Observation date: November 16th 1995:

Conditions:  Excellent

Location:  Moderately light polluted backyard  NELM 6.0;  Telescope:  10-inch f/4.5 reflector;  Magnification:  57x with 1 degree FOV.  Description:  Large and faint with low surface brightness, elongated NC-SW, and a brighter more concentrated middle.  Two spiral arms could be seen with careful observing and averted vision.  One arm was noted on the SE edge and the other on the NW, however, both were very subtle  The texture of the galaxy is very uneven, and several knots could be seen intermittently during moments of steady viewing.  The outer regions fade very gradually outwards.  The brightest HII region of the galaxy, identified as NGC 604, appears bright with an irregular oval shape, and a faint star situated very closely toward the east.

November 18th 1997:  Conditions:  Fair, both seeing and transparency; Moderately light polluted backyard; NELM 5.0  Telescope:  3.5-inch Maksutov; Magnification:  52x  Description:  Brighter middle, large, faint, and elongated.

October 16th 1998:  Conditions:  Good; Location:  Backyard; NELM 5.5  Telescope:  102 mm refractor; Magnification:  42x  Description:  Large, faint, brighter more concentrated middle, very low surface brightness with an elongated shape.  The texture appears very uniform.  This is not an easy object, and would be best observed from a dark site.

Roger

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