by Albert Highe
I've been trying to decide what my next observing project should be. I've completed a couple of the standard lists, and began reviewing the scores of lists recommended by many on TAC. I came to the conclusion that I don't like working from lists. What I've enjoyed the most has been star-hopping the pages of Sky Atlas 2000, discovering unexpected gems along with hunting down the more challenging objects. So, I finally decided to work my way through the second edition of Uranometria 2000.
I've owned the first edition of Uranometria for a few years. I decided my new observing project would not be based on it. I've already found some relatively bright galaxies that were not plotted there. Upon Steve G.'s suggestion, I purchased the second edition, released last year.
About seven observers set up. We watched the continuing dance of the bright planets as dark approached. Conditions initially looked very good - clear, warm, and dry with just a little breeze. The temperature stayed in the high 50's with the %RH in the mid-60's.
With no obvious beginning or end to the Uranometria "list", I just pointed my scope to a relatively dark area of the sky and at a convenient altitude. This corresponded to the constellation Sextans. Page 13 of SA2000 shows three closely spaced galaxies in an otherwise "empty" area of sky. I have seen all three before: NGC3169, NGC3166, and NGC3156. I then turned to the corresponding page 113 in Uranometria. I was very surprised to find over 200 galaxies plotted on this single page! I was overwhelmed. Clearly, I was not going to be able to see all the objects plotted in Uranometria in my 12.5 scope. More importantly, this was going to be a journey without end. However, since I enjoy the hunt as much as I enjoy viewing new objects, I was not daunted by this revelation. I would never have to search for a new observing list again.
Hunting small faint fuzzies requires higher magnifications. Since the purchase of a Takahashi 7.5mm LE eyepiece, which furnishes a magnification of 212X, it has become my standard eyepiece for small, dim objects. Seeing was not very good, and did not support 200X. I did manage to find the galaxy NGC3165 (Mag 13.9, 1.5'X0.7') with averted vision and detect its elongated shape. It lies only a few arcminutes from the bright pair NGC3166/3169.
Seeing deteriorated rapidly. Stars were bloated even at 100X, making identification of small galaxies impossible. I looked at a few brighter favorites. Being spoiled by much better conditions in the past, I quit early.
I estimate approximately 15 people showed up for some mid-week, in-town observing. A quick view of the planets did not bode well. The dark bands on Jupiter were almost completely obscured. The temperature stayed in the low 50's and the humidity was surprisingly low - 25%.
I don't normally attempt serious deep-sky observing at Montebello, but I was eager to resume my new journey. I opened Uranometria to page 113 and attempted to repeat the above observations. Although the sky never gets very dark at Montebello, I thought the transparency was quite good, and seeing improved steadily. I easily saw the brighter (10-11 mag) galaxies NGC3166/3169. The fainter (mag 12.3) NGC3156 also showed up rather well with averted vision. And I even could detect NGC3165 with averted vision about half the time.
These observations encouraged me to try some of the other CGCG, IC, MCG, NGC, and UGC galaxies plotted. Naturally, I failed to observe many of them. However, surprisingly, I did manage to observe a number of galaxies.
In addition, I believe I glimpsed quite a few more faint galaxies. As Steve G. has pointed out, although the new Uranometria plots non-stellar objects much deeper than before, it does not include any fainter stars. With the absence of faint, close, reference stars, it is difficult to positively locate and identify objects at the limit of detection.
I didn't look up the galaxy magnitudes beforehand. I was just working from the chart on page 113. So, I was surprised to see how faint MCG+1-26-17 was. It is very small, so its surface brightness is higher. Still, I have some doubt. I checked the image of it on the Deep Sky Survey. It does look relatively bright and its relation to the nearby 9.5 mag star is unmistakable. I'll have to check it out again.
Amidst the above observations, I took a break to observe Omega Centauri. It was only a couple of degrees above the horizon, yet I could resolve plenty of stars at 113X. It was the best view I have ever had of it from Montebello.
With such good seeing at low elevations, I jumped to page 21 of SA2000 to pick off some "easy" objects between -30° and -45°.
I packed up and left around Midnight, having observed a couple of dozen new objects. Yes, it is going to be a good journey when even Montebello helps me on my way.
This was my first visit to Fiddletown. It's a rustic, private site east of Sacramento in the Sierra Foothills. I arrived a little before 5PM and leisurely set up. By nightfall, approximately 10-12 people, mostly from the Sacramento area, filled the site. The mosquitoes were quite thick early on, but weren't too much of a problem later. Conditions were very pleasant. The temperature never dropped below the mid-50's. RH was a steady 50%, and there was zero wind.
The seeing started out good and improved after dark. I left my 7.5mm eyepiece in the scope 90% of the time (212X), which is excellent for finding and studying faint fuzzies. Transparency also appeared to be very good. The largest light dome is from Sacramento to the west, but overall, the sky is a somewhat darker than Dinosaur Point.
Equipment
12.5" f/5 ultralight dob with 14mm Radian and 7.5mm and 5mm LE eyepieces.
I continued to hunt down, and find, many other MCG, UGC, and NGC galaxies on page 113 until that part of the sky began to encroach on the light dome to the SW. Most of these were at the level of detection with averted vision and unremarkable except for the fact that I saw them at all.
NGC4933A/B/C I've been trying to see the faint C component of this galaxy for a couple of years. It is in Virgo, about halfway between Spica and M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. NGC4933A (11.7, 1.8'X1.1') is the brightest member. It is irregular, but has a roughly elongated oval shape with an oval brighter core. NGC4933B (14.2, 0.8'X0.4') is fainter and smaller, and just SW of the A component. I can hold it easily with averted vision. I hadn't been able to see NGC4933C (15.5, 0.5'X0.4') during earlier attempts. But the skies were very good tonight. And, I've discovered that I have a "sweet spot" in my averted vision at about the 8 o'clock position. I've found that my eye has its greatest sensitivity when I relax as much as possible (no squinting), focus up and away from the region of interest, approximately 1/4th of the eyepiece field. Faint objects "pop" into view. I finally was able to see the C component "pop" in and out of view as a small pimple on the NE edge of NGC4933A. Although I couldn't hold it for more than a second or two, I repeatedly saw the feature in the same place.
With page 113 of Uranometria rotated to a less favorable part of the sky, I turned to page 72. A clump of galaxies in Coma Berenices caught my eye. A blow up of the region is offered on page A10. There are 19 galaxies spanning 3/4°. Thirteen galaxies are roughly centered just west of the 9th magnitude star SAO 82124. I star hopped to it with my finder, and then galaxy hopped at 212X to identify all the members.
NGC4090 (13.9, 1.2'X0.5'), NGC4057 (15.4, 0.5'X0.2'), NGC4086 (13.6, 0.9' X0.7') - a trio of galaxies just east of my reference star. NGC4090 and NGC4086 are the first, and second brightest, respectively. I can hold them both with averted vision. NGC4057 is fainter and I can hold it with averted vision about 50% of the time.
The ten galaxies on the other side of my reference star are clumped so tight (all just fit within the f.o.v. at 212X) that they took a while to identify. I also studied these galaxies at 317X with my 5mm LE eyepiece. I carefully drew their positions and wrote descriptions. In summary, they are:
The last two were particularly tough, at the limit of my detection with averted vision. I'm not completely certain that I saw them. I'd like to give these two a try with a larger scope.
The other six galaxies can be found quickly by beginning at another 9th magnitude star, SAO 82140. They start just 1/4° west of this reference star. The view of these six galaxies, fitting easily into the f.o.v. at 212X, was by far, the highlight of the night. Four of the galaxies are equally spaced along an arc spanning less than 0.2°. The other two are a very close pair, lying along the perpendicular bisector of the arc, and just outside of it. The only aspect detracting from the symmetry is that the brightness of NGC4093 is noticeably less than that of the others in the arc. Nevertheless, this cluster has quickly risen among the top of my favorites. It should be stunning in larger scopes.
At this point, I turned my attention to a number of the bright Messiers: M51, M57, M108, M101, M13, M4. I am always stunned by what I can see in the bright Messier objects, especially at high power, after studying faint fuzzies for a few hours.
The "Bug Nebula", NGC6302 was looking very nice at 212X. This object appears to have two lobes. One is quite a bit brighter with a bright central region. The second lobe forms a faint tail. To me, it looks like a tadpole.
I had an absolutely stunning view of the Triffid Nebula at 212X. Without filters, the nebula nearly spanned the f.o.v. The three prominent dust lanes were deep black rifts cutting across the sky. The dimmer lobe to the north was plainly visible.
Most of the Sacramento "locals" left between 1-2 AM. I finally crashed in my van at 3AM. It had been a very enjoyable and productive night.