Plogger Photo Feed: Deep Sky

NGC 7027 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

NGC 7027 - 20 May 2013

A small but interesting planetary in Cygnus, know as the 'Green Rectangle' and the 'Pink Pillow' I made this sketch using the old 350mm mirrow and original Watec 120N video camera, employing both a x2 barlow and UHC filter. Sketch made on 26th July 2009. N is right.

Arp 254 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 254 - 20 May 2013

Trio of galaxies in Libra. Dr Arp showed that the 2 largest were interacting with the "appearance of fission". It is said that images show a bridge, disturbed or "stirred" internals of both galaxies indicating interaction in a "galactic side swipe" Northern galaxy showing arm structure in my sketch is NGC 5917, mag 14.5, directly south to the east of mag 9.96 star 105 Librae is N-S extended MGC-1-39-3 aka PGC 54817 at mag 14.7, large professional scopes show the upper arm extending to NGC 5917 to form a bridge. The tiny galaxy to the eastern edge of the fov is unknown at the time of posting. Sketch made in the early hours of May 16th 2013 with the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera, N is up W is right.

Arp 84 (The Heron) - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 84 (The Heron) - 20 May 2013

In Canes Venatici NGC 5394 & 5395, 5395 being the the lower and ;larger of the 2 making up the body. Sketch was made using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera under difficult sky conditions on May 5th 2013. N is up W is right

Arp 271 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 271 - 20 May 2013

A wonderful pair in Virgo NGC 5427 & 5426, somewhat reminiscent of M51, a faint bridge can just be seen between them, amazing detail seen in the upper galaxy NGC 5427, slightly brighter of the two at mag 12.7. Sketched on 2nd May 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. N is up W is right.

Arp 240 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 240 - 20 May 2013

Constellation of Virgo, two interacting galaxies both of mag 12.9 NGC 5257 & 5258 connected by a faint bridge. Bright star 99 virginis is in the same fov to the SE. Lovely and dramatic pair. Sketched on 2nd May 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. N is up W is right.

Arp 22 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 22 - 20 May 2013

Located in Corvus Arp 22 (NGC 4027) is a single arm spiral with companion NGC 4027a to the south. To my mind this should have been relatively easy ay mag 11.7 but it wasn't, being so low in the southern murk. Very interesting object. Sketch was made on 1st May 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec Video cam with everything turned to max! SQM 19.3 N is up, W is right.

Arp 248 'Wilds Triplet' - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 248 'Wilds Triplet' - 20 May 2013

Tough group for me low in Corvus. Top galaxy in the sketch (NNW) is MGC 1-30-34 mag 15.9. Main pair on the left is MGC 1-30-33 mag 14.1, to the right (W) is MGC 1-30-32 MAG 15.3, The tiny & faint galaxy, barely visible just below is Apmusks galaxy at mag 18. Sketch was made on 1st May 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec Video cam with everything turned to max! SQM 19.3 N is up, W is right.

Arp 161 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 161 - 20 May 2013

A very interesting small galaxy in Virgo very close to the Leo border. Also known as UGC6665 it has a jet & plume emanating from it in a SSW direction. Even with my set up I struggled to gain much detail of this phenomena, but caught some of it in my sketch that I made on April 30th 2013 with the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. N is Up W is right.

NGC3993 group - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

NGC3993 group - 20 May 2013

Fantastic group of diverse galaxies in Leo just to the west of Arp 138. In a clockwise direction from top right, NGC 3993 mag 11.83, nice spiral structure, next tiny NGC 3989 with a tiny hook like featue of detail observed, mag 14.9, to the west, an amazing edge on with stunning dust lane, NGC 3987 at mag 13.1. Last but not least to the SE next to a bright mag 8.2 star, is a faint, very thin, very straight edge on, N-S orientation, this is NGC 4000 a mag 14.5 beauty :) Sketch made on 29th April 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. North is up west is right.

Arp 138 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 138 - 20 May 2013

Arp aka NGC 4015 located in Coma Berenices right on the border with Leo, a very interesting galaxy with what I believe is a jet emanating from its western side and extending SW-NE. Other galaxies in the sketch are NGC 4021 top left, NGC 4011 to right, NGC 4023 bottom left. Sketch made on 29th April 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. North is up west is right.

Arp 270 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 270 - 20 May 2013

Arp 270 in Leo Minor is visually exciting NGCs 3395 & 3396 - 3395 m12.1 sb 12.3 1.8'x1.6' SABcd/p - 3396 m12.1 sb 13.6 4.2'x1.4' IBm/p 10h49.8m +32°59. Arp Classification - Double galaxy connected arms. 16" at 233x 3395 oval 1.6'x1.3' aligned NE-SW with irregular outline. Even brightness, possibly a little brighter in core region. Joined at NE end to 3396, 1.5'x1', rectangular in shape, aligned EW brighter in first 1' after join (text lifted from notes by Bob Hill on the Amarillo astronomy clubs web site) . This sketch was made under a bright waxing moon 2 days past full on 27th April 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. N is up W is right

Arp 105 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

Arp 105 - 20 May 2013

Arp 105 in Ursa Major- NGCs 3561 & 3561A - 3561 m14.7 sb 14 .7'x.7' SBO - 3561A m14.3 .9'x.9' Sa 11h11.3m +28°41'. Arp Classification - E and E-like galaxies connected to spirals. This is a very nice area to get lost in for a few hours. These two galaxies are on the eastern side of Abell 1185, a cluster of 52 galaxies. In the 16" at 300x I had 24 galaxies in the field with others on the bare edge of visibility. 3561 is a small round object about .6' in diameter with a brighter core. 3561A is 1' to the N of 3561, small and oval, aligned NS about .6'x.3' in size. It has a bright almost stellar nucleus. There are very faint wings of nebulosity extending out about .3' on either side of the oval region. On the Arp photograph there is a thin stream of material extending N for about 3' ending in a small condensed object called Ambartsumian's Knot. This was not visible in either the 16" or 20" scopes with which I observed this object. Extending to the W from these two for about 12' is a dense stream of small dim galaxies with a couple of brighter NGC galaxies as outliers on the N and S of this stream. You can actually follow a pretty dense trail of galaxies for about 1.2° to the W of 3561 & 3561A. Immediately to the E of the Arp pair is another stream of faint galaxies, this time extending NS for about 20'. A very interesting field. Dr. Arp thought enough of this object and its immediate environs that he used it for the back cover of his book, "Seeing Red" This sketch was made under a bright waxing moon 2 days past full on 27th April 2013 using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. N is up W is right

NGC3938 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

NGC3938 - 20 May 2013

NGC 3938 is a very attractive face on spiral galaxy in the Ursa Major. It was discovered on 6 February 1788 by William Herschel. It is one of the brightest spiral galaxies at mag 10.9 in the constellation. It is approximately 43 million light years away from Earth. A SN was discovered in the galaxy in 2005 at mag 15.6. This sketch was made under a bright waxing moon 2 days past full using the 505mm mirror and Watec 120N+ video camera. N is up W is right.

NGC3115 'The Spindle galaxy' - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

NGC3115 'The Spindle galaxy' - 20 May 2013

Beautiful NGC 3115 is also called the Spindle Galaxy or Caldwell 53, it is a lenticular (S0) galaxy in the constellation Sextans. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 22, 1787. Distance is about 32 million light-years away from us it is several times bigger than our Milky Way. It is a lenticular (S0) galaxy because it contains a disk and a central bulge of stars, but without a detectable spiral pattern. Seen almost exactly edge-on that it was occasionally mis-classified as elliptical. There is some speculation that NGC 3115, in its youth, was a quasar. Sketch made using the 505mm mirror and Watec video camera on 19-4-13 under 68% Moon. N is up W is right.

NGC3044 - 20 May 2013

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:37 -0600

NGC3044 - 20 May 2013

An attractive mag 12 sbc edge on spiral galaxy in Sextans. there is a slight fanning of the western region, no nucleus noted. Sketch made using the 505mm mirror and Watec video camera on 19-4-13 under 68% Moon. N is up W is right.