[sac-forum] Observing Lists
- From: "AJ Crayon" <acrayon@xxxxxxx>
- To: "SAC Forum" <sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 09:20:59 -0700
OK, here's the list for the next two months for Call for Observations for the
coming dark moon observing sessions. Perseus and Camelopardalis are pretty
easy for early observing hours but for those who are up later try the next ones
- Lynx and Leo Minor. I will need your Perseus and Camelopardalis observations
by the 1st. That should give you time to do the observations, do the editing
and sent to me.
For February we will start in Perseus and navigate up to Camelopardalis. Our
selection will include objects for binocular as well as larger telescopes. So,
for starters, let's go back to NGC1499 the California Nebula. This was on one
of our recent lists but we didn't get to it. We've all seen magnificent
pictures of the nebula but I haven't read any visual observations. Give it a
try with binos; telescope both with and without filters and naked eye. Move
northwest and get to a small grouping of 3 galaxies in the Perseus Galaxy
Cluster. They are NGC1129/30/31 and although all are faint, the brightest
would be NGC1129 with the other 2 on opposite sides. Next scoot on over the
M34 a rather bright average open cluster in the Messier Catalog. Do you think
it is an average cluster? Now jump way over to M76 our western most of this
set and the last in Perseus. By now we all know this is an interesting
planetary nebula that is described as double lobed. Swing eastward to
Camelopardalis and the open cluster Stock 23; although it is bright it isn't
very rich. The planetary nebula NGC1501, a favorite in this area, is bright
and small, but do you see any colors and how does it react to filters? Berk
10, another open cluster, appears large and somewhat compressed. Do you agree?
The next 3 are galaxies with the first being IC 342 a barred, faint and large
at that. The irregular galaxy NGC1569 now comes up. Do you see it as bright,
small and a little elongated? Now it is time for the showpiece of the
constellation - NGC2403. It is bright, large, elongated and can be resolved.
How much can your telescope resolve? The planetary nebula IC 3568 is the last
selection. What kind of structure do you notice?
March will find us doing double duty in Lynx and Leo Minor. Here we find the
winter Milky Way past the central meridian and the stars of spring coming up in
the east. There is much to be found here and attempting to keep with new
guidelines there will be something tough to see and something easy to see,
including a couple of double stars. I hope you enjoy the hunt. We'll start up
in Lynx and work our way eastward down to Leo Minor. Given these requirements
our start beings with the barred spiral galaxy NGC2273. The NGC Description has
it faint, small and irregular round. Do you agree with this? Next in line is
NGC2473 a spiral galaxy. This is one of the challenges because it is faint,
really faint but what is interesting it that it is in a line of 10 others that
include NGC2458/62/63/69/72. Yes a larger telescope will help with this one.
The elliptical NGC2474 and its companion NGC2475 are next. Both are faint but
have brighter middle. Do you consider them large or small? Now try the
brighter NGC2500 its bright nucleus and bar, yes it is a barred spiral. What
about clumps in its arms? This is a Herschel 400 entry. Now we hit on one of
the more popular objects in this constellation, NGC2419. Although it is also
known as the most distant globular cluster known there's much detail to be
seen. How much shows up in your scope? Our final object in Lynx is the fine
double star STF 1334, or 38 Lyncis, located at RA 09 18.8 Dec +36 48. I call
it fine because it is listed as color contrasting but with colors of green and
blue. Do you have any discussion on these colors? Now we move on to Leo
Minor. This is a rather surprising constellation that has a number of very
nice galaxies but they don't show up on our observing lists until we get to the
Herschel 400. We will cover some, but not all, of them. Start with the faint
and small galaxy NGC2965 that is the brightest in a small group of 5 galaxies.
The double star STF 1374 located at RA 09 41.4 Dec +38 57 is next. What colors
or colors do you see in your scope? Going back to galaxies and continuing to
move our way southeast is the spiral NGC3163, another faint one. But it is
part of a larger group belonging to NGC3158. Another barred spiral in next
with NGC3395, which is paired with NGC3396. Which is 3395? Hint: it's the
bright, pretty small and little elongated one. Please include observations of
both. Moving to our last one for this month is NGC3413, another faint small
galaxy. But wait there's more. It is also part of the 3395 group.
AJ Crayon
Phoenix, AZ
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