November 9th 2012
When looking at my deep-sky list of objects observed, I was surprised that NGC 55 was not included. My backyard has a very poor southern view, due to light pollution, so I loaded up my 10-inch in search of a better location. I had been spying a grassy field which appeared to be a pretty good site for quite a few years and only a couple miles from my house.
I could easily see (naked eye) my starting location star, Alpha Phoenix, just above the tree line. After a quick polar alignment, I centered my scope on the location of NGC 55, but couldn’t see anything. I tried low power to start, but to no avail, then moved up to medium, but again, no galaxy. I did this for almost two hours and never once saw NGC 55, apparently due to the sky glow of Boiling Springs. I don’t think that the conditions were that bad, however, this would suggest that a very dark sky is needed. If you are planning to observe this galaxy, make sure that you have a good southern sky, devoid of any light pollution.
Second attempt: December 13th 2012
My wife Debbie agreed to go with me to a better site. We started to drive to a true dark site, however, we got a late start and decided to stay a bit closer home. I picked another grassy field that had an excellent view of the southern sky. Due to being sore from a recent bicycle accident, I decided to take a 4-inch refractor, which is much easier to set up than a 10-inch equatorial reflector.
The sky and conditions were excellent, with a NELM of 6.0 or maybe a bit better. We started out with low power, and then medium…still no galaxy. Everything seemed to be perfect, but there was a faint light glow, just above the tree tops that seemed to obscure the view. We attempted a variety of eyepieces, but after more than an hour of searching, we decided to give up.
I’ll try to find a better location this year (2016) and attempt a sketch and some decent notes. An excellent southern horizon without any light glow is a must!
The following image of NGC 55 provided by Dr. James Dire of Hawaii:
Click on the following link for the complete Observers Challenge report.
rogerivester.com 
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