Friday 22nd December 2006

Southern Sentinel Observing Report

Friday 22nd December 2006

Date:

22nd December 2006 (Local)

Time:

21:30 - 01:00 NZDT (UT +13)

Location:

Kumeu Observatory

30 Minutes from Home

Weather:

Mild & Clear. No Wind and No Moon. Good Constrasty Skies.

Seeing:

Limiting Magnitude 5.5, transparency 3/5, seeing 3/5

Moon:

No Moon

Equipment:

13.1 Inch Dobsonian, TeleVue Paracorr & Eyepieces & Lumicon Filters

Dave Ek Box and PalmDSC

Beautiful night to be out observing, with excellent conditions. Took the sleeping bag etc to sleep in the observatory after so I could stay a bit later.

Alan Kane arrived about the same time.

More objects to be observed in the Cetus, Fornax & Eridanus. Some reobserving of the bright galaxies in the Reticulum & Dorado area in the south as well.

Observations as follows;

Object	Type	Magnification	Notes
NGC 488	Galaxy	114x	Small Oval galaxy with a stellar core and a defined halo. Definately a face-on spiral. Galaxy appears to double in size with adverted vision. Stitting above a line of three 11th or 12th Mag stars.
NGC 524	Galaxy	176x	Small galaxy with a condensed core, with a defined halo with adverted vision. Possibly a face-on spiral.
NGC 972	Galaxy	114x	Small compact oval galaxy with condensation in the core. Slightly more oval than round.
NGC 24	Galaxy	114x	Fairly bright oval (3:1) galaxy just to the E of a 12th Mag star, no core or detail note, perhaps a small amount of mottling.
NGC 7793	Galaxy	114x	Large bright spiral galaxy. Very defined halo with mottling in the outer two-thirds of the galaxy. 7793 has a condensed core and is more oval than round.
NGC 134	Galaxy	114x	Bright edge-on galaxy (5:1) with a companion galaxy (NGC131). No apparent detail or core.
NGC 131	Galaxy	114x	Small, slightly oval, compact galaxy near the brighter and larger NGC131. No apparent detail or core.
NGC 55	Galaxy	114x	Large bright oval (5:1) galaxy with significant irregularity and mottling within the halo. Significant brightening toward the western end of the galaxy. NGC55 crosses 3/4 of the FOV making it about 30 arcminutes across. Most impressive, especally with a contrasty sky.
NGC 300	Galaxy	114x	Round spiral galaxy. Bright but diffuse, with a hint of detail. More oval than round, NGC300 is about 20 arcminutes across.
NGC 613	Galaxy	114x	Small galaxy with a stellar core. Very close to two 10th mag stars on the NE side of the galaxy.
NGC 578	Galaxy	114x	Small oval (2:1) galaxy with a hint of a core. Adverted vision makes the object appear larger, so the halo is quite faint.
NGC 1172	Galaxy	114x	Small galaxy with a stellar core. Compact with a high surface brightness. Very close to a 10th mag star.
NGC 1232	Galaxy	114x	Bright, Large and round galaxy with a bright core. Hint of detail in the halo which suggests it is a face-on spiral.
NGC 1332	Galaxy	114x	A bright edge-on (5:1) galaxy with a bright core. A dark lane was noted, but does not appear on object photo.
NGC 1421	Galaxy	114x	Small, oval (4:1) galaxy with a even brightness with a hint of mottling. Has a 'L' shaped asterism just to the N.
NGC 1964	Galaxy	176x	Small galaxy with a very high surface brightness. Could be mistaken for a star. No detail noted.
NGC 1535	Planetary Nebula	114x	Round with a very visible central star. Irregular with a double shell, inner shell is a ring. PN very noticable with a adverted vision.
M 79	Globular Cluster	176x	Bright Messier globular, compact and with a core (Type 4). About 5 arcminutes across.
NGC 1559	Galaxy	176x	Bright but fairly small oval galaxy that looks like a tear drop at first glance. Mottling noted. Has a star involved in the SW end.
NGC 1672	Galaxy	176x	Fairly bright galaxy that is slightly more oval than round. Has a strong core, and has significant detail noted in the halo, suggesting large spiral arms.
NGC 1313	Galaxy	176x	Large round galaxy with a mottly halo. Moderately bright but diffuse in nature.
NGC 1574	Galaxy	176x	Small compact galaxy with a high surface brightness. Has a 10th mag star right next to the SE end.
NGC 1566	Galaxy	176x	Large bright galaxy, more oval than round. Hint of a bar with a strong core. Arms curve away anticlockwise to the N and S. Very similar to NGC1365. Two bright stars (9th and 10th mag) are just to the W of NGC1566.
NGC 1553	Galaxy	176x	Bright galactic elliptical pair in Dorado. NGC1553 is bright and oval and even in brightness. Slightly brighter and oval than the nearby NGC1549.
NGC 1549	Galaxy	176x	Bright galactic elliptical pair in Dorado. NGC1549 is bright and round and even in brightness. Slightly less bright than the nearby NGC1553.
NGC 1546	Galaxy	176x	Small faint galaxy with not much detail and even in brightness. Has 3 stars nearby to the SW that look like a traffic light (No Green!!).
NGC 1261	Globular Cluster	176x	Bright southern globular, fairly loose (Type 8), well resolved at the higher power.
NGC 1851	Globular Cluster	176x	Large bright southern globular, well resolved. Very condensed (Type 2) and about 10 arcminutes across.
M 1	Supernova Remnant	176x	The Crab is distinctly irregular at this power. Still very much like a large oval galaxy with an even brightness, however the edge of the halo is very irregular.
NGC 1437B	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1436	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1428	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1427	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1419	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1404	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1399	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1396	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1389	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1387	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1386	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1382	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1381	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1380A	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1380	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1379	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1375	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1374	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1373	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
NGC 1365	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
IC 335	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.
ESO 358-63	Galaxy	176x	Fornax Galaxy Cluster Hunt.

No problems of note with the telescope. Dictaphone ran out of room so no descriptive work was conducted after midnight.

Just on 50 objects logged, which is an excellent effort. Some of the southern galaxies in the Dorado region were very well defined and contrasty. A full log of the Fornax - Eridanus region was conducted.

Had a good look at planetary nebulae NGC1514, NGC1360 and NGC246 . Nice detail using the OIII and UHC filters.

Safely inside the sleeping bag by 1:30 AM. Home by 7:30 AM

Paul Kemp

13.1" Reflector

Auckland, New Zealand

36° 55' 09 " South, 174° 43' 30" East

-- The Southern Sentinel --