While for the most part the weather in SE Arizona has not been the best for astronomy, we have had a run of a few good nights. By good I mean that it is clear enough to see stars!
Since the JMI drive corrector is still not working, my adventures in CCD land have been cut short for the time being. As a result I have had to resort to visual work.
Visual work with a large telescope brings up some interesting problems, namely what to look at. While it is fun to look at well-known objects-the Orion Nebula through the 22" telescope is a stunning experience-, I generally go after less well-known objects and try and push the instrument and myself to the limits.
For the most part the sky was pretty good-magnitude 6+ stars were visible in Ursa Minor, and I could see stars skim the hills several miles to my south. The only real problem was the cold. Computers in the observatory get cranky when it drops below freezing and I have come up with some interesting ways in which to keep them warm. As for me, I find that it is more tiring to climb the ladder when I am cold. Luckily I can retreat into the house and warm up.
Since the sky is making its progression from winter to spring, I decided to spend my time looking at galaxies and galaxy groups. The usual procedure is to find something fairly bright (with the 22", magnitude 12 is fairly bright) and work outward from it. I also tend to work an area of the sky where the eyepiece will be well-positioned and where I don't have to perch at the top of the 8' ladder (at the zenith the eyepiece is about 10' off the ground).
After poking around in Orion and looking at M42 and the horsehead yet again, it was time to search for and find NGC 3239 at M12 (M=magnitude). I noted that at 309X (9 Nagler) this object was irregular in shape, with two brighter portions of dissimilar brightness bisected by something of an uneven darkening. Also visible with a 22 Panoptic (126X) were UGC 5639 at M 14.6, MCG3-27-26 M15.2, MCG327-33 at M15.3, MCG327-24 at M15.6. All of these were to the north of the main galaxy. Also visible in the field were MCG327-27 at M14.9 and a very tough and small MCG327-30 at magnitude 15.
Ngc 3226 and 3227 at magnitudes 12.75 and 11.5 respectively are an interesting interacting pair. 3227 is the larger and brighter member of the pair. This galaxy is more oblong in shape and seemed to have a smoother texture than 3226. 3226 was irregular in shape and seemed to have a slightly speckled aspect to its surface. Also visible was 3222 at M14.1.
NGC 3454 at M14.2 was slightly oblong, small and dim. 3455 somewhat brighter at magnitude 12.9 and had a smooth texture.
NGC 3686 M 11.8 showed some detain in the 22". Very slightly oval, with ever so subtle darkenings across its face with numerous lighter areas. Also in the field were 3684 M12.2, MCG329-54 M15.2, MCG329-52 at m15.5, UGC 6483 at M15.1, NGC 3691 at M13.4, and finally NGC 3681 at M12.4
While the M 10.1 NGC 3287 was not much to look at in the eyepiece, there was a very nice double star slightly to its SW. These stars were very blue and yellow, with a great deal of contrast between them. they were more interesting to look at than the galaxy itself.
NGC 3301 at M12.4 was a smooth oval with evenly tapering ends. I also picked up the difficult UGC5755 at M16.5, fairly easy with averted vision and a 9 Nagler.
NGC 3216 at M14.4 was not much-round evenly illuminated blur. Also in the field was UGC 5597 at M15.6-also just a speck in space.
NGC 3270 at M 13.6 was small and dim with some sort of a darkening on the E side, visible with averted vision and a 9 Nagler.
NGC 3344 at M10.7 was surprisingly bright and easy after some of the dimmer objects. It was a soft nebulous glow with stellar nucleus. Closer examination with a 9 Nagler showed several subtle brightening embedded within the glow, with one distinctly brighter than the rest. Area from main nucleus has a decidedly "fluffy" texturing. Ah, if only I had a 25" telescope :).
Now we turn to the difficult stuff...NGC 3653, easy at M14.8, fairly large, round, and smooth. To the N is 3651, larger and brighter. Ever so slightly E of here is M 16.9 MCG427-30 (very dim and tough). Go W to IC 2759, M15.3 and N to MGC427-27. What I found interesting is that listed between 3651 and 3653 are two very small galaxies-Hick51F, and Hick51G. I examined this area with a 7mm Orthoscopic (397X) and thought that I might have glimpsed something very dim in the area. I will not list this as a definite find although it is interesting to note that there are no stars listed in the area and no other objects except the galaxies in question.
I used NGC 3689 at M14.8 as a jumping off point to Abell 1267. In the field with the cluster were KUG 1125+272 at M16, CGCG156-77 at M 15.62, MCG527-77 at M15, MCG5 27-15 at M15.5, MCG527-72 at M15.7. The actual cluster is somewhat north of MCG5-27-27 and with a 9 Nagler, there were numerous small, very dim non-stellar glows that would change appearance with changes in the seeing.
I finally rounded this romp into the realm of the dim with an examination around NGC 4005 (M14.2). I noted that this was a busy area and indeed it was with some 10+ galaxies being visible in the field or very near it. NGC 4023 M14.6, 4021 M16.4, 4022 M14, 4018 M14.7, and the four in a row- 3997 M14.2, 3993 M 14.5, 3989 M 15.7, and 3987 M14.7. Also were 3999 at M 15.6, 4015 A and B, M14.2 and 15.8. There were numerous others in the area and as it was late and I was tired, I just sort of roamed around with the telescope, following galaxies strings and groupings.
I ended the morning (it was now approaching 2:30) with a peek at the globular cluster M3-resolved to the core, M51 looking like a photograph, and NGC 4565-tracing the dust lane out of the field of view.
And as I sit here writing this, there is snow blowing on the front porch. Arizona, go figure.