05/03/24
Location: Anza desert site,
Bortle 4.0.
Equipment: Celestron 9.25” Edge HD
SCT on SkyTee 2 manual AltAz mount.
EPs:
Pentax XW 10mm, 70 deg (235x, 1.0mm exit pupil, 0.30 deg TFV)
Pentax XW 14mm, 70 deg (168x, 1.4mm exit pupil, 0.42 deg TFV)
Pentax XW 20mm, 70 deg (118x, 2.0 mm exit pupil, 0.6 deg TFV)
For the last few weeks, I have been waiting for an opportunity to revisit my Anza desert site. Forecast for Friday night called for clear skies, but with ~90% humidity and high chance of fog developing after midnight. Far from ideal. Still, it was a clear night on the new Moon, so I decide to go. After over six months of bad weather, it was nice to finally come back.
Out of practice it took me longer to set the camp and deploy the astro equipment. At least I did not forget anything at home.
Finally, all was in place, and I had time to relax having dinner and watching desert sunset. After sunset it was still over an hour until astronomical darkness, and I decided to take a nap to rejuvenate myself.
At half past nine I woke up and was not impressed by sky. At first glance it looked almost as bad as at home, grayish and lacking faint stars. Upon closer examination I realized that no, there were more stars visible than from home, but it was far from the best I have seen at Anza. On top of that, everything was wet with heavy dew and the fog was forming in the valley below.
Still, the scopes and finders were well-protected from dew, and I proceeded with galaxy hunt. Ursa Major was at the highest position and became hunting grounds for the evening.
First galaxy went easier than expected. Second was also resolved without too much struggle. I broke from the
EP, looked at the sky, and realized that I don’t see the Riverside light dome below Ursa Major. On a typical summer night, it is the worst. I looked around and the other light domes disappeared to. Approaching low clouds hid them all. Excellent! I went back to the galaxies with even more vigor. The fun lasted for two hours, but eventually the clouds closed in around midnight and all-stars disappeared.
It turned out to be a very enjoyable session. Between the targets I looked at the starry sky and watched Lyra, Hercules, Ophiuchus, and Scorpio rising. Summer is coming.
Here is my haul for the evening.
URSA MAJOR GALAXIES
NGC 2870 (mag 13.0, size 2.5’ x 0.6’, SB 13.4) – faint narrow AV lens (118x, 168x).
NGC 3043 (mag 12.6, size 1.7’ x 0.6’, SB 12.5) – faint AV glow at 118x, small AV lens with brighter central area at 168x.
NGC 3063 – not a galaxy, listed as two stars. However, looks like small, faint, unresolved spot. Not surprising it was cataloged by William Herschel as
DSO (168x, 235x).
NGC 3102 (mag 13.3, size 0.8’ x 0.8’, SB 12.6) – small round spot with AV next to a 13.6 mag star (168x, 235x).
NGC 3182 (mag 12.1, size 1.8’ x 1.5’, SB 13.1) – relatively bright disk with compact core (118x).
NGC 3188 (mag 13.7, size 48" x 36", SB 12.6) – extremely faint small round spot with AV (168x).
NGC 3191 (aka
NGC 3192, mag 13.3, size 48" x 36", SB 12.2) – small faint elongated oval (118x).
NGC 3202 (mag 13.2, size 1.2’ x 0.8’, SB 13.1),
NGC 3205 (mag 13.2, size 1.4’ x 1.1’, SB 13.5) and
NGC 3207 (mag 13.2, size 1.3’ x 0.8’, SB 13.1) – three small AV spots in the same
FOV (168x).
NGC 3206 (mag 11.9, size 3.0’ x 1.9’, SB 13.6) – larger faint AV oval (118x).
NGC 3220 (mag 13.0, size 1.7’ x 0.6’, SB 12.9) – small faint oval with AV (168x).
NGC 3237 (mag 13.0, size 1.3’ x 1.3’, SB 13.4) – small rod spot with AV (118x).
NGC 3238 (mag 12.9, size 1.4’ x 1.3’, SB 13.4) - small faint spot with AV (118x).
NGC 3259 (mag 12.1, size 2.2’ x 1.2’, SB 13.0) – faint elongated oval (118x).
NGC 3266 (mag 12.4, size 1.5’ x 1.3’, SB 13.1) – small faint disk with stellar core (168x).
