Monday, April 15, 2013


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.



Monday, April 1, 2013

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.