April 2018 Observer’s Challenge Report:  APRIL 2018 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – M-081-82-1

Messier 81 (NGC 3031) Galaxy in Ursa:   10-inch f/4.5 reflector.  Sketch magnification; 12 mm eyepiece 95x.  

80 mm refractor at 33x, M81 is large, bright, mostly round with a brighter nucleus, and is nicely framed with companion galaxy M82.   

10-inch reflector at 95x, M81 is bright, large, well concentrated, elongated, but subtle, NE-SW.  Very bright nucleus, almost stellar.  Only on nights of excellent seeing and transparency can the spiral arms be seen from my moderately light polluted backyard.   RI   

Messier 82 (NGC 3034) Galaxy in Ursa Major:  10-inch f/4.5 reflector @ 191x magnification.  Eyepiece:  12 mm plus 2.8x Barlow 

80 mm f/5 refractor:  Surprisingly bright, elongated with a lens shape, smooth texture at low magnification.  When increasing the magnification to 75x, the galaxy becomes very uneven and mottled, with two brighter knots toward the middle, and an outer elongated halo.  This galaxy is much fainter than it’s companion, Messier 81.

10-inch reflector:  Bright, very elongated, dark band in the central region is almost separating the galaxy, and is very easy at 114x, but really comes out at 200x.  At the higher magnification the galaxy becomes very mottled, and with a faint surrounding halo extending the length of the galaxy.  The NE and SW edges or tips of the halo are smooth.   RI   

Notes from April 1978:  

It wasn’t until the mid-70’s when I acquired my very own telescope, a 4 1/4-inch Edmund Scientific reflector, a Palomar Jr. which was not my first choice, but the best my budget would allow.  

I’ll never forget one special night using this telescope. I was attempting to locate M81 and M82, two of the most beautiful galaxies in the heavens. By this time, the fabulous skies of my early years were gone. I’d moved to an area packed with houses and street lights, and the light pollution was very severe in my back yard.

Attempting to find even the brightest deep-sky objects under these conditions proved to be difficult.  I had tried on many occasions to find M81 and M82, without success.  I wanted to see this galaxy pair, which appeared so striking and beautiful in the magazines.

One night, while observing, time was running out.  It was already after 11:00 PM, and needed to get up early the next morning.  I used my hands in an attempt to block the ambient light from entering my eyepiece, and then it happened: A small, faint fuzzy object entered my telescope view.  I then nudged the scope slightly and then another…..finally M81 and M82.  What a beautiful sight!  I savored the view for the longest time and to this day and I can still feel that excitement.  RI 

Observer’s Challenge Report #109:  

MARCH 2018 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – NGC-2371-72

Pencil sketch using a 10-inch reflector with inverted colors.  

NGC 2371-2372, Planetary in Gemini, nebula magnitude 11.3; central star 14.8.

This planetary is easy to discern with 10-inch reflector from my moderately light polluted backyard. At low power (57x) the planetary appears as a faint and small elongated nebulous patch.

When increasing the magnification to 207x, and with a UHC narrowband nebula filter, two distinctive lobes become visible, connected by a faint haze. The nebula is oriented NE-SW, with the SW lobe being brighter and having greater concentration. The bright spot becomes visible using averted vision, located on the NW side of the westernmost lobe.

When first observing this planetary almost twenty five years ago, I mistakenly thought this bright spot to be the 14.5 magnitude central star. It was, however, during a later observing session in 1998 that I realized the bright spot was not centrally located and far too bright to be the extremely faint central star. Another observation the following year confirmed this.

NGC 2371-72 has a similar appearance, but not nearly as bright as M76 (NGC 650-1) planetary nebula in Perseus.

Roger Ivester

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FEBRUARY 2018 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – M-041

Pencil sketch:  6-inch reflector @ 46x and 1.3º field of view: 

sketch with Inverted colors

Messier 41 (NGC 2287) at magnitude 4.5 is visible without optical aid. I often enjoy viewing this cluster with a pair of 7 x 21 mini-binoculars. It is easily located at about 4º south of Sirius, and NW of 6.0 magnitude 12 Canis Majoris.

A beautiful, but sparse cluster, very irregular shape, with several small chains of stars. The most noticeable star chains are on the SW and NE.

When using a 6-inch reflector, I can count ~60-70 stars. A small circlet of stars envelope the central region of the cluster. M41 contains the famous red star, known as the Espin star (HD 49091) magnitude of 6.9 and a K3 spectrum. The star was named after Rev. T.E. Espin (1858-1934.) I normally see this star as a deep-orange in color.    Roger Ivester

Complete Observer’s Challenge Report:  Click on the following link.

JANUARY 2018 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – NGC-1624

Pencil sketch using a 5 x 8 note card with the colors inverted:  10-inch reflector at 200x.  Roger Ivester

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Click on the following link for the complete Las Vegas Astronomical Society, Observer’s Challenge report: 

DECEMBER 2017 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – NGC-0925

Pencil Sketch:

Pencil sketch 10-inch reflector at 267x 

SEPTEMBER 2017 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – NGC-6905

Pencil sketch using a blank 5 x 8 note card with the colors inverted. 

Observer’s Challenge Report:  AUGUST 2017 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – M-024

JULY 2017 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – M-014

In 10-inch reflector, M14 is a large cluster, mostly round, but with a slight elongation, oriented northeast-southwest.

At 160x very few stars can be resolved, but only with averted vision. The surface brightness is overall fairly low with a mostly even texture, but with a subtle brightening in the central region. The edges fade very gradually outwards.

M14 at magnitude 7.6 is quite a bit fainter than globulars M10 and M12, also located in Ophiuchus.

In 3.5-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain the cluster is mostly round with a faint brighter concentrated middle. No resolve of stars.

Roger Ivester

Inverted colors via computer: