Last night my daughter Mimi, boyfriend Jeff and I joined Peter Natscher for
a short night of observing on Coulter Row at Fremont Peak. It has been
forever since I've observed from that location. I can report that the site
is still quite good, and has seen some nice improvements since my last
visit - new restrooms up at the overlook, and good pavement. I brought my
18" f/4.5 Obsession and 10" f/5.7 CPT, Mimi got to use the smaller scope to
show her boyfriend some highlight objects. It was a short night for Mimi,
as the cold got to her, and she was gone by eleven.
I decided to go to the Peak - my annual trip - and try Coulter as it is
protected somewhat from the wind, has a very good southern horizon, and
Peter was going. I had not seen him since Shingletown last year. I
enjoyed the evening - Peter and I were swapping views - he had several nice
galaxy groups during the night.
I was continuing my Herschel 2500 project. Man, what a task. My hat's off
to folks like Gottlieb and Czerwinski, who've logged that many objects and
(in Steve's case) more. I've been at this off and on for a very long
time. Last night I went after objects in Crater, which was among the
springtime constellations that are so difficult to get clear skies for. As
noted in Peter's report, temps were chilly, dropping into the mid 30's, but
other than my fingers, I was not cold.
Here are the objects I observed:
NGC 3081 - Galaxy type SAB, mag 12.85, SB 13.2, size 2.1'x1.6': I began
hunting this target (actually in Hydra) in the late twilight, and found the
location difficult. Using Alphard (Alpha Hydrae) and making a right angle
with Lambda Hydrae, I ended up using the naked eye pair of stars SAO 177840
and SAO 177866, which are 23' apart, to hop via my 10x70 finder to the
correct position. The galaxy was dim, but had a bright non-stellar core
surrounded by a dim halo disk. It is located off a nice chain of six stars
to its NE. There may be some elongation NNW/SSE.
NGC 3892 - Galaxy type SO, mag 11.5, SB 13.4, size 3.0'x2.2': I hopped from
Alpha Crateris to Delta, and out NE to mag 6.2 SAO 156896, which made the
position easy to locate. The galaxy is small, oval with some elongation
E/W. It contains a bright core with a dim stellar point.
NGC 3956 - Galaxy type Sc, mag 12.1, SB 13.3, size 3.4'x1.0'. This one
appeared as a dim slash ENE/WNW with even brightness throughout. There
were two pair of stars of equal PA to the NNW that helped locate the
galaxy. I found this one going form Delta to Gamma Corvi and down to mag
5.2 SAO 157042, and the galaxy was just beyond, barely inside Crater's border.
NGC 3962 - Galaxy type E2, mag 10.7, SB 12.6, size 2.6'x2.2'. This was one
of the tougher locations, without a bright star nearby. I went from Gamma
Corvi to mag 5 SAO 156998, then north, and hunted around a bit. There were
two bright stars nearby to the S and SW that helped mark the location, but
the galaxy itself was quite bright and obvious in the eyepiece. It had a
stellar core with a bright inner disk that diffused abruptly out to a dim
outer disk.
NGC 3981 - Galaxy type Sbc, mag 11.3, SB 13.8, size 5.2'x2.3'. Very near
the location of NGC 3956, this very long galaxy had an even brightness and
was in a WSW/ENE position.
NGC 3456 - Galaxy type SBc, mag 12.4, SB 12.9, size 1.9'x1.3'. Located at
the western extreme of Crater, it is easy to locate star hopping from mag
3.1 Nu Hydrae. It is small, very dim and elongated E/W with a dim star
just to its E. There was no detail. But, I do like sequential NGC numbers
like this one (my favorite is NGC 6543).
NGC 3571 - Galaxy type Sa, mag 12.1, SB 13.2, size 3.0'x1.0'. In an easy
position in Crater nearly mid-point between Alpha and Gamma. This appeared
to be edge-on, had a bright core with a near stellar nucleus, and seemed
quite elongated E/W 5x2.
NGC 3751 - Galaxy type SO, mag 13.9, SB 12.7, size 0.8'x0.5'. At first I
thought I was just dyslexic and had transposed numbers with the prior
object, but no, this was really the next on my list. It is located very
close to NGC 3571, on the same line toward Alpha Crateris. Small, bright
and round, with a stellar core.
NGC 3667 - Galaxy type Sbc, mag 12.7, SB 12.4, size 1.5'x1.0'. Very easy
to locate going from Alpha to Delta, then another 1.5 degrees
further. This galaxy appears oval and even brightness, elongated
E/W. Bumping up the power brought out NGC 3667A, much dimmer, but about
the same size as 3667 which is to its W. 3667A forms a right angle with
3667 and a close star. 3667A is elongated NE/SE and is separated by only 1'.
NGC 3955 - Galaxy type SO, mag 11.9, SB 12.9, size 2.9'x0.9'. I used mag 3
Epsilon Corvi and mag 4 Alpha Corvi (yes, you read those mags correctly) to
form an isosceles triangle to locate this target. This was a nice view,
very elongated N/S with a pronounced bright large central bulge. A very
slight hint of a stellar core - the southern extent of the galaxy seemed to
be disrupted, or perhaps it is a barred spiral - there seemed to be hints
of arms curving back of the ends of the extensions.
NGC 3957 - Galaxy type SO, mag 11.8, SB 12.5, size 3.1'x0.7'. Nice!
Bright, very elongated about 5X1 N/S, with a dark area in the S
extension. In an easy position to locate, Delta to Gamma Corvi, to SAO
157042, and a bit west - three stars to the galaxy's NW help mark the field.
NGC 3732 - Galaxy type EO, mag 12.5, SB 12.8, size 1.2'x1.2'. Too easy to
find, just off mag 4.7 Theta Crateris. It is small, round and has a
stellar core in a bright nucleus. A bright star sits close to its W.
NGC 3508 - Galaxy type Sb, mag 13.2, SB 12.9, size 1.0'x0.9'. Located very
close to a pair of naked-eye stars just N of Alpha Crateris. It appears
irregular, elongated SSW/NNE, possibly larger on the SSW end. It has a
star embedded in the NNE end. I wonder if this galaxy is disrupted?
NGC 3951 - Galaxy type SBO, mag 13.1, SB 13, size 1.3'x0.8'. Easy hop off
of Delta Crateris, however, this proved a difficult object. It was odd
that it was *just* visible in my 20 Nagler (100X), but not in the 12 or 7
Naglers. As such, the best description I can attach is, non-descript!
NGC 3661 - Galaxy type SO, mag 14, SB 14.2, size 1.7'x0.8'. Great
location! Go from Alpha to Delta and just beyond - really easy. The
galaxy is elongated SSE/NNW with a bright core containing a dim stellar
point. I felt there was some mottling. An easy bright chain of three
stars sits very close to the galaxy's south.
NGC 3734 - Galaxy type Sbc, mag 13.7, SB 13.9, size 1.4'x1.0'. I used Iota
(24) Crateris as the jumping off point to hop to this target. It was
extremely faint and yielded no detail. I could see it only in the 12
Nagler and even then, only by jiggling the telescope, which showed a round
ghost coming in and out with averted vision.
NGC 3791 - Galaxy type SO, mag 13.7, SB 13.8, size 1.3'x1.0'. This was a
fun target, and my last for the night. Alpha and Delta to hop to mag 4.7
Theta Crateris, then star hopped to the galaxy from there. The galaxy was
small and round, averted vision showed a stellar core. It was easy to pick
out a low power. Three other galaxies in a tight knot - NGC 3771, MCG
1-30-17 and MCG 1-30-18 break up nicely at high power (280X), although the
two MCGs are very close together. One oddity was that NGC 3791seemed to
have a double nucleus at high power.
That was it for the night. I had finished off the objects in Crater,
emptied the cup of H2500 objects.
Before finishing, I will say, as I do each year, off of Highway 101 along
156 then up San Juan Canyon Road is one of the most beautiful I know of in
spring. It is verdant green, there are wildflowers on the shoulders of the
road, and cattle, horses, rabbit and wild turkey around the turns. The
view of the coast from Fremont Peak is a treat.
I also found that it was not too bad observing galaxies with a 5+ day old
moon. Earlier in the day I wrote Attilla Danko, ex-bay area resident (used
to attend our Lassen Star Parties) asking him about an additional feature
for the clear sky clocks. I wondered if there could be a way to quantify
magnitude loss for various percentages of the moon - for its phase, and for
certain degrees off the moon - and perhaps model in transparency as
well. This would help tell observers if the targets they are interested in
would be visible, or "mooned" out on a particular night. I did not mind
having the moon up... I'll do it again. I might even go back to the Peak
again before next year!
Clear skies,
Mark
NGC 3962
Received on Thu Apr 14 12:43:34 2005