10/06/2023
Location: Anza desert site,
Bortle 4.0.
Equipment: Celestron 9.25” Edge HD
SCT on
SW 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)
Fall is here but it did not feel like that last weekend. We had a heat wave and I have arrived at the Anza desert on Friday to summer weather. It did not last long though. The sunset was around 18:30 and the temperature dropped rapidly, so by the onset of astronomical darkness I was already bundled in all autumn layers.
.
19:50. PEGASUS GALAXIES
Pegasus square was dominating eastern, the darkest portion of the sky and was a natural choice to start galaxy hunting.
NGC 7375 (mag 13.7, size 48" x 36", SB 12.6) – faint oval with brighter central area (118x).
During my previous Pegasus session three weeks ago, I have found by chance and enjoyed the group of galaxies called Stephan’s Quintet. This time it did not took long for me to stumble on another fine group of five galaxies which is referred on the internet as
NGC 7385 GROUP (all observed at 168x)
It is dominated by two larger, brighter (in relative terms) galaxies,
NGC 7385 (mag 13.2, size 1.8' x 1.2', SB 13.3) and
NGC 7386 (mag 12.3, size 1.8’ x 1.1’, SB 12.8).
NGC 7383 (mag 13.7, size 48" x 42", SB 12.8) on the left from the main pair was fainter and smaller, but the round shape was obvious.
NGC 7387 (mag 14.0, size 42" x 24", SB 12.4) and
NGC 7389 (mag 13.9, size 1.4' x 54", SB 13.9) below
NGC 7385 and
NGC 7386 were too faint to define the shape, but subtle glow was definitely there.
Interestingly, I have observed
NGC 7385 and
NGC 7386 in the past with 8”
SCT. Both were AV targets, and the other three members of the group were not resolved. So, while increase in the
aperture from 8” to 9.25” is modest, it does make a difference on faint targets. Peeling another layer of galaxies as Alan would say.
The optics of the Edge 9.25” is also noticeably sharper than of plain 8”
SCT, which contributes to.
Moving to the next target.
NGC 7411 (mag 13.4, size 54" x 54", SB 12.9) – small faint round spot (168x).
NGC 7415 (aka
NGC 7415-1, mag 15.0, size 1.1' x 12", SB 13.1) – very faint, small, narrow shape in the same
FOV with
NGC 7411 (168x, 235x).
NGC 7420 (mag 13.9, size 48" x 36", SB 12.8) – extremely faint round spot, detected with AV by moving
EP (168x).
NGC 7433 (mag 14.0, size 42" x 12", SB 11.6) – FAIL.
After about an hour of observing I took a break to relax the eyes and contemplate my next target area. Pisces Austrinus was near the highest position in the south and I decided to continue my galaxy hunt there.
21:20. PISCES AUSTRINUS GALAXIES
IC 5270 (mag 12.2, size 3.2' x 36", SB 12.7) – very faint AV oval (168x).
IC 5269 (mag 12.2, size 1.7' x 48", SB 12.3) – faint lens, detected with AV by moving
EP (168x).
GRUS GALAXY
I have crossed briefly to Grus.
IC 1459 (aka 5265, mag 10.0, size 5.2' x 1.8', SB 12.2) – bright oval, with brighter central area and compact core (168x).
And back to Pisces Austrinus.
PISCES AUSTRINUS GALAXIES (continued).
IC 5269A (mag 13.4, size 1.3' x 54", SB 13.3) – FAIL.
IC 5269B (mag 12.4, size 4' x 42", SB 13.3) – FAIL.
IC 5271 (mag 10.8, size 2.6' x 54", SB 11.5) – narrow lens with brighter central area (168x).
NGC 7109 (mag 13.3, size 42" x 42", SB 12.3) – faint small spot (168x).
NGC 7110 (mag 13.2, size 1.3' x 36", SB 12.7) – FAIL.
NGC 7135 (mag 11.7, size 2.1' x 1.8', SB 12.9) – very faint oval, detected with AV by moving
EP (168x).
NGC 7154 (mag 12.4, size 2.2' x 1.8', SB 13.6) – FAIL.
PGC 67701 (mag 12.0, size 2.2' x 1.8', SB 13.5) – faint round disk with AV (168x).
NGC 7187 (mag 12.5, size 1.3' x 1.2', SB 12.7) – faint disk with stellar core (118x, 168x).
NGC 7221 (mag 12.1, size 2' x 1.6', SB 13.1) – faint, elongated oval (118x, 168x).
NGC 7225 (mag 12.3, size 2' x 1', SB 12.8) – faint oval with brighter narrow rhombus within. I thought it represents galaxy bar, but looking at on-line image something else is going on (118x, 168x).
NGC 7267 (mag 12.2, size 1.6' x 1.4', SB 12.8) – wide faint oval with brighter central area (118x, 168x).
NGC 7314 (mag 11.0, size 4.6' x 2', SB 13.2) – large lens next to star (118x).
NGC 7361 (mag 12.3, size 3.9' x 1', SB 13.5) – FAIL.
Took another break to stargaze for a bit and decided to spend the final leg of the evening in Aris.
ARIS GALAXIES
NGC 671 (mag 13.3, size 1.5' x 30", SB 12.7) – small narrow shape with AV (118x).
NGC 677 (mag 12.2, size 2' x 2', SB 13.4) – faint disk with compact core (118x, 168x).
NGC 694 (mag 13.7, size 36" x 24", SB 11.9) – FAIL.
NGC 711 (mag 13.1, size 1.6' x 42", SB 13.0) – faint small narrow oval (168x).
NGC 716 (mag 12.9, size 1.8' x 48", SB 13.0) - faint small narrow oval (118x).
NGC 776 (mag 12.4, size 1.7' x 1.7', SB 13.3) – faint round spot with brighter central area (118x).
By midnight I was getting my share of the faint fuzzies, but before braking up wanted to take a look at Jupiter.
JUPITER
About a month from opposition Jupiter was blazingly bright. Temperate belts and polar zones were lost in the intense glow, but two major equatorial belts were rich in details. Pale pink
GRS was transiting and the Red Spot Hollow was well defined (235x).