Galaxy Log video 12.2013 is posted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYnES0PyC_A

A terrific night at my local (less than 2 hour drive) darkest site with my 4” and 8” refractors.

As I pulled in the site, and got out of the van I looked NW towards the low riding Big Dipper, and a nice bright meteor went through the handle. I thought to myself that could be a sign of an excellent night.

As I gazed up at the rest of the sky as darkness was settling in, it was apparent that the transparency was quite good. The Milky Way was very vivid, with the major star clouds looking like mottled cumulus clouds. Even some dark nebula in the Sagittarius region was seen.

Out of the van came the 8” (Beast) first to be set up. So after the mount was calibrated to the sky, I just hit M-92 in the hand controller as first object to make sure all is fine, but to take in a great view of a terrific glob.

So as the scope was tracking M-92, I got the 4” f/10 refractor set up and also put on some heavier clothes on this cool September night on the mountain.

Now I must admit I bought some new glass, so with M-92 in the center of a 42mm wide-field eyepiece (43x), I changed it out for a new E.S. 4.7mm UWF (383x). The view was great as the glob fill the eyepiece with myriads of tiny stars, with the core of the glob intensely bright of resolved stars. This is a very fine eyepiece that is very Nagler-like, but better eye relief. I found this eyepiece having similar quality and eye relief of my newer Meade 5.5mm UWF, with stars pinpoint right to the edge of the field..


I next went into Draco as a good test for this eyepiece and the interacting faint pair Ngc 6621/6622. The large refractor showed this duo pretty well as a double lobed object, with Ngc 6621 showing the larger of the two and a faint stellar nucleus. Ngc 6622 was a faint round glow.

Most of my work this night was across the meridian to the east and the Fall constellations.

I put the 42mm eyepiece back in and swung the scope to M-31. The view was poster-like, with the galaxy showing a extremely bright core and dark lanes (spiral arms), with Ngc 206 (star cloud) showing in the SW region of the galaxy. M-32 and M-110 enhanced the overall view.

Next I did some views for upcoming Galaxy Log, even though these particular galaxies are set for the large scope (12.5” plus). The view for Galaxy Log will be described through the 22” dob, but the 8” refractor showed this faint pair. The thing that caught my eye here using the 4.7mm eyepiece was three very faint stars to the NE with magnitudes of 14.7, 15.4, and 15.6, which showed me that this eyepiece does quite well in light transmission, again Nagler-like.

While in the area I caught a real nice view of M-76 (Little Dumbbell) using 12mm to 7mm eyepieces (150x – 257x).

It was around this time I heard a crashing to the wooded area on the western side of the lot, and a distinctive grunt or groan. Yep, a black bear, so I grabbed my large metal baseball bat and yelled loudly and pounded the bat on the ground. I added a nice size rock to throw into the woods, and I could hear him run like hell out of the area. Interesting.

Now back to the rest of the universe, and some more galaxies.

Hit a neat galaxy in Cetus for next month’s Galaxy Log video, which became one of the views of the night. Some interesting detail seen.

Ngc 877 area was next with this galaxy showing in a 12mm eyepiece as an oval glow, with a slightly brighter center, and a 13 to 14 mag star off its SE edge. Ngc 871 directly west was a fairly bright elongated glow. Using a 5.5mm eyepiece (327x) showed Ngc 876 as a very faint ghostly glow to the SW of Ngc 877.

Around this time I put the 4” refractor to work with just pointing it at M-31. Not the view the 8” had a bit earlier of course, but still quite good.

So from there I swung the 4” refractor to M-33 with a 12mm SWF eyepiece (83x). Quite a spectacular view, with two spiral arms seen, as well as a couple HII regions, in particular Ngc 604 to the NE of the center region.

Now back to the main scope and Ngc 750/751 area with a 14mm SWF (129x). Here it shows this interacting pair quite well, with 750 the brighter of the two. The faint Ngc 761 to the north shows as elongated glow with a brighter center. Inserting a 7mm UWF made each galaxy stand out a bit more. Slewing a bit SW to center Ngc 736, which showed as a fairly bright round disc and bright core. Ngc 740 is a very faint edge-on, which was hard to see here with a 10th mag star just to its east. Inserting a 5.5mm UWF eyepiece helped a bit.

Back into Aries and a faint trio led by Ngc 1024. Best view here was with a 7mm UWF (257x). Ngc 1024 showed as having a bright oval central area surrounded with a very faint elongated haze. Ngc 1029 to its SE was a small streak, and just to the north a small glow looking like a faint out of focused star is Ngc 1028. Inserting the 4.7mm UWF eyepiece showed 1028 and 1029 a bit more prominent.

With the 4” refractor I hit the Double Cluster (WOW!!!), and also a couple galaxies for future Galaxy Log’s, with all very nice views. A good 4” refractor can make a nice DSO scope for sure, and proof is in the eyepiece.

I finished this terrific night with the 8” refractor with galaxies like Ngc 1023 (another beauty), Ngc 1465, M-74 and the bright supernova. Swinging the big refractor back over to the western sky for Ngc 7331 (with Ngc 7335, 7337, 7340), and one final look at the supernova in Ngc 7250, which is fading away. Still a great view though.

Nice way to end a sensational night with two fine scopes and the beauty of very clear dark starry skies, that continues to reveal the wonders of deep space to me.

October 2013 Galaxy Log video is posted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8nMFSLvTCw

A night of Beast, Bear, and Beauty

 A terrific night at my local (less than 2 hour drive) darkest site with my 4” and 8” refractors.

As I pulled in the site, and got out of the van I looked NW towards the low riding Big Dipper, and a nice bright meteor went through the handle. I thought to myself that could be a sign of an excellent night.

As I gazed up at the rest of the sky as darkness was settling in, it was apparent that the transparency was quite good. The Milky Way was very vivid, with the major star clouds looking like mottled cumulous clouds. Even some dark nebula in the Sagittarius region was seen.

Out of the van came the 8” (Beast) first to be set up. So after the mount was calibrated to the sky, I just hit M-92 in the hand controller as first object to make sure all is fine, but to take in a great view of a terrific glob.

So as the scope was tracking M-92, I got the 4” f/10 refractor set up and also put on some heavier clothes on this cool September night on the mountain.

Now I must admit I bought some new glass, so with M-92 in the center of a 42mm wide-field eyepiece (43x), I changed it out for a new E.S. 4.7mm UWF (383x). The view was great as the glob fill the eyepiece with myriads of tiny stars, with the core of the glob intensely bright of resolved stars. This is a very fine eyepiece that is very Nagler-like, but better eye relief. I found this eyepiece having similar quality and eye relief of my newer Meade 5.5mm UWF, with stars pinpoint right to the edge of the field, with excellent contrast.

I next went into Draco as a good test for this eyepiece and the interacting faint pair Ngc 6621/6622. The large refractor showed this duo pretty well as a double lobed object, with Ngc 6621 showing the larger of the two and a faint stellar nucleus. Ngc 6622 was a faint round glow.

Most of my work this night was across the meridian to the east and the Fall constellations.

I put the 42mm eyepiece back in and swung the scope to M-31. The view was poster-like, with the galaxy showing a extremely bright core and dark lanes (spiral arms), with Ngc 206 (star cloud) showing in the SW region of the galaxy. M-32 and M-110 enhanced the overall view.

Next I did some views for upcoming Galaxy Log, even though these particular galaxies are set for the large scope (12.5” plus). The view for Galaxy Log will be described through the 22” dob, but the 8” refractor showed this faint pair. The thing that caught my eye here using the 4.7mm eyepiece was three very faint stars to the NE with magnitudes of 14.7, 15.4, and 15.6, which showed me that this eyepiece does quite well in light transmission, again Nagler-like.

While in the area I caught a real nice view of M-76 (Little Dumbbell) using 12mm to 7mm eyepieces (150x – 257x).

It was around this time I heard a crashing to the wooded area on the western side of the lot, and a distinctive grunt or groan. Yep, a black bear, so I grabbed my large metal baseball bat and yelled loudly and pounded the bat on the ground. I added a nice size rock to throw into the woods, and I could hear him run like hell out of the area. Interesting.

Now back to the rest of the universe, and some more galaxies.

Hit a neat galaxy in Cetus for next month’s Galaxy Log video, which became one of the views of the night. Some interesting detail seen.

Ngc 877 area was next with this galaxy showing in a 12mm eyepiece as an oval glow, with a slightly brighter center, and a 13 to 14 mag star off its SE edge. Ngc 871 directly west was a fairly bright elongated glow. Using a 5.5mm eyepiece (327x) showed Ngc 876 as a very faint ghostly glow to the SW of Ngc 877.

Around this time I put the 4” refractor to work with just pointing it at M-31. Not the view the 8” had a bit earlier of course, but still quite good.

So from there I swung the 4” refractor to M-33 with a 12mm SWF eyepiece (83x). Quite a spectacular view, with two spiral arms seen, as well as a couple HII regions, in particular Ngc 604 to the NE of the center region.

Now back to the main scope and Ngc 750/751 area with a 14mm SWF (129x). Here it shows this interacting pair quite well, with 750 the brighter of the two. The faint Ngc 761 to the north shows as elongated glow with a brighter center. Inserting a 7mm UWF made each galaxy stand out a bit more.  Slewing a bit SW to center Ngc 736, which showed as a fairly bright round disc and bright core. Ngc 740 is a very faint edge-on, which was hard to see here with a 10^th mag star just to its east. Inserting a 5.5mm UWF eyepiece helped a bit.

Back into Aries and a faint trio led by Ngc 1024. Best view here was with a 7mm UWF (257x). Ngc 1024 showed as having a bright oval central area surrounded with a very faint elongated haze. Ngc 1029 to its SE was a small streak, and just to the north a small glow looking like a faint out of focused star is Ngc 1028. Inserting the 4.7mm UWF eyepiece showed 1028 and 1029 a bit more prominent.

With the 4” refractor I hit the Double Cluster (WOW!!!), and also a couple galaxies for future Galaxy Log’s, with all very nice views. A good 4” refractor can make a nice DSO scope for sure, and proof is in the eyepiece.

I finished this terrific night with the 8” refractor with galaxies like Ngc 1023 (another beauty), Ngc 1465, M-74 and the bright supernova. Swinging the big refractor back over to the western sky for Ngc 7331 (with Ngc 7335, 7337, 7340), and one final look at the supernova in Ngc 7250, which is fading away. Still a great view though.

Nice way to end a sensational night with two fine scopes and the beauty of very clear dark starry skies, that continues to reveal the wonders of deep space to me.

September Galaxy Log video is posted 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4EK9sSgAEg

Now you can double your September galaxies with the September 2012 Galaxy Log video.

Would like to read about some personal observations of these galaxies. Post them here.

We posted a new video as a special edition of supernova

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajzzw_LrtH4

We were able to both image and view (with sketches) the bright SN in Ngc 7250 and M-74.

The observations and sketches were done by my wife and I using our 6" f/6.5 refractor and 22" f/4.5 dob.

She sketched Ngc 7250 using the 22" dob, and I sketched M-74 in the 6" refractor.

We are in the process of doing a special video for Galaxy Log with the images taken from the HASB observatory and the sketches. Stay tuned.

My wife Sheree and I arrived at our darkest local site on Sunday night (8/4) at dusk under a very clear and tranquil (very light gentle breeze) skies.

As darkness settled in the Milky Way was awesome, giving a heavily mottled look, and expanding into southern Ophiuchus and eastern Scorpius. M-13 and easy naked eye target.

We had the ES 6" f/6.5 refractor and the 22" f/4.5 Telekit dob
.
Then the issue started for the 6" refractor's Celestron AS CG5. Seems like an issue in the RA drive. This was the start of a bit of a frustrating night.

Now the 22" was letter perfect in collimation (something I strive for), and the early on images showed that. Since we added what I call a shroud baffle (it's a piece of heavy black fabric that Sheree made, that fits around the upper end of truss poles), seems to have increased contrast at the eyepiece of this big scope. The Astrosystems shroud is a bit more shear then I like, and use another down by the mirror box also.

Anyway, I first observer Ngc 6217 in UMi at low power just to take in a first galaxy. Nice bright stellar core with a bit of arm structure was very evident.

Worked a bit more with the big refractor's mount, but there's an issue, so manual would have to be the way to go tonight. Great view of M-13 (with August GL's Ngc 6207).

Then it started to cloud a bit, but would dissipate, but was the harbinger to come.

Did the SN in Ngc 7250 which was a great view in the 22" (with Ngc 7248 to the west). The galaxy was nice and bright in the 11mm T1 Nagler (an old friend of the 22"), with the supernova standing out very well.

I "found" it also in the 6" refractor, and Sheree took a little time to sketch it. Tough to do as the mount was not cooperating real well.

Did some Galaxy Logging for large scopes with the 22" for September, since It's in the same area of the sky as Ngc 7250.

Unfortunately around this time the sky went to crap, and stayed that way.

I was not happy at all, for the night looked so promising early on.

So we packed up the two big scopes, and went home.

The August Galaxy Log video is posted.

Enjoy

A neat interacting system in Draco is ARP 81 or Ngc 6621/6622

This is from a report a couple years back from our best local site, using my 8” f/9 refractor.

ARP 81 (Ngc 6621/6622), which I've observed before in the 8" from Cherry Springs. Pa.

Using a 14mm Denk (129x) the big scope slewed to this interacting pair. At this power the object(s) looked like a single elongated galaxy with two faint nuclei.

Inserting the Pentax 7mm (257x) showed them as a definite galaxy duo immersed together. Ngc 6621 is the larger and brighter of the two sporting a brighter core around a faint elongated wisp. Ngc 6622 is a bit fainter, but stood out well.

We will do this one in a future Galaxy Log video for the large telescopes.

Friday night fights, under Friday night lights.

Well had a nice short, but sweet night at a good dark site with the 8” f/9 refractor (The Beast).

First view of the night was with Ngc 5005 in Canes Venatici, which the big refractor centered in my 24.5 SW (73x). Inserting a 12mm SW (150x) the view was just beautiful with the galaxy exhibiting a large very bright elongated disc, and a stellar nucleus.

Slewing the scope to the SE and 5005’s compadre Ngc 5033, which is another large spiral, though a bit dimmer overall. It showed a large broad oval mottled disc with a large elongated core and stellar nucleus.

Next was M-63, which in the 24.5mm SW looked like a wide-field photo image. Really stayed with this view longer than usual before going up with the 12mm SW. At 150x the galaxy was a large heavily mottled oval disc with a bright stellar nucleus.

Into Ursa Major and a nice bright edge-on galaxy Ngc 5308. Here with the 12mm SW the galaxy was a very nice bright high surface brightness streak. I then inserted a 5.5mm UWF (327x). The first thing I said was “WOW”, for this edge-on was very striking at high power, showing a very bright core area and stellar nucleus, and the ends really stretching out on both sides of the core.    

Next was Hickson 68 in which I first located with the 24.5mm SW. Moving up in power with the 12mm showed Ngc 5350 as a round disc with a slightly brighter center. The pair Ngc 5353 and Ngc 5354 is striking. Ngc 5353 is a bright elongated oval, and Ngc 5354 is bright, but much more round in shape. Also NW of the pair is the small faint Ngc 5355 which showed a small bright surrounded by a faint haze, and east of the pair was also Ngc 5358 that’s just north of a 12th magnitude double star. The galaxy was a faint small slightly elongated disc. Both Ngc 5355 and 5358 were a bit more pronounced with the 5.5mm UWF at 327x.

Before I left this group I slewed to the NE and the wonderful spiral Ngc 5371. I just put in the 24.5mm SW for this view. This nice spiral sits of the edge of a ring of 10 to 12 mag stars, which gives the overall appearance of the largest diamond ring in the cosmos. The beautiful spiral being the “diamond.”    

Did some quick views of Ngc 5907 and Ngc 6503 at just 73x, as I took a 5 minute or so coffee break. Both were quite nice in that large FOV.

Ngc 6181 in Hercules was next, and was best with a 9mm SW (200X). Here the galaxy showed fairly large oval mottled disc with a bright slightly elongated core.

A fainter galaxy in Hercules was Ngc 6485. With the 9mm SW the galaxy showed a round faint disc with a brighter core. The galaxy sits in a triangle of 9.5 to 12^th mag stars.

While in Hercules I took some quick peeks at M-13 using 73x to 327x and the views were of course stunning. A large refractor on this object is a perfect match.

Back to before I took that coffee break I observed the very elongated spiral Ngc 5297 and it’s very faint companion Ngc 5296.

I used the 9mm SW (200x) and 5.5mm UWF (327x) to view them. Ngc 5297 was situated just to the SW of a nice 9^th mag yellowish gold star. The galaxy showed a faint little stellar nucleus in a larger core region with the ends of the galaxy stretching NW to SE. Then just to the SW of the core area of Ngc 5297 was the small Ngc 5296, which was just a faint smudge. I was enamored by this view I decided to sketch them.

Well, I was not very please with the original sketch at all. So I decided to take my notes and the bad sketch to actually sit down at home to capture the essence of my view which is seen below.  

Note: Ngc 5296 is seen just to the right of Ngc 5297, between the larger galaxy and a faint star. Click image to ENLARGE.

Oh the fight was right before midnight in the woods nearby the parking area of the site. It was between a pair of foxes that were definitely not happy with one another per their screaming at each other. 

Clear Dark Skies,

Karl

June 2013 Galaxy Log will be released this weekend, and with some interesting galaxies, including a good challenge for some of the owners of larger scopes.

A constellation that one of our galaxies is in Bootes, has lots of interesting galaxies, though many may require mid-size and larger telescopes to be seen well. Nevertheless it's a terrific area of the sky that is chock full of galaxies.

One of them is a nice edge-on galaxy Ngc 5529, which we'll discuss in detail on a future Galaxy Log video. This is a favorite in my 22" dob, and have viewed it in the past with a 6" refractor.

Terrific night of observing from one of our dark sites called Ds-2.

Had my 12.5" f/4.8 dob for this night, and did some galaxy logging and more.
This nice size dob or what I call the "baby of the big dobs", is an easy set-up and most times only needs a tweak to get collimated.

After set-up, I just put in a 20mm wide-field eyepiece (76x), and got a terrific view of the Leo Trio.

From there as the center of the Virgo cluster was just pass meridian, I switched out eyepieces to a 12mm wide-field (127x), which still has wide enough FOV, but at the same time makes it far easier to see the smaller galaxy members, and the larger members much more impressive.

Heading to eastern Virgo and the spiral Ngc 5174. With a 10mm UWA eyepiece the galaxy showed a bright core region in an oval low surface brightness disc, though some mottling was seen. 

I headed north and a trio of 8th magnitude stars with a group of galaxies. Ngc 5171 is the brightest, and a small round galaxy in the 10mm, so I inserted a 5.5mm UWA eyepiece (277x). At this power Ngc 5171 showed a bright small core, and just NE was a faint slightly oval glow which is Ngc 5179. North of this pair was a faint small fuzzy spot which looked like an out of focused star, which is Ngc 5176. Also a tiny elogated galaxy Ngc 5177 was seen right next to Ngc 5176, and was a bit tougher to see. South of these four galaxies is Ngc 5178, which was just a faint small ovalish disc, with just a slight brightening near center.

Next was a pair of trio's of galaxies. 

Ngc 5576 with a 7mm ultra wide-field showed a fairly bright oval disc with a bright stellar nucleus. Ngc 5574 just southwest was a elongated small disc, and the most interesting galaxy just north of Ngc 5576 is an almost edge-on galaxy Ngc 5577, which showed as a faint streak, brighter in the core area.

I also observed to the northwest of this trio, another trio led by Ngc 5566, but I will discuss this trio in an upcoming or future Galaxy Log video.

Now something a bit larger and brighter is the great edge-on Ngc 5746.

Best view here was with a 10mm ultra wide-field (152x) and a 7mm ultra wide-field (218x) eyepieces. The galaxy is large, pointing north to south with a large central bulge and a visible thin dark lane that was more evident with the 7mm. A WOW view!!!

Also just southwest of this great galaxy is Ngc 5740 which showed as an oval disc with a bright core. Kind of reminded me of a fainter version of the nice galaxy Ngc 5248 in Bootes.

Swung the 12.5" dob north to grab some quick views of some favorites with a 12mm wide-field eyepiece in the focuser like Ngc 4485/4490, Ngc 4460, Ngc 4449.

Took a bit of a coffee break and then on non-stop for the rest of the night.

Hit some galaxies in Hercules including a pair for the June 2013 Galaxy Log video, and another in Lyra for an upcoming video.

Over to Draco and a favorite interacting pair Ngc 6621/6622 which looked very good with the 7mm ultra wide-field eyepiece.

First locating this pair with a 20mm wide-field eyepiece it looked at first glance like a edge-on galaxy with two separate cores. With the 7mm eyepiece the larger side is Ngc 6621 which has larger faint envelope surrounding a bright core, and with a slight separation Ngc 6622 which is on the southeast edge of Ngc 6621. Ngc 6622 is a bit fainter and small.

I finished the night with some more close to home objects like M-4, M-8, M-13, M-20, M-27, and M-57, though as usual I close the night with a galaxy, so Ngc 5907 in Draco with the 12mm eyepiece was a good choice with it's razor thin shape and small or near stellar nucleus.        

This past Saturday night was an exceptional one for some spring galaxy observing. My daughter Jillian and a fellow CAS member (Dan) were bringing in the photons.

Jill had her ES 5" f/6.5 refractor, Dan had a 4.7" f/8.3 refractor, and I had my ES 6" f/6.5 refractor and 12.5" f/4.8 dob.

Some of the first views in Leo with Jill's 5" and my 12.5" were Ngc 2903.

Her best view came with a 8mm Ethos (a great match for this scope), which showed the galaxy's bright core and mottled oval disc. In my 12.5" the galaxy showed some nice structure.

Dan I believe around that time was looking at M-106, which looks great with most telescopes in dark skies. His view was quite good.

Some of the other highlights in Jill's 5" refractor was a wonderful view of M-81 and M-82. With M-82 in the 8mm eyepiece showed lots of mottling and that dark lane cutting through the minor axis of the galaxy.

She also observed some galaxies for upcoming episodes of the Galaxy Log video series, which she's excited about.

My 12.5" provided some terrific detailed views of M-51, Ngc 4565, Ngc 5248, M-82 with a 5.5mm UWA was photo-like.

Dan showed me in the 4.7" a real nice view of M-64, plus M-104 with both showing there famous dark areas or lanes.

The 6" refractor was not forgotten, and gave us some terrific views which included the duo of Ngc 4485 and Ngc 4490,

Many other galaxies of the night were bagged, as well as some nice star clusters and nebula of all types.

Truly a fun night with my daughter and long time friend Dan.

Can't wait for the next clear moonless night.

May 2013 Galaxy Log video is posted.
 http://www.youtube.com/user/GalaxyLog4565

A couple weeks ago I had a very nice night with just my grab-an-go DSO scope, which is a 4" f/10 refractor. One of the many views I enjoyed was the M-105 trio, so I sketched what I was seeing in a 12mm wide-field eyepiece.

The trio consist of the round elliptical M-105, a elongated lenticular galaxy Ngc 3384, and a fainter small spiral Ngc 3389.

I also looked back at my records of observing M-105 and friends, in which I've seen this group in most of my scopes I've owned over the years, including one of my favorite scopes the 8" f/9 refractor.

A few years ago my wife drew this trio as she viewed through the eyepiece of the BIG refractor.

I find it fascinating to compare the two drawings, and as usual there is no substitute for aperture, in particular of scopes of the same type.

I must say though that a view of the M-105 trio is a must while your visiting the wonderful galaxy loaded constellation of Leo.

Excellent split images of M-65 from 2008, and just the other night from Blue Mountain Vista Observatory from owner Frank Colosimo of HASB and Galaxy Log videos. The SN was easily captured.

April 2013 Galaxy Log video has been posted.

Well it seems this new supernova could be a "bust"

What may be happening is that this particular T1 supernova has a lot of "celestial" dust between the SN and the outer portions of M-65. In other words the light is being block or absorbed between this exploding star and us, decreasing the visible light output very significantly.

I may be able to see it with the 22", but not with the smaller 6" refractor or even the 8" refractor.

We'll keep an eye out for any change, but not looking promising to be a stand-out SN in such a nearby and wonderful galaxy. 

Looks like a new Type II supernova in Messier 65 (2013am). It's very young (and faint) at this time, but should brighten substantially.

Will give updates here, and hopefully will put on a show for the upcoming April dark window.

We'll hopefully get some images from Blue Mountain Vista Observatory.

I'll also do some sketching using either in the 6" refractor or the big 8" refractor.

Earlier in the day this past Thursday longtime CAS member Rob Cordivari and I were trying to get a hold on the forecast. Some weather sites said mostly clear to party cloudy with the wind dying down.

For both of us it’s a bit of a commitment to go to our darkest site called DS-Edge (1 hr 40 min. drive) with an iffy forecast, and we weren't even quite sure DS-2 (about an hour drive) would be worth it. So later towards dinner time we decided to just go to old faithful DS-1. A decent dark site about 30 minute drive for me, and less then 10 minutes for Rob.

Well the wind was more by far then predicted, but the transparency was quite good, with not a single cloud till we finally broke down around 4:00am.

Rob had his 16” f/4 dob, and as usual I had two scopes as in my trusty 12.5” f/4.8 dob, and my all-time favorite grab-an-go scope the 4” f/10 refractor.

First views as usual this time of year was with Ngc 2903 in both scopes. The 4” refractor with a 24.5mm SWA eyepiece gave a nice wide-field view of the galaxy. With a 12mm WF eyepiece the galaxy showed some detail with a bright elongated center (the bar) within a very oval mottled disc.

The 12.5” dob’s view with a 10mm UWA eyepiece was terrific for DS-1, that certainly brought back some memories. I’m thinking this was the first time in nearly 10 years I had this big scope here. Anyway, much of the detail I was seeing was similar to the views I had at the darker DS-2 about a week earlier.

Next for the 12.5” was a nice view of Ngc 3226/3227 with Ngc 3222 in the FOV using a 12mm WF eyepiece. Staying in the area with Hickson 44 (Ngc 3190 grp) brought out a great view with even the faint Ngc 3187 seen.

With the 4” refractor I swung over to M-81 and M-82 with Ngc 3077 in a 20mm SWA eyepiece in the focuser. Really a terrific view.

Other highlights in the 12.5” dob was Ngc 4485/4490, Ngc 4449, Ngc 4460 (and double star), M-51, and some terrific sights in the Virgo cluster.

In the 4” refractor I pretty much followed the same objects as in the 12.5”, and here again with some surprising results. In fact taking a Virgo tour using this scope and a 12mm WF eyepiece was lot of fun with numerous galaxies bright and faint being seen.

Rob and his 16” shared some terrific views of numerous objects like M-104, M-51, Ngc 4754 & Ngc 4762, and of course Ngc 4565 as for some examples.

Ended the night with the 4” refractor’s views of M-13 and M-57, with both objects showing why they appeal to us lovers of the night sky.

With the 12.5” dob I ended things with Ngc 2841 and M-51 using a 8mm SWA eyepiece. The Whirlpool was quite beautiful showing why it’s given nickname, with those wonderful spiral arms. Though my view of Ngc 2841 for old-time sake was heartwarming. You see it was about 20 years ago from this old friend called DS-1 observing site, that the view of this nice galaxy later influenced “first light” with my current largest scope the 22” f/4.5. That view is still stuck in my mind’s eye, and I think it will be for a long time to come.

So a great night with two old friends as in DS-1 and of course longtime observing partner, CAS member and friend Mr. Rob Cordivari. A terrific way to start a birthday weekend.

It’s been said that the “sickle” of Leo is the nighttime signal that spring is coming.

As for me as a galaxy observer the first sign of spring is my first good and renewed view of Ngc 2903 on the northwest side of the sickle.

For decades now and every late winter observing run no matter which telescope I’m using, I always take a gander at this great spiral galaxy. Even thru the spring it’s usually the first object I view for the night. It’s like a great song (for me Foghat’s Night Shift) that you can listen to over and over. So Ngc 2903 is a galaxy that I can view anytime and anywhere.

I guess part of the reason is if you live in the northern states, you get anxious for spring after a cold winter, but this is really a fine galaxy for deep space observers.

On the night of March 8 2013 I had a very good observing night at one of our dark sites. I took two scopes, which since the Galaxy Log videos started I’ve seem to be doing more & more. This night I had my 6” f/6.5 refractor and my 12.5” f/4.8 dob.

After setting both scopes up, I viewed a couple regulars of late winter like M-1, M-35 (with Ngc 2158), and so on.

I then put both scopes on Ngc 2903. Even at low power at 55x and 76x respectively the views were great, and though it was a cold slightly windy night, those views warmed me up.

Increasing the magnifications to where both scopes were around 125x brought out some interesting views.

In the 6” refractor Ngc 2903 showed a very bright large elongated core in an oval mottled disc, with a patchy look and a hint of spiral.

The 12.5” dob of course produced a brighter image. Here the same detail was seen as in the 6” refractor, but more vivid. The central bar structure was easily seen, as well as a “patch” in the outer northern section. Here the spiral arms started to come into view. So pumping the power to 190x and showed the beginning or “hooks” of the northern and southern spiral arms.

The larger scope showed the best view of course, but the 6” refractor’s view was quite good, and could satisfy many galaxy observers with those eyepiece views.

8" f/9 refractor by Sheree Krasley

In the 22” f/4.5 dob this magnificent galaxy takes on a photo-like view, but that will be something we’ll talk about in a future Galaxy Log here and the video series.

Spring is coming and so are those great spring galaxies…the most wonderful time of the year!!!

The March Galaxy Log video is due out Saturday (March 2).

One of my wife's first drawings a couple years back. The temps that night dropped to the low 30's, but she persevered.

Ngc 4565 has always been a favorite, and she capture the view pretty well through the large refractor.

Wrote this in the review of my APM 8” f/9 refractor and what was first official light for the big refractor called “The Beast” in 2006:

Now what will be official first light object? Well, how about the Leo Trio (M-65, M-66, and Ngc-3628).

So I entered M-65 in the hand controller, and the big guy swung right over to the Trio.

I looked into the Meade 5k 32mm Plossl (56x), and was greeted by one excellent view. All three galaxies bright and clear, almost poster like!

I put in a Meade 5k 18mm UWA (100x). Though all three were still in the field of view, I slewed the scope just onto M-65 and M-66. Even at this relatively low power detail was very much evident. M-65 was long with a bulging center. M-66 showed the elongated bar in the center with hints of spiral arms. Slewing to the third galaxy Ngc-3628 I found it was bright with that dark lane very apparent cutting through the galaxy. I was pleasantly surprised how much detail was evident at this power. Switching to an 11mm Nagler (164x) showed M-65 big and bold with a slight hint of the dark lane. M-66 at this power definitely showed spiral arms, and Ngc-3628 was reaching almost end to end in the eyepiece field.

Funny how Galaxy Log has changed my observing planning.

I use to plan by on what I want to view and which dark observing site I’m heading to. Do I want to climb a ladder of sit while observing and so on.

There's been many nights with the 22" dob that I would go to a very galaxy rich area on my charts, and stay there for most of the night just galaxy hopping.

Now I look at our future monthly list of galaxies we are going to do for Galaxy Log, and then need to plan on which (size) scope I need to take. This is in case I need more written observing detail for a particular galaxy for either a small, medium, and large scope. Seems more then ever I’m setting up two scopes for a night though.

I’ve been very pleased that a number of CAS members are involved in the observations for Galaxy Log.

Good to have that old scope out again

In 1993 the late Joe Varady and I built a 12.5” f/4.8 dob around a full thickness Parks mirror with terrific optics.

 

The 12.5” dob is what I call the “baby of the big dobs”, for in galaxy observing you can have a lifetime of terrific views with countless galaxies in this size scope. An almost 60% jump up in light gathering from a 10” is noticeable here.

 

This wooden scope is such a pleasure to use, and it’s holding of collimation is amazing. Great to use on these very cold winter nights here in Pa., plus you can use an adjustable observing chair to view through this dob.

 

This scope paved the way for first light with my 22” dob some years later.

 

It was a great view in the 12.5” of an Ngc galaxy that is on an upcoming Galaxy Log video, that gave me the idea of “first light” for the large 22” dob.

About Galaxy Log blog

This is another avenue of the video series.

The monthly video series is about observing galaxies that would be best seen in the upcoming month's dark window or near new moon.

Here we can discuss more about observing galaxies and deep space observing in general.