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This month's challenges, Messier 101 (NGC 5457) for the north and NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri) for the south, are both stupendous visual objects. They are also very, very different from one another. I have observed both many times over the years from various locations and while conditions may disappoint sometimes, the objects themselves never did. Below is one example of my impression of each.
Messier 101 observed in March 2020 at our rural dark site using a 17.5 inch dobsonian reflector:
Swept up at 110x, this behemoth was magnificent. Bright yet diaphanous in nature, its delicate spiral structure was easily seen as a large pinwheel, befitting of its nickname. Its core was a small concentrated non-stellar brightness within the larger broad brightness of its central region. From this larger portion its arms uncoiled as mottled diffuse arcs.
NGC 5139 observed from a semi-dark location at about 18° north latitude using an ST120 refractor in May of 2011:
My first view of this object from a more southern location solidified this cluster as my all time favorite globular. The famous Omega Centauri was easily seen with the naked eye and even in the 8x50 finder its nature as a globular was easily seen. In the ST120 it was nothing less than an explosion of stars. Huge and rich, the number of stars resolved was dizzying. There are simply no words that can adequately describe the visual presence of this behemoth in the eyepiece.
Alan
Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
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"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
