Session Name: 200414
Observer: Sam
Site: 29 Quedo (Obs)
Started: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at 8:45 PM
Finished: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at 11:45 PM
Seeing: 3. G – Brighter planets twinkling slightly
Transparency: 2 – Can only see Polaris
Session Notes:
Fans started at 8:45 PM
Clear 360deg
Difficult time getting a good alignment: not sure why. Tried five times before final alignment:
Polaris/Procyon w/8mm: -0.671
11:25 – hands cold and in telescope sky doesn’t appear to be that dark in E.
SQM-L:
Z: 21.41
E: 21.31
S: 21.44
W: 21.27
N: 21.30
Little dipper in SF light dome. Interesting that sky brightness is – by SQM-L – very good, but it felt not as good in ‘scope.
ID: C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)
Type: Comet
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 21:30; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 8mm Ethos; Magnification: 265x.
Observations: 8mm: Comet. Very faint. Much fainter than last month. Not round: elongated. Coma brighter than remainder of body, which tapers off. Sketched.
ID: PK194+02.1
Type: P Neb; Constellation: Gem
Name: J900; Mag: 12.5
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 21:40; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: PN. Faint, slightly bluish. Non-stellar: no disk, but fuzzy at edges. Nearby field star (~1/10 fov away) somewhat brighter.
26mm+OIII: responds well: significantly increased contrast. Matches brightness of nearby field star.
26mm+NPB: also responds well: about as well as OIII.
13mm: Fuzzy. Companion star very close: just splits in 13mm. Slight pale blue hue.
13mm+OIII: PN shows disk; companion star gone.
13mm+NPB: PN shows disk. Response a little worse than OIII. Am just making out companion star @ AV2.
8mm: Definitely split companion star from PN. Suddenly brighter toward center: possibly a central *. Slight pale blue hue.
8mm+OIII: PN disk-like and solid. Can barely make-out companion star.
8mm+NPB: PN disk-like and solid. Can make-out companion * @ AV2.
ID: IC2149
Type: P Neb; Constellation: Aur
Name: IC2149; Mag: 11
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 21:51; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: pn. small. disk-like & fuzz. Suddenly brighter at center with halo: almost certainly central *.
26mm+OIII: responds well. Much more solid. Still brighter center and halo, but contrast between both reduced.
26mm+NPB: doesn’t respond well (same as field stars).
13mm: disk-like. Slightly bluish. Sky contrast is not good: a bit harder to make-out suddenly brighter toward center, but still present.
13mm+OIII: responds v. nicely: greatly increased contrast. Disk much more solid, apparent. Still suddenly brighter toward center, but with reduced contrast.
13mm+NPB: responds well. disk more solid & substantial. No evidence central *.
8mm: disk-like. Central *, much fainter halo.
8mm+OIII: Can’t get a focus. round disk.
8mm+NPB: Can’t get a good focus. Round disk.
ID: NGC2420
Type: Open; Constellation: Gem
Name: VI-1; Mag: 8.3
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 22:01; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: oc. very pretty. looks like a bug viewed from above: oblong body of many faint stars w/milkiness. Four legs coming off body, each defined by just a few stars and some milkiness along legs. Well disconnected from field.
13mm: larger. Doesn’t frame nearly as nicely as in 26mm.
ID: M94
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: CVn
Name: SAC3056; Mag: 8.2
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 22:15; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: gal. Easily located in CVn. Nice, round, large, suddenly brighter toward center nucleus. Nucleus disk-like. < 1/25 fov.
8mm: Round or nearly round. Much extended nucleus. Large halo. ~1/15 fov. Easily see how readily mistaken for comet.
ID: M49
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: SAC9761; Mag: 8.4
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 22:38; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: gal. suddenly brighter toward center. Halo. Star closely involved: in outskirts halo E, separated from core. (Star is probably UCAC4-490-056083 @ 12.9m.)
ID: NGC4570
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: I-32; Mag: 10.8
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 22:44; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: gal. small, faint, edge-on. suddenly brighter toward center. Orientation: very nearly NS.
13mm: definitely flat galaxy: close to 10:1. Long-dim ~1/20 fov. Nucleus elongated. Evidence of bulge.
ID: NGC4527
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: II-37; Mag: 10.4
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 22:51; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: gal. faint. elongated ~ EW. gently brighter toward center. Very elliptical, but probably not flat. Thicker than NGC4570. Shares fov with another gal ~1/2 fov to S (NGC4536). Nucleus shows evidence of being elongated w/gal.
ID: NGC4536
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: V-2; Mag: 10.4
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 22:56; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 26mm Nagler Type 5; Magnification: 82x.
Observations: 26mm: gal. Faint. involves or has a very dim, point like nucleus. If a star then gal is uniform brightness across. Elliptical. Orientation SE/NW.
Shares fov with NGC4636.
ID: NGC4845
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: II-536; Mag: 12.9
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:03; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 26mm: gal. very elongated: close to flat: maybe 5:1. Slash. No evident nucleus or brightening toward center.
13mm: close-by bright field star (1/6 fov to SW). AV2 shows faint suddenly brighter toward center.
ID: NGC4030
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: I-121; Mag: 12.4
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:08; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 13mm: gal. round. brighter toward center. extended halo. Size ~1/30 fov.
ID: NGC4179
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: I-9; Mag: 10.9
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:10; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 13mm: gal. Elliptical. Suddenly brighter toward center. Orientation: very nearly EW. Stars concentrated near east end gal at end of halo. [Note: comparing to CDC orientation is closer to NS.]
ID: NGC4546
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: I-160; Mag: 10.3
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:13; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 13mm: gal. Extended halo. Suddenly brighter toward center. SSE/NNW
ID: NGC4666
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: I-15; Mag: 10.8
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:15; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 13mm: gal. Rectangular in shape. Boxy nucleus suddenly brighter toward center. 1/15 fov in long dim, 7:1 – 10:1, but boxy. Another very dim, smaller gal [NGC4668] in fov: almost straight abov (E) of gal ~1/4 fov away
ID: NGC4668
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: SAC9878; Mag: 13.1
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:19; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 13mm: gal. very dim, smaller gal in fov: almost immediately ~1/4 fov to E of 4666.
ID: NGC4699
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: I-129; Mag: 9.6
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:21; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 13mm: gal. nearly round to elliptical. suddenly brighter toward center. very extended halo. nucleus nearly stellar. halo significantly larger than nucleus.
ID: NGC4697
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: I-39; Mag: 9.3
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:22; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 13mm: gal. Elliptical. brighter toward center. nucleus extended with gal ellipticity.
ID: M49
Type: Galaxy; Constellation: Vir
Name: SAC9761; Mag: 8.4
Date: 2020-04-14 @ 23:30; Telescope: Dob; Eyepiece: 13mm Ethos; Magnification: 163x.
Observations: 26mm: gal. Confirmed ability to star hop to gal.