars. Also, another cluster nearby to the NE -- a V-shaped cluster with some dimmer nebulosity. also, two other patches of nebulosity to the N and SE. Quite a complex.
M81 and M82Tried several different powers. At low power, M82 is a bright streak. At higher powers, there is a very clear dark lane slashing across the major axis at about a 45-degree angle. Hints of structure in M81.
NGC 3077gal, UMa -- This little galaxy is the nearby neighbor (apparently) of M81 and M82. It is nothing to write home about after those big, bright Messier galaxies. Elongated about 2:1, roughly E/W. Slightly brighter center, but not stellar. Pretty large and pretty bright. Interestingly, at 182X I noticed that the nearby bright star is a cool double --- what is it?
Struve 1400dbl, UMa -- The next day, I looked it up, and found that this double close to N 3077 is Struve 1400. It was pretty close, and the secondary (about 2 mags dimmer) seemed maybe somewhat red. Nice accidental “discovery”.

I paused for a limiting mag check in the Taurus triangle -- 9 stars usually (5.5).

NGC 1587no show. Maybe too low in the west.
NGC 2610PN, Hya. Small but pretty bright puff of light, near the brightest star of an almost perfect equilateral triangle of bright stars. Roundish, fuzzy. No hint of elongation. Quite small for a galaxy. Woops, it’s a PN! I didn’t notice this until the next day. Must go back another day. Quite large for a PN. 182X.

Another LM check -- Gemini triangle -- 8 stars (5.3).

NGC 2765No show. What gives?
NGC 2855gal, Hya -- Pretty easy to find and see. Round, fuzzy, small, medium bright. Brighter center, but not stellar. No elongation. Near a bright star. 154X.
NGC 2889gal, Hya -- About the same size as 2855, but a little dimmer. Roundish, maybe elong 1.5:1, roughly E/W. Only a little brighter in center. 154X and 222X.
SN 2005 amSupernova, Hya -- David Kinglsey alerted me to this and shared a finder chart. The SN is in 2811 in Hya. The galaxy itself is small, pretty dim, quite elongated. The SN and a foreground star are like a double -- a very close split, at that -- right on the edge of the visible extent of the galaxy. It is supposed to be about mag 14 -- so is the close star. Took 286X to split them, and then only barely.
(13) EgeriaAsteroid -- just like almost all asteroids -- a little dot, like a star. This one was about magnitude 10, and pretty easy t o locate near the Coma (star) cluster -- between Coma and Leo.
NGC 5005gal, CVn -- Quite bright, medium size, quite elongated, very bright in center, but not stellar. Elongated about 3:1. 182X.
NGC 5033gal/CVn -- A bit smaller and dimmer than nearby 5005, but also quite elongated -- nearly N/S. Quite a bit brighter center. 182X.
NGC 4027gal, Crv -- Galaxy near 4038 & 39. Pretty large, medium bright, roundish. Not much brighter center. 182X.
NGC 4038/39gal pair, Crv -- Eye candy; Large diffuse v-shaped (like a fat, rounded, V).
Jupiter, with shadow transitThere was an obvious shadow transit in progress; also saw a large oval on the South edge of the NEB. At first, I thought I was seeing the GRS, but that's on the SEB, right? This was interesting. The moon that was responsible for the shadow transit was probably also transiting -- a moderately-dark splotch was on the same latitude as the shadow, in the NEB, very near the much larger oval that was visible. Used up to 286X.
M104gal, Vir -- The Sombrero. Wow, it’s almost spring. This was definitely my best view ever (first time in a big scope). The dark lane, which is often only a hint in smaller scopes, was quite obvious -- very dark and contrasty. The galaxy was also much more elongated -- much more extent was visible -- than I had previously seen.
M3Glob -- OK, we’re into the springtime eye candy now! This was definitely a WOW! Large, bright, well-resolved.
M5Glob -- About my favorite Glob, at least North of M22. Pretty impressive, but still not really up high enough yet.

By 1:00, there were a few clouds here and there. I packed up at about 1:30 and drove home. I would have liked to stay later, but I had to work the next day. :-( Oh, well. It had been a really great night. Not too cold. Seeing was pretty good most of the night. Transparency was off a bit, but it was fabulous relative to the cloudy skies we’ve had most of the Winter.


Posted on sf-bay-tac Mar 20, 2005 00:00:38 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.3 Mar 18, 2006 21:34:53 PT [an error occurred while processing this directive]