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9 April – blog 2 of 3

Woke up the morning of the ninth to find the skies thinly veiled. Weather apps were contradicting one another. My go to application WeatherPro continued to proclaim nothing but sunshine for the week, but others (including the French app Météo France) were less optimistic. Still, all apps in unison promised clear skies before midnight this night.

Hopefully this is gone by nightfall.🤞for #clearskies!#astrotrip pic.twitter.com/V35Z77el2P— Clear Skies – visual astronomy 🔭 (@clearskies_eu) April 9, 2023

So what does an astronomer do in daytime? Well there’s always the observing plan to tweak. Remove what was observed the night before, add what remains on the wanted list. This night’s session would allow for 2 1/2 hours of darkness, still not much but enough to fill a few holes in my log.

Then, there’s alternate activities. One item that has become a “don’t leave home without it” on astrotrips, is the Weber kettle. Put to good use this afternoon to grill a decent batch of wings to serve as midnight snacks for the nights ahead.

pic.twitter.com/T3cRMuui0e— Clear Skies – visual astronomy 🔭 (@clearskies_eu) April 9, 2023

Questionable weather forecasts have a side effect, though. They come with advise from friends who have their own unique solution to the problem. One such cure came from my astrobuddy Dick. Guaranteed to dissipate the clouds. He claimed a naked dance around the scope, holding two eyepieces would do the trick. Year sure, I was going to try that. As if…

Be gone, clouds. #astrotrip pic.twitter.com/KCe9Qt2z6E— Clear Skies – visual astronomy 🔭 (@clearskies_eu) April 9, 2023

Long story short… without providing any further details and for reasons beyond my understanding: the skies cleared.

#astrotrip pic.twitter.com/33vjDraWuK— Clear Skies – visual astronomy 🔭 (@clearskies_eu) April 9, 2023

First observations of the session: more STF doubles in Hydra. Two were showpieces, STF1270 & Epsilon Hydra (STF1273).

STF127016mm Nagler T5: AB split. A beautiful double.A is bright white-yellow, a subtle yellowish hue, B is white-light blueish, a subtly blueish hue but clearly contrasting.9mm Nagler T6: Using this magnification to colors are slightly clearer than they are with 16mm, a beautiful double.

Epsilon Hydrae (STF1273)16mm Nagler T5: AB-C split, a very beautiful double. AB not split (sep. 0.1″ WDS2023.3), D not visible, E is 1/4 FoV to the north, F is 1/4 FoV to the west.A is bright golden-yellow, B is white, clearly contrasting. E and F are both pale white.9mm Nagler T6: Using this magnification and AV D is visible in the glow of AB-C.

At ten ‘o clock, just as astronomical twilight ended, I shifted my focus to the deep sky. Leftover galaxies and galaxy groups in CSOG’s 12-14″ guides for the constellation of Lynx. The constellation was post-transit, but plenty high in elevation and steering clear from the substantial pillar of zodiacal light that was clearly making an attempt to kiss the zenith.

First of the prettier ones worth reporting was NGC2326, sharing the FoV with NGC2326A to the southeast.

NGC2326Sharing the FoV with NGC2326A, 1/6 FoV to the SE: Larger and brighter than NGC236A is, a round glow, without AV suddenly brighter in a very small, round core, no nucleus visible. With AV the galaxy overall is slightly larger but the core remains identical in size (small), no arms are discernible. With AV the nucleus is faintly visible.

NGC2326ASharing the FoV with NGC2326 1/6 FoV to the NW: A faint, round glow, even in brightness without AV, with AV gradually brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.

The triple KTG 19 revealed all three of its members and as a bonus, the components of nearby double star STT180 were an easy split. KTG 19 component C’s ‘plus one’ PGC21818 remained out of sight.

MCG+10-11-136MCG+10-11-136 (KTG 19A) is a faint, ENE-WSW elongated glow, gradually brighter in the middel, with AV slightly larger and quite suddenly subtly brighter in the middle. With AV the nucleus sometimes seems to jump into view but can not be held.1/4 FoV to the ENE is MCG+10-11-137 (KTG 19B).

MCG+10-11-137MCG+10-11-137 (KTG 19B) is an ENE-WSW elongated streak, slightly fainter than MCG+10-11-136 (KTG 19A) 1/4 FoV to the WSW, even in brightness without AV. With AV gradually brighter in the middle, no core and no nucleus visible.To the NNW is a mag. 11.5 star, 1/5 FoV to the east is the galaxy MCG+10-11-142 (KTG 19C).

MCG+10-11-142MCG+10-11-142 (KTG 19C) is a NNE-SSW elongated streak, larger than MCG+10-11-137 (KTG 19B) is, 1/5 FoV to the west. Without AV subtly brighter in the middle, with AV gradually brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible. PGC21818 is not visible.Directly SSW is a mag. 14.5 star. To the NE is the double star STT180.

STT180 (WDS07485+5905)Sharing the FoV with the galaxy MCG+10-11-142 (KTG 19C) to the SW: A white mag. 8.5 star with a mag. 12 star to its SSW, ±200°/12″. AB split.Farther to the NW, ±310°/70″ is a mag. 10.5 star (not a component of this double).

NGC2468’s ‘plus one’ PGC200240 did not play hide.

NGC2468 is a NE-SW elongated glow, without AV quite suddenly brighter in the middle. With AV the galaxy is more elongated and more of the fainter outer regions is visible. No nucleus visible.PGC200240 to the SSW is visible with AV, a small, faint, round glow, easily held. No nucleus visible.To the WNW is a mag. 12 star, twice that distance towards the south is a mag. 13.5 star, the faint galaxy 2MASX J07575887+5619545 NW thereof is not visible.1/6 FoV to the SSW are a mag. 12 (NE) and a mag. 13.5 (SW) star aligned NE to SW, ±230°/6″ (not a double star in WDS).

A definite recommendation in Lynx is the pair Vorontsov-Vel’yaminov 1209, formed by the galaxies MCG+09-13-102 & MCG+09-13-101. It also goes by KPG 151. Although very, very faint, I found the pair quite spectacular due to the very elongated northwestern of the two.

The image below is from the KPG edition (KPG for Karachentsev Isolated Pairs of Galaxies) that will be part of CSOG 3.0.

Very faint, but both galaxies are visible, a very nice pair.The SE galaxy MCG+09-13-101 (KPG 151B) is brighter, a NNE-SSW elongated glow, gradually brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.The NW galaxy MCG+09-13-102 (KPG 151) is a clearly NNE-SSW extremely elongated streak, without AV at the limit of visibility, with AV brighter in a small core that is slightly elongated in the same direction.The NW galaxy MCG+09-13-102 points just SW of the SE galaxy MCG+09-13-101.

Northwest of VV’ 1209 I observed MCG+09-13-091, sporting an offset core that is surrounded by the much fainter outer regions of the galaxy. This object is another addition to CSOG 3.0, not present in the current edition.

An ENE-WSW elongated, oval glow, without AV gradually brighter in the middle. With AV more suddenly brighter in the are core that is slightly elongated in the same direction and is just SE of the middle. With AV, to the NW, WSW and ENE more of the glow of the galaxy is faintly visible.To the SSE is a mag. 12.5 star.

The pair KPG 180 attempted to hide its double nature and partially succeeded in doing so. While I was unable to distinguish individual galaxies, using AV and a bit of patience I was able to determine it indeed consists of two.

Individual galaxies are not distinguishable but it is clear that these are 2 galaxies.Without AV a round glow that is quite suddenly brighter in the middle, without AV a nucleus is visible.With AV slightly elongated north to south, thereby betraying there are two galaxies but individual galaxies are not discernible with AV, either. With AV it appears that the nucleus, that was visible without AV, too, is the nucleus of the southern galaxy, with regards to the overall glow it is just a tad SW of the middle. The glow NE of the nucleus is slightly elongated NW to SE with AV.

I was not able to make out the two galaxies that flank NGC2270 and that together form Holmberg 111C: the group of which the NGC galaxy carries the primary designation. Member B was visible, but that’s just a star.

A – NGC2770 is a large, clearly elongated NW-SE, irregular glow, brighter in a clearly offset, large, NW-SE elongated core that is almost the size of the whole galaxy and that is SE of the middle. With AV the galaxy is clearly irregular and the brighter core is brightest in the center. The galaxy as a whole is more gradually fainter towards the NW than it is towards the SE. A nice galaxy.To the WNW is the star 4UCAC616-045262 that is Holmberg 111B. The two galaxies that form Holmberg 111C (NGC2270B) are not visible.

By now, the SQM was back where it belongs: > 21.5.

After a break, a wing and a sweet I returned to Leo Minor to pick up where I left the night before. 9 More observation to call the CSOG 12-14″ galaxy guides quits for the constellation. Nothing spectacular, though, only two that I rated a 4 (out of 10).

An oval, NNE-SSW elongated glow, gradually much brighter in the middle with a bright nucleus that is clearly visible without AV. With AV the galaxy as a whole is slightly larger and the core is slightly larger, too.

Both galaxies are visible, aligned ENE to WSW.The ENE galaxy B – MCG+07-22-043 is a round glow, gradually brighter in the middle, with AV the nucleus is visible.The WSW galaxy A – MCG+07-22-042 is a NE-SW elongated streak, slightly fainter than the NE galaxy B – MCG+07-22-043 is, even in brightness without AV, with AV gradually brighter in the middle. No nucleus visible.1/4 FoV to the NW is the galaxy MCG+07-22-039 (PGC31733).

No break following the cub, only a quick repositioning to the north side of the scope to target unobserved galaxies in CSOG’s 12-14″ Gx-5 guide for UMa.

As this group of objects was north of the zenith, I used the MV guide to have the images match the view in my eyepiece; images below are unmirrored.

The first observation in the Great Bear turned out to be one of the better ones for the constellation this night. NGC3759A not only showed its neighbor PGC213861, but revealed an offset core.

The NNE galaxy NGC3759A is a round glow, with AV gradually brighter in the middle, with AV more suddenly brighter in a notably offset, brighter core that is slightly towards the west. To the NNE is a mag. 14 star.The SSW galaxy PGC213861 is visible with AV, a SW-NE elongated streak, without AV at the limit of visibility, well held with AV, even in brightness, no detail visible.

Even better than NGC3759A was NGC3780. Larger than the galaxies that went before it and in which, although faint, spiral structure was unmistakably perceivable.

A relatively large, irregular, round glow. Even without AV clearly irregular and gradually brighter in the middle. With AV more irregular and overall more even in brightness. With AV the faint nucleus is visible. Clearly irregular structure and a hint of spiral arms is discernible that, on the northern side, rotate towards the east and, on the southern side, towards the west. A nice galaxy despite it not being a very bright galaxy.1/2 FoV to the ESE is NGC3804.

NGC3804 that flanks it to the east-southeast wasn’t half bad, either.

An ESE-WNW elongated glow, with AV subtly irregular and gradually brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible. On the WNW edge is a mag. 11.5 star (4UCAC732-050729). The knot SE of the middle is not visible.1/2 FoV to the WNW is NGC3780.

Nearing the end of the session, clouds were approaching from the south. Nothing to cut this observing run short and I was able to continue until Moonrise.

Second to last observation of the night was the pair Holmberg 294, formed by NGC3894 & NGC3895. MCG+10-17-075 directly to the west, although only visible with use of averted vision, wrapped up the night.

Both galaxies are visible, aligned ENE to WSW.The ENE galaxy B – MCG+07-22-043 is a round glow, gradually brighter in the middle, with AV the nucleus is visible.The WSW galaxy A – MCG+07-22-042 is a NE-SW elongated streak, slightly fainter than the NE galaxy B – MCG+07-22-043 is, even in brightness without AV, with AV gradually brighter in the middle. No nucleus visible.1/4 FoV to the NW is the galaxy MCG+07-22-039 (PGC31733).

Back in after a good session. Observed until Moonrise. STF Doubles in Hydra for starters, followed by galaxies in Lynx, Leo Minor & Ursa Major. Lots of faint, ‘leftover’ galaxies that are included in #CSOG but that I had yet to observe (or observe from a dark site).#astrotrip— Clear Skies – visual astronomy 🔭 (@clearskies_eu) April 9, 2023

At 0:30 hours, it was still quite “early”, so I retreated to the gîte but left the scope uncovered and the camera clicking to see if the Moonlight would provide for a decent image. The clouds kept coming however. It was clearly going to be a battle of the forecasts in the days and nights ahead.

Observations

16 double stars59 galaxies & galaxy groupsTotal: 75 observationsFirst time observations: 64 objects

Details of the objects observed in this session are in the table below.

click here for my observing log

to top of table