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NGC5566 (Galaxy, in Virgo, Est. RaDec 14h20.3m, +03d56' )
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu, web: http://www.ezonline.com/ash/obs.htm)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Jul 15 03:35:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 465
Although conditions were far from perfect I was successful in logging two more Herschel 400 galaxies, namely NGC 5566 (at 03:35 UT) and NGC 5576 (at 03:50 UT). NGC 5566 is an edge-on SB spiral that despite its size (5.6'x1.1') and brightness (10.4 magnitude) was seen only as being somewhat round with a slightly bright core. (The neighboring galaxies NGC 5560 and NGC 5569 were not detected.) NGC 5576, a nearby E3 elliptical, was only a small oval glow as one might expect from a 11.7 magnitude galaxy only 1.0'x0.8' in apparent size. The galaxy NGC 5574 was also noticed but NGC 5577 was not. I used magnifications of 118, 202, 249, and 259x on these objects.
NGC4179 (Galaxy, in Virgo, Est. RaDec 12h13m,+01d18')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 51-cm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun May 24 02:14:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 335
NGC 4179 is an edge-on spiral H400 galaxy with a bright core and easily discernible spiral arms. It lies approximately 1 degree southeast of 10 Virginis.
NGC4762 (Galaxy, in Virgo, Est. RaDec 12h53m,+11d14')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 51-cm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat May 23 04:10:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 336
NGC 4762 is a attractive H400 spiral galaxy nicely setoff by 3 field stars. It is fairly large and elongated. Another H400 object, the 10th magnitude elliptical galaxy NGC 4754, lies ~5' to the northwest.
Other (Other, est. to be in Virgo, Est. RaDec 12h25m,+0d48m)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue May 19 02:35:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 333
Tonight I observed the C6,3e carbon star SS Virginis, which lies about 2 degrees northeast of Eta Virginis. Known as a carbon Mira because of it long period of variability, SS Virginis has a color index of 4.2 and hence is quite red.
NGC5363 (Galaxy, in Virgo, Est. RaDec 13h56m,+05d29')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue May 19 02:10:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 334
NGC 5363 is a fairly bright Herschel 400 elliptical galaxy located near a seventh magnitude field star. At 202x it appeared as a circular glow with a bright center. NGC 5364, a faint H400 spiral galaxy, was about a quarter of a degree to the south and appeared as a large and very dim diffuse glow.
Other (Other, est. to be in Virgo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:55:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 325
Just for kicks I swung my telescope a lion's-tail length E of Denebola into the heart of the Virgo cluster, and swept around with the 38X eyepiece. I didn't bother to keep track of where I was or identify the many fuzzy patches I saw; after the previous careful hunting in Leo it was exciting, and a little disorienting, to have multiple galaxies in every field as I swept back and forth. I felt like an Age of Discovery explorer who had sailed off the edge of his charts and suddenly found himself amid the dangerous reefs of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Maybe I'll come back another night and have a no-charts Reef Hunt, drawing my own map and plotting fuzzies as I go.
Satellite (Satellite, est. mag -1.9, est. to be in Virgo)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 63-mm binoculars Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun Feb 8 10:06:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 305
On Sunday morning I finally succeeded in viewing a pass of an Iridium comsat. Known as Iridium flares these satellites can shine with extreme brilliance when they are positioned so that sunlight is reflected from their highly reflective antennae. I first noticed Iridium 34 to the south of Spica. Within seconds it had brightened to a magnitude greater than that of Sirius. Iridium 34's brilliance faded until I could no longer see it with my unaided eye. I was able to follow the satellite as it headed towards the southern horizon for another minute or so with my Celestron Pro 9x63s.
Mars (Planet, est. to be in Virgo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jul 2 06:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 174
In honor of the upcoming Pathfinder landing, I gave a quick look at Mars at the beginning of my observing session. The planet was about 30 degrees up in the southwest. I wasn't expecting much, so I wasn't disappointed: a small, shimmering orange ball, with no detail visible during the 4 or 5 minutes of looking that I gave it. I suspect that would have been true even if I'd looked considerably longer, what with Mars being so low in the sky and only 7.5" in diameter currently. This was at 122x.
M104 (Sombrero Galaxy) (Galaxy, in Virgo, Est. RaDec 12h 40m, -11.37)
Observer: Alan Shaffer (e-mail: milkyway@gte.net, web: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3693/)
Instrument: 10-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector Location: Mt. Pinos, California, US
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Jun 7 10:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 150
I was on another object, walked away, and came back to this beautiful sight. My friend moved my scope to M104. Dark dust lane "shadow" was easily seen @ 104X and then at higher power. Rather bright and large. Just like in the photo's, almost edge on with a rather large central core. Theory supports a super black hole in the core of this galaxy.
Mars (Planet, est. to be in Virgo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Sat Mar 1 05:40:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 91
I was anxious to test the new 8-inch on Mars, so I checked it out despite the lousy seeing and the planet's low position in the sky (was about 40 degrees up in the E). Basically, it was a red blob; I wasn't able to detect even the polar cap. I'm anxious to repeat the experiment, though; next time I'll try to optimize the following variables to see if I get a better view: 1) better seeing, 2) Mars higher in the sky, 3) more-careful collimation, and 4) an off-axis mask to improve contrast.
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