05-03-08 Blue Canyon

Alvin Huey

Marsha and I've decided to observe at Blue Canyon, SVAS's regular site. The clubs regularly scheduled star party also occurred this evening. There were about 20 people and I'm surprised that more folks didn't come as it a very nice night. We met a number of folks; Stuart Schultz (former Observatory director), Stuart's friend, Don Lee, Davin Enigl (current observatory director), Liam and about 15 others.

I've decided to observe a bunch of galaxy trios from the AL list and other lists (forget the source of the top of my head). I used my 22" f/4 reflector with the 20mm Pentax XW, 10, 7.5 and 5mm Tak LE's eyepieces. No Paracorr and no I did not use the Ethos.

NGC 5141 group
NGC 5141 - bright and round. 45" across. Much brighter center with a stellar core. NGC 5142 lies about 3' NE and is slightly smaller (30" long), but even surface brightness with a stellar core. NGC 5143 lies about 3' north of N 5142. It is a faint 2:1 elongated even surface brightness patch. PA = 90 and about 20" long.

NGC 5351 group
NGC 5351 is very bright 2:1 elongated patch with a brighter center. 1.2" across. PA = 90. With magnification, a slightly brighter ring could be made out, but not entirely around the galaxy. The south part of the ring could not be made out. NGC 5349 lies about 4' SW and a bright even surface brightness 2:1 elongated patch. 45" long. PA = 90. NGC 5341 lies quite a ways to the WSW, about 9' from NGC 5349. NGC 5341 is a bright 2:1 even surface brightness patch. PA = 150 and 30" long.

NGC 2872 group
This group is a fairly compact trio that fits in a 2' circle. NGC 2872 is a bright 3:1 elongated patch with a brighter center. PA = 45 and 2.2' across. NGC 2872 is about 2' NW and is a bright round patch (45" across) with a brighter center. NGC 2873 is a very faint small round patch (10" across). It sits about 2' north off the NE end of NGC 2872.

NGC 2929 group
Nice N-S string of moderately bright galaxies about 3' apart. The southernmost object, NGC 2929, is a 3:1 elongated even surface brightness patch. PA = 135 and 1' long. Next one up north is NGC 2930, which is a slightly brighter small round patch, 15" across. The northernmost object, NGC 2931, is about equal in brightness and size as NGC 2930, but slightly elongated. PA = 60.

NGC 2991 group
A pair is about 30" apart and the third is about 8' to the NE. NGC 2991, a bright round patch (30" across) with a stellar core forms a pair with its western companion, NGC 2998, a faint 3:1 elongated even surface brightness patch of about 30" long. PA = 45. NGC 2994 is a bright slightly elongated patch with a brighter center. PA = 120 and 40" across.

NGC 2964 group
This trio is in a collinear NE-SW string of galaxies separated by about 6' between each galaxy. NGC 2964 showed remarkable detail. The north and south edges have significantly brighter arcs. On the east end, there is a small round knot visible. The core is distinct, but not stellar. PA = 90 and 120x45". Working to the NE lies NGC 2968, which is a very bright slightly elongated patch with a much brighter center cumulating with a stellar core. PA = 45 and 60x45". Next object to the NW is NGC 2970, which is a small bright round patch. About 15" across.

IC 613 group
This trio of faint galaxies is arranged in a rough 30-60-right triangle. A very faint MAC galaxy is detected within the triangle. IC 613, the southern most galaxy, is a small faint round patch with a stellar core. About 20" across. IC 612 sits 2.7' north is a small slightly elongated patch with a stellar core. PA = 0 and 20x10" in size. IC 615 lies 4.3' ENE is the faintest of the three. Even surface brightness and 45x15". PA = 150. MAC 1027+1101 is a very faint, very small round patch. It lies about 1' NE of IC 613

NGC 3434 group
This group was getting pretty low over the SW horizon, and into the Sacramento skyglow. NGC 3434 was a round patch with a slightly brighter center. About 1' across. The other two members, CGCG 38-37 and CGCG 38-35 were not detected.

NGC 3988 group
This trio forms a E-W string of galaxies. The westernmost member, NGC 3988 is a bright round patch with a brighter center. About 20" across. IC 2982 lies about 6'east is a bright slightly elongated patch. PA = 70 and 15x10" across. Sitting 3.2 further east lies NGC 4004. It immediately showed an abnormal shape with the core being an irregular 2:1 elongated patch with a brighter core. A faint arm extends about 30" to the south of the core. Core is about 30x20" across. PA = 0.

NGC 3169 group
Pretty low over the skyglow. NGC 3169 is an even surface brightness elongated patch. PA = 60 and 2x1'. NGC 3166 is slightly fainter than NGC 3169, which lies about 7' ENE. 2x1' across and PA = 90. NGC 3165 is a very faint elongated patch. PA = 0 and 30" long.

NGC 5504 group
Compact trio of three different appearing galaxies. The brightest, NGC 5504 is a low surface brightness round patch with a slightly brighter center. About 40" across. MCG+3-36-79 lies 1.7' NNW of NGC 5504. It is a small round patch with a brighter center. About 15" across. IC 4383 is an extremely faint round patch. It lies 50" NE of the MCG. A 16th magnitude star lies near the two latter galaxies.

NGC 5614 group
This group has one big elliptical with two little guys. NGC 5614 is a very bright round patch with a nearly stellar core. NGC 5609 lies 4' west of NGC 5614. A bright small round patch. About 10" across. NGC 5614 lies 2' north of NGC 5614 and is a bright small round patch and is slightly larger than NGC 5609.

UGC 9233 group
This trio of three UGC galaxies is pretty tight. UGC 9233 is a fairly faint elongated patch with a stellar core. About 45 x 15" across. P = 135. UGC 9235 lies 1.5' SE of UGC 9233. It is about the same brightness as UGC 9233. PA = 80 and 35x 20" across. UGC 9238 is a low surface brightness elongated patch. PA = 130 and 10x15" across. Two the nearby galaxies were detected; MCG+6-32-25 is a small fairly faint patch. It sits 4' SW of UGC 9233. The other companion is MAC 457+644 shows a slightly elongated patch.

I'll write the rest of the OR for the following groups next time I have time.

NGC 5648 group

NGC 5888 group

NGC 4278 group

NGC 4615 group

NGC 4168 group

MCG+2-31-50 group

NGC 4339 group

IC 3481 group

NGC 4716 group