The two primary goals this outing were to re-visit the objects on this month’s
(Equipment used)
17.5 inch
Ethos 21mm (94x, 1.1° TFOV, 4.7mm exit pupil)
Ethos 13mm (152x, 0.7° TFOV, 2.9mm exit pupil)
XW 10mm (199x, 0.4° TFOV, 2.2mm exit pupil)
XW 7mm (283x, 0.2° TFOV, 1.6mm exit pupil)
(Treasure found)
Since some of my intended targets were still lurking near or behind the big tree at the southern end of the property, I needed to kill some time. So I began with the northern objects from the April
Moving to the eyepiece (94x) the triplet was seen easily all in the same 1.1° TFOV. M65 was a large and bright thin ellipse oriented north-south displaying an inner lens of brightness anointed with a stellar core. Its disk seemed uneven in illumination as the eye moved across its face. Moving to 152x the sense of a curdled visual affect seemed more noticeable and the northern side of the disk seemed slightly brighter than the southern portion. Taking a look at 199x, I picked up a subtly brighter section with its outer arm near the northern tip of the visible envelope. This galaxy was quite fetching in the 17.5 inch, and I wasn’t done yet!
Sharing the same
North of the previous two objects and perpendicular to their major axis, I easily spotted this delightful ghostly object at 94x. It was large and bright, but in a dim sort of way. To clarify, it was quite obvious in the
This galaxy lay just 40.5’ SSE of Theta Leonis, on the way to the triplet. So since it was close I also re-visited this object as well. Initially picked up with 94x, it presented a bright and somewhat large rounded glow with a weak stellar core pinned to its center. The view was similar at 152x and 199x, with the face-on spiral dominating the field of view with its fairly large diffuse envelope, though the stellar core remained a weak presence within.
I now moved to southern Pyxis for this planetary that has thwarted me during my more southerly trips with smaller
Starting out with 152x because of the weight of the 21mm Ethos and the low elevation of about 13° above the horizon I started with the 13mm (152x). Less than a degree north of the triangle I easily picked up this nebula as a large (for a planetary) rounded bright disk with an uneven brightness. Using 199x it was a very strong presence within the field. Its uneven nature was more pronounced with seeming knots of brightness within the disk which was presumably internal structural detail. The central star is about mag 19.4, therefore out of reach. The planetary lay in front of the western portion of the weak open cluster Collinder 206. It was discovered by James Dunlop on 28 May 1826 as his object D564. (New)
Collinder 206 (Pyxis, open cluster, mag=8.2, size=8.0’.class=II 2 m n
This cluster shares the field with
I have not observed a galaxy in Vela before, so I dipped down from
I now positioned myself for a shot at the Antlia Cluster by aiming at Alpha Antlia (mag 4.2) and moving SSW about 4° to a gentle curve of three stars that point to the cluster. Moving east from them I noticed the cluster field was still just within the clutches of the outer branches of my nemesis tree, so I targeted a couple galaxies just to its west in the interim.
This elliptical was easily located at 152x as a small and slightly dim thick oval. Generally homogenous its disk seemed smooth. Taking a look at 199x it remained small but brightened noticeably. The core area exhibited a broad brightness within the overall envelope. (New)
Less than half a degree north of the previous object I encountered this somewhat bright oval. Slightly large in visual extent, it exhibited a very tight non-stellar brightness within the core at 152x. It lies between two stars of 10th and 11th magnitude, but closer to the latter. Taking a look at 199x the core became a very intermittent stellar one. The galaxy disk was bright and diffuse, and strongly dominated the field and its dimmer neighbor to the south. (New)
Antlia Cluster / Abell S0636 (Galaxy Cluster, size=1.0°, members=234)
By now the cluster field had cleared the tree and I could give it a look to see what I could pull out. In the meantime, I noticed the seeing and transparency seemed to be dropping off slightly toward the southern horizon. So my main theme here was to focus on the primary members of this cluster and not worry about digging too deep given the approximate altitude of around 14°.
This is the third closest galaxy cluster to us, behind the Virgo and Fornax clusters at a distance of around 133 MLY and is considered a poor cluster in comparison. It contains approximately 234 members, most of which are beyond the reach of amateur scopes of course. Nonetheless it should offer a small number of nice galaxies which I could observe even at such a low altitude. It consists of two primary groups, which are dominated by the elliptical galaxies
Once I arrived in the field the first thing I noticed was this object framed by the next two. I had arrived at the northern grouping within the cluster field. This main member presented a rounded glow that was somewhat bright to the eye with a tiny non-stellar core. Slightly large in visual extent, it was the strongest of the three in the view. (New)
Immediately to the west of the previous object and in the same
About 5.5’ ESE of
Shifting my attention north of
Moving down to the southern sub-group within the cluster, I immediately noticed its dominant elliptical. It presented a somewhat bright and slightly large round glow. It’s very diffuse disk was punctuated with a stellar core. (New)
Immediately northeast of the previous object was that small and subtly bright round glow. It too contained a stellar core within a diffuse envelope. (New)
About 3.5’ SSW of
The final cluster member I spotted was this dim member about 19.5’ east of
Moving out of the cluster field just slightly to the northeast I found my last object in Antlia for the evening. Picked up with 152x it was slightly large in visual presence. Its disk was slightly and elongated, as well as homogeneous to the eye. When viewed with 199x it was readily apparent but seemed to be more ghostly with somewhat low surface brightness. It remained quite diffuse and evenly illuminated. (New)
After leaving Antlia I remembered that I needed to complete my re-visit of the final two objects for this month’s
With this one I was really digging down in the muck and mire of the horizon air mass. After it had cleared the big tree, it was at around 9° above the horizon. With the 13mm Ethos in the focuser (152x) I began back at mag 4.0 Beta Pyxidis and swept east and south until I located an
Putting eye to the eyepiece I slowly nudged west from the Bootes-like grouping and quickly swept up the bright planetary. It was more of an oval shape, large for a planetary and very bright. The mag 10.0 central star was readily apparent within its diffuse disk. Going to 199x I was seeing glimpses of an interior dark annulus surrounding the central star. The outer portions of the shell were quite diffuse and bright. Overall the disk was very uneven to the eye. I also applied the DGM NPB filter and the nebula responded well. The central star was tamed and the darker interior was more pronounced, while the overall impression was of an uneven and diffuse envelope. A much more impressive view, despite the very low elevation, than I had in a five inch from about 18° north latitude several years ago.
My last challenge object was this fine lenticular in the celestial sextant. Aiming the scope at mag 5.1 Gamma Sextantis I quickly located the field with the
Dropping in the 13mm (152x) the galaxy was a true showpiece. Its disk was exceedingly bright sliver, its central bulge more pronounced and its ends extended further. I noted that its two ends did not extend evenly away from the core area. Rather the southwestern portion seemed to extend further before fading into the sky than did the northeastern side, giving it a slightly uneven appearance. I have always found this a splendidly beautiful galaxy, and in the larger
I was starting to feel generally tired and the muscles around my observing eye were also beginning to feel fatigued and prone to some minor spasms. So I had to step away for a few moments to allow them to relax. Looking around the sky while sitting back in my chair, I could feel the tiredness and knew I was in the home stretch for this evening. After a few minutes I headed to Crater the celestial cup to hunt my final galaxies for this outing. I had only observed a little in Crater previously, so I knew there was an ample supply of galaxies for me to pursue, and without the impact of the severe extinction I had been dealing with in the Antlia Cluster. So I aimed the scope at mag 4.7 Theta Crateris to begin the end of my evening.
While looking at Theta Crateris I could just make out the feeble glow of this face-on spiral galaxy in the bright glare field of the star using 94x. It was small, round and ghostly. Using 152x it was easier but still heavily impacted by the glare of Theta. Though not difficult it was nonetheless muted compared to how it would have appeared away from a brighter star. Using 199x it was very easy, but remained a dim homogenous round puff of light within the light scatter from Theta. I love these kinds of objects that hide the in glare of brighter stars as they present a unique challenge. (New)
Northeast of Theta I found this somewhat bright round little glow just north of a mag 7.4 field star. A stellar core was evident even at 94x. The galaxy’s appearance changed little at both 152x and 199x other than being more apparent within the field, not so atypical for an elliptical. It shared the field with the next object which lay about 9’ to its west. (New)
An interesting aside here is that south of the mag 7.4 star, the IDSA (chart 70-left) plots another galaxy, lenticular
In the same view as the previous object, this small oval, it was noticeably dimmer than its field mate at 94x. At 152x and 199x it remained dim, but still readily apparent to the eye as a small homogenous oval. (New)
The IDSA plots a hook of three galaxies west of Theta, and this elliptical is the northern of the trio. Viewing with 94x it was a small and dim slight oval that was evenly illuminated to the eye. But even at 152x and 199x it remained a weak and homogenous soft glow. There seems to be some confusion about the identities of this galaxy and
About 10’ south of
I found this lenticular about 26.5’ WSE of
A little over 9’ northwest of mag 4.8 Crateris I noticed the star HD 98591 (mag 6.5) had two galaxies plotted in close proximity in the IDSA. Star hopping from Epsilon to this star, I immediately picked up the duo. This elliptical lay just 1.5’ northwest of the star and while it was obvious at 94x it suffered quite a bit from the star’s glare. Small and round it was diffuse a stellar core was seen. Viewed with both 152x and 199x it was more obvious, but remained a diffuse little glow within the glare field of HD 98951. (New)
About 3’ northeast of HD 98951 this presented a small and diffuse rounded glow in the star’s glare field. Slight more removed from the star itself, but slightly dimmer in magnitude, they were of similar appearance at 94x. A stellar core appeared within its disk at 152x and 199x. While it was not difficult to see, the presence of the star so nearby had a definite negative impact to its appearance. (New)
My last object of the evening was this spiral which formed a nearly equilateral triangle with Epsilon Crateris and HD 98951. Just over 1° north of Epsilon, it was easily seen at 94x as a somewhat bright and slightly large elongated oval. Generally homogeneous to the eye, it dominated the field in which it lay. Viewing with 152x and 199x it was very obvious as a fairly large elongated disk that had a ghostly appearance due to its lower surface brightness. This was a fine galaxy to end my session on as it was a beautiful object against the dark backdrop. (New)
I finally wrapped it all up just before 0030 hours after having put in about three hours of observing. It was tiring but successful. Overall I feel I did well for my first time out after the COVID crap last month. Our energy has picked up, though we still seem to tire easily after some moderate to heavy activity. We are hopeful that this will not be the new normal for the rest of our lives!
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Anyway, thanks for coming along on my night of observing. I do hope to see you out there soon. Stay healthy, stay safe and keep looking up friends.
