Wednesday night observing report

by Mark Wagner


I went out after 9 p.m. and found the sky either milky or cloudy, depending where I looked. I did get in some views of bright Messiers:

as well as:

NGC 2903 (which I use as an "in town yardstick to the sky").

I did knock down a few in the Night Sky Observers Guide:

NGC 2775 in Cancer - Galaxy, Mag 10.1 sb 13/1. Obvious, bright core, possible spiral with diffuse halo. Maybe elongated NW/SE.

NGC 3187 / 3190 / 3193 - all galaxies Gamma and Zeta Leonis. Nice view even in poor skies. These three were Mags 13.4, 11.1 and 10.9, with sb of 14.7!, 13.1 and 13.1, respectively. 3193 and 3187 were no problem. 3190 was quite difficult. Only ocassionally did I think I glimpsed NGC 3185, which is the forth galaxy in this group.

It was not exceedinly cold, with almost no breeze and no dew.

Used a 10" f/5.6 Dob with 20mm and 12mm Nagler fromm backyard in Los Gatos.