Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

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Shelby United States of America
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Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#1

Post by Shelby »


I finally got clear skies after a long time of cloudy weather, so I took advantage last night. I had some interesting sightings out there.

I started with the star, Sirius, because I wanted to say a final goodbye to it since I won't be able to see it in the evening again for a while. It was very bright and beautiful as it always, and it was twinkling wildly because of it lowness in the sky. This made it really neat to look at.

Next, I went to M35 in Gemini because I looked at it last time and I wanted to see it again because it was such a beautiful sight to see. I could see many beautiful stars in it and it was still very impressive the second time I've seen it. All the stars were easily visible and the cluster was very easy to find.

Next, I looked for more new targets. I started with the Spindle Galaxy (NGC3115) in Sextans. It was easily found but not very bright, it faint and fuzzy, not really showing any details, but It was a nice find anyway. I tried to zoom in with my 10mm eyepiece, but that didn't make it look any better as the seeing wasn't the best.

Next, since I was already in Sextans, I moved to NGC 3166 and NGC 3169. Seeing two galaxies in the eyepiece together was something different for sure, neither one of them really had much detail to show, they both appeared to be pretty similar. They both were faint and fuzzy blobs with a foreground star also visible in the edge of NGC 3169. I spent a couple minutes here and then moved to my next target.

Next, I moved to another galaxy group, M95 and M96. This group was a little brighter than the last one, but I had some difficulty finding them because my finder scope was not very clear at the time and there were not very bright stars around them, I actually stumbled across by accident, but I'm glad I did. The pair was definitely worth finding, they didn't show much detail, but that was expected. I enjoyed looking at them, I stayed there for a couple minutes and moved slightly over to my next targets.

Next, since I was in the area, I moved to M105 and NGC 3384. They were very easy to locate being right next to the last pair I was looking at. They were both pretty similar in appearance as well, with only their bright cores really visible. I also looked for NGC 3389 nearby, but it much be just out of reach of my scope's capability because I could not find it with either eyepiece. I spent a couple minutes looking at the pair and then moved on to my next target.

Next, I moved to the trio of galaxies. M65 and M66, and NGC 3628. This was a very impressive group of galaxies. It was the first galaxy trio I ever saw, and I was not let down. M65 and M66 both looked pretty similar to each other, just being fuzzy blobs like most galaxies I have seen. NGC 3628 on the other hand was the one that I found most impressive. It had a very clear elongated shape to it. I used my 10mm eyepiece to zoom in on it, but that just made appear less impressive, so I went back to the 25mm. I spent a good amount of time looking at the trio before I moved on to my next target.

Next, I looked at NGC 3607 and NGC 3608. This pair was not that hard to find for me being right in between two bright stars in Leo. They were not really anything special to see, but they were worth looking at. They looked very similar to each other just the same as alot of the others I saw did. That is a reoccuring thing with alot of galaxies I look at. I looked at them for a minute and then moved on to my next target.

Next, I left the galaxies and went to Melotte 111 in Coma Berenices since it easily visible to my naked eye and I wanted to get a closer look. I could see all of the stars together in my finder scope, and I moved around a bit to see all of the different stars in the eyepiece. This is a pretty big cluster with fairly bright stars and it was definitely nice to look at. I spent a couple minutes here and moved to my last target.

My final target was the star, Spica, in Virgo. Of course, I have seen this star before, but it has been a while since I last saw it in a telescope, so I wanted to look at it again, and I figured it would make a nice bright target to finish up on. It was very bright and impressive in the eyepiece, definitely worth looking at again.

That brings an end to my evening telescope session, but that is not the end of my sky watching for the night.

The following morning, I got up between 5:00 AM and 5:45 AM to look at the planetary alignment currently taking place. I have been waiting for clear skies to be able to see this event and finally got a chance to see it.

That was an impressive sight being able to see Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn all so close together in the sky at the same time. As I got a little farther in to viewing them, the Moon also joined in on the party. The Moon was very close to Jupiter and Venus, forming a triangle with them. I took a few pictures of the alignment and then I went back home as I had to walk a little distance down the road to be able to see them since I have a high treeline at my home. This was really nice to be able to see this rare event.

That concludes my report of my evening and morning of sky viewing. I hope you all enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.
My scopes: Sky-Watcher 150p (6") Classic Dobsonian (main scope), iOptron SmartStar N114 with GPS (not really used anymore)

My eyepieces: 25mm Skywatcher Plossl, 10mm Skywatcher Plossl, 25mm unknown brand, 9mm iOptron Kellner.

Filters: AstroZap Baadar Solar Film Filter for my SkyWatcher 6 inch, 6" OD Seymour Solar film filter for the N114

Camera: My smartphone

Comets: 19
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Great session and report Shelby! Plenty of good targets. When you are looking for fainter galaxies like NGC 3389 do you try averted vision tricks?
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#3

Post by kt4hx »


Well done Shelby. Sounds like you had a fine outing and I particularly enjoyed the galaxy reporting. Andrey gives good advice regarding averted vision for dimmer objects. Using averted vision rather than direct can boost contrast for dimmer objects like galaxies because of increased rod cell presence away from the center of the eye. Another trick to gently tap the tube of the telescope. Not enough to physically move the scope, but just enough to cause it to vibrate. The reason is that our eyes are more sensitive to moving dim objects than stationary ones. Keep up the good work.
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
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Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
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Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
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Shelby United States of America
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#4

Post by Shelby »


I tried averted vision, but I'm not really sure if I'm doing it right, or if my eyes are properly dark adapted. I have been hit or miss with averted vision. I once used it to find a dim comet in my old telescope, but it doesn't always seem to work right for me. I might be ruining my eyes by using SkySafari for a guidance chart. I may need a night mode app for my phone.
My scopes: Sky-Watcher 150p (6") Classic Dobsonian (main scope), iOptron SmartStar N114 with GPS (not really used anymore)

My eyepieces: 25mm Skywatcher Plossl, 10mm Skywatcher Plossl, 25mm unknown brand, 9mm iOptron Kellner.

Filters: AstroZap Baadar Solar Film Filter for my SkyWatcher 6 inch, 6" OD Seymour Solar film filter for the N114

Camera: My smartphone

Comets: 19
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#5

Post by John Baars »


Very nice observations! I surely enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
I would say that a VROD is appropriate here!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#6

Post by milanpicard »


Nice work, I like it that you paid attention to the planets, I wanna see their alignment myself. I understand that on Saturday it's the best, Jupiter and Venus will be in a conjunction.
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

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Post by Bigzmey »


Shelby wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 4:28 am I tried averted vision, but I'm not really sure if I'm doing it right, or if my eyes are properly dark adapted. I have been hit or miss with averted vision. I once used it to find a dim comet in my old telescope, but it doesn't always seem to work right for me. I might be ruining my eyes by using SkySafari for a guidance chart. I may need a night mode app for my phone.
I also use SkySafari but in the night mode. Using white light on the phone definitely ruins night vision.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

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Post by turboscrew »


John Baars wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 11:36 am Very nice observations! I surely enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
I would say that a VROD is appropriate here!
I second the VROD suggestion!
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#9

Post by helicon »


Hello Shelby - great report and some fine galaxy hunting. I think seeing NGC 3628 as part of the Leo triplet is a nice accomplishment - it's sort of hit or miss from my old home with the 10" Dob. And kudos on the Sextans' galaxies. As nominated by your peers you win the VROD for the day!
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#10

Post by Makuser »


Hi Shelby. A very nice observing report from you. A great list of many fine galaxy targets followed by the next morning view of the Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn alignment. Thanks for your well written and fun read report Shelby and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD Award today.
Marshall
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#11

Post by milanpicard »


Oh crxp, I forgot about the planetary alignment. This morning Venus and Jupiter were supposed to be closest, I read that in some cases they would look like one bright spot to the naked eye. Did you or anyone else who saw get that impression maybe?
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#12

Post by Unitron48 »


Great "all nighter", Shelby! Really enjoyed your report!! Certainly VROD worthy!!!

Dave
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#13

Post by Shelby »


It was cloudy in my area, so I didn't see the close planetary conjunction unfortunately.

Thanks for the VROD and all the compliments everyone.
My scopes: Sky-Watcher 150p (6") Classic Dobsonian (main scope), iOptron SmartStar N114 with GPS (not really used anymore)

My eyepieces: 25mm Skywatcher Plossl, 10mm Skywatcher Plossl, 25mm unknown brand, 9mm iOptron Kellner.

Filters: AstroZap Baadar Solar Film Filter for my SkyWatcher 6 inch, 6" OD Seymour Solar film filter for the N114

Camera: My smartphone

Comets: 19
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Re: Galaxy groups and planetary alignment

#14

Post by John Baars »


Congratulations on the VROD!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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