by Gregg Blandin
After looking at the CLC for Esparto, I realized that the "average" designation for transparency was better than I had seen in quite some time. So, I set up my scope just before the sun set and got up at 2:30 (over an hour earlier than I needed to: I thought moon set was at 3:30) The transparency was about 7 and the "seeing" was 6-7 depending on the minute. It was very dry with absolutely no dew and temps around 65.
Even with the moon still up I got some excellent views of some of the brighter objects in your typical mid summer sky. M57 showed excellent contrast and at 450X, the central star was available approximately 1/4 of the time. M13, M27, and several other bright objects kept me occupied until the moon set, although a quite large light dome followed the moon slowly over the horizon which came not too much before sun rise. This shows you how deprived I am! After the lengthy 2 hour session was over I was left wondering if it ever got completely dark or if the light pollution at my place has just gotten worse. For the transparent and steady skies I had, I should have been able to see much more.
In any case, I did get a nice view of the NGC5350 group:
NGC 5350 is a fairly large face-on with an extended halo and a mottled core containing a bar through it. Two fairly bright stars lie to its SW
NGC 5354 to the south of NGC 5350 has a stellar core, the brightest part of which appears to be off-center
NGC 5353 lies a bit further south and has a much smoother oval shape and more uniform appearance than its neighbor NGC5354
NGC 5355 is a small roundish-shaped galaxy with a stellar core
NGC 5358 is the most distant from NGC 5350. This faint edge-on almost needed averted vision to see (pathetic description for a mag 13.6 in a 25" scope)
I continued on to look at a few galaxies in Draco. NGC 5907 is one of my favorite edge-ons and NGC 5866, NGC 6503, and NGC 6340. The cats-eye was a beautiful bright blue with a crystal clear central star, where the contrast was fairly good.
Oh well, I suppose it was better than a poke in the eye with a tel-rad finder.
No more observing until after full moon unless, well, let me think. I suppose there's at LEAST 5 or 10 minutes worth of observing left...