by Ron Bhanukitsiri
Tonight after 2 hours with Jupiter and another 1/2 hour with NGC 2158, I was anxiously awaiting for Leo to try out my new Galaxy Grabber eyepiece, the 12mm TV Radian. So tonight, it's open season on the Lion ;-) and the Light Cup picked the Hickson 44 group, NGC 3185/3187/3190/3193 with magnitude 12.7/13.1/12.0/12.0 to start the galaxy season with. Note that these galaxies are aptly located at the neck of the Lion ;-). The objects were about 45 degree above horizon. Let me just add that I'd never attempt these galaxies with my old C102-HD achromat.
The LM was between 5.3 to 5.7 (based on stars in Leo) and seeing has deteriorated with breeze, light pollution, etc. Although precisely located, these galaxies were no where to be seen at 22x. I thought I caught a glimpse of a faint patch some distance from the mag 9.6 star SAO 81279 at 30x. Ah, but the Galaxy Grabber caught NGC 3190 at 73x, extremely faint and slightly elongated. NGC 3193 can now be seen but looked dimmer. The best view was at 110x with the Planetary Nebula Plucker (8mm Radian). Stellar cores can be seen in both NGC 3190 and 3193. NGC 3190 is definitely elongated while NGC 3193 is definitely round; again 3190 seems a litter brighter. Both galaxies stayed in the same FOV even at 110x. What strike me was how tiny these two galaxies looked. I spent close to 30 minutes trying to find NGC 3185 and 3187. Alas, it was not meant to be; I simply need a darker sky away from houses and people :-(. Unfortunately, I forgot to look at R Leonis (supposedly a deep red variable star) and see if the TV-102 had spilled any blood ;-).
BTW, the TV-102 Light Cup easily roared at NGC 2903 earlier with some graniny looks in the galaxy!
Thus began the galaxy season for the TV-102 Light Cup and I can see now that it would be a good hunting season indeed ;-).