I first found out about the Virgo cluster (nine-galaxies all in a 1º FoV) from Tom Lorenzin, author of “1000+ The Amateur Astronomer’s Field Guide to Deep-Sky Observing” on the evening of the Vernal Equinox 1994. 

Tom asked me if I’d ever viewed all nine galaxies within a 1° field of view, when centered on M86. I had not, but was most anxious to give it a try. However, It would be years later, on the night of March 16th 1999, before I was able to observe the galaxy group.

With my 10-inch f/4.5 reflector using a 20mm UO Erfle eyepiece for a magnification of 57x and a 1.1º true field. However, I could not see three of the fainter galaxies at this magnification.

So, I was able to sketch six of the galaxies, then increased to 160x using the 20mm EP and a 2.8x Barlow and spotted the fainter ones. I then sketched the three faint galaxies in their appropriate positions and tried my best to draw them to scale.  Very faint galaxies “most often” require greater magnification, especially if they have a brighter surface brightness and well concentrated.  

My notes are as follows from March 16th 1999

M84: Bright, with a brighter more concentrated middle, and a mostly round shape.

M86: Bright, brighter middle, round, very similar to M84 but not as well concentrated.

NGC 4387: A very faint mostly round blur. Difficult at best requiring averted vision.

NGC 4388: Low surface brightness, elongated slash with an E-W orientation.

NGC 4402: Very faint slash, low surface brightness.

NGC 4413: Very faint and dim, small, very diffuse with little concentration, mostly round.

NGC 4425: Very faint, elongated, axis NS, small and dim.

NGC 4435: Fairly bright, mostly round, stellar nucleus, smaller than NGC 4438.

NGC 4438: Bright, elongated, with a brighter middle.

For the past year or more, my Celestron CGE-Pro mount was seemingly having a difficult time centering selected deep-sky objects. The motors also did not sound good at times when moving to the selected objects. I also had to perform a factory reset on the settings every few months.

Rather than updating the firm ware for a 15 year “maybe older” hand controller, my son Brad, surprised me with a new Celestron NexStar+. However, I was concerned if it would be compatible with the older mount, but I’m happy to say…it worked perfectly!

I first updated all my site settings using the new hand controller, which is an easy task using my iPhone compass feature for the time, latitude, and longitude. There are other settings such as DST or Standard, and a few others.

Last night, and with a bright moon, I wanted to verify the mount and hand controller in all functions. I began the sequence of the mount start-up. Then the three-star alignment, which after the first star, were all centered in the telescope field-of-view.

The first thing I noticed was the two motors sounded much smoother. I was actually getting concerned the motors might be having problems. I’d read in an article a jerky motion or sound of the motors was a sign that a motor might be going bad. So, I was now feeling really good, but how would the GoTo function perform when locating deep-sky objects?

My first object was the Andromeda galaxy, and with the sound of both motors, and going in different directions, I anxiously waited for it to stop. I then looked into the eyepiece and the galaxy was perfectly centered! The next object would be planetary nebula M57, far to the west from Andromeda, which would make for a great test. The planetary…like Andromeda was “perfectly centered” in the eyepiece. I then selected about 15 other deep-sky objects, including a few double stars. Everything worked perfectly. I was excited to say the least!

I’m so appreciative to Brad for my new hand controller. Despite not ever using the mount, he always seemed to know much more than me, and all the way from the west coast. 🙂 Electronics and electrical stuff are his thing and occupation...not mine for sure.

The CGE-Pro mount has bronze gears and was the most heavy-duty mount ever sold by Celestron, with a 90 pound payload.

The mount works well with a 6-inch Newtonian also as following:

After removing the mirror, take a sheet of notebook paper, lay on the mirror and trace around the outer perimeter. The following is a 4.5-inch mirror which I center-marked earlier this year.

Fold the circle template in half, then quarter and then make a tiny hole in the center with any small sharp object. Now take a black Sharpie and “lightly dot” the center of the mirror, via the tiny hole. Now you are ready to replace the mirror and begin collimation. I’m not going to discuss collimation in this post, but have provided the following link from “High Point Scientific”…which is excellent.

A collimation tool will be needed: I use a homemade machined collimating tool (see below) which works great. However, consider a Cheshire collimating eyepiece which is not very expensive at all. I have a Cheshire eyepiece, but most often find myself using only my homemade tool. A laser collimator is not necessary.

https://www.highpointscientific.com/astronomy-hub/post/equipment-reviews/cheshire-collimating-eyepiece-guide

A couple photos of my Cheshire eyepiece as following which I also use on occasion:

While the mirror is out, it’s the perfect time to check if cleaning is needed.

The following procedure has allowed me to clean telescope mirrors with excellent results.  It should, however, be noted that your results may vary.  And mirrors coatings are very delicate, so be careful and use good common sense and care.  

https://rogerivester.com/category/how-to-clean-a-telescope-mirror