Observing Report -- Fremont Peak -- 5 March 2005 (Saturday)
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.
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.
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?
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.
-- end
Received on Sun Mar 20 01:02:10 2005