Here are four Galaxy Groups & Clusters for your amazement and amusement. The first is Additional Group #45 (NGC 7103 Group). I could see three out of the seven plotted galaxies, two NGC’s and one IC, ranging in magnitude from 12.6 to 15.5. The IC was just a tiny smudge with a stellar nucleus.
GG&C Add’l Galaxy Group (NGC 7103 Group) – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Next is Abell Cluster #45 (Abell 3744). This is a large cluster of up to 70 galaxies but the only galaxy that I could see other than the #41 Trio (included in the cluster) was PGC 66149 (MCG-4-49-16) at a listed magnitude of 16.1. Disappointingly, everything else was too small or too dim for my increasingly light polluted skies.
GG&C Abell#45 (Abell 3744) – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Additional Galaxy Group #46 was much better and I was able to see all four of the plotted galaxies. Magnitudes ranged from a bright direct vision 11.7 for NGC 7184 to 14.0 for NGC 7188. I looked for but could not spot the brighter ring in NGC 7184 that shows in photographs. Maybe from a darker location…?
GG&C Add’l Galxay Group #46 (NGC 7184 Group) – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Lastly was bright and easy Trio #49 (NGC 7769 Group). All three were direct vision galaxies, although little NGC 7770 at magnitude 13.8 required averted vision to spot initially.
GG&C Trio #49 (NGC 7769 Group) – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Melissa and I got up at 5:30 this morning, donned our warmest clothing, and drove a couple of miles to a spot we had picked out along Highway 22 just south of Huntingdon that offered an unimpeded view to the East. Except for a very light string of clouds right at the eastern horizon, it was clear. The Moon was overhead, along with Jupiter. -0.7 magnitude Mercury was there a few degrees above the horizon. Saturn, at magnitude +0.6 was there just to the lower left of Mercury. Even magnitude 2.75 Alpha Librae joined the party to the lower right of Mercury & Saturn, making a roughly equilateral triangle. The only no-show was the guest of honor, Comet ISON. I had seen it a couple of weeks ago on the morning of the 8th of November. Through the telescope it was an unimpressive fuzzball not visible with naked eye or 7×35 binoculars and barely visible through the 10×60 finder. The last few days have been cloudy and rainy so we hoped to get one last glimpse of the comet before perihelion. It was supposed to be just to the lower right of the Saturn/Mercury/Alpha Librae trio, just above the cloud line, but even scouring the area with binoculars turned up nothing. The sky was rapidly brightening by this point and at last report ISON was only about 4th magnitude. Comet of the Century? No, not yet anyway. We looked a while longer until it became obvious that if we hadn’t seen it already, we weren’t going to see it. Then we drove home. On the way back, Melissa asked me why I had chosen a hobby that required getting up at 5:30 a.m., standing outside in 20 degree weather peering at the sky only to see nothing… I must admit that the possibility of taking up stamp collecting did briefly flit through my mind. Wait… the adventure? Yes, that was it. The adventure! After all, we were doing something really cool and different, something that hardly anyone else even knew about. And we did get to see a nice grouping of two planets and a star. We got to see Jupiter (and even a Galilean moon or two through binoculars) and the Moon! While I pondered what ISON might be like after perihelion, Melissa, the adventurer, went back to bed.
Here are a few images from the last few months that I haven’t had time to post until now.
Oh Deer – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Not exactly astronomy or nature, but back in September a B17 named Sentimental Journey was on display at the Lexington, TN airport. This is one of the few World War II vintage B17’s that are still in flying condition.
B17 Sentimental Journey – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
B17 Sentimental Journey – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
We got to tour the inside as well. It gave me an appreciation of the cramped quarters the ten man crew had to work in.
B17 Sentimental Journey Cockpit – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I am standing next to the ball turret entrance. The gunner had to lower himself down through that tiny hatch and strap himself into a fetal position to operate the machine gun under the belly of the plane… no parachute. Needless to say, this had to be a pretty small person.
B17 Sentimental Journey Ball Turret – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
The tail gunner had pretty cramped quarters, too. Unfortunately, he was often the first target of enemy fighters attacking from the rear.
B17 Sentimental Journey Tail Gunner – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
This is a lunar corona taken through clouds during the waxing gibbous phase in October. The corona actually appeared redder to the naked eye than the picture shows. Also, all the surrounding black area was much lighter.
Lunar Corona – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
And, finally, sunrise this morning was absolutely gorgeous….
Sunrise November 19, 2013 – Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
From September 28th until October 1st, Melissa and I spent three days and nights at the Twin lakes Star Party at Pennyrile State Park in Kentucky. The event, which is hosted by the West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers, is the entire week but we were only there Saturday through Monday, and only Saturday night was halfway decent for observing. I managed to complete one Hickson group (#86) on the GG&C list and started Additional cluster #44.
GG&C Hickson 86 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
While I was out Saturday night my new Kendrick dew heaters seemed to work well. It was pretty wet and while others around me were complaining of having to stop observing because of the dew, I was able to keep going until the clouds covered the sky around 11 pm. Initially, I had the finder scope objective set to 20% heating but that didn’t seem to be quite enough because it started to fog up. I ran it up to 50% (so I thought) but it still didn’t clear. I finally ran it up to 100% (so I thought again) but when I felt of the heating band it was hardly warm at all. Finally I traced the wire back to the controller and realized that I had it plugged into a different outlet than I had thought. I ran the power back down to 20% and ran the correct one up to 100%. Within minutes the fog had gone so I returned the setting to 50%. I ran the fan and the heaters for approximately four hours on the gel cell batteries with no problems. I prepared for more GG&C’s but did not get the chance to observe again. It rained most of the day Sunday and was cloudy almost all day Monday.
I have observed three more nights since the TLSP and had no problems so far with dew. I finished the A.L. Additional cluster #44 (the NGC 6962 cluster) on 3 October eventually finding eight galaxies.
GG&C A.L. Additional Cluster #44 (NGC 6962 Cluster) – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
On that same night, I also observed Hickson 88, finding three of the four listed galaxies.
GG&C Hickson 88 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
On October 8th I just barely made out two of the four galaxies of Hickson 89 but I saw all three of Trio #41.
GG&C Hickson 89 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
GG&C A.L. Trio #41 (NGC 7018 Trio) – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Driving through the nearby small town of Huntingdon a few nights ago on some errands I noticed they had installed new street lights of the worst possible design, similar to the three “Pawn Shop” globes, that radiate as much light upward as they do toward the ground (actually more, since the post blocks part of the bottom.) The skies here are getting worse and worse. No wonder I am not seeing some of these faint galaxies! I guess I will have to start making more trips up to LBL Golden Pond. It used to be that my site here was just about as good as LBL, but not anymore.
I have not been completely idle over the last two months. Here are a few observations to catch me up to the present.
7 July 2013 was clear but a little warm and humid. Even though transparency was decent, I could only spot two of the three galaxies in Trio #36 in Libra. At about mag 12.8, NGC 5915 was an easy direct vision galaxy, elongated with a stellar nucleus. At mag 14.2, NGC 5916 was more difficult. It was dim, very elongated, and did not have a stellar nucleus. At mag 15.1, the third member of the trio, NGC 5916A was not visible.
GG&C Trio 36 – (c) Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
On 17 August 2013, I went out to look for Nova Delphini. The evening was partly cloudy with a waxing gibbous Moon but the nova was easy to spot with my 7×35 binoculars directly above Delphinus and off the point of Sagitta. It was the brightest star in the binocular field of view. The sky was too bright from the Moon and too cloudy to see it naked eye (although at last report the nova was at magnitude 4.4 which should have been visible to the naked eye with better conditions).
I had even worse observing luck on my galaxy trios with #39 in Draco. On 24 August 2013, the seeing and transparency were both good but in spite of that I could only see one galaxy, NGC 6608, a small, dim, roundish galaxy that became gradually brighter toward the center and showed a dim stellar nucleus. It seemed dimmer than its listed mag 14.3. It was flanked by two dim field stars to the SSW and NNE. NGC 6607 & 6609 were not visible. Again, they seemed to be dimmer than their listed mags of 14.6 and 15.0.
GG&C Trio 39 – (c) Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Hickson 85 was almost a “no show.” The night of 25 August 2013 was mostly clear but only after several minutes of viewing could I just barely detect the presence of a faint round spot corresponding to the galaxy C 341-10. Its listed magnitude is 15.1. None of the other three galaxies in this group in Draco were visible to me, with mags of 15.6, 17.0, and 17.0.
Hickson 85 – (c) Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I had better luck with the additional group #42, snaring four of the seven galaxies on 3 September 2013. The night was very clear and that seemed to make a good bit of difference. All were averted vision galaxies varying in magnitude from 12.3 ( NGC 6338 ) to 15.7.
GG&C Additional 42 – (c) Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Lastly, on 4 September 2013, I got two out of six listed galaxies in Additional Galaxy Group #43 (NGC 6472 group). This was a cool and clear “sweatshirt” evening with temps in the mid 60’s. NGC 6463 actually appeared brighter to me even though it was listed as mag 15.1 and NGC 6472 was listed as mag 14.2
GG&C Additional 43 – (c) Copyright 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
If I had the option of looking for these galaxies only when the transparency was exceptionally good, I’m sure I would see more of them. Unfortunately, I would also never finish this project as nights of exceptionally good transparency are rare, especially in the summertime in the South.
Melissa and I were returning from running errands last night at sunset when we spotted these crepuscular rays and cloud shadows. (The word crepuscular is from the Latin word crepusculum which means “twilight.”) The sun was just below the horizon and clouds to the west were casting shadows across the sky. In fact, we could trace the rays all the way across the sky to the eastern horizon where they became anti-crepuscular rays converging on the antisolar point (the point directly opposite the Sun). You don’t often see these shadows and rays crossing the entire sky. The rays are parallel, but due to perspective, they seem to converge to vanishing points directly toward the sun and directly toward the antisolar point. They appear at their widest overhead.
Below: Looking west. One cloud shadow is visible in the middle and another toward the left side. They appear to converge toward the Sun which is below the horizon.
Sky-Wide Rays–looking west. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Below: Looking toward the southwest.
Sky-Wide Rays–Looking southwest. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Below: Looking high toward the south. This is the widest part of the ray. The first quarter Moon is visible near the bottom.
Sky-Wide Rays–Looking south. 1st quarter Moon. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Below: Looking south-southeast. The shadow is beginning to converge again. Moon to the lower right.
Sky-Wide Rays–Looking south-southeast. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Below: Looking southeast. Main shadow in the middle with a second dimmer one to the lower right.
Sky-Wide Rays–Looking southeast. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Below: Anti-crepuscular rays converging on the antisolar point to the east. In the lower left corner see the pinkish glow of the Belt of Venus and the Earth’s gray shadow.
Sky-Wide Rays–Looking east toward antisolar point. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I want to stitch these images together to form a panoramic shot. I will post it when I get it done.
WKAA Secretary Patrick Archer and his dad Mike joined me last night for an observing session at the Golden Pond Observatory. We were a little worried about clouds and possible rain initially but it turned out to be a really good night. The humidity was low, the temps were comfortably cool, and there was a nice gentle breeze to help keep any mosquitos at bay. A few clouds drifted through occasionally but most of the sky was pretty clear. Seeing was fairly decent. (We could split Epsilon Lyrae, the double-double readily.) After the opening views of Saturn and a few of the brighter double stars it had gotten dark enough to start going after the Messiers.
I have been so intent lately on going after really faint galaxy clusters with my 18” Dob, I have neglected viewing the Messiers. With Patrick viewing many for the first time I figured it would be a good opportunity for me to revisit them. I don’t remember the exact order but our list ran more-or-less as follows:
M13 – Spectacular as always.
M57 – One of Patrick’s favorites, I think.
M51 – It was dark/clear enough to just see the spiral arms through Patrick’s 10”. Even more visible through the 18”.
M97 – The Owl nebula. Very cloudlike. I compared views through the OIII and UHC filters with the UHC coming out on top. The “eye” spots were visible.
M81/82 – I spotted a star very near M82 that I didn’t remember being there. We thought we might have a supernova until I found a photograph that clearly showed the star. Rats.
M101 – Bright core but dim halo. I thought briefly about using a recent Sky & Tel article to chase down detail in this galaxy but figured it would take too long.
M63, M64, & M94 – I did not look for these galaxies in my 18”. (I was busy scrutinizing M101.) Patrick, however, picked them off in short order.
M4 – A pleasing view of this globular through the 18” after an earlier twilight view that was not so pleasing. Looks like some kind of bug w/ long legs.
M27 – The Dumbell. It always surprises me at how large and bright this planetary is.
M22 – We moved into the Sagittarius region with a fantastic view of this large cluster. This is one of my favorite globulars. Patrick seemed to like it, too.
M28 – Another smaller globular near M22.
M6/M7 – Big and bright open clusters. M6 definitely looked like a butterfly to all of us.
M8 – The Lagoon Nebula & star cluster. Bright and detailed. As impressive, I think, as the Orion Nebula.
M20 – The Trifid. Not as big or impressive as M8 but you can still easily see the dark lanes dividing the nebula into three or more parts.
M24 – Star Cloud. An extremely dense star field. I think Patrick got all slack jawed over this one. I remember at least one or two “colorful metaphors” coming from the direction of his scope.
M17 – The Swan Nebula. Another nebula that surprises me with its size and brightness.
M16 – The Eagle Nebula. Telescopic views do not compare well with images of this nebula. It shows a background nebulosity and a sparse open cluster. I forgot to try the filters on this one as it was getting late. Next time.
Palomar 10 – After Patrick and his dad left around midnight, I tried to find this challenging globular cluster but could not spot it. Need a locating image.
Moonrise – Time to pack up and go home.
One of the best viewing nights I’ve had in weeks. Thanks to my friends Mike and Patrick Archer for the great company. Let’s do it again soon.
Despite all the clouds, rain, thunderstorms, and tornados, I did observe three more Hickson compact galaxy groups over the past month. They have been entered onto the Galaxy Groups and Clusters page.
Hickson 36 is pretty dim and I could only see two of the four galaxies listed for this group at magnitudes 14.5 for IC528 and 16.0 for P25791.
Hickson 36 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
Hickson 37 was a little better with NGC 2783 at least being a direct vision object. I was able to pick up three of five galaxies listed for this one. Magnitudes ranged from 13.0 for N2738 to 16.2 for P26006. I was only just able to get a glimpse or two of the dim stellar nucleus of P26006.
Hickson 37 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I was more successful with Hickson 51, observing five out of seven galaxies. The five I could see actually formed a parallelogram very similar in shape to the constellation of Lyra the lyre. The magnitudes of galaxies I could see ranged from 13.9 for NGC 3651 (direct vision) to 15.3 for IC2759.
Hickson 51 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
These were all viewed from my home in western Tennessee with my 18″ Obsession.
A few nights ago my dad’s dog, Buster, woke me up at about three o’clock in the morning barking his fool head off. I could tell by his bark that it was not a human intruder but rather a critter alert. It was a full Moon and I figured he probably saw a bug or something crawling across the yard and felt the need to inform the entire neighborhood. I yelled at him out the window to shut up and unbelievably he did. The next morning, as I was preparing to mow the grass, he started barking again and seemed to have something cornered under my dad’s big leaf blower machine. Remembering a week or two earlier, when he had tangled with a snake (killing it), I removed Buster to the pen and my dad and I went to investigate. We moved the leaf blower and exposed a hole in the ground about ten inches across. At first I couldn’t see anything in the hole but then I noticed movement and a large scaly rear end and tail. Then dirt began flying out of the hole. It was an Armadillo apparently trying to dig a hole to China to escape Buster. We found our old animal live-trap and I proceeded to dig the critter out with a shovel while he tried to outdig me and go deeper. I finally dug him out, herded him into the cage and relocated him about a mile into the woods behind our house.
Nine Banded (count them) Armadillo – 25 May 2013 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
They’ve been migrating this way from the Texas/Oklahoma area for a few years now. As my wife says, “Judging by the number we see squished on the highway, they’ve been traveling by way of I-40 eastbound….” This is the first time we’ve seen one here on our property.
Over the last several days the bright planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury have put on a lovely ballet low in the western sky a little after sunset. In spite of mostly cloudy weather, I managed to get a couple of shots of this fascinating little grouping’s daily changes. The first one was taken at dusk on Friday, 24 May 2013.
Dance of the Planets 24 May 2013 about 2030 CDT. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
The second one was taken four days later at dusk on Tuesday, 28 May 2013.
Dance of the Planets 28 May 2013 about 2030 CDT. Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
In addition, I got this shot of the nearly full Moon rising over the baseball field where Melissa and I were walking on the 24th. It looked huge!
Here are a couple of galaxy trios observed in the last three weeks or so. Trio 15 (NGC 2513, 2510, and 2511) was pretty easy with 2513 being a direct vision galaxy and the other two held steady with averted vision. Trio 16 (IC 2375, 2377, and 2379) was a bit tougher with all three members of this tight group being averted vision galaxies.
AL Galaxy Groups & Clusters Trio #15 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
AL Galaxy Groups & Clusters Trio #16 – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
I and three other members of the West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers did an Astronomy Night for the students, teachers, and parents of Barsanti Elementary school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky on Friday April 12th. We showed an estimated 50-60 people sunspots, the Moon, Jupiter, Mizar, the Pleiades, and the Great Orion Nebula.
Then, on April 20th, WKAA volunteers helped out with Astronomy Day festivities at Golden Pond Planetarium and Observatory, Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. We had solar observing going on throughout the afternoon with both white light and Hydrogen alpha views. Later in the evening the clouds held off just enough to show the Moon, Jupiter, and Mizar. An estimated 200 people came through during the day and another 25-30 that evening.
Astronomy Day 2013 at Golden Pond Observatory, Land Between the Lakes, KY – Copyright (c) 2013 Robert D. Vickers, Jr.
