Saturday night at Lake Sonoma 11/22/03

by Steve Gottlieb

Seeing and transparency were very nice at LS on Saturday night and the lack of a breeze kept the low temperature quite tolerable. I haven't posted observing notes in awhile so here's a sample from Saturday night:

Abell 151 is a relative close Abell Rich Cluster in Cetus -- also known as Haufen A. It contains 5 IC galaxies which were all visible.

IC 77 = MCG -03-04-008: = NPM1G -15.0054	01 08 43.7 -15 25 15	Size 0.5x0.5
18" (11/22/03): extremely faint and small, round, 10" diameter. Only visible intermittently. Located just 2' SW of IC 80 in Abell 151.
IC 78 = MCG -03-04-010 = NPM1G -16.0041	01 08 47.6 -15 50 34	V = 13.5; Size 1.7x0.7; SB = 13.6; PA = 124d
18" (11/22/03): faint, moderately large, fairly low surface brightness with weak concentration. Initially just a 40" core was noticed but with extended viewing larger extensions increased the total size to ~1.2'x0.6'. Member of Abell 151 with IC 79 6.4' S and IC 82 10' SE.
IC 79 = MCG -03-04-011	01 08 49.7 -15 56 55	V = 14.2; Size 0.7x0.7; SB = 13.3
18" (11/22/03): faint, small, slightly elongated, 25"x20", a mag 14 star is just off the NNE edge, 30" from center. Located between IC 78 6.4' N and IC 82 5' SE in Abell 151.
IC 80 = MCG -03-04-012	01 08 51.1 -15 24 23	V = 13.7; Size 0.8x0.5; PA = 45d
18" (11/22/03): faint, fairly small, elonagted 3:2 SW-NE, 40"x25", low even surface brightness. Forms a close pair with IC 77 2' SW in Abell 151.
IC 82 = MCG -03-04-013	01 09 05.8 -16 00 01	V = 13.8; Size 0.8x0.7; SB = 13.1; PA = 111d
18" (11/22/03): very faint, small, round, 0.4' diameter, low surface brightness. Third in the 257x field on the south side of Abell 151 with IC 79 5' NW and IC 78 10' NW. Located 6' NW of a mag 10.4 star.

The NGC 691 group contains several relatively bright and faint galaxies in Aries near the excellent double star 1 Arietis. I viewed 7 members, though a couple more could have found.

NGC 678 = U01280 = MCG +04-05-014 = CGCG 482-018 = LGG 034-002	01 49 24.8 +21 59 51	V = 12.2; Size 4.5x0.8; SB = 13.4; PA = 78d
18" (11/22/03): fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 7:2 WSW-ENE, 3'x0.8'. Sharply concentrated with a small bright core which increases to the center and much fainter extensions. Forms a pair with N680 5' ESE in the N691 group.
NGC 680 = U01286 = MCG +04-05-015 = CGCG 482-019	01 49 47.3 +21 58 16	V = 11.9; Size 1.9x1.6; SB = 13.1; PA = 156d
18" (11/22/03): fairly bright, high surface brightness elliptical or lenticular, sligahtly elongated, 1.7'x1.5'. Contains a well-condensed 30" bright core surrounded by a fainter halo which fades at the ends of the halo. Surrounded by three mag 10-11 stars 3'-4' S, E and NE. In a trio with N678 5' WNW and IC 1730 3.5' NW.
IC 1730 = MCG +04-05-015a = CGCG 482-020 = NPM1G +21.0080	01 49 57.9 +22 00 44	Size 0.7x0.5
18" (11/22/03): very faint, extremely small, round, 10" diameter. Located 3.5' NW of N680 and 1' SSE of a mag 12 star.
NGC 691 = U01305 = MCG +04-05-019 = CGCG 460-031 = CGCG 482-023 = LGG 034-004	01 50 41.7 +21 45 35	V = 11.4; Size 3.5x2.6; SB = 13.7; PA = 95d
18" (11/22/03): bright, large, slightly elongated E-W, ~2.0'x1.5'. Fairly sharp concentration with a well-defined 45" core surrounded by an unconcentrated halo. A close pair of mag 9 stars are just off the NE edge. Brightest in a group including N678, N680, N694, N695, N697, IC 167, IC 1730.
N694 = U01310 = MCG +04-05-020 = CGCG 482-024 = Mrk 363 = V Zw 122 = LGG 034-007	01 50 58.4 +21 59 50	V = 13.7; Size 0.8x0.5; PA = 160d
18" (11/22/03): moderately bright, fairly small, 0.7'x0.5'. Fairly high surface brightness which increases to an occasional faint stellar nucleus. A mag 10.5 star is 2.3' SE. IC 167 lies 5.5' SSE.
IC 167 = U01313 = MCG +04-05-021 = CGCG 482-025 = Arp 31 = Ho 123 = LGG 034-008	01 51 08.6 +21 54 46	V = 13.1; Size 2.9x1.8; SB = 14.8; PA = 95d
18" (11/22/03): very faint, elongated 4:3, 0.8'x0.6', low surface brightness. Located 5.5' SSE of N694 in a group and 3.9' S of a mag 10.5 star.
NGC 697 = U01317 = MCG +04-05-022 = CGCG 482-027 = LGG 034-006 = N0674	01 51 17.4 +22 21 28	V = 12.0; Size 4.5x1.5; SB = 13.9; PA = 105d
18" (11/22/03): fairly bright, fairly large, very elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, ~3.0'x1.3'. Contains a fairly well-defined bright elongated core and a fairly smooth halo. Forms the W vertex of an isosceles triangle with two mag 11.5 stars ~5.5' NE and WSW. Located 16' ENE of the bright double star 1 Arietis. N695 is located 13' N.

The next three galaxies are in the same low power field as Algol, though I used 260x which kept Algol well outside the field.

NGC 1212 = U02560 = IC 1883	03 09 42.2 +40 53 35	Size 0.9x0.5; PA = 22d
18" (11/22/03): faint, small, round, 25" diameter, even surface brightness. Forms the SW vertex of an equilateral triangle with mag 8.7 SAO 38614 2.7' NE and a mag 11.7 star 2.2' E. Located 18' ESE of Algol at the western edge of Abell 426! Swift's position (I) is 0.7 tmin W of this faint galaxy although his description may apply to a faint star instead. This galaxy is not listed in CGCG, MCG or RC3 but was later found by Barnard (IC 1883) and placed correctly. The RNGC candidate for N1212 is in error.
IC 290 = UGC 02561 = CGCG 540-047 = IC 1884	03 09 42.7 +40 58 27	V = 14.6; Size 1.1x0.2; SB = 12.6; PA = 131d
18" (11/22/03): very faint, very small, appears as a tiny elongated streak, ~25"x8". Located 5' N of N1212 and 2.8' NNW of mag 8.7 SAO 38614 at the west side of Abell 426. Two mag 12/13 stars lie 50" E and 1.3' NE.
IC 292 = UGC 02567 = MCG +07-07-030 = CGCG 540-049	03 10 12.9 +40 45 56	V = 13.5; Size 1.2x0.6; SB = 13.0; PA = 75d
18" (11/22/03): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE, 0.9'x0.4', very weak concentration. Located 2.4' S of a mag 10 star at the west edge of Abell 426. N1212 lies 10' NW.

These last two objects are little known reflection nebulae in Orion

Cederblad 51 = HK Orionis Nebula	05 31 28 +12 10.0	Size 4
18" (11/22/03): picked up immediately at 115x as a fairly faint, large, roundish reflection nebula, ~4' in diameter. Located just N of two mag 11/12 stars. The brighter of these two stars is the Orion-type variable HK Orionis. There was no response to filters indicating little or no emission. It's surprising this object was not picked up in the NGC or IC.
IC 426 = LBN 921 = Ced 55j	05 36 31 -00 17.9	Size 5x5
18" (11/22/03): at 115x, surprisingly large reflection nebula just following a mag 8.6 star. Appears ~7'x5' in diameter and oval E-W, though the outline is ragged. There are a number of brighter stars nearby and the nebula is situated NE of a distinctive N-S chain of 5 stars mag 8.6-10. A distinct border runs E-W just following the mag 8.6 star. An OIII filter killed the nebula, though did not try either UHC or H-beta filters. Located one degree NNE of Alnilam (middle belt star).