by Bob Jardine
My main project was hunting Herschel-2 objects. Also did a few H-400 repeats. Plus some eye candy, of course. Dr. Kingsley had a Supernova on tap. Also, as usual, I had one Asteroid on my list.
Observed with my 17.5” f/4.5 LTD Mark III.
| Saturn & moons | I forgot to prepare with a chart for Hyperion and Mimas. I drew a diagram; the next day, I sorted them out via SNP. Missed them both, even though both were in good positions. It was probably too early in the evening (only 7:20 -- so not fully dark) for Hyperion, and I probably didn’t use enough power for Mimas. Serves me right for not being prepared. |
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| NGC 2467 | OC and EN, Puppis -- This object was the topic of some TAC emails and other discussion last month. When I had first seen it a couple of years ago at Montebello, I logged it as an OC. That’s the way it is listed on some atlases, and with light pollution and smaller and mediocre optics back then, I completely missed the nebulosity. This time, it was quite different. I started with a 35 Panoptic -- it was a largish round puff of light. Then at 182X with an Orion Ultrablock filter: round nebulosity around one bright and several dimmer stars. Also, another cluster nearby to the NE -- a V-shaped cluster with some dimmer nebulosity. also, two other patches of nebulosity to the N and SE. Quite a complex. |
| M81 and M82 | Tried several different powers. At low power, M82 is a bright streak. At higher powers, there is a very clear dark lane slashing across the major axis at about a 45-degree angle. Hints of structure in M81. |
| NGC 3077 | gal, UMa -- This little galaxy is the nearby neighbor (apparently) of M81 and M82. It is nothing to write home about after those big, bright Messier galaxies. Elongated about 2:1, roughly E/W. Slightly brighter center, but not stellar. Pretty large and pretty bright. Interestingly, at 182X I noticed that the nearby bright star is a cool double --- what is it? |
| Struve 1400 | dbl, UMa -- The next day, I looked it up, and found that this double close to N 3077 is Struve 1400. It was pretty close, and the secondary (about 2 mags dimmer) seemed maybe somewhat red. Nice accidental “discovery”. |
I paused for a limiting mag check in the Taurus triangle -- 9 stars usually (5.5).
| NGC 1587 | no show. Maybe too low in the west. |
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| NGC 2610 | PN, Hya. Small but pretty bright puff of light, near the brightest star of an almost perfect equilateral triangle of bright stars. Roundish, fuzzy. No hint of elongation. Quite small for a galaxy. Woops, it’s a PN! I didn’t notice this until the next day. Must go back another day. Quite large for a PN. 182X. |
Another LM check -- Gemini triangle -- 8 stars (5.3).
| NGC 2765 | No show. What gives? |
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| NGC 2855 | gal, Hya -- Pretty easy to find and see. Round, fuzzy, small, medium bright. Brighter center, but not stellar. No elongation. Near a bright star. 154X. |
| NGC 2889 | gal, Hya -- About the same size as 2855, but a little dimmer. Roundish, maybe elong 1.5:1, roughly E/W. Only a little brighter in center. 154X and 222X. |
| SN 2005 am | Supernova, Hya -- David Kinglsey alerted me to this and shared a finder chart. The SN is in 2811 in Hya. The galaxy itself is small, pretty dim, quite elongated. The SN and a foreground star are like a double -- a very close split, at that -- right on the edge of the visible extent of the galaxy. It is supposed to be about mag 14 -- so is the close star. Took 286X to split them, and then only barely. |
| (13) Egeria | Asteroid -- just like almost all asteroids -- a little dot, like a star. This one was about magnitude 10, and pretty easy t o locate near the Coma (star) cluster -- between Coma and Leo. |
| NGC 5005 | gal, CVn -- Quite bright, medium size, quite elongated, very bright in center, but not stellar. Elongated about 3:1. 182X. |
| NGC 5033 | gal/CVn -- A bit smaller and dimmer than nearby 5005, but also quite elongated -- nearly N/S. Quite a bit brighter center. 182X. |
| NGC 4027 | gal, Crv -- Galaxy near 4038 & 39. Pretty large, medium bright, roundish. Not much brighter center. 182X. |
| NGC 4038/39 | gal pair, Crv -- Eye candy; Large diffuse v-shaped (like a fat, rounded, V). |
| Jupiter, with shadow transit | There was an obvious shadow transit in progress; also saw a large oval on the South edge of the NEB. At first, I thought I was seeing the GRS, but that's on the SEB, right? This was interesting. The moon that was responsible for the shadow transit was probably also transiting -- a moderately-dark splotch was on the same latitude as the shadow, in the NEB, very near the much larger oval that was visible. Used up to 286X. |
| M104 | gal, Vir -- The Sombrero. Wow, it’s almost spring. This was definitely my best view ever (first time in a big scope). The dark lane, which is often only a hint in smaller scopes, was quite obvious -- very dark and contrasty. The galaxy was also much more elongated -- much more extent was visible -- than I had previously seen. |
| M3 | Glob -- OK, we’re into the springtime eye candy now! This was definitely a WOW! Large, bright, well-resolved. |
| M5 | Glob -- About my favorite Glob, at least North of M22. Pretty impressive, but still not really up high enough yet. |
By 1:00, there were a few clouds here and there. I packed up at about 1:30 and drove home. I would have liked to stay later, but I had to work the next day. :-( Oh, well. It had been a really great night. Not too cold. Seeing was pretty good most of the night. Transparency was off a bit, but it was fabulous relative to the cloudy skies we’ve had most of the Winter.
Posted on sf-bay-tac Mar 20, 2005 00:00:38 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.3 Mar 18, 2006 21:34:53 PT
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