Willow Springs Deepsky Ranch Aug 30, 2008

Mark Johnston

Was lucky enough to share the skies Sat August 30 at Kevin's Deepsky Ranch.

We had a limiting mag estimate of 6.4 from the Peg triangle and a darkness of 21.7 Mag/ArcSec2.The seeing was soft by all accounts but offset by the dark skies so hunting dim galaxies was productive.

Some highlights in my book:

Was great to catch a look at IC 1296 by M57 in DobZilla as I had just been looking at that in some picture of M57 earlier in the week thinking I would never see it. See wide picture on http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/m57.html

We saw perhaps only the core coming and going of the galaxy in upper right of the picture from the link above.

Also had a look at Burbidges chain which was new to me but is a row of 4 dots and in DobZilla we could see 3 out of 4 of the members logged due to soft skies. Did not catch (MCG-4-3-12) which was mag 17 and on closer inspection of images and it's description it is actually a double galaxy! I think it suffered from being 2 very small dots with soft seeing.

Had a blast hunting Barnard objects first before Ophiuchus went away. This included Barnards E (B143) in my Orion 120ST and many other dark nebula listed in the report seen nicely in 15x50 IS binoculars.

Also had a lot of fun looking at fields where galaxies were a plenty. One busy field was around NGC6962.

Since we kept observing till Cetus was high I was able to take a good look at many DeepMap objects that fall in approximately a dead south line on through Sculptor. This included NGC247 (and Burbidges chain), NGC253, NGC288 (fantastic glob but low), NGC134, NGC55, and lastly NGC300.

Thanks again to Kevin's Deepsky hospitality.

Below is detailed OR just 'for the TAC records'

MarkJ

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Willow Springs - Kevin Ritschels Aug 30, 2008. 9-4am observe. 21.5 12:00am 21.7 3am

Summary: DM600 and new clusters mostly
Scope: 18" f/3.7 Starmaster No Paracor except for 35mm PanOptic
Observers: Kevin Ritschel, Craig and Elana, Jamie Dillon, Mark Johnston
Conditions: Bit soft with no DblDbl split. Jamie Peg measured 6.4 skies, I got 21.73 M/AS2
Conditions: Light clouds come,go to E/SE but clear by 1.

Barnard objects always in 15x50 IS binocs best but tried some in Orion120ST like Barnard E

B 143 LDN 694
DrkN --- Ir SKY 19 41 06.2 +10 54 17
10:15pm 120St35mm An easy and obvious and fun target as usual. Middle E leg very short.

B 64 LDN 173
DrkN 12.0x 8.0' Co SKY 17 17 19.2 -18 31 03
10:25pm 15x50isB Arching towards M9 like a weak 'C'. 30' W of M9

B 259 LDN 177
DrkN 25.0x15.0' Ir SKY 17 22 06.0 -19 18 00
10:30pm 15x50isB Larger than B64 non-sharp edges. Averted scan looks good. 60' SE of M9

B 72 LDN 66
DrkN --- S G SKY 17 23 50.1 -23 41 51
10:42pm 15x50isB Averted only only just shows main think part of body.

B 63 LDN 99 Favorite with B253
DrkN 100x 20' Ir G SKY 17 16 30.0 -21 29 00
10:45pm 15x50isB 1.5deg E-W. Much more distinct than many Barnards. Great in bino

B 253 Favorite with B63
DrkN 60.0' SKY 17 15 36.0 -22 34 00
10:50pm 15x50isB Large 60' rectangle 60' S of B63. Great bino target

CGCG 374-11 PGC 65356
Glxy 15.6 0.7x 0.4' 128 PGC 20 46 38.1 +00 20 23
11:30pm 9mmNag 6962 Cluster: Tier5 mag. Difficult, at limits. Craig verified.

MAC 2047+0026
Glxy 15.5 0.5x 0.3' 84 MAC 20 47 03.3 +00 26 12
11:10pm 9mmNag 6962 Cluster: Tier4 Mag. Averted 30 pct

NGC 6959 CGCG 374-13 PGC 65369
Glxy 14.7p 1.0x 0.5' 60 (R)S0^ pec: RC3 20 47 07.3 +00 25 49
11:12pm 9mmNag 6962 Cluster: Tier2 Mag. EL E-W About 1' len

NGC 6961 CGCG 374-14 PGC 65372
Glxy 14.7p 0.6x 0.5' 153 E+ pec? RC3 20 47 10.4 +00 21 49
11:00pm 9mmNag 6962 Cluster: Tier3 Mag. Averted 30 pct

NGC 6962 UGC 11628 CGCG 374-15 MCG +0-53-3
MltG 13.0b 3.3x 2.2' 71 SAB(r)ab RC3 20 47 19.0 +00 19 17
11:00pm 9mmNag 6962 Cluster: About 1' Tier1 Mag. Brightest of the group.
Only core spotted, spiral not observed.

NGC 6965 NGC 6963 IC 5058 CGCG 374-16 MCG +0-53-4
Glxy 14.1v 0.7x 0.5' 78 S0^: RC3 20 47 20.4 +00 29 02

NGC 6964 UGC 11629 CGCG 374-17 MCG +0-53-5
MltG 14.0b 1.7x 1.2' 169 E+ pec: RC3 20 47 24.3 +00 18 03
11:08pm 9mmNag 6962 Cluster: Tier2 Mag. EL NS. Stellar About 1' len

NGC 6967 UGC 11630 CGCG 374-18 MCG +0-53-6
Glxy 13.1v 1.3x 0.6' 98 SB(rs)0+? RC3 20 47 34.1 +00 24 41
11:05pm 9mmNag 6962 Cluster: Tier2 Mag. EL E-W About 1' len

NGC 6975 Hickson 88D MCG -1-53-14 PGC 65612 Favorite Hickson Cluster
MltG 15.8b 1.2x 0.2' 76 S? RC3 20 52 12.8 -05 47 53
11:49pm 9mmNag Hickson 88-D: E-W EL 2:1 Dimmest of the 4.

NGC 6976 Hickson 88C MCG -1-53-15 PGC 65620
MltG 14.8b 1.1x 1.0' 2 SAB(r)bc? RC3 20 52 26.1 -05 46 20
11:50pm 9mmNag Hickson 88-C: Spherical, smaller than rest

NGC 6977 Hickson 88B MCG -1-53-16 IRAS 20499-555 PGC 65625
MltG 14.1b 1.5x 1.0' 151 SB(r)a pec: RC3 20 52 29.7 -05 44 45
11:51pm 9mmNag Hickson 88-B: Brighter member.

11:52pm Object moves E-W constant vel at 13' in about 20 sec just above NGC6976
Possible GeoSync Sat? Drift would then be 0.25 min per sec or 2.5' per 10sec
So yes, this would be the correct behavior for GeoSync Sat movement

NGC 6978 Hickson 88A MCG -1-53-17 IRAS 20499-554 PGC 65631
MltG 14.1b 2.0x 0.7' 128 Sb RC3 20 52 35.4 -05 42 38
11:53pm 9mmNag Hickson 88-A: 1.2' len. 2:1 EL 135dPA. To N-E in the line. Bright member

M 57 NGC 6720 PK 63+13.1 PNG 63.1+13.9
Plan 9.7p 1.8x 1.4' 15.2 4+3 STE 18 53 35.2 +33 01 44
12:00am DobZilla way up high to start at M 57 to try to see IC1296. No M57 cent star.

IC 1296 UGC 11374 CGCG 201-40 MCG +6-41-22 PGC 62532
Glxy 14.8p 0.9x 0.5' 58 SBbc RC3 18 53 18.8 +33 03 57
12:15am DobZilla Averted < 20 pct but present. This shows in many M57 pics

NGC 6927 CGCG 424-20 MCG +2-52-16 PGC 64925
Glxy 15.5b 0.6x 0.3' 4 S0: sp RC3 20 32 38.1 +09 54 57
12:38am 5mmNag Very faint and dim. Aveted 80 pct

NGC 6927A MCG +2-52-15 PGC 64924
MltG 15.5 0.4x 0.2' 18 E6: RC3 20 32 36.7 +09 53 02
12:42am 5mmNag Extremely faint, comes and goes 20pct averted only

NGC 6928 UGC 11589 CGCG 424-21 MCG +2-52-17 IRAS 20304+945 PGC 64932
Glxy 13.2b 2.2x 0.6' 106 SB(s)ab RC3 20 32 50.3 +09 55 36
12:35am 9mmNag 3:1 elongated. 110dPa Field star directly to N of mid-core

NGC 6930 UGC 11590 CGCG 424-22 MCG +2-52-18 IRAS 20305+942 PGC 64935
MltG 13.6b 1.0x 0.4' 6 SB(s)ab? sp RC3 20 32 58.7 +09 52 20
12:35am 9mmNag 80pct averted. N-S 2:1 EL. MAC on N edge so seems long. MAC to E missed

NGC 253 UGCA 13 ESO 474-29 MCG -4-3-9 PGC 2789
Glxy 8.0b 27.7x 6.7' 52 SAB(s)c RC3 00 47 32.9 -25 17 20
12:50am 17mmNagPc about 60' len, 45dPA, darker area to W side.
Darker area along N of core. N-E end dimmer than S-W. Elong core 2.5' len

NGC 247 UGCA 11 ESO 540-22 MCG -4-3-5 IRAS 446-2101 PGC 2758
Glxy 9.1v 21.4x 6.0' 172 SAB(s)d RC3 00 47 08.7 -20 45 38
12:55am 13mmNag 15' len. 3:1 EL N-S. Fairely difuse and not details difficult.

NGC 288
Glob 8.1 13.0' 12.6 15.3 --- --- BAA 00 52 45.5 -26 34 51
1:00am 9mmNag 8' or more. non stellar, low Concentration. Lots of resolution

ESO 540-25 MCG -4-3-13 Anon 0045-20B PGC 2796 Burbidge chain by NGC247
MltG 14.6p 1.0x 0.9' 158 SB(s)c pec: RC3 00 47 37.7 -20 31 08
1:30am DobZil17mm Burbidges chain: S end. Each end are the brightest of chain.

ESO 540-24 MCG -4-3-11 PGC 2794 Burbidge chain by NGC247
MltG 15.7 0.9x 0.5' 120 SBbc PGC 00 47 37.1 -20 29 08
1:30am DobZil17mm Burbidges chain: 2nd frm S end. Lot more difficult to spot than ends.

MCG -4-3-12 NOFIND. Burbidge chain by NGC247
DblG 17.0 0.6x 0.2' 43 Sb PGC 00 47 38.0 -20 27 09
1:30 DobZil17mm Burbidges chain: NOT SEEN even in DobZilla (Nor could Craig or Kevin)

ESO 540-23 MCG -4-3-10 Anon 0045-20A PGC 2791 Burbidge chain by NGC247
MltG 14.4p 1.0x 0.5' 21 SB(s)b pec? RC3 00 47 35.1 -20 25 44
1:30am DobZil17mm Burbidges chain: N end. Elongated end member in B

NGC 55 ESO 293-50 MCG -7-1-13 PGC 1014 DM600 Glxy 8.4b 32.3x 5.6' 108 SB(s)m: sp RC3 00 15 08.1 -39 12 53
1:35am 13mmNag 18' len. 130dPa, stellar and El 1' core. Brighter to WWN
POSTNOTE: This 'brighter area' is really an offset core. Is this really 2 gals?

NGC 300 ESO 295-20 MCG -6-3-5 IRAS 523-3756 DM600
Glxy 8.7b 22.1x16.6' 113 SA(s)d RC3 00 54 53.8 -37 40 57
1:46am 13mmNag 8-10' dia. Non-distinct edges. Possible knot 4' SE of core

NGC 134 ESO 350-23 MCG -6-2-12 IRAS 278-3331 DM600
Glxy 10.3v 7.6x 1.7' 46 SAB(s)bc RC3 00 30 22.2 -33 14 44
1:53am 9mmNag 6' len. 4:1 EL. 60dPa. Slight stellar, EL core.

NGC 131 ESO 350-21 MCG -6-2-10 IRAS 271-3332 LUCKY FIND
Glxy 13.1v 1.9x 0.6' 67 SB(s)b: sp RC3 00 29 38.3 -33 15 36
1:57am 9mmNag 2.5' len. Elongated 80dPa

NGC 7720 UGC 12716 CGCG 476-91 MCG +4-55-36 AGC2634
MltG 12.3v 1.8x 1.3' 20 E+ pec: RC3 23 38 29.4 +27 01 54
3:15am 9mmNag AbellGalCl 2634: 1' len. EL N-S. Brightest member

NGC 7726 UGC 12721 CGCG 476-98 MCG +4-55-40 AGC2634
Glxy 15.0b 2.0x 0.8' 64 SB(s)b RC3 23 39 11.9 +27 06 55
3:13am 9mmNag AbellGalCl 2634: < 1' len. Slight Elongation E-W. Averted only, 80pct

NGC 7728 UGC 12727 CGCG 476-103 MCG +4-55-41 AGC2634
Glxy 14.1p 1.0x 0.7' 80 E RC3 23 40 00.8 +27 08 01
3:10am 9mmNag AbellGalCl 2634: < 1' len. Slight Elongation E-W.

IC 5341 CGCG 476-87 MCG +4-55-35 AGC2634
Glxy 15.2 0.4' -- S0/D NED 23 38 26.8 +26 59 04
3:15am 5mmNag AbellGalCl 2634: South of 7720

CGCG 476-90 MCG +4-55-37 PGC 71987 AGC2634
Glxy 15.3p 0.5' -- E RC3 23 38 29.3 +26 58 43
3:15am 5mmNag AbellGalCl 2634: South of 7720 just to E of IC5341

IC 5342 CGCG 476-94 MCG +4-55-39 PGC 71991 AGC2634
Glxy 15.6p 0.5' -- E: RC3 23 38 38.8 +27 00 38
3:15am 5mmNag AbellGalCl 2634: SE of 7720

NGC 7793 ESO 349-12 MCG -6-1-9 PGC 73049 DM600
Glxy 9.6b 10.0x 6.5' 98 SA(s)d RC3 23 57 49.4 -32 35 30
3:30am 13mmNag 7' E-W and maybe 5' N-S. Washed out with hits of un-even brightness

M33 Great look in DobZilla. Observed the NGC knots with chart in hand at top of ladder.
Added the two below for additions to my own observed object list/logs.

IC 143
Knot --- SKY 01 34 07.2 +30 47 30
3:00am DobZilla M33 Knot: N and Bit farther away than IC142

IC 142
Knot 0.5x 0.5' SKY 01 33 55.9 +30 45 25
3:00am DobZilla M33 Knot: 1/2 distance from core to NGC604