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27 April – blog 2 of 2

April in the Ardennes. Historically, prime time for an astrotrip. This week however, clouds prevented observations for all but two nights. But speaking of history: this region has plenty to offer.

About 25 clicks to the east is the town of Verdun. The longest battle of the Great War was fought north of the city. The countryside, to this day, remains heavily scarred by the fighting. There are areas where the land is effectively pockmarked with craters. Undulated by the horrors of war. A stark contrast to the surrounding fields that, this time of year, are colored beautifully bright yellow with rapeseed flowers.

Well worth a visit is the Mémorial de Verdun museum. Nearby is the Douamont Ossuary that contains the remains of approximately 130,000 unidentified combatants. Outside are 16,142 graves of fallen soldiers who are known, on the Fleury-devant-Douaumont National Necropolis. The sight of this incredible waste of human lives is one to behold.

The night of the 27th was the second one of this trip with clear skies. Transparency was better than it was in the night of the 25th and the seeing was quite good. This session was to be an all-nighter.

My plan for the night was STF doubles in Leo for starters, followed by galaxies until morning astronomical twilight. At least two observing guides in Coma, then on to the constellations of the early morning skies of spring.

Double stars STF1529, Iota Leonis (STF1536) and 90 Leonis (STF1552) were favorites. Colors ranged from yellow to orange and blue.

STF1529AB split. A beautiful double.A is bright white-yellow, B is yellow, the hue of B is not very deep but it is clearly deeper than that of A.Iota LeonisABC split, AB is just split, C is very wide, 1/5 FoV to the NNW. A beautiful double.A is bright white, B is yellow, C is faint and orange, a distinct color of C.Closer than C, NNE of AB, 2/5 the separation of AB-C, is a mag. 13.5 star.90 LeonisABC split. A beautiful double.A is bright white, B is light blue, a distinct light blue hue of B and clearly contrasting with A, C is wide and is pale white.

The first deep sky guide of the night was Coma’s 12-14″ Gx-1, 23 galaxies in the northwestern corner of the constellation.

More than half of the galaxies in this observing guide were above average observations, meaning that I could discern more than just a fuzzy glow. Of these, NGC4134, NGC4136, NGC4150, NGC4162, Hickson 61 – “the Box” and NGC4203 were the prettiest. Also, there was some interesting detail near NGC4104.

Observing NGC4104, I described the smaller and fainter galaxy MCG+05-29-015 (PGC38387) to the southwest and, to the north thereof, two magnitude 14.5 stars aligned west to east. Working out the observation, I found that the eastern of these “stars” is in fact a galaxy: PGC38403. Perhaps it’s its small size and bright nucleus that makes it appear stellar..? The images below are a 10′ POSS2 Blue and 10′ SDSS, centered on PGC38403.

NGC4104 is quite a large (larger than the galaxies that I observed earlier tonight), NNE-SSW elongated glow, quite suddenly brighter in a core that is slightly elongated in the same direction with quite a bright nucleus that is visible without AV. With AV the core is more elongated and more of the faint outer regions of the galaxy is visible.To the SSW are two mag. 14.5 star aligned east to west with, to their south, a small, faint, round glow, even in brightness, with AV the nucleus is faintly visible (galaxy MCG+05-29-015 / PGC38387).At the time of this observation I did not notice that the eastern mag. 14.5 “star” is the galaxy PGC38403. Perhaps a very bright nucleus..?

Just over a degree to the north-northeast is a row of three galaxies in which NGC4134 is the brightest southwestern one. With averted vision it was subtly irregular. NGC4136 that followed appeared a bit irregular, too and NGC4150 was suddenly brighter in a core.

NGC4134The SSE galaxy in a row of 3 galaxies with NGC4132 and NGC4131 to the NNW: A NNW-SSE elongated glow, larger and brighter than NGC4132 and NGC4131 are, quite suddenly brighter in a core that is slightly elongated in the same direction. With AV the faint outer regions of the galaxies are slightly clearer and the core is more elongated and subtly irregular. No nucleus visible.NGC4136Quite a large, irregular, round glow, gradually brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible. With AV slightly more suddenly brighter in a round core, especially the core is irregular. The outer regions of the galaxy are fainter but are also irregular, a subtle hint of spiral structure but no arms are visible. On the SE edge is a mag. 14 star (4UCAC600-050266). A nice galaxy.NGC4150Quite a bright, NW-SE elongated streak, quite suddenly brighter in a core that is elongated in the same direction with a very bright nucleus that is clearly visible without AV. With AV the fainter outer regions of the galaxy clearly stretch out towards the NNW and the SSE, which is notable. A nice galaxy.1/4 FoV to the west is bright white mag. 9.5 star (SAO62870).

NGC4162 is in the same league with the previous galaxies. It too had an irregular appearance and like NGC4136 has a superimposed star to pick out.

A north-south elongated glow, with AV clearly irregular, centrally brighter in a core that is slightly elongated in the same direction. With AV the core is more elongated and especially the core is irregular. No nucleus visible. With AV, to the SE of the middle on the eastern edge of the core, a mag. 14 star is visible (4UCAC571-049868). A nice galaxy.

The galaxy group knows as “the Box” is the only Hickson in the galaxy-stuffed constellation that is Coma Berenices. But it’s one worth visiting even with smaller apertures. It carries many designations. As a group, it is also known as Rose 10 and VV’ 1512 and as such it is part of the galaxy cluster WBL 385 that includes MCG+05-29-030 (PGC38832) about 12 minutes of arc to the west-southwest. Hickson components A, B & C are KTG 42, B & C are Holmberg 346, D is Markarian 761. All four are Herschel galaxies. As noted by Paul Hickson, the group is in fact a triple, as the redshift of NGC4173 differs significantly from the other members.

All four galaxies are visible, a nice view.A – NGC4169 is a NNW-SSE elongated glow, quite suddenly brighter in a relatively small core that is elongated in the same direction with a bright nucleus that is clearly visible without AV.B – NGC4173 is a faint but clearly NE-SW extremely elongated streak, with AV brightest in the NW part.C – NGC4175 is in line with B – NGC4173, a NW-SE elongated glow, with AV more elongated and with AV a faint central bulge is discernible that is slightly elongated in the same direction (almost round). No nucleus visible.D – NGC4174 is a NE-SW elongated glow, the smallest galaxy of the group, brighter than C – NGC4175 is but fainter than A – NGC4169 is, quite suddenly brighter in a core that is elongated in the same direction, without AV the bright nucleus is visible.

The final galaxy in this guide for Coma Berenices was NGC4203. It is pretty bright and its very bright nucleus clearly jumps out.

A round glow, quite large and pretty bright with a small, brighter, round core and a very bright nucleus that is clearly visible without AV. With AV the outer halo of the galaxy clearly brightens. A nice galaxy. On the WNW edge is a mag. 14.5 star (4UCAC617-048480). The faint star on the SW edge is not visible.To the NNW is a bright white mag. 8 star (SAO62912).

Before continuing the session with a second guide for Coma galaxies, I stopped by the galaxy MCG+06-30-008 (PGC46969) in Canum that I had selected as my Object of the Week for Deep Sky Forum in May 2021. The details of this galaxy are beyond my aperture, but I wanted to find out if anything could be glimpsed at all. I could discern a slightly north-south elongated glow that was not very small, but I could only do so with use of averted vision.

A break, a beverage and back to Coma for the galaxies in the Gx-2 guide. Again plenty of pretty ones.

A very faint but extremely elongated, and therefor special galaxy, is MCG+04-29-060 (PGC39432). So thin I found the description “streak” not fitting: it truly is a line.

A very faint but clearly extremely elongated line (can’t call it a streak), even in brightness, at the limit of visibility without AV. With AV subtly brighter west of the middle in a central part that is elongated in the same direction.To the east, in line with the galaxy, is a mag. 13.5 star.

NGC4274 is a large, bright and beautiful galaxy that in my scope gave away a hint of its central ring.

A large, quite bright, east-west elongated glow, centrally irregular with a bright nucleus that visible without AV. With AV the galaxy is more elongated and quite suddenly brighter in a round part than contains an even smaller, round part. The first brighter part is suspected to be the central ring of the galaxy, even though the ring is not recognisable as such. The outer halo of the galaxy is slightly brighter on the west side and is quite suddenly fainter on the east side. A beautiful galaxy.

The pair of elliptical galaxies NGC4278 & NGC4283 that is Holmberg 369 shares the field of view with the much fainter galaxy NGC4286 to the northeast.

Both galaxies are visible, simultaneously with the galaxy NGC4286 to the ENE.The SW galaxy A – NGC4278 is much larger and brighter than the NE galaxy B – NGC4283, a NNW-SSE elongated, oval glow, quite suddenly brighter in a round core with a very bright nucleus that is clearly visible without AV. With AV the galaxy is slightly larger and more of the outer halo is visible.The ENE galaxy B – NGC4283 is a round glow, centrally brighter in small round core that is discernible without AV and with a bright nucleus that is clearly visible without AV. With AV the core is larger and the outer halo of the galaxy is slightly elongated north to south.To the NE is the galaxy NGC4286.

Three quarters of a degree further northeast is NGC4314 – “Benedict’s Galaxy”. The prominent bright bulge and bar make it a beauty, even when the faint arms stay out of reach.

A NW-SE elongated galaxy, suddenly brighter in a relatively large, round central bulge with quite a bright nucleus that is visible without AV. The central bulge is just to the SE of the middle, the elongated central bar of the galaxy stretches slight more to the NW than it does towards the SE. The faint arms are not visible. A nice galaxy.On the SE edge, directly east of the elongated bar, is a mag. 13 star (4UCAC600-050472).Directly NNW is a mag. 12 star, 1/2 FoV to the NW is the galaxy NGC4308.

A completely different shape, but equally nice, is NGC4414. Averted vision revealed ragged structure and the galaxy’s bright nucleus, together with a superimposed magnitude 14 star, mimicked a double star.

Quite a large and very bright, NNW-SSE elongated glow, gradually brighter in the middle with a very bright nucleus that is clearly visible without AV. A mag. 14 star superimposed star (4UCAC607-047402) is to the SSW of the nucleus, that star together with the nucleus resembles a double star. With AV the galaxy is larger, more elongated, slightly wider ENE to WSW and clearly irregular, ragged structure. No core is discernible. A nice galaxy.

IC3376 is small and faint. Its faint arms are not visible, but it does have a bright nucleus. What made it a worthwhile visit, was nearby double star STF1643 and bright white 16 Comae Berenices to the southwest. The deep yellow color of the double’s secondary was notable.

IC3376A small, faint, round patch, even in brightness with quite a bright nucleus that is visible without AV. With AV the galaxy is gradually brighter in a round core. The extremely faint arms are not visible.1/2 FoV to the SW is the bright white mag. 5 star 16 Comae Berenices, 1/4 FoV to the WNW is the double star STF1643.STF1643Sharing the FoV with the galaxy IC3376, 1/4 FoV to the ESE and with the bright white mag. 5 star 16 Comae Berenices to the SSW: A white mag. 8.5 star with a yellow mag. 9 star to its north, ±358°/4″. A distinctly deep color of the secondary star and clearly contrasting. Wide component C not observed but not searched for either. A beautiful double.To the ENE, ±070°/70″ is a mag. 12.5 star, to the west, ±265°65″ is a mag. 14 star, these stars are not components of the double.

Among the final galaxies in Coma in this session was NGC4448. Its outer regions appeared brighter to the west of the middle than they did to the east and its bright nucleus was easily observed without use of averted vision.

Quite a large and pretty bright east-west elongated streak, quite suddenly brighter in a round core with a bright nucleus that is visible without AV. With AV the outer regions of the galaxies extend more. The outer regions of the galaxy are brightest to the west of the middle, the galaxy is more suddenly fainter east of the middle. A nice galaxy.

2 1/2 hours into the session and already over 70 observations logged, I paused for half an hour before heading to Boötes. A constellation that, at this latitude, can only be decently swept during early mornings in spring.

Perhaps the nicest deep sky object in the Herdsman, definitely the prettiest I observed in this session, is the galaxy NGC5248. It’s large and bright and reveals quite a lot of detail. I am surprised it never earned a nickname. This sessions I logged my sixth observations for it, but only my first one from a location with dark skies. The image below is from CSOG’s Herschel edition.

Quite a large, pretty bright, NW-SE elongated glow, without AV subtly irregular and flattened on the NE side on a line from NW to SE. Centrally suddenly brighter in a small round core with a bright nucleus that is visible without AV. The galaxy is slightly bulging and gradually fainter on the SW side, on the NE side it is more suddenly fainter. With AV the central, fainter part of the galaxy surrounding the core is clearly irregular. With AV the kink in the western arm of the galaxy is visible, curving towards the north, the galaxy is abruptly fainter to the east of the kink, the southern part of the eastern arm is not visible. Using AV the star 4UCAC495-059363 on the northern edge is at the limit of visibility, approximately mag. 15. A very nice galaxy.

Many of the galaxies that followed in Boötes were small and faint, not revealing much detail. Holmberg 575 a.k.a. KPG 410 and Holmberg 582 (= Holmberg 584) were better.

Both galaxies are visible.The SW galaxy A – NGC5434A is a faint, round glow, gradually brighter in the middle, with AV slightly larger, no nucleus visible.The NE galaxy B – NGC5434B is only visible with AV, a clearly NE-SW elongated streak of even brightness, no nucleus visible.To the south is a mag. 10.5 star.

Both galaxies are visible.The SW galaxy A – NGC5436A is a NE-SW elongated streak, suddenly brighter in quite a large core that is elongated in the same direction, the nucleus is just visible without AV.The NE galaxy B – NGC5463B is only visible with AV, is in line with A – NGC5463A, a small, notably faint, round patch, even in brightness, no detail visible.

The final hour of the session was dedicated to leftover galaxies in my guides for the constellations of Serpens (Caput) and Corona Borealis. In the Snake’s Head, Holmberg 726 was nice. The larger galaxy appeared subtly irregular with use of averted vision.

Both galaxies are visible.The WNW galaxy A – NGC6008 is larger and brighter than the ESE galaxy B – NGC6008B is, a slightly east-west elongated glow, without AV gradually brighter in the middle, with AV slightly larger, subtly irregular (which is notable) and slightly more suddenly brighter in the middle, no nucleus visible.The ESE galaxy B – NGC6008B is a small, faint, round glow, without AV even in brightness. With AV slightly elongated north to south and gradually brighter in the middle. With AV the nucleus is faintly visible.

Equally pleasing was Holmberg 742 in Corona. Although the larger galaxy did appear irregular, its arms were not discernible even when using averted vision.

Both galaxies are visible.The NW galaxy A – NGC6131 is larger and brighter than the SE galaxy B – NGC6131 is, a north-south elongated glow, without AV irregular but no arms are discernible, with AV slightly larger and brightest to the west of the middle in a small, north-south elongated part, no arms discernible.The SE galaxy B – NGC6131B is only visible with AV, a small, NE-SW elongated streak, even in brightness, no detail visible.

Final object of the session and with that the final observation for this trip, was the planetary nebula Shane 1 in Serpens (Caput). I observed it before, using my 12″ SCT in the Alps, but that was back in 2009. Revisiting this planetary in the Snake’s head, this time it appeared just not stellar to me when using a lower magnification, both unfiltered with averted vision and with use of a UHC filter. With use of an OIII filter and a higher magnification, it did remain stellar. Reading back my observation from 2009, surprisingly, back then the exact opposite happened: the nebula was stellar at a lower magnification but just not stellar at a higher one.

17mm Nagler T4: Stellar unfiltered and without AV, resembles a mag. 12.5 star. With AV just not stellar, a very small sphere.17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon UHC: Using this filter the nebula is stellar without AV, as bright as the unfiltered view and a bright as the mag. 11 star 4UCAC449-061193 to the west that faints slightly with use of this filter. Using AV the nebula is just not stellar.17mm Nagler T4, Lumicon OIII: Using this filter the nebula is clearly brighter than the star to the west is.17mm Nagler T4, Hydrogen-Beta: Using this filter the nebula is at the limit of visibility.9mm Nagler T6 / 9mm Nagler T6 Lumicon UHC/OIII : Using this magnification, bother filtered and unfiltered and with or without AV, the nebula is stellar.

The time that remained before morning astronomical twilight was spent giving astrobuddy Dick van Kleef a visual tour of the heavens. The brightest globulars of spring and some showpiece nebulae. Simultaneously, his gear was grabbing the final frames for what would become a more than decent M101.

As the skies brightened I copied the night’s observation recordings from my memo recorder. Despite it having been only two nights under the stars this trip, it was time well spent.

We will be back soon.

Observations

21 double stars1 planetary nebula104 galaxies & galaxy groupsTotal: 126 observationsFirst time observations: 104 objects

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

click here for my observing log

to top of table

Observations astrotrip Grand Est, spring 2022

Object tally for two nights under the stars this astrotrip: 210 observations, 185 of them first time observations.

28 double stars1 planetary nebulae181 galaxies and galaxy groups