Ephemeral Visitor to the Great Bear

Comet C/1999 S4 Linear

Comet C/1999 S4 LINEAR
By Martin McKenna

Comet C/1999 S4 LINEAR on July 23rd 2000 in the 8″ F/10 S.Cass at 00.43 BST. The comet was a faint naked eye object low in the bright summer twilight within Ursa Major. I watched with awe as the beautiful tail passed over several background stars dimming their light in the process. I had only started my comet hunting programme two months earlier so this comet was a very nice treat. Much to the surprise of astronomers the comet broke up soon after and disintegrated completely. I recall many mild summer nights watching this comet while being ate my midgets and pleasantly interrupted by bats and a large owl which gave me a visit from time to time.

Martin McKenna

A Spiral Runs Through It

Centarus A

Centarus A, NGC 5128
By Jeremy Perez

This was probably the fourth time I’ve made a telescopic observation of Centaurus A, but I finally got down to business and made a sketch this time. I was observing at Cinder Hills Overlook with Eric Graff, his family, David Sanders, and Scott & Dena Garfinkel. Everybody seemed to be enduring the gusting wind fairly well, but it made high-power observing an irritating challenge. Eric was tracking down exceedingly faint objects in Centaurus, but I was frustrated enough by the wind and my lack of preparation that I decided to work on this bright obvious target first.

The galaxy is easily visible through my 15 x 70 and 10 x 50 binoculars. The view through my 6″ reflector brings out the fascinating dust lane that bisects this bright galaxy. This lane runs from northwest to southeast and appears widest at its southeast side. The southwest hemisphere of the galaxy appeared larger than the northeast. A bright star was superimposed over the southwest half, and another star anchored the rift at its northwest edge. The galaxy’s size is listed as 25 x 20 arcminutes, but I only saw 3 arcminutes of its bright core. It was about 11 degrees above the horizon (as good as it gets from here) and that probably didn’t help.

Object Information
NGC 5128 was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826. It is a strong source of radio radiation and is the nearest radio galaxy at a distance of 15 million light years. It is categorized as an intermediate galaxy type, with qualities of both an elliptical (which describes its main body) and spiral galaxy (due to the prominent dust band encircling it). Loads of information about this fascinating galaxy can be found at the solstation website.

NGC 5128 is also catalogued as ESO 270-IG009, ARP 153, h 3501, GC 3525, MCG-07-28-001, IRAS 13225-4245, AM 1322-424, PRC C-45, PGC 46957

Subject NGC 5128
Classification Galaxy (E0 + Sb)?
Position* Centaurus [RA: 13:25:29 / Dec: -43:01:00]
Size* 25.7′ x 20.0′
Brightness* 6.8 vMag / 7.7 bMag / 13.5 Surface Brightness
Date/Time May 11, 2007 – 10:30 PM
(May 12, 2007 – 05:30 UT)
Observing Loc. Cinder Hills Overlook, Sunset Crater National Monument, AZ
Instrument Orion SVP 6LT Reflector (150 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag. 10 mm (120X)
Conditions Mostly clear, gusty winds
Seeing 3/10
Transparency ~ Mag 6.8 NELM
*Sources NGC/IC Project 
*Based on published data.

Seven Sisters over Georgia

M45 

Seven Sisters Over Georgia
By Carlos E. Hernandez

I was able to view the Pleiades (M45, or Seven Sisters) under dark and clear skies using my 10 x 50 Oberwerk binoculars while visiting my son in Georgia on November 21, 2007 (01:30 U.T.). The view was spectacular as the cluster sparkled in the field of view with many fainter stars visible. I hope that you all like it.

A digital image produced in Corel Painter X.

Carlos

Galactic Shiner

M64

The Blackeye Galaxy, M64
By Michael Vlasov

This beautiful sketch of M64, the Blackeye Galaxy, was drawn by Michael Vlasov from the Negev Desert in southern Israel. M64 is some 17 Million light years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. Studies have indicated that the galaxy has recently ungone a merger, resulting in the thick, dusty, star forming region that give this galaxy it’s unique appearance. Deep inside this turbulent spiral, a ring of stars 3000 light years in diameter revolves about the galactic nucleus in a direction opposite than the stars on the outskits of the galaxy.

Tremendous sketch Michael!

The Strong Pair

Atlas and Hercules

Lunar Craters Atlas and Hercules
By Frank McCabe

Atlas and Hercules the well known crater pair in the northeastern corner of the moon
are not far to the southwest of Endymion. Atlas (87 km.) the largest of the
pair may also be the younger of the two although it is listed as Upper Imbrium
era. Hercules (69 km.) is considered to be Eratosthenian in formation and thus
both craters are older than three billion years. Based on a lower crater
(craterlet) count and the younger appearance of the glacis, the Hercules impactor
may have struck first, followed by a few small crater forming strikes and then the
Atlas forming impact. The floors of these two craters are quite different from
each other. Atlas has a floor the is centrally uplifted and fractured into deep
fissures and rilles (Rimae Atlas) from the uplifting magma below that was unable
to flood the floor in the way that occurred with Hercules. The floor of Hercules
is mostly flooded with dark lava and contains a 13 kilometer crater (G) near its
center. The hotel sized  rock that struck here less than a billion years ago left a
bright crater with rays that can be seen at high sun. A ghostly crater designated
Atlas E (58 km.) was justvisible north of Atlas and smaller Keldysh (34 km.) to the
north of Atlas E
  
  

  
  Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 9”x 12”, white and
black Conte’pastel pencils and a blending stump. Brightness was slightly decreased
(-8) and contrast increased (+8) after scanning using Microsoft Office Picture
Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 2-14-2008 2:10-4:15 UT (actual sketching time was 50min.)
Temperature: -7°C (20°F)
partly cloudy, calm
Seeing:   Antoniadi III
Co longitude: 358.6°
Lunation: 6.9 days
Illumination: 48.6 %
Phase:   91.6°

Frank McCabe

Thor’s Helmet

Thor’s Helmet

Thor’s Helmet, NGC 2359
By Rony De Laet

The plan for the evening was to observe and sketch Messier 50. I was trying to starhop from Sirius to M50. Gamma Canis Majoris would be an easy reference in between. From there, M50 could be found a mere five degrees North. Instead of using the finder, I love to pan the scope with a low power eyepiece. Much to my surprise, the milkyway (so near to the horizon) was clearly visible in the eyepiece. The area East of Sirius appeared to be very fascinating. While working my way up to M50, I stumbled upon an unexpected fuzzy object. Most open cluster appear fuzzy at low power, but this one was different. I tried a higher power to resolve the object, but without result. There aren’t that much nebulae around, visible with my small aperture, so I guessed it had to be Thor’s Helmet, NGC 2359 ! How exciting! Bad news for M50, which would have to wait for another occasion. Armed with a UHC filter, I started to sketch the nebula. It took me quit a while to understand the view my eyes were showing. At first I saw a bar, or no, a hook. Then with a lot of patience, the hook resolved into a more complex structure. The observation was very rewarding, and I hope to revisit the object under a darker sky soon. Here’s the sketch.

Date : February 9, 2008
Time : around 22.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : Plössl 15 mm
Power : x33
FOV: 90′
Filter : UHC
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 2,5/5
Nelm : 4,8
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

Of Blocky Origins

Vallis Rheita
 

The Region of Vallis Rheita
  
  Very early Sunday morning the moon was approaching the meridian about 35° above
the southeastern horizon when I decided to take a closer telescopic look and
select a sketching target. Prominently on display near the sunset terminator was
the famous 330 kilometer long Vallis Rheita. This valley formed as a by-product of
the secondary blocks thrown from the mare Nectarius basin forming event that
occurred 3.92 billion years ago. Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke
collected rock samples that included ejecta from the Nectarius event which
permitted the dating. A multitude of monstrous blocks heaved out from the initial
impact to the south created this less than regular catena. The valley lines up
nicely with the west central region of the Sea of Nectar accounting for this
hypothesis.
  Adjacent to the northern end of Vallis Rheita and slightly younger in age is
crater Rheita, a 70 kilometer gouge with a low central peak and a fairly sharp
crest. Across the deep valley from Rheita to the southwest is 88 kilometer crater
Metius with its 4 kilometer high walls and small crater Rheita B east of a pair of
low ridges on the crater floor. This highland region of the moon is very old and
battered. It was showing some of its best features in the setting sun.
  
  
  Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 8”x 10”, white and
black Conte’pastel pencils and a blending stump. Brightness was slightly decreased
(-5) and contrast increased (+5) after scanning using Microsoft Office Picture
Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 2-24-2008 0:10-1:00 UT
Temperature: -8°C (19°F)
clear, calm
Seeing:   Antoniadi III
Co longitude: 123.2°
Lunation: 17 days
Illumination: 90.1 %
Phase:   323.3°

Frank McCabe

Five Stellar Gothams

Hickson 58

Hickson 58
By Bill Ferris

Move mouse over image to view labels. Click the image for a larger version.

This sketch of the galaxy cluster, Hickson 58 was made by Bill Ferris using his 18 inch Obsession. He used a 12 mm Nagler T4, which provides a magnification of 199X when mated with the TeleVue Paracorr. Following are Bill’s notes on the observation:

Hickson 58 is populated by five stellar gothams ranging in brightness from 13.9 to 15.4 magnitude; all in the blue. Centered within the group is NGC 3822, a 14.1 (B) magnitude galaxy also known at Hickson 58A. Its stellar core is embedded within a 1′.5 by 1′ oval nebulosity of even brightness and aligned north to south. About 3′ to the east, Hickson 58B emerges from the darkness. This 13.9 (B) magnitude barred spiral is better known as NGC 3825 and, as with its neighbors, features a stellar core. The surrounding 2′.5 by 1′.5 nebulosity becomes gradually brighter toward the middle. NGC 3825 is flanked to the southwest by a 12th magnitude star and to the northeast by a 13th magnitude ember. About 5′ west of NGC 3822, the 14.3 (B) magnitude oval form of NGC 3817 (Hickson 58C) comes into view. This barred spiral displays a stellar core within a delicate 1′.4 by 1′, east to west, oval. A 14th magnitude GSC star stands entry 1′.5 to the west. The faint pairing north of center in my sketch, which renders a 199X view in the 18-inch, are Hicksons 58D and 58E. The 14.8 (B) magnitude elliptical galaxy NGC 3819 lies 4′.6 north of NGC 3822. This tiny, 0′.8 by 0′.5 galaxy is Hickson 58D. Another 2′ to the north stands Hickson 58E. This 15.4 (B) magnitude galaxy is also known as NGC 3820. It is similar in size to NGC 3819 and has the same north-south alignment.

The original entry for this observation and sketch can be found at Bill’s website:Cosmic Voyage: Hickson 58Additional detailed information on the cluster may also be found at the WikiSky entry for NGC 3822 (Hickson 58A)

Home of the Seagull

IC 2177

IC 2177, Home of the Seagull
By Rony De Laet

IC 2177 is listed in the ‘Deep Sky Travel Guide (Ronald Stoyan, Oculum)’ as : very large, very faint. This description was a challenge to me. Would I be able to see it? From the 5th of February, we were blessed with exceptional clear skies for a whole week. Every night, I scanned the sky between Sirius and M50, in search of IC2177. It took me four nights to track down the location of IC2177. Four nights of trial and error. Each time I eliminated the suspected location from the drawings I made. In my mind, I builded myself a path through the vast and complex milkyway section South of M50. The trick is to find NGC 2353. From there, starhop to NGC 2343 and put it at the 10 o’clock position in a low power eyepiece (binocular orientation!). Now the scope is amed at IC 2177. It sounds easy, but it isn’t, at least not in my sky with my little refractor. The journey is joyfull and the destination is very rewarding. The question still is : did I see it? I noted a dark rift running through the fov from the 11 o’clock to the 5 o’clock position. East of the rift, the sky seems to brighten a bit more than West of the rift. Or is it unresolved starlight? I look forward to reports from other observers. Here is the sketch. (The little triangular cloud at the 10 o’clock position near the border of the fov is NGC 2343.)

Date : February 11, 2008
Time : around 22.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : Meade SP 26 mm
Power : x19
FOV: 150′
Filter : UHC
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 2,5/5
Nelm : 4,7
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.