I kept stepping out about every hour to check conditions but it wasn’t until about 2230 hours that I finally decided to roll the big one out, though even then things were not that great. About 2300 I found some larger patches of clearing and knew that was as good as it would likely get. So setting up my stuff, I did a quick re-check of collimation, tweaking it slightly. Because I wouldn’t have a lot of time given the highly variable conditions, I only sat out two eyepieces, the
The northern portion of the sky seemed to be the best of the lot so I headed there to look at a few showpieces to warm up my eyes a bit. Aligning the Rigel Quikfinder and
At 110x it was very large and very bright. During moments of better clarity, subtle spiral structure was inferred through the variations of light (arms) and dark (dust lanes). The central region was bright and elongated slightly off-line with the major axis, indicative of its bar. Despite the conditions this galaxy was quite nice.
Moving over to the tip of the dipper’s handle, peering into the 8x50
The companion to M51 was quite bright in its own right. Heavily influenced by M51, it was a rounded presence with a slightly brighter central area. The connecting bridge between the two was very, very subtle under the prevailing conditions and quite difficult. Even if this galaxy were not involved with M51 it would still be a fine object to observe on its own.
I now turned to chart 5 in Interstellarum (IDSA) to continue. As it turned out, I never left this chart for the remainder of the evening.
Using my Rigel Quikfinder to eyeball the position of this showpiece, I pretty much nailed it. When I moved to the
Just north of the previous object one of course finds this uniquely interesting galaxy that is heavily distorted due to its interaction with M81. Visually at 110x it presented a large and very bright plank of light. Its middle region was etched with dark lanes at various angles cutting across its disk at the minor axis. Visually it was less impressive than its larger neighbor, but the pair exhibit beautifully together within the same field of view.
UGC 5336 / Holmberg IX (Ursa Major, dwarf irregular, mag=14.1, size=2.8’x2.5, SBr=16.1):
One of my goals this evening, conditions permitting of course, was to seek out this satellite of M81. While studying the large spiral, I also utilized the stars within the field to try pinpointing this dim and elusive puff of light. During the periods of stronger transparency over the course of my short outing, I did pick up very subtle traces of its presence in the field. It was never visible to any great extent due to its weak surface brightness, but I could at moments of steadier conditions pick up a slight brightening against the dark backdrop. This is one I plan to pursue again under better conditions. (New)
I revisited this member of the M81 Group which lay about 46.5’ southeast of the group’s namesake. As always it presented a fairly large and very bright oval presence in the field forming a right triangle with a couple of bright field stars. It presented a mostly homogeneous oval that exhibited some very subtle brightness into its center.
While in the ‘hood, I dropped by this very elusive galaxy a little over 2° ESE of
Moving back to the SSW of M81, I picked up a galaxy duo. The more obvious of the pair is this face-on barred spiral. At 110x it was bright though small. Round in shape it was homogeneous in appearance, not yielding any variations in brightness within the disk. At 198x the impression remained pretty much the same, with the galaxy being stronger within the field, and clearly dominating its neighbor about 1.5’ to the northeast. (New)
Playing second fiddle to
About 42’ SSE of the previous duo I easily locked onto this very bright and somewhat large oval. The orientation was tipped northwest to southeast. The southeastern end of the galaxy was thicker than was its northwestern end. A dim 15th mag field star winked in and out at the northwestern tip while another of 15th mag star was pinned just off the southwestern edge. Overall the disk displayed some subtle mottling with variations of light and dark. Looking at images of this galaxy later, I noticed a fair amount of dark obscuring matter in the northwestern half of the disk, which was likely the reason it appeared narrower in width at that end. (New)
Moving northwest of the M81/82 pairing, I stopped for a little bit at the position of UGC 5139 (Holmberg I), another dim member of the M81 Group. Studying the field for a bit I came up empty. So onward I went to my next target for the short outing.
This small round glow was easily swept up about 3.5° northwest of M82 at 110x it was somewhat bright to the eye. Studying the disk also at 198x revealed a near stellar core that was brighter than its surrounding halo. Otherwise, as is typical of most elliptical no other details were seen. (New)
Nudging a little over 2° ENE from the previous galaxy, and passing over 22 UMa (5.8) and 27 UMa (5.1), I swept up this previously observed spiral. Visually it was a small bright oval with a bright center at 110x. This one was merely a quick stop off before heading on eastward.
About 25’ east of
About half a degree further east I located a pair of rounded puffs of galactic light separated by about 3’. The northern most of the duo presented as a homogeneous small oval. I found it a little bit bright to the eye but otherwise devoid of detail. (New)
The southern of the pair was definitely smaller in angular extent and dimmer. Also homogeneous in appearance its slightly oval shape was perpendicular to that of
UGC 5415 (Ursa Major, spiral, mag=13.6, size=1.6’x0.3’, SBr=12.7):
While observing the
Slipping northward into Draco, I easily pinned down this previously observed galaxy. Using both 110x and 198x it was a round, a little bit large and somewhat bright to the eye. Pinned to its center was a strong stellar core.
Clouds of both the high thin and thick low variety were starting to encroach more intensely into the whole sky so I knew my outing would soon be at an end. So I nudged north of
In this group the atlas plots four galaxies, which is incorrect. While Uranometria correctly plots three, the IDSA plots one galaxy twice using both of its
The first of the loose group (of three as it turned out) was this small and thin oval. Easily noticed at 110x it was slightly bright to the eye, standing out well in the field. Overall it was homogeneous in appearance. However, I did not notice
About 20’ southeast of
Going two for three in my last field of the evening signaled the end of the run at about 0030 hours. All told I got in perhaps an hour of actual observing in between short periods of waiting for an opening. Some areas of the sky were still showing stars, but they were overlaid with a thin gauzy layer of clouds, while the rest was totally obscured. The forecast was for heavily clouded skies for the remainder of the evening so I rolled the big feller back into the garage and stowed the other gear in the van for the return trip home on Sunday afternoon.
While the outing was not particularly long nor exactly what I had hoped for, galaxies there were. Conditions during the spring months can be rather unpredictable, but at least it granted me a short window of opportunity to seek out my favorite targets. Thanks for coming along on my journey and hope you get your own opportunities soon.