On October the 13th 1773, while observing a comet, the French astronomer Charles Messier discovered what he described as a “very faint nebula without stars”. Catalogued as Messier 51, this nebulous object is actually a large spiral galaxy over 37 million light years away. Under dark skies this island universe is said to be a spectacular sight, but if like me you are trying to view this galactic gem under light polluted conditions; then you’re in for a struggle.
I have endeavored to observe M51 at least four times since I returned to amateur astronomy. Each attempt has left me empty handed, but despite my lack of success I have never abandoned my hope of one day catching a glimpse of this distant galaxy.
Whether it was kismet, experience, or blind luck; the tenuous outline of Messier 51 finally gave itself up to my 25×100 binoculars on the morning of July the 30th. Unfortunately it was to be a fleeting encounter as a colourless brume crept over the sky and obscured the view.
While I waited for the clouds to dissipate I spent my time watching, and photographing Mars as it rose above the eastern horizon along with Venus. Sadly the deteriorating conditions finally overwhelmed the sky; forcing me to pack up and call it quits for another time.
Mars and Venus Rising: Mouseover the image for more information.
Two for the Price of One
As luck would have it the following morning offered some clear skies with another opportunity to tackle M51. This time the elements proved far more agreeable, and allowed me the chance to build on my previous observation. As my eyes adapted to the dark, the subtle contour of M51 began to materialise as an opaque asymmetrical ellipse; which over time began to take on the shape of two uneven lobes.
This completely blew me away because I knew that the smaller of the two lobes was in fact the interacting dwarf galaxy NGC 5195. It was this small companion — after a close encounter between the two galaxies — that helped enhance the pronounced spiral structure of Messier 51.
Adding to this already impressive scene, averted vision revealed the minute cores of both galaxies flickering in and out of view like far flung sky lanterns. A display that was made all the more interesting with the knowledge that at the centre of M51 lies a monstrous black hole which is devouring and tearing matter apart at an incredible rate.
All good things must come to an end, as is so often the case, and 42 minutes after beginning my session a veil of cloud rolled in from the west bringing my observation of this long sought, and rewarding deep sky object, to a close.
Tags: Aldebaran, Canes Venatici, DSLR, Galaxy, Mars, Messier 51, NGC 5195, Strathspey 25x100, Venus
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I began a short observing session last Tuesday morning (12.05.09) by trying to split the well known double star Izar (also known as Epsilon Boötis) in the constellation of Boötes. Despite a hazy mist in the upper atmosphere conditions were fairly decent, but try as I might I just couldn’t separate the orange giant primary, and it’s smaller main sequence companion from each other. I was sure that a power of 166x would be up to the job, but obviously it wasn’t so perhaps someone can offer a little advice on the subject?
After about twenty minutes of fruitless scrutiny I decided to move on from Boötes to bathe in the radiance of my second morning target: Cor Caroli in Canes Venatici. The view through the 6mm plössl was delightful, but unexpectedly, and quite oddly the brighter A class primary shone with a greenish hue rather than the white or pale blue luminosity that I was anticipating. The secondary which is an F class star should have displayed a yellow iridesence, but instead showed no sign of colour.
Regardless of the perculiar spectral colours that I percieved this really was an attractive binary system to study, but I think it will be one that I will return to quite soon for a follow up observation.
Tags: Alpha Canum Venaticorum, Bootes, Canes Venatici, Cor Caroli, Double Star, Epsilon Boötis, Izar
Posted in Astro Art, Observing | 3 Comments »
Time, as they say, waits for nobody and when I look back towards the beginning of the month I am left wondering where all the time has gone. March began (01.03.09 & 02.03.09) by bidding a fond farewell to comet Lulin as it started the long journey back out towards the distant reaches of the solar system. Around this time I also logged the open cluster M47 from the Binocular Messier Club list with the 10×50s, but with an elevation of around +18° M47 offered a rather sketchy observation as it drifted through the southern sky glow. I had also tried to catch two other open clusters in this part of the sky: M46 (which is very close to M47) and M50 in Monoceros. Both remained hidden from view, again due to the sky conditions, but I am going to make every effort to catch these two objects before they disappear into the summer evenings.
Besides my Lulin and Messier observations, the beginning of the month (05.03.09 & 06.03.09) also offered me the perfect opportunity to study the cratered surface of the waning gibbous Moon and score a number of objects from the Lunar 100 list. The most notable objects included the Vallis Alpes, the crater remnant Hipparchus as well as the mysterious Bessel Ray and the ancient crater of Clavius. Aside from viewing a good many Lunar 100 objects I also took the time to explore many features beyond the scope of the list and I made wonderful observations of prominent impact craters such as Reinhold, Herschel, Eudoxus, Aristoteles and many more.
Beyond this point bad weather conditions brought things to an abrupt end for almost two weeks, so it was nearer to the end of March (21.03.09) before I managed out, this time turning my gaze towards two faint galaxies in Canes Venatici: Messier 94 and Messier 63. However, the immediate interference of a neighbor’s extremely intrusive light combined with the neck breaking altitude of +41° put paid to a more in-depth observation. I dare say that I will return to these two deep sky objects in the next few months when they are both in a better position.
Following on from this I then spent some time a few mornings later (24.03.09) hunting down three more Messier objects: the open clusters M29 and M39 in Cygnus as well as the planetary nebula M27 in Vulpecula. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions and I easily tracked down the two open clusters but the urban terrain combined with a low position in the sky unfortunately prevented me from viewing M27. In addition to my deep sky observations I serendipitously caught two satellites through the 25×100s as they shot over the eastern sky. After some digging around on the web I whittled my options down to two possible designations: A0-27 and ITAMSAT 1. I’ve never been very good at catching iridium flares or tracking satellites, so I still have some niggling doubts over the identities of the two space craft, but it seems as though A0-27 and ITAMSAT 1 are my best bet.
To finally wrap things up I took in a short view of Saturn and the cloud enshrouded Titan as they sat serenely under the watchful eye of Leo. Upon making this observation I originally thought that I’d also seen the small Saturnian moon of Iapetus, but later investigation revealed that it was in fact HP 54954, a 9th magnitude G class star about 365 light years distant. So unfortunately, no cigar.
In retrospect March has definitely been a celestial smorgasbord, but as MoonWatch week is upon us UK amateur astronomers I plan to spend much of my time gazing at the checkered lunar surface. Hopefully the elements will cooperate and grant me some decent Moon watching weather.
Tags: A0-27, Aristoteles, Bessel Ray, Bresser 10x50, C/2007 N3 Lulin, Canes Venatici, Clavius, Cygnus, Eudoxus, Galaxies, Herschel, Hipparchus, HP 54954, ITAMSAT 1, M27, M29, M39, M46, M47, M50, M63, M94, Monoceros, Moon, Reinhold, Saturn, Strathspey 25x100, The Sunflower Galaxy, Titan, Vallis Alpes, Vulpecula
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As observing sessions go, Monday served up one of the best early morning skies that I have seen in what feels like a long time. I had been itching for a chance to get back out since my last session on Friday night so I could hunt down M3 in Canes Venatici as well as take a better look at M35 in Gemini. With crystal clear skies above and the temperature dropping to -3°C conditions, apart from the constant light pollution just couldn’t have been better.
I kicked things off at 01:50 UT and set about resuming my search for Messier 3, which I had failed to observe from my previous session. Canes Venatici was now high in the sky and well away from the dreaded orange haze that bogs down the horizon, so I felt my chances of netting an observation of M3 where extremely good. Using the 10×50s I slowly swept down about 10° from Cor Caroli and back again. I did this a few times until my eye’s finally settled on the distant globular cluster, which through the small bins looked rather hazy and indistinct. To tell the truth I was a little dubious of what I was seeing so I decided to go a bit deeper and set up the 25×100s on the tripod. I really wasn’t prepared for what I was going to see - I’ve only observed one other globular cluster: M56 in Lyra and I have to say M3 completely blows it away! Using direct vision the cluster looked almost spherical, extremely dense and relatively bright with a diffuse glow but it took on a whole new dimension when using averted vision. The cluster’s brightness really jumped out at me and I could make out what I would describe as a coarse, almost grainy texture. This was an extremely rewarding observation and I spent the next fifteen minutes tracking this wonderful DSO across the sky.
Finally moving on from M3 I turned to Gemini to take in my second observation: the open cluster M35 which had previously impressed me and which I desperately wanted to return to with the bigger bins. This cluster definitely has the astronomical WOW factor and through the 25×100s it was transformed into a truly dazzling sight. Like all amateur astronomers, The Sword Handle in Perseus never ceases to leave me in awe, but in my opinion M35 gives it a pretty good run for it’s money. I was so completely mesmerized by the view that I totally lost all track of time.
Eventually I manged to pull myself away from M35 and spend a few minutes just ambling across the early morning sky with the old MK 1 eyeball. As I did so I spied Cancer riding high in the heavens and suddenly took a notion to take in an unplanned observation of Messier 44: The Beehive Cluster. My last observation of this DSO was back at the end of November and that was with the 10×50s. This time around The Beehive took on a whole different shape that revealed the cluster in all it’s scintillating radiance. The FOV was just filled with white/blue stars that shimmered and danced in the crisp morning sky, making for a truly fantastic sight.
Looking at my watch I was amazed to see that it was coming up for 03:00 UT. It felt as though the time had just flown by and I didn’t feel that I wanted to end things, but I was getting tired as well as cold. However, before I packed my gear up I saw Saturn towards the south just over the roof tops and decided to have a quick look. I knew I wouldn’t see much planetary detail or the rings, but there was a chance I would see some of the moons. Through the 25×100s all I could make out was the planetary disc of Saturn (as expected), but not far from it sat a small orange/red ’star’ that I instinctively knew to be the moon Titan. I was so delighted as this was the first time I had directly observed any of Saturn’s moons. I soaked up the view for a few more minutes and took the time to make a rough sketch that I later used to create the digital render above.
All in all I’d say that this was probably one of the best observing sessions that I have had in a long time and hopefully the first of many more to come. I’m planning to track down M13 and M92 in Hercules on my next outing, so hopefully I can get back out quite soon. Of course that all depends on what the weather has got in store for me . . .
Tags: Cancer, Canes Venatici, Cor Caroli, Gemini, Lyra, M3, M35, M44, M56, NGC 869, NGC 884, Perseus, Praesepe, Saturn, The Beehive Cluster, Titan
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While Thursday night offered up a mediocre sky with some pretty bad transparency, Friday night exceeded my expectations by delivering an almost spotless sky. The transparency was slightly better but the difference from the previous night was marginal. I wanted to make the most of the clear skies by pursuing M3 in Canes Venatici as well as returning to my search for comet 144P/Kushida and Messier 52 in Cassiopeia.
My first target for the night was Kushida and after searching for a few minutes with the 25×100s I landed on the star HP 19148 and the small triangular asterism where I would find the elusive comet. However, if you are an suburban backyard astronomer like me then your chances of catching this comet are pretty slim. At magnitude 10.8 Kushida is a fairly dim target for light polluted skies, but I persevered nonetheless and resorted to using averted vision (as I had originally done) to try and pin it down. If uncertainty had harassed my very first observation of this comet, then I was in no doubt this time around. Through the large bins Kushida took on an extremely diffuse star like appearance that winked in and out of view and showed very little detail. I spent between 23:00 - 23:10 UT struggling to take in the tenuous view but under my illuminated skies this was as good as this comet was going to get.
I soon turned my attention to the constellation of Canes Venatici and began my hunt for Messier 3, an easy globular cluster lying 33,900 light years away from Earth. With a magnitude of 6.2 M3 should have be quite an easy find for the 25×100s, but as I swept down from Cor Caroli the sky just disappeared in a haze of orange murk. Hoping that a lower magnification would ease things I turned to my Bresser 10×50s, but even they failed to penetrate the artificial brume that clung to the eastern horizon.
Reluctantly I abandoned my search for M3 and turned to Cassiopeia to resume my search for Messier 52. However I just couldn’t resist another look at M35 in Gemini and spent a few moments soaking in the light from this gorgeous open cluster before moving on to Cassiopeia. Still using the 10×50s I swept out from Ι Cephei in the constellation Cepheus instead of using Caph in Cassiopeia as a starting point and within a matter of moments I had the faint glow of Messier 52 within my FOV. As open clusters go M52 did not look as substantial when compared to M103 - even using the 25×100s I have to say that M103 delivered a far nicer view. With averted vision the open cluster even showed some real granularity and gave up some of the stars hiding at it’s core which made for a really thrilling observation.
By this time it was 23:44 UT and I had to cut my session short, but I was delighted that I had finally seen Kushida and wiped Messier 52 from my observing list. I’ve made plans to return to Canes Venatici and take in a sucessful obsevation of M3, I also want to take a closer look at M35 in Gemini so hopefully the clear skies will continue into the weekend.
Tags: 144P/Kushida, Bresser 10x50, Canes Venatici, Caph, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cor Caroli, Gemini, I Cephei, M103, M3, M35, M52, Strathspey 25x100
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