| ← Early Spring |
Herschel II Project - Late Spring
(1/2)
12h–15h Part 1: NGC 4039–4742 (12h) A photo journey of my observing adventures with EAA/CAO (electronically assisted astronomy / camera assisted observing) Observed for the Astronomical League's Herschel II Observing Program
Marie Lott, Atlanta, GA
Updated 11/09/23 03:20 PM -0500 |
Late Spring pt 2→ |
| Size: | 4.0' x 2.2' | Mag: | 11.1 | Type: | SBm Gx |
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| Observations: Wow! What a beautiful sight! This striking pair of interacting galaxies, known as the Antennae Galaxies, is in the process of merging to become one. Our target, NGC 4039 is the bottom-most (southern) of the two.It is dimmer and has less defined internal structure than its twin (4038). It is has a smaller red-tinged core while its envelope is more elongated and appears dusty and diffuse. It has a visible stubby arm hooking out and downwards. Its partner has an almost invisible "tail" or "antenna" which can be just barely detected here as it arches off in the opposite direction. Two bluish knots can be seen leading into the the junction where 4039 joins 4038. In contrast, 4038 has almost a dozen of these blue knots dotting its outer curling arm like jewels. These blue knots are star forming regions while the reddish cores contain much older stars. | ||
| Size: | 3.2' x 1.3' | Mag: | 11.9 | Type: | Sa Gx |
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| Observations: This small spiral galaxy is moderately bright with a stellar nucleus. A dim outer haze envelops it in an E-W oval shape. It has a brighter inner cloud with some wavy structure to it in the bottom portion (zoom in to see), expanding slightly N-S. Its companion, little NGC 4045A, sits very close by directly south. | ||
| Size: | 1.6' x 1.3' | Mag: | 13 | Type: | Sb Gx |
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| Observations: This galaxy is found in a rather sparse field. It has a bright stellar core with a slightly elongated halo E-W. As in the previous galaxy, a fainter halo surrounds the brighter halo and core. A tiny star sits just within the fainter halo to the SW. | ||
| Size: | 4.0' x 1.7' | Mag: | 11.9 | Type: | SABc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is a bright oval spiral with delicate swirling arms around a round stellar core. A small foreground star sits brightly on the right side of the diffuse surrounding cloud. The field is only modestly filled with stars. Here the galaxy gets all of our attention. | ||
| Size: | 3.4' x 2.3'' | Mag: | 11.4 | Type: | E Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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Observations: This is an oval elliptical with a very bright stellar core. It is surrounded by a small glowing fuzzy
haze. Numerous smaller galaxies are clustered
around it in the field. Among them are NGC 4063 to the SW, NGC 4075
in the upper N, NGC 407t & NGC 4139 to the SSE and faint UGC 7042 to the W..
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| Size: | 7.4' x 1.7' | Mag: | 11.5 | Type: | SABc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observation: This is pretty! This oblique galaxy has knotty spiral arms twisting around a bright, slightly egg-shaped core. Overall it is long and extended. The lower right portion of the galaxy stretches and widens as it extends southward, producing a large dim gap between the arms in that region. The interior arm structure appears scrambled and distorted as if it has interacted with another strong object in the past Two bright stars and one medium-bright star can be seen in an otherwise rather sparse field.. | ||
| Size: | 5.4' x 2.0' | Mag: | 11.9 | Type: | Sbc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This is another long oval galaxy with a pretty interior. It is quite large and bright with a round stellar nucleus. The galaxy is at an oblique angle to us, so the northern and southern tips are where the spiral arms are most evident. In the north (top) two arms appear to split apart from one another. In the south (bottom tip) a bright knot can be seen. The field, as typical of the sky in this area, is rather sparse, but a scattering of medium to small stars makes for a pleasant view.I like this one. . | ||
| Size: | 2.7'x 2.0' | Mag: | 11.6 | Type: | E Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: NGC 4105 is a very bright elliptical galaxy with a "little buddy" galaxy (NGC 4106) seemingly stuck on its eastern side. Streams of dusty haze appear to connect the pair of galaxies, and a wedge of haze on the east side of the smaller one looks windblown as a result of the interaction. (You'll need to zoom in to see this.) Our target galaxy NGC 4105 is oval and almost "all core", with only a small amount of faint halo. Tiny IC 2996 can be seen in the SW; IC 3000 is barely discernable in the NE, but is labeled in the astrometry mapping. | ||
| Size: | 4.2'x 1.3' | Mag: | 12.2 | Type: | S0-a Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: THis galaxy lies in a pool of relative darkness, with only a few small stars nearby to keep it company. Other dark areas of void are noted in this rather barren field. One bright mag 8.4 star is present in the NW (West). This galaxy stretches out diagonally to make an oval shape. I would estimate that it is about 3 times longer that it is wide. It has a bright oval core surrounded by a diffuse halo. | ||
| Size: | 1.8'x 1.3' | Mag: | 13.1 | Type: | SABb Gx |
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| Observations: This small galaxy is a sightly distorted oval, with a gentle twist at the top and bottom of the dim outer haze. A hint of a diffuse, right-sweeping arm is seen on the top side. The entire bottom side of the haze is gently truncated and this gives it the appearance of curling around to the left. At the bottom edge of the core is a stubby protuberance leading into a knotty cloud. The field is only modestly populated with stars, the brightest of which sits right on the bottom edge of the frame. | ||
| Size: | 3.9'x 3.6' | Mag: | 11.7 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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| Observations: This is a lovely face-on spiral galaxy. It is delicately rounded with a small bright core and a prominent arm sweeping around on the north side. There are dark gaps on either side of the core between it and the glowing interior arms. Further out, the envelope fades to a diffuse cloud with a half dozen dainty embedded stars within it. Quite lovely. | ||
| Size: | 3.0'x 2.4' | Mag: | 12.2 | Type: | S0-a Gx |
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Images:25s exposures, live stacked for ~5 minutes Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This oval galaxy has a bright round core surrounded by a two-toned envelope. The inner potion is bright and shows a little bit of a shadowy gap on the south side. The outer haze is much dimmer and diffuse, thinning indistinctly as it fades into the darkness. The field has onlly a loose sprinkling of stars, with one particularly striking bright double star (maginutes 8 & 11) at the top NNW edge of the frame. | ||
| Size: | 6.1 x 1.3' | Mag: | 12.1 | Type: | SABc Gx |
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| Observations: Large and bright, this galaxy appears edge-on to us. It has a glowing elongated core with a star or fin-like appendage at the eastern (left) tip. The luminous inner halo is more blunt at the left tip and more tapered on the right. An outer diffuse haze extends even further out, with a broad end fading eastward and the other end more pinched and tapered. A tight doublet of stars catches your eye under the left side (SE) of the galaxy. The field is only moderately populated; the brightest star, mag 9.3 HD 10559, sits to the SW of our galaxy. . | ||
| Size: | 2.5'x 2.0' | Mag: | 12.2 | Type: | SABc Gx |
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| Observations: This is a small bright round dot of a galaxy sitting in a swath of darkness running through a sparse starfield. Zooming in on it, I can see that outside of the bright round core is a mottled haze with uneven edges and a hint of an arm hooking outwards in the NW and possibly in the S. | ||
| Size: | 7.7' x 1.3' | Mag: | 12.2 | Type: | SABb Gx |
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| Observations:This is such a pretty galaxy! Thin and needle-like, it has lots of interior detail evident, with a bright elongated core surrounded by swirling arms, dark lanes, and knots. It gives quite a 3-dimensional look as it fades outward from the back side into space. A cute equilateral triangle of foreground stars sits off of the SW tip. A half dozen brighter stars dot the field along with a small sprinkling of smaller stars. | ||
| Size: | 3.0'x 2.6' | Mag: | 12.1 | Type: | E Gx |
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| Observations: Three galaxies sit in the middle of this field, with a fourth extremely faint one almost off of the right edge. Our taget galaxy is the largest and brightest of the central grouping. It has a bright round stellar core surrounded by a dim diffuse haze extending out uniformly on all sides. Four lobes of relative darkness sit symmetrically around the galaxy as seemingly voided pools of space. | ||
| Size: | 1.8'x 1.9' | Mag: | 12.9 | Type: | S0 Gx |
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| Observations: Wow! Zoom in and look at this unusual group of galaxies called "The Box". There are three relatively bright ones, with a fourth looking like a thin streaky skid mark of one of the others. Our target galaxy sits under this ghostly skid mark and is the brightest of the four. It is a bulging oval surrounded by diffuse, indistinct haze. It sits at an angle, slightly off from vertical NNW to SSE in the field. An arc, a zig zag, and short pairs and triplets of stars decorate the field. | ||
| Size: | 2.6' x 1.9' | Mag: | 12.9 | Type: | SBbc Gx |
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| Observations:This galaxy looks like a small cocoon with a faint fuzzy envelope aith a bright knot-like core paired buried deep inside.A small foreground star sit immediately to the left of the core as if it is stuck inside the cocoon as well. The galaxy is taller than it is wide, forming a smooth oval shape. It makes one tip of a large triangle with two large, bright stars HD106184 and HD10602. A pretty dribble of four field stars lie in the SW corner like a short broken string of pearls. | ||
| Size: | 2.5'x 2.0' | Mag: | 11.7 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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| Observations: Zoom in to see what a lovely little face-on spiral this is! The core is bright and is markedly elongated E-W. It illuminates the arms nicely. Bright spiral galaxy NGC 4193 is caught right at the bottom edge of the field. A long curved line of 10 field stars makes a nice arc along the eastern (left) edge of the frame. | ||
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| Size: | 3.8'x 2.1' | Mag: | 11.8 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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| Observations: A small face-on spiral with nicely defined arms, this oval galaxy has a round bright core. The core seems to have bright little nuggets protruding from its edges. The top part of the more diffuse outer haze displays a large blunt "wing" fading out into space. there is a bulge in the the next lobe of the outer western-most haze, but its extension into space along the outer lower edge is not detecatable as os top one. A bright knot is seen just to the NE of the bright central area but still within the outer haze. Three other dim galaxies can be seen in the top half of the field. They are labeled in the astrometry image. | ||
| Size: | 5.7' x 1.6' | Mag: | 11.1 | Type: | Sb Gx |
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| Observations: What a beauty! This large spiral sits almost directly edge-on to us, with a dark lane stretching the entire length. The dark lane is roiling with ominous clouds. The bright core just barely peeks over the top of it. A hint of the core can be seen in an orb of glowing haze in the lower portion of the galaxy. A bright (mag 9) star floats just above the galaxy's eastern tip. Another smaller (but bright) star hovers just off the NE center of the galaxy. A tiny little galaxy can be found nearby, to the SE of our target.Two bright colorful stars, one orange-red and the other blue, are a part of a line of 3-4 stars that stands out in the SW. | ||
| Size: | 3.9'x 1.3' | Mag: | 12.3 | Type: | S0-a Gx |
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| Observations: This elongated galaxy has a bright bulging core with a surrounding haze that tapers to pointed tips. An outer layer of haze extendes diffusely past the tips and fades into the background. The lower edge of the galaxy has an unusual abrupt edge along the entire lower length as if it is either curled under or blocked by an intervening dark cloud of some sort. A distinct knot is evident in the inner haze to the NW of the core. A bright mag 8 star sits slightly off center at the very top edge of the frame. Void pools encircle this galaxy, so perhaps there are in fact some obscuring dust clouds in this area. | ||
| Size: | 2.5'x 0.9' | Mag: | 12.9 | Type: | SABa Gx |
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| Observations: Another spiral with a pretty dust belt! This time the dark band is to the top of the bright bulging core. (Zoom in to see!) The core is surrounded by a hazy disk with diffuse edges that thin out into the darkness. A bright star sits on top of the haze near the right (western) tip. The entire galaxy sits at at NE-SW angle with its face angled slightly away from us. A nice slightly smaller galaxy sits above it to its left, NGC 4233. See its description next. | ||
| Size: | 2.3'x 0.8' | Mag: | 12.9 | Type: | S0 Gx |
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| Observations: Continuing the field above to the North, we have NGC 4233 centered here, with its partner NGC 4224 now sitting to the bottom right of it. NGC 4233 is elongated N-S with a bulging round core. Zooming in, we can see a knotty disturbance in the structure of the diffuse envelope towards the northern tip. A nice straight run of 4 stars (1 brighter, the other 3 smaller but of equal size) is in the NE quadrant | ||
| Size: | 4.1'x 0.8' | Mag: | 12.6 | Type: | Sa Gx |
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| Observations: Another almost-edge-on galaxy, this one extends NE-SW with a bulging central core and a bright inner haze. The diffuse outer envelope elongates in both axial directions, fading gradually into the darkness of space. A pretty little spiral,NGC 4246, sits off to the east - zoom in to see its swirling arms.Above it is a bright little squashed oval galaxy, NGC 4247. Our target galaxy (NGC 4235) sits under an equilateral triangle of stars. A much tinier triangle of star catches my eye in the NW quadrant underneath a mag 8 field star. | ||
| Size: | 22.0' x 7.2' | Mag: | 10.1 | Type: | SBd Gx |
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| Observations: Wow! This huge galaxy has such low surface brightness, it is almost invisible! At first I thought I was imagining it! It stretches broadly, just off of true N-S across a good half of the frame. Semi-voided areas sit to both its left and right sides, almost like it's been treading water. :) A bright little star pierces the center in lieu of a visible core. The central axis forms a rod-like length of softly condensed haze, while wispy broad segments of the envelope hang doen on the right side. A glob of knots and haze sits just to the western side of the northern tip. There are also two faint knots in the flared-out end of the southern tip. A wedge of 10-12 field stars sits off-center in the top of frame north of our target galaxy. | ||
| Size: | 2.5' x 1.7' | Mag: | 11.6 | Type: | SABb Gx |
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| Observations: This modestly sized galaxy has a compressed bright core surrounded by mottled haze. I can imagine hints of spiral structure within the haze but it is indistinct. The galaxy is oval and sits at a ESE-WNW angle in the field. A pretty half-circle of 9-10 evenly spaced stars drapes gently down the lower left side of the frame, ending just to the right of a very bright mag 6.3 star (which has a cool orange-red glow showing at the edges where it's not blown-out). | ||
| Size: | 2.5' x 1.3' | Mag: | 13 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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| Observations: NGC 4241 is a small faint spiral galaxy with a small bright star masquerading as a bright stellar core. Zoom in and you will see that the spiral arms form a large "Superman S". in the center there are a couple of knots which almost create a bar.0Two other galaxies are easily spotted in the field - a tiny round one (PGC 39509) to the SE and a large, bright compressed oval one to (NGC 4223) further to the west of center. | ||
| Size: | 17.7'x 1.9' | Mag: | 10.3 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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| Observations: What a stunner! The Silver Needle is an enourmous bright edge-pn splinter galaxy that never fails to amaze. It runs in a NE-SW line across the center of the frame. It is MUCH longer than it is wide, perhaps 10-12:1.It has a small bright stellar core with a thin dust band girdling the center. The inner envelope shows twisting tortuosity to the southwest (lower right) of the galaxy center; that side tapers to a fine dim tip with a flat little brighter splotch near the very end. The right side of the galaxy is knotty with a pair of two bluish bright spots sitting as a tight vertical pair with respect to the major galaxy axis .Striking! | ||
| Size: | 3.1'x 1.1' | Mag: | 12.5 | Type: | SBm Gx |
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| Observations: The awesome M106 in the lower left corner tries to take over the frame, but that is my fault as I purposely made sure to include it here. Our target is odd little NGC 4248, a flattened little twig of a galaxy that is easy to overlook here despite it being in the center. The middle of this galaxy appears compressed into a almost perfectly straight line. There is a knot within the west (right) side of this dim bar. A faint diffuse outer envelope encircles it in an a indistinct fuzz. A bright star is perched near its western tip. Two other modestly bright galaxies (NGC 4231 & 4232) lie near the western edge of the field. Other very faint galaxies can be detected among the field stars at high zoom. | ||
| Size: | 2.7' x 2.1' | Mag: | 12.8 | Type: | S0-a Gx |
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| Observations: This galaxy has a bright round core surrounded by an intriguing envelope. It has the look of a propeller caught in stop motion with two wedges of slightly brighter haze running NNW and SSE, and two dimmer concave sides of fainter haze. A star or a knot appears at ~10 o'clock within the envelope. Two fanciful strings of field stars curve around in the right side of the frame. The two brightest stars in the field (mag 9 & 10 stars) sit in the bottom right corner of the frame. | ||
| Size: | 4.5' x 0.7' | Mag: | 12.7 | Type: | Sb Gx |
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| Observations: This is a thin needle galaxy with an extremely bright bulging core. It sits at a 45° angle in the field and tapers to very thin sharp points. A dark lane or gap can been seen in the NE side of the galaxy. A rough lasso of field stars occupies the top left corner of the frame. Eight or nine voided pools of darkness seem to push the remaining field stars out of their way, giving the area around our galaxy a honeycomb appearance. | ||
| Size: | 3.9' x 1.7' | Mag: | 11.8 | Type: | SBa Gx |
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| Observations: How interesting! This galaxy also has the same stop-motion propeller looks as NGC 4250 above, only the whole galaxy is tilted back at an angle so that the face appears to be looking up and to the right of our line of sight. The "propeller arms" have a curve to them making them look like old timey fan blades. A small star sits just off of the NE tip. Several other smaller galaxies are in the field (four are labeled) as well as a bright mag 7.7 star to the SE of center. | ||
| Size: | 1.1' x 1.0' | Mag: | 12.8 | Type: | S0-a Gx |
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| Observations: Our target galaxy is not the bright elliptical, NGC 4261, but its smaller partner, dimmer spiral NGC 4264. This little galaxy is fairly round and condensed. It is surrounded by fuzz but little details of the spiral structure can be discerned in this image. Numerous other galaxies are visible in the field; several are labeled. The brightest star in the field at mag 7.3 is located near the bottom of the frame and looks quite similar at first glance to NGC 4261. A sweet little curve of 10 small stars curls underneath 4261 and 4264. | ||
| Size: | 3.2' x 2.9' | Mag: | 11.9 | Type: | E-S0 Gx |
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| Observations: This is a fairly round E/S0 galaxy with a wide diffuse envelope surrounding the bright core. As it fades out into space, two small foreground stars can be seen on top of its east (left) side. The star field is moderately sparse, but five brighter stars strech out vertically along the western (right) side of the frame. | ||
| Size: | 2.3' x 1.0' | Mag: | 13.1 | Type: | S0 Gx |
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| Observations: NGC 4270 is just one of 11 galaxies visible (and labeled) in this field in Virgo! Thankfully our target galaxy ended up in the center of the field so it's easy to find. :) This galaxy is oval with a bright oval core. A soft bullet of haze encases it, appearing more pointed on the right and more blunt on the left. The galaxy sits slightly inclined from the horizontal. It's on the centerline of a triangular grouping of similarly bright galaxies (NGC 4266, 4281, 4273, and 4268; NGC 4259, 4282 and tiny NGC 4287, 4282, and IC 3153 lie nearby. Another tiny galaxy, NGC 4273, is hiding in the the mix near the bottom of the main "tree" as well. | ||
| Size: | 1.5' x 1.2' | Mag: | 13.6 | Type: | E-S0 Gx |
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| Observations: This lonely little galaxy is rather small. It has a round stellar core with a faint haze around it. It sits in between two slightly smaller stars, forming a flattened triangle. Compared to the previous Virgo field, this area seems quite empty, with roughly a dozen only moderately bright stars sprinkled around, and those mostly being in the eastern (left) half of the frame. | ||
| Size: | 2.3' x 1.5' | Mag: | 12.7 | Type: | Sb Gx |
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| Observations: This little galaxy looks like a laid back spinner with its top tilted slightly towards us. It has a bright round stellar core, with rather bright blurry arms reaching NNE to SSW. An extremely faint bubble of almost invisible haze envelopes it all as if it's inside of a glass globe. A very tiny galaxy (NGC 4284) with a bright core sits directly to the right of center, with one star twinning with it in between it and our target galaxy. Bright 70 UMa is due South at the bottom edge of the frame. A wide double star sits like cat's eyes in the east, directly left of our galaxy. | ||
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#222 NGC 4291 (H275-1) 12h 20m 17.7s, +75° 22' 15"
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#230 NGC 4319 (H276-1) 12h 21m 43.9s, +75° 19' 20"
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| Observations: This is a small oval galaxy surrounded by a diffuse hazy shell. it has two tiny stars immediately next to it on the west and south sides, placed as if they were Micky Mouse ears.. A mag 14 star sits off to the east and is almosst a twin, just minus the hazy envelope. NGC 4291 forms the right anchor of a 4-point box with three stars of similar brightness. Paired close by is NGC 4319 to the SE. This galaxy is interesting because both the core and the dim surrounding haze are oval shaped, by they are oriented in slightly different directions. The haze has darker areas within it and obique edges, giving it a skewed look. Another galaxy, the slightly brighter NGC 4386, sits at a distance to the NE, near the northern edge of the frame. Bright mag 5.5 star blue-white HD 107193 sits low in the SW near the bottom edge of the field. | ||
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#223 NGC 4294 (H611-2) 12h 21m 17.8s, +11° 30' 36"
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#225 NGC 4299 (H62-2) 12h 21m 40.9s, +11° 30' 03"
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| Observations: NGC 4299 is a mottled fluffy square of smooshed light. It sits atop an asterism of mag 12-13 stars which to me look like a giraffe, with the galaxy as its head. Immediately to tis right is a brighter and slightly bigger galaxy, NGC 4294. This next galaxy is elongated NW-SE. It has a disturbed flattened core with knots visible on its outer edges. One of these clumps seems to be an extension of some sort of arm that appears to cross over the top. The outer haze is diffuse and lacks defined edges. A bright mag 9 star sits in the SW corner of the field. | ||
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#224 NGC 4298 (H111-2)
12h 21m 32.8s, +14° 36' 23"
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#226 NGC 4302 (H112-2) 12h 21m 42.3s, +14° 35' 58"
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| Observations: What a beautiful pair! And they couldn't be more different! On the left is the stunningly thin NGC 4302. It sits almost perfectly aligned vertically in the field (N-S). It has a bright mottled core with a slender dark dust belt extending the entire length and across the core. The core seems smaller and less bright on the right side (west) of the belt. A little star sits near the end of the bottom tip. Immediately adjacent to this galaxy lies a lovely face-on oval galaxy with a bright stellar core. Its envelope has a lopsided look and is mottled with dark areas, spotches, and knots. These disturbed structures are also prominent in the inner brighter region surrounding the core. A tiny dim galaxy (UGC 7436, unlabeled) lies in the northeast. | ||
| Size: | 2.2' x 1.1' | Mag: | 13.2 | Type: | S0a Gx |
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| Observations: This galaxy is an elongated oval with a bright core that, uponing zooming in, is fractured at the SE tip, with the bright triangular tip being separated from the main body. A dim haze surrounds on all sides, and is very slightly wider at the bottom southern end than at the top. A nice pair of stars sit below the galaxy, and several more pairs randomly dot the field. A satellite is caught passing across the right side of the frame from the NW corner to the South center. | ||
| Size: | 4.6' x 1.2' | Mag: | 12.5 | Type: | Sab Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This striking galaxy is bright and stretches lengthwise N-S. It is tilted slightly away from being edge-on to us. The elongated core bulges upwards a bit on the east (left) side. The galaxy's surrounding diffuse envelope is two-toned, with a brighter section close to the core, and with a markedly dimmer and thinner haze reaching outwards at the tips and edges. Twin mag 13 stars form a nice little pair of cat's eyes just to the east of our galaxy. Three other small and dim galaxies are easily spotted in the west (right) half of field. One relatively bright (mag 9.7) star stands out in the northern part of the field. M100 sits just off-camera to its north. | ||
| Size: | 4.0' x 1.0' | Mag: | 12.5 | Type: | Sab Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: At first glance this galaxy appears somewhat similar to the previous one. It is dimmer and is tipped a little further at a NW/SE angle. It has a rounder, more punctate core. Its envelope is more uniformly dense with faint edges diffusing out into space. A little star or a knot appears on its SE tip. Numerous small dim neighboring galaxies can be detected in the field. | ||
| Size: | 2.0' x 0.9' | Mag: | 13.5 | Type: | E Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: For some odd reason, this small galaxy had me humming "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" It is a cute little thing, squashed a bit NNW-SSE but with a bright core that appears flattened crossways, E-W. The diffuse outer region seems dimmer on its NE side, not sure why. A bright (mag 8.3) star sits at the north edge of the field. | ||
| Size: | 2.2' x 2.2' | Mag: | 13.5 | Type: | E Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This little ball of a galaxy has a very bright round core. It is surrounded by a tight bit of dense haze overwrapped by a larger diffuse envelope. A tiny little star hovers at 12 o'clock directly over the core. This galaxy is said to harbor an AGN. It makes a triangle with two other smaller galaxies, NGC 4326 and NGC 4333. Three bright HD stars sit at a slope across the lower portion of the frame; a small pair of cat's eyes is seen just underneath them. | ||
| Size: | 3.5' x 12.7' | Mag: | 12.3 | Type: | S0-a Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: Two bright galaxies jump out at you in this field. Our target is the smaller round one, NGC 4340. Its overall shape is slightly oval with a bright stellar core. The outer haze surrounding it is more dense in a swath running NE-SW, which probably represents the galaxy's major arms. The outer east and west portions of the envelope are dark, with only a hint of an outer ring of faint haze. The partner galaxy, NGC 4350to its east (left) is shaped like a bright elongated diamond with a taper of haze at each end. | ||
| Size: | 2.9' x 0.9' | Mag: | 13.1 | Type: | E Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: Five pretty galaxies are sprinkled upward from the center of this field. Our target is the lowest one of these five. It has a bright bulging core which extends to abruptly tapered points. Its thin envelope tapers diffusely at the NW and SE ends. This galaxy makes a nice anchor for the other galaxies floating above it in the field. | ||
| Size: | 3.5' x 0.7' | Mag: | 13.4 | Type: | SBc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is flattened and splinter-like, with a slight twist at the western tip. I assume we are looking at this edge-on. A faint haze surrounds it on all sides, fading dimly into nothingness at each end, and mirroring the shape of the brighter interior. It looks like there is a brightening of the core off-center to the west (right), but its very subtle. A pretty string of 7 small stars forms an arching string to the west (right) of our galaxy under a line of three slightly brighter stars. | ||
| Size: | 2.1' x 2.0' | Mag: | 12.3 | Type: | SBa Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: Our galaxy here looks like a very bright round star ringed with a tiny amount of fuzz. It's so star-like that if you don't look closely you would not realize that it's actually a galaxy. No other galaxies are apparent in this view, but there are some very tiny stars that add sparkle to the field with their dainty look. | ||
| Size: | 2.0' x 1.6' | Mag: | 12.6 | Type: | E-S0 Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy has an extremely bright oblate core with an even evelope of diffuse haze surrounding it. It has an intriquing galactic neighbor to the NE, a thin ghostly edge-on with a swooshy haze extending outwards to the SW. A small, round, and dim galaxy lies at the northern edge of the frame near a bright mag 6.8 star just off screen. | ||
| Size: | 13.3' x 11.0' | Mag: | 10.6 | Type: | Sm Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: Very broad and faint, this disturbed spiral looks like a menacing bat or bird with the right wing bent up sharply and the left wing down. A glowing oval core forms the central breast and two knots near the top right form the eyes. Other dimmer knots are seen in the other protruding spiral arms. In general this is an enormous galaxy with very low surface brightness. Its arms are distorted, diffuse, and dim, giving this galaxy a ghoul-like appearance. Large dark spaces appear between the arms. There are only about 60 stars in the field, non particularly bright. | ||
| Size: | 4.1' x 2.7' | Mag: | 11.6 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is moderately dim. It appears almost face-on to us showing a slightly oblique spiral with north and south arms opening into a dim S shape. It has a bright compressed core stretching east-west. The east tip has an outer semicircle of knots that looks like the handle on a teapot, whearas over beyond the west tip, a knotty haze extends diffustely outwards, reminiscent of a teapot spout. A few (4-5) brighter stars dot the field, with the brightest three identified in the astronomety image. | ||
| Size: | 9.4' x 1.4' | Mag: | 10.41 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This is a stunning edge-on galaxy with lots of dark dust bands and internal details visible. It sits at an ENE/WSW angle in the field. A distinct dark band twists across the width of the galaxy with interwoven threads and gaps, just above the bright flat core and below the top edge. The core shines from underneath this belt, as the galaxy appears to be tipped so that we are seeing more of the belly of the galaxy than the top. Other dark areas towards the tips give the ends of the galaxy a mottled appearance. A prominent mag 11 star sits right on top of this galaxy to the left of center. The upper and lower edges of the galaxy are fairly sharp but the narrow E and W ends extend outwards, tapering into diffuse tips. | ||
| Size: | 3.5' x 2.4' | Mag: | 12.3 | Type: | Scd Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: When at first looking at the full field, it looks like there are three stars of even brightness in a gently curving arc upwards to the lower left of center. Upon closer inspection the rightmost "star" is actually our target galaxy. Zooming in slightly we see that it a spiral with a bright, slightly elongated core and a dim but substantial surrounding haze. In the north side of this haze we see an arm opening up away from the main central core area. Following the haze around the center counterclockwise, we can see a broader hazy portion reaching southward next followed by a more wispy and clumpy haze section towards the west. There are definitely arms in there somewhere! | ||
| Size: | 3.6' x 3.1' | Mag: | 11.8 | Type: | Sc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This sprial galaxy is round and fairly dim with a star-like core. The surrounding haze is diffuse with an etremely faint knot enclosed in its western (right) side. Otherwise it requires a good bit of zooming-in to see only subtle hints of any other structure. A bright mag 8 star sits just to the galaxy's NE. | ||
| Size: | 3.6' x 3.1' | Mag: | 11.8 | Type: | Sa Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is moderately large and bright with a bright stellar core, and sits at a NW-SE tilt in the field. Mag 7 SAO 119502 sits 10' to its west (right). Another bright star sits about 10' to the south of both. These three form a nice triangle in the field, making the galaxy easy to find. Smaller NGC 4576 can be seen 15' WNW. | ||
| Size: | 5.7' x 2.1' | Mag: | 130.9 | Type: | SBc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is quite pretty. It is very bright, large, and sits at a tilt NW-SE. My camera displays this galaxy with a surpising amount of blueness to it - perhaps it has a lot of HII regions! Along the top side, the galaxy loses this blue color, in fact it looks a bit brown. The interior shows a good bit of mottling with a contorted core. The left side of the galaxy is brighterand tapering The tip at this end hooks a bit upwward and more directly to the east. The fainter NW tip is considerably broader and more diffuse, fading but not tapering at its end. | ||
| Size: | 3.2' x 2.6' | Mag: | 12 | Type: | S0 Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is relatively small but has a bright, very slightly oval, core. Upon zooming in, a round halo of diffuse haze surrounds it, but the galaxy's interior NE-SW arms are stubby and fairly sharply defined. Backing off and looking at the whole field (no zoom) our galaxy sits in line with NGC 4596 about 20' to the W, making a nice pair. Rho Virginis is close by to the NE, shining at a brilliant mag 4.9. | ||
| Size: | 2.4' x 1.9' | Mag: | 11.9 | Type: | S0 Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is bright and star-like, with a brilliant and somewhat elongated core. It sits at the SW tip of a pretty cascade of five mag9/mag10 stars. At the top of this string of stars is a sweet pair of double stars, nicely split. In fact, the bottom of the string echoes this, with our galaxy pairing up with a bright star to its left, forming another nice doublet. | ||
| Size: | 3.2' x 2.3' | Mag: | 12.2 | Type: | Sbc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is moderately bright and slightly elongated NW-SE. It has bright core surrounded first by a swirling interior haze, and then by much dimmer and diffuse outer arms. Coming off the core are two bright, spikey, and bluish arms appearing to blow off abruptly to the west (right). (Zoom in to see.) This forms a glowing letter "E" in the center, encased in a bubble of bright haze. Beautiful NGC 4654 lies in the SE corner of the field. | ||
| Size: | 2.9' x 2.3' | Mag: | 11.9 | Type: | SABc Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: Little face-on spiral galaxy NGC4647 is nearly overshadowed by its extremely big and bright neighbor M60. It actually looks like some of the outer haze of this galaxy is tear-drop shaped, as if it is being "blown" away from M60.The bright core is slightly elongated N-S. A hint of the spiral structure can be seen in the haze when zooming in on the full size image. Galaxies M59 and NGC 4638 are also seen in the right (east) side of this field. The exciting thing about observing this galaxy at this time is that a type 1a supernova is visible (red arrow), discovered just the week before by Koichi Itagaki on 4/16/22! How neat is that! I've added an inset that shows the DSS image of what the M60 + NGC4647 pair looked like before. I'll make a point to revist this in a few weeks to see if the supernova has faded. | ||
| Size: | 2.9' x 2.3' | Mag: | 11.9 | Type: | S0-a Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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Observations: This lonely galaxy sits above a river of blackness that flow diagonally through this field.
It is bright but not very big, and is slightly elongated WSW-ENE. Its center is bright and highly compressed
/ possibly distorted -- it looks like a double-stamped dash mark surrounded
by a two-step diffuse haze (a brighter layer to the interior, further surrounded
by a much larger but very dim diffuse envelope).
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| Size: | 2.6' x 1.4' | Mag: | 12.1 | Type: | E Gx |
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Images: Observatory: Scope/Camera: Seeing: |
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| Observations: This galaxy is bright but moderately small. Its bright nucleus is shaped like a TicTac. The haze surrounding it is diffuse and fairly broad. The most striking object in the field is the mag6/mag10 double star pair, HD 111720 located to the NW of our galaxy. | ||