[sac-forum] Re: Newsletter Fodder
- From: David Hofland <hofland@xxxxxxx>
- To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:37:00 -0500 (CDT)
Thanks AJ. Yeah, I hope to contribute to the "Call" in addition to finding
something to write an article about. So many stars . . . . so little time.
:-)
David Hofland
Director, Student Services - BSN
hofland@xxxxxxx
256-782-5276
----- Original Message -----
From: "AJ Crayon" <acrayon@xxxxxxx>
To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 10:22:12 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Newsletter Fodder
David, if you are looking for something to observe here's the list for Call for
Observations. Unfortunately it wasn't posted last week, hence this is the
first post.
Continuing with our survey of galaxies for the spring take a look at these gems
in Virgo. Most of the selections will be in the Herschel 400 list but will
include one from the Best of the NGC and one from the Messier Catalog.
Beginning in the northeast part of the constellation is the majestic M 61 .
It is a face-on barred spiral at magnitude 9.6 is large with a brighter middle.
It has had supernovas in 1926, 1961 and 1964. Next is NGC4388 and edge-on
lens shape spiral at magnitude 11. It is near M 84 and has 2 other galaxies
in a 30’ field. Moving on to the southern reaches of the constellation, is an
asterism titled Jaws as in the jaws of a shark. It is 25' west northwest of M
104 or at 12h 38.5m -11° 30' and is a chain of stars in the outline of a shark.
What do you see here? Now moving way out to the western reaches of the
constellation start with a group of 3 galaxies. First is middle and brightest
of the group, NGC5576 , 11 th mag, small with a very little brighter middle.
Second is NGC5574 2.9’ to the southwest, is faint, small and round. Third is
NGC5577 10’ towards the north is also faint and edge-on. Not to far away is
the 12 th mag NGC5740 , another barred spiral that has an irregular shape and a
gradually brighter middle. Does the shape suggest the bar to your eye? The
next galaxy is just 18’ towards the north. Look for an edge-on galaxy that is
large, pretty bright and has a very bright nucleus. That is NGC5746 . What
does it look like to you? Now moving to the very west is a quartet of
galaxies. They are NGC5839 , NGC5845 , NGC5846 and NGC5850 . The brightest
of the group is the 10 th mag NGC5846 and is a large and round elliptical
galaxy. Fartherest west is NGC5839 at mag 12.7 and is rather small. Next is
NGC5845 a mag 12.5 elliptical. How much detail do you see in this elliptical?
Last is NGC5850 a barred spiral of mag 10.8. It is moderately large, a
little elongated, has a brighter middle and is slightly elongated. Does the
brighter middle look like part of the bar?
For August we’ll take on Hercules for the second time. We’ll see about
skipping the Abell Galaxy Groups until some time in the future. We’ll start
with an asterism called Zig Zag found at RA 16h 18.0’ Dec +13° 00’. It’s 7 th
mag and 100’X15’ or a line of a dozen 8 th and 9 th mag stars that are never
straight. We move on to NGC6166 , a small faint elliptical galaxy of
magnitude 11.8. Beware it is the center of an Abell Galaxy Group containing
many faint galaxies. What’s the Abell Galaxy Group number? Next is the late
barred spiral NGC6181 at magnitude 11.9. Can you see the spiral arms? Now
for another, possible, asterism DoDz 9 , located at RA 18h 08.8m Dec +31° 32'
. It is 34’ with 30 stars from 8 th mag on down. What is the faintest star
you can detect and what about stellar colors? OK, now another asterism.
This one is Webb's Wreath found at RA 18h 02.3m Dec +26° 18'. It should be
easy to find the 11’X7’ grouping of 14 stars; one at 7 th mag and others of 11
th and 12 th mag. Where does this cluster get its name? Finally a planetary
nebula to finish out this constellation. Find PK 51+ 9.1 at RA 18 49.8 Dec
+20 50. It’s 11.6 mag and 13.3 mag central star shouldn’t be difficult. The
comments indicate it is stellar. Good luck.
AJ Crayon
Phoenix, AZ
----- Original Message -----
From: David Hofland
To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 7:21 AM
Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Newsletter Fodder
Richard,
The skies here in Alabama are predicted to open up tonight and perhaps
another night or two during the next week. I'll come up with something for the
newsletter, what exactly I haven't figured out yet.
David Hofland
Director, Student Services - BSN
hofland@xxxxxxx
256-782-5276
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Harshaw" <rharshaw2@xxxxxxx>
To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 9:41:47 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Newsletter Fodder
Agreed.
Richard Harshaw
Cave Creek, Arizona
Brilliant Sky Observatory
From: sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of AJ Crayon
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 7:39 PM
To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; SAC Announcements
Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Newsletter Fodder
Dick, again I have a request for a delay in the complex production schedule of
the SAC newsletter. We have a DOTM coming up the end of this week, followed by
Independence Day. It isn't clear how this will play with our most esteemed
club members but I'd like to request a delay in article submission until after
the 4th. I realize this is getting close to the SAC meeting but I'd like for
the observers to have time to observe the stars, observe Independence Day then
put observations together. This starts to get into my schedule for preparing
for class Thursday night, but if observations could get to me by Thursday I can
try to have something put together by Friday.
AJ Crayon
Phoenix, AZ
----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Harshaw
To: SAC Announcements ; sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 5:15 PM
Subject: [sac-forum] Newsletter Fodder
Folks, the hopper is pretty empty for the July Newsletter. If you have
something you want to publish, please send it in the next 8 days or so. Due to
the holiday, I’ll be releasing the July issue a little later—after the 4 th .
Richard Harshaw
Cave Creek, Arizona
Brilliant Sky Observatory
SAC Newsletter Editor (“Saguaro Skies”)
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