Back to stargazing... Part 3 / 4

Continued...


Perseus double cluster: with apo 24mm @ 24x, both in the view.. these dont seem as impressive as m46-47 pairs.. both of them almost look same.

M36,M37,M38 in Auriga: Apo with 24mm @24x.. single OC seemed bigger than the double cluster itself.. Outside one, i.e. m37, seemed much more beautiful with compressed salt-paper style.

NGC1893 OC, IC-410 object just below m38, next to vertical star alignment: 16" with 20mm @ 103x, simple open star cluster with lil nebulosity lurking around.. but nebulosity is not that prominent.. probably need to see it thru filter.. Jon have shown me this object before, but looks like i never documented it. interestingly, the description of this objects points to another IC object 405 i.e. Flaming Star Nebula, which is just on the opposite side of the vertical star alignment.. it is more prominent and famous.. need to watch it next time..

M1 Crab nebula: Apo @ 24mm @ 22x. I have seen crab so many times and i know its locatino precisly, but just want able to see it at 22x. I was expecting lil fuzzy ball.. but turned out that at 22x this one is very difficult object to observe. Jon was also lil surprised. it was very tiny and very faint fuzzy at this view.. this sort of gives perspective on how fiant and lil these objects are.. we are just exposed to bigger scopes showing these objects much bigger and brighter..

M81-M82: From apo @ 22x can see the bright fuzzy and bright streak objects in the same view.. can not miss it, while browsing.. alsmot as bright as background stars. m81 the elongated one seems brighter.. Later observed with 16" @ 20mm @ 103x.. it looks much better..

Two other ngcs 3077-2976 in the same vicinity.. they definitely seemed smaller and fainter.. but surprisingly, one looks like m82 i.e. elongated shape one, while another one seems elliptical, like m81.. though they are not..

Jon showed yet another ngc 2787 in the vicinity: (New) yet another fuzzy, but much smaller than above ngcs.

Mizar: The triplet system visible from apo @ 22x. Alcor lil far away than Mizar A-B. All white blue..

Leo M65-M66-3628 galaxies: From the 16", seeing wasnt that great so not very clear.. Same one from apo-24mm@22x looks good as well.. ngc not visible in that view.. but cant miss 65-66 pair.. also, from apo this pair seemed fainter than m81-82 pair.

Tried m95-96 triplet from apo, but seemed very hard.. wasn't able to get clear view in apo.. its surprising..

Jon showed yet another triplet in similar area as m65-66.. betn theta and delta leonis. NGC 3607-3608 tiny fuzzies..

Mars - observed multiple times... best view was thru 16" @ 20mm @ 103x at late night, when mars was 45deg west. The dark areas visible clearly.. mainly two dark areas.. one on northen side.. other one on south.. view improved over the period..

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Fuzzies Everywhere - III

Continued..

During this time, I started with Leo fuzzies. With low mag 35 pan @ 35x can clearly see 2903. Its indeed small but still bright.

Leo Triplet 3193 ben Gamma and ?? star.

Leo Gamma doublet, Again i looked at wrong location (inside the sickle) on this one. Its outside the sickle towards the body. Its on eastern side of Gamma Leo. Can easily see it thru my 10" scope 17T4 combo.

While looking for M95-M96-M105 triplet, i accidentally ended up at k-leo galaxies. They seem lil different than what i have seen thru Jon's scope.. two of them were really bright (i.e. 3367 and 3377), didn't see any other.. Again after relocating I got 95-96-105 triplet.. triplet within 105 was also visible. and thru that was able to move to k-leo gals also.

When moved to M65-M66-3628 combo, M95 triplet is definitely separated more than m65 triplet.. my expectations from m65 were really high being brighter, but din't get any impressive view thru my scope 17T4 70x. Mentioned it to Jon, if seeing/transparency is okay.

Checked for 3607. In 17T4 @ 70x can clearly see 3607-3608 pair. 3605 was also not clearly visible.. required lil higher mags. I believe I also looked at 3599 (New) nearby, thru jon's and my scope.

Jon was tired of fuzzies, so he moved to Saggi and Scorpio, while i continued my fuzzy hunt with Ursa Major.

Started hunting fuzzies in UMa systematically star-by-star.

From Alpha UMa - 1st star - Dubhe:
M81-M82 - indeed marvelous with low mags and high mags. With 17T4 @ 35x can also clearly see two nearby ngc objects. M81 being at center, M82, ngc3077 (new) and ngc 2976 (new) forms perfect Y shape prongs. 3077 is way smaller than 2976. Infact data sheet shows that, though smaller, 3077 is a magnitude brighter than 2976.

Near Beta UMa - second star - Merak:
M97-M108 - Fits in same view (17T4 ??) M97 brighter and more bluish than m108.. m108 seemed to be edge-on type. Nearby NGC 3631 (New) is also an easy catch. Moving from 108-97 in direct straight line or from finder to a nearby bright star HR 4363 helps.

Near Gamma UMa - third star :
M109: don't remember much..seems like it has bright core (??).. missed the nearby ngc object.

M106 - Opposite to alignment of M81-82-Alpha-Gamma stars, lies 106 towards CVn. Observed ngc 4490 near Alpha Cvn. Dont remember much. switched to M106, which is at exact center of Alpha Cvn and Gamma UMa. seems visible thru finder.. M106 seems to have brighter core.. nearby satellite ngc object clearly visible thru jon's scope.. must be 4217 (New) (or 4248 ??)... hardly visible in my 10" scope 17T4 @ 70x..requires more magnification.

Had a quick glance at M63 and M94. just saw so many galaxies that don't even remember much in t details.. need to spend some time on these objects with higher mags.

M51 whirlpool: marvelous view of the pair. Can clearly see the spiral lanes. More time i spend on this one, more details pop up in the eye. In M51 seemes like brighter star-like spot on the spiral arm. NGC-M51-Brighter star like spot. Need to read more abt this one. ???

M101 : closer to 7th UMa star. M51 is on southern-easter side of this tar, while this one is on northen easter side. almost at the same distance. don't remember much.. just too many fuzzies for one night. It needs to be observed with high mag ???

Continued..