#13 Review Of The Year

 31st December 2020

 So as this year of the plague draws to a close I thought I would look back at one of its more positive aspects. For me this was getting back out under the stars and doing some observing. The Grand Tour Project was created as motivation to get out though my initial plan of it taking two years was over ambitious. The observation of Perseus open cluster NGC 1513 ended this years observing run which had started 111 objects earlier with the giant elliptical galaxy M86 in Virgo on the 11th May. These early observations were done at a rush just ticking objects of the list rather than doing them justice. Later on I decided to take more time with each object and find out more about each of them.

  As a comet fan the highlight of the year was without question Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise. A bright naked eye comet reaching above magnitude 1  and visible from suburban skies occurs maybe once every decade. This one also looked like most peoples idea of a comet with a long sweeping tail. Other highlights include the bright Supernova in M61 and getting a look at Mars during this favourable apparition.

 Every year I am going to pick ten objects from my observations to return to sometime and have a closer look. These will be objects that have either intrigued me or surprised me or maybe I have just taken a fancy to. This year I have selected the following:

NGC 1275 and the Perseus Galaxy Cluster. Vast group of galaxies in one field of view, awe inspiring.

NGC 520  This pair of colliding galaxies in Pisces looks unusual even on my small image. 

NGC 891  Impressive perfectly edge on spiral galaxy in Andromeda.

NGC 7662 Blue Snowball Planetary Nebula Andromeda. Surprising amount of detail on small image.

M33 Local Group spiral galaxy. Amazing star clouds. Want to take a more detailed image.

NGC 7320 and Stephans Quintet.  Just dots on my image. 

NGC 7479  Beautiful barred spiral in Pegasus.

NGC 6819 Surprisingly rich open cluster in Cygnus.

NGC 6631 Could not quite work out where this Scutum cluster started or finished.

NGC 6857 I need to have another look at this Cygnus Planetary Nebula.

   Although I prefer visual observing my light polluted skies do not allow proper dark adaption to see faint objects. This year I  acquired an Atik Infinity colour video camera so I can view faint objects "live" on a laptop screen. This camera has made a big improvement to my observing and I hope to do a review of it sometime.

  Writing this blog was inspired by  "Uncle" Rod Mollise' astro blog which I have followed for a long time. Like "Unk" I have made an effort to observe the Orion Nebula M42 every Christmas Eve and this year despite being swamped by moonlight I got a nice view with my 4" f5 refractor.  With direct vision the Great Nebula looked red in colour but with averted vision this effect disappeared. A little more magnification separated the quartet of stars at the heart of the nebula.  As I packed the telescope away Leo  and the realm of the galaxies were rising in the east where the Grand Tour began in the Spring.  It was a nice way to round off the year.

M42

  So what are my plans for next year? There are a number of variable stars on the tour that I would like to follow over the year and there are also a lot of double stars to look at. Other than Mars I did not do much planet observing this year so I hope to do more. Otherwise I will carry on tracking down objects on the list and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did this year.

#12 Seeing Double

 20/12/2020

   Up to now on The Grand Tour I have only observed one double star; and that was an all to superficial glance at the showpiece double Beta Cygni. There are in fact 89 doubles on the list so tonight I decided it was time to hunt down a few more starting with three in Aries. All observed visually with the 8" SCT  f10 x210.

Gamma Arietis   Both components are magnitude 4.8  and separated by 8".  Both appear white with maybe a hint of yellow

Lambda Arietis  Separated by 37" with components of magnitude 4.9 and 7.7. The primary is a golden yellow colour and to me the secondary has a lavender blue tint.

1 Arietis   Very widely separated by about 3'  and magnitudes 6.2 and 7.4.  The primary has  a golden yellow tint and the secondary white / blue but the colours are not so obvious as Lamda just observed. 

.   A quick trip to Andromeda now with my wide field eyepiece x60 to observe Open Cluster               NGC 752  At 50' across this large cluster fills the field of view. The brightest star on view is orange and terminates the southern end. A white double terminates the northern end. The main body of the cluster sprawls out between these and is moderately rich. No fainter stars are hinted at with averted vision.

 The Infinity video camera was now attached for some galaxy hunting.

NGC 672  Spiral galaxy in Triangulum with what appears to be a diffuse elongated core. Forms a nice group with at least two other galaxies rather like the Leo triplet but fainter.

NGC 925  Barred spiral galaxy also in Triangulum. Elongated and also has a diffuse, spread out central area. Faint spiral arms are visible. A bright spot near the centre is, I guess, a foreground star.

   I never associated Perseus with galaxies but two rather fine ones make my list.

NGC 1275 and Perseus Galaxy Cluster

 NGC 1275  Magnitude 12 galaxy classed as peculiar but appears like an elliptical with a bright core. Brightest member of compact cluster of galaxies with at least 10 in the field of view. Apparently the closest super cluster  to Virgo.

NGC 1023  Magnitude 9.4 elliptical galaxy with a very impressive, bright core.

 Staying in Perseus for two fine Open Clusters.

NGC 1245

 NGC 1245  Very rich in relatively faint stars and fairly compressed. Has chains of stars curving away from centre rather like a loose globular.

 NGC 1513  Rich group of stars of varying magnitudes elongated north to south.

 To finish of the evening I had another look at Comet M3 Atlas.

Comet M3 Atlas

Well condensed nucleus with tail fading away to north - east. Around magnitude 10.

# 11 Grand Tour: 102 down 399 to go.

 19th December 2020

   A gap in the clouds allowed me to observe seven more objects starting with 3 galaxies in Cetus. 8" SCT f3.3 and Infinity camera.

NGC 584

 NGC 584 Elliptical galaxy orientated about 15' x 15' with a relatively large bright core. A star lies close to the southern edge of the nucleus. NGC 584, a spiral galaxy, is seen to the west.                                    NGC 936  Barred Spiral Galaxy with a bright nucleus. Almost edge on aligned east - west along the long axis. A fainter galaxy lies 13' to the west.          NGC 1052  Similar to NGC 936 but has an even brighter core region. About 45 degrees inclined and elongated NW - SE  12" x 15".  

 At this point a bank of cloud rolled in.

 

M76

   With the cloud rolling away to the east I headed up to Perseus which was overhead.

M76  A Planetary Nebula known as "The Little Dumbbell "  Does indeed resemble its larger namesake in Vulpecula but is rather more rectangular. Has prismatic colours either end and is aligned NE - SW. The magnitude 16 central star is not visible. This object lies in a rich field and looks like its "floating" in space.

NGC 869 and NGC 864

 NGC 869  Is the western component of the  well known naked eye double cluster along with NGC  864 to the east.  Both only just fit in the field of view. Always an amazing sight. A couple of orange stars lie between the clusters.

NGC 957 An open cluster not far from the Double Cluster.  Magnitude 7.6 and quite rich elongated E-W 20" x 8" . The brighter stars across the cluster give the impression of being foreground stars.

  Looking up after this observation a bank of cloud rolled in from the west ending the evenings session.

                                                             

#10 A Ghost and a Snowball.

 12th December 2020

      After a lengthy spell of cloudy skies a clear spell on this Saturday evening got me setting the 'scope up before the forecast rain clouds rolled in. I wanted to get a look at comet Atlas in Auriga but first tracked down nine more objects on my Grand Tour 501 list. All observed with the 8" SCT f3.3 and Infinity video camera.

M74

    Pisces contains 9 objects on the GT501, 5 of which are double stars and 4 are galaxies.

 M74 is a face on spiral galaxy some 30 million ly distant. At magnitude 10 it should be easy to see visually but as its light is spread out over 10' x 10' it can be difficult in light polluted skies. The spiral arms are visible on my image and I wondered if the star near the nucleus was a supernova as this galaxy has had three in the last twenty years!           NGC 488 is a near face on spiral galaxy about magnitude 10 and 5' x 4'.  The faint outer spiral arms appear almost like a ring around a compact nucleus.      NGC 524 This lenticular galaxy has a relatively bright well defined nucleus surrounded by faint haze. In a group including an edge on spiral to the west. 3' x 3'. The Hubble image is quite spectacular, rather like looking down a tunnel of light.

NGC 520

 NGC 520  This galaxy was a surprise in as much as it appears more like a ghostly comet than a galaxy. Further investigation reveals it is a highly distorted pair of colliding spirals and is certainly worth a closer look sometime. About magnitude 11 and 4.5' x 2' in size.

 Now I head across to Cetus for another interesting galaxy.

M77  Is a barred spiral galaxy , magnitude 10 and about 8' X 8'.  This is one of the nearest Seyfert Galaxies with an active  black hole in its nucleus.  I can see a very bright nucleus with extensions either side which look like a bar. The spiral  disc is visible with hints of structure.

NGC 404  "Mirach's Ghost"

 Heading up to Andromeda for two contrasting galaxies

.

NGC 404   Only 7' away from magnitude two star Beta Andromeda "Mirach" - which really does look like an orange blazing sun in my image. I assumed by its appearance that this galaxy is a typical giant elliptical. Turns out it is in fact a Dwarf Lenticular Galaxy only 10 million ly away , just beyond our Local Group. It is similar in size to the Small Magellanic Cloud a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

NGC 891

  NGC 891   Measuring 14 x 3' this edge on spiral galaxy is an impressive sight. A prominent dark dust lane runs along the midline bisecting the central bulge and disc. About 30 million ly distant and a member of the NGC1023 group. 

 NGC 7662  A Planetary Nebula known as the "Blue Snowball"  . At magnitude 8.6 and about 25" diameter I did not expect to see much structure at the resolution of my set up but on enlarging the image there are some features to be seen. Overall the slightly oval disc is blue-green with an incomplete bright ring structure within. A bright spot at the centre is possibly the magnitude 13 central star.  This nebula is around 3000 ly distant.

NGC 7662

       The 3 stars seen to the top left of the image     range  from  magnitude 14 to magnitude 15.8.

   Aries contains 4 objects on my GT list 3 of which   are double stars. The fourth is magnitude 10.3 spiral   galaxy NGC 772.   The core is very bright compared   to the faint surrounding disc. A slightly brighter   incomplete ring feature seems to be visible around     the edge of this disc which on more detailed images   is revealed as an elongated spiral arm. This galaxy is   interacting with nearby NGC 770 also seen on my   image. This brings my Grand Tour total up to 95.

COMET C/2020 M3 (ATLAS)

I finished of the session with a look at Comet C /2020 M3 (ATLAS) over in Auriga at about magnitude 8.  This comet reached perihelion in late October and passed 0.4AU from the earth. It has a condensed nucleus and tail fading to the north-west.

      

#9 Grand Tour : 86 down 415 to go

 14th November 2020

    Despite all my years observing the night sky Lacerta is one of those constellations I never seem  to remember the exact location of. It is however home to a number of interesting deep sky objects and two of its open clusters make my Grand Tour top 500.  Both of these I observed visually with the 8"SCT f10 magnification x62.

NGC 7209  Viewed through intermittent gaps in the clouds, at one point it even started raining, I managed to do a quick and very rough sketch of this open cluster.  The brightest star in view is  magnitude 8 and orange in hue and lies at the north end of the cluster. The cluster stars themselves range from magnitude 9 down and form a kind of U or W shape open to the wsw. Many fainter stars are hinted at with averted vision and this cluster also contains a number of double stars. It is believed to be 3800 ly away and is about 30ly in diameter.

 NGC 7243  Magnitude 6.4 and about 21' in diameter. This open cluster is terminated to the south by a prominent pair of stars and fans out north in a rough V shape. A close double star lies at the mid point with the ssw component being slightly the brighter. There seems to be fewer fainter stars than seen  in  NGC 7209. The cluster is believed to be 2800ly distant. Looking through my records I last observed these two clusters 36 years ago in  November 1984 so I will try and find the sketches I did and compare them with these.

                                                           18th November 2020

   Tonight I thought I would try the Infinity camera with an old camera lens of mine of focal length 135mm f2.8 for some wider angle views. First up I viewed NGC 7000 the North America Nebula which despite its large size just about fitted in the field of view. However I messed up and failed to save the image so will return to it at a later date. I did manage to record the following five Messier Objects.

M39

                                                                                 

     M39   Open Cluster, Cygnus.   About  half a degree in diameter and visible to the naked eye from a dark sight.  Triangular grouping of  around 25 stars in a very rich milky way field. Seems to lie in  a dark relatively starless region in my image though on some other images I have seen  this is not the case. About 624 ly distant and 7 ly in diameter.

M110, M31 and M32.

M110  Dwarf elliptical galaxy, At magnitude 9.0 this is one of the brighter galaxies in the sky but of course is dominated by the neighbouring Andromeda galaxy of which it is a satellite. 23' x 11' in size with a well defined nucleus.                     M31   On the all to rare occasions I have been to a really dark observing site this galaxy is a truly breath taking sight with the naked eye. Spanning 3 x 1 degrees and magnitude 3.4 our closest large galactic neighbour is usually touted as the most distant visible naked eye object, though I think I got a sight of  slightly more distant M33 once. Under suburban skies only the bright nucleus can be seen even with a telescope. The video image brings out some nice detail with some dust lanes being visible. It is now believed to be a barred spiral galaxy like our own with a similar mass but larger in size.     M32 Bright magnitude 8.0 compact dwarf elliptical galaxy.  This satellite of M31  is thought to be the remnant nucleus of a spiral galaxy stripped of its outer disc during interactions with its neighbour. Visually and in the image this is exactly what it looks like and contrasts with M110.  

M33

  M33 The third largest member of the Local Group of galaxies and slightly more distant than M31.  This galaxy is considerably smaller  than the Milky way and  M31 as can be seen in the images. Several spiral arms are visible.

#8 Grand Tour: 79 down 422 to go

     Yes 79 + 422 = 501 and the Grand Tour is supposed to be 500 objects.. All will be explained later but first two more observations of Mars.

    This image was taken at 20:40 on the 3rd November. Syrtis Major is the most prominent dark feature extending northwards on the central meridian. The small south polar cap can be seen top right of the image. This is the stage of the martian seasonal cycle when a global dust storm often happens but no sign yet.

  This image was taken exactly one  ( Earth ) day later and Syrtis Major has not quite reached the central meridian demonstrating that a martian day is slightly longer than ours. These images are not as sharp as  I hoped with the seeing being slightly better than before, maybe I need to collimate the telescope optics.

     On the 4th November I observed ten more objects for the Grand Tour Project the first two in Aquarius.

M2  Certainly one of the best globular clusters visible from the northern hemisphere. 55,000 ly distant and 175 ly in diameter with an age of 13 billion years this is one of the oldest and largest globulars. The brightest stars are of the 13th magnitude and many fainter ones surround the bright core. This cluster is apparently a member of the "Gaia Sausage" the remains of a dwarf galaxy merged with the milky way.

    NGC 7009  The "Saturn Nebula" is a magnitude 8 planetary nebula discovered by William Herschel in 1782. Blue green oval with narrow ansae extending either side of the long axis which do indeed resemble saturns edge on rings. A lot of these small planetaries deserve a closer look with more magnification as they can show a lot of structure not seen at this scale.

NGC 7814

             We're heading to Pegasus now for the next eight objects.

   NGC 7814   Edge on spiral galaxy with bright central bulge and prominent dark dust lane bisecting the mid plane. Known as the "Little Sombrero" Dimensions are given as 5.5' x 2.3' and is about 40 million light years distant.

   M15  Magnitude 6.3 globular cluster similar in size and brightness to M2 . Bright core.

  NGC 7217  SAB near face on spiral galaxy. Magnitude 11 and 4' x 3' in size. The  image shows a bright nucleus surrounded by an oval haze.  This galaxy is unusual for having a population of stars that rotate in the opposite direction to the majority.

NGC 7320 & Stephan's Quintet

  NGC 7320  SA spiral galaxy, magnitude 13, 2'x1' in size.  A member of "Stephan's Quintet" though at a distance of 40 million ly is much closer than the other 4 at 300 million ly. On my image it is the oval smudge to the right of the interacting pair NGC 7318 A&B at the centre.  Magnitude 14 galaxies NGC 7319 and 7317 complete the group. I have been wanting to  observe this famous group for some time so its good to track it down at last, albeit with a  video camera.

   NGC 7321  My next object was supposed to be NGC 7331 but entered 7321 into the GOTO by mistake, but I am going to include it in the GT project anyway. Turns out the small oval smudge on my screen is a magnitude 13 barred spiral galaxy. This galaxy was host to a supernova in 2013.

NGC 7331 and friends.

 

  NGC 7331   This magnitude 10 spiral galaxy  has a bright core  and prominent dust lanes  and lies at an oblique angle to us. At a distance of 40 Mly  it  lies in the foreground of a more distant grouping of galaxies NGCs 7335.7336.7337 and 7340 seen to the left of 7331 in my image/. NGC 7320 just observed is close  by in the sky and at the same distance so the two may be associated.

NGC 7479

    NGC 7479  We all love a barred spiral galaxy and this magnitude11 example is one of the best. It is classified as a seyfert galaxy undergoing starburst and has a relatively small bright core. 

   NGC 7619  Small round  fuzzball  on my image and in same field of view as several other members of the Pegasus 1 galaxy group including NGCs 7626, 7631, 7623 and7611.  Would be interesting to take a deeper exposure of this cluster as many faint galaxies are just about visible.

MARS

   Mars reached opposition on October 13th and is well placed in the late evening sky. This apparition is in fact the best for northern hemisphere observers for some time so it was about time I took a look. On October 26th at 20:05 UT using the 8" SCT at X150 it was immediately apparent the atmospheric seeing conditions were very poor. I could just about make out the small South Polar Cap and some dusky markings across the centre of the disc.

 On October 28th I decided to try imaging Mars with my Phillips webcam which I hadn't used for a very long time. Planetary imaging cameras have improved a lot since webcams were a popular choice but I am not ready for another new camera --yet!  I used the 8"SCT at f30 and tried Sharpcap imaging software for the first time. The quivering disc of the planet was soon located on the webcams small chip and after the usual struggle to focus the image I was ready to go. With the seeing poor again I only recorded about 400 frames of video file and packed the equipment away. Next day I processed the video file in Registax using the "best" 140 frames of the 400 which resulted in the image shown. Well I am pleased with my first attempt at planetary imaging for a long time even if it doesn't compare to what can be achieved these days. I am certainly going to continue imaging Mars this apparition and maybe some of the other planets to.

  For comparison I have downloaded a computer generated image of Mars disc for the same date and time.

#6 A SOUTHERN GEM

 21st September 2020

      Sagittarius' many wonders are usually hidden by buildings from my location but a gap in the houses allows me seek out one or two now and then. NGC 6818 is a Planetary Nebula that lies in the northern part of the constellation and is known as the "Little Gem". Visually at x78 this appears like a well defined out of focus magnitude 8 star. No structure is visible but there is a hint of blue colour.

NGC 6819

 Back up north now to Cygnus with the video camera and 8" SCT.

NGC 6811 Well defined and fairly large Open Cluster in rich field. About 30 bright stars in a circular grouping.

NGC 6819  A smaller more compact Open Cluster the brightest stars of which are formed into two lines. Many fainter stars surround these. Certainly worth having a closer look sometime.

NGC 6866  Slightly larger Open Cluster than 6819 but more sparse and fewer fainter stars. Main group of brighter stars elongated north - south with lesser chains going east- west.

M29

M29 The brightest stars of this Open Cluster form a surprisingly similar pattern to NGC 6819 just observed. However there are far fewer fainter stars and even larger telescopes do not reveal many more. 

#5 Grand Tour Project : 63 down, 437 to go.

     August proved to be a cloudy month with very limited opportunities for observing. However two clear but hazy nights on the 13th and 14th September got the project rolling again with 23 objects observed including some gems. All observed with 8" SCT f3 and Atik Infinity camera.

  M13  Spectacular bright globular cluster in Hercules. Well resolved core with the dark "propeller" feature visible.

M92 Impressive globular cluster with a bright condensed core with extensive halo of faint stars.

NGC 6229 The third globular in Hercules is much smaller than the previous two but has a very bright core. Its outer star lanes are well resolved.

NGC 6210 At the image scale of the camera this small ( 16") planetary nebula appears like a bright star. Only its blue tint gives it away.

Ophiuchus is mostly hidden by the garage but I manage to image three of its brightest globular clusters.

M10 A large globular resolved to core from which loose chains of stars stretch away.

M12 Similar size to M10 but looser and resolved easily to core

M14 Smaller than other two but still impressive. fairly condensed and round. Many faint stars surround core

M57

Over to Lyra now for its two Messier objects.

M57 The haunting Ring Nebula. This was the first deep sky object I viewed through a telescope 40 years ago and I have made the effort to seek it out every year since. The video camera shows how colourful it is with a spectrum from red outer edge through yellow to green on the rings inner edge. The central "star" is also seen on the image.

M56 Globular Cluster. Well resolved to core, fairly loose .

 

South to Vulpecula for another Messier classic.

M27

M27 Planetary Nebula. Large and bright. Red and green colours evident and outer lobes just visible on image.

NGC 6800  Large Open Cluster with a number of prominent stars but not concentrated.

ALBIREO Beta Cygni. One of the best known double stars. Colours more prominent visually but primary star has obvious orange hue.

NGC 6910 Open Cluster Cygnus. A personal favourite of mine. A string of magnitude 9/10 stars between two magnitude 7 yellowish stars. A scattering of fainter stars including a number of doubles complete this pleasing little cluster.

                                                         14th SEPTEMBER 2020

 Another hazy but cloudless night. Again the video camera coupled with the 8" SCT f3.3 performed well in the poor visibility.

  M11

M11 Open Cluster, Scutum.  One of the richest clusters almost like loose globular. Stands out well in rich field.

M26 Open Cluster, Scutum. Similar size to M11 but less rich. Four of the brightest stars make up a kite shape at the centre one of which is a close equal double. A scattering of fainter stars blend into the rich field.

NGC 6631 Open Cluster, Scutum. The centre of this cluster seems to be marked by three orange stars in a triangle but otherwise does not stand out in a rich field. I could not find much information about this cluster, it seems to be a bit neglected. The DSS image does not clearly show its extent but gives its diameter as 6'. 

NGC6781 Planetary Nebula, Aquila. Large ( 100") annular ring, red in colour. Faint star seen at centre but not sure if this a field star. Not seen this one before.

M71  Globular Cluster, Sagitta.  Once thought to be an open cluster but now reclassified as a small, loose globular. Seems to consist of many faint stars of similar magnitude. A number of brighter stars across the face of the cluster I suspect are foreground stars. 

NGC 6891 Planetary Nebula, Delphinus.  Small, at this image scale only its blue colour distinguishes it from the stars.

NGC 6905

NGC 6905 Planetary Nebula, Delphinus. "Blue Flash Nebula" Bright, annular with obvious blue colour. Central "star" or nuclear region very bright relative to nebula. Oval ring has dark areas to north and south.

NGC 6934 Globular Cluster, Delphinus. Small but well resolved. Has intriguing dark areas in the central region.

NGC 6826 Planetary Nebula, Cygnus. The "Blinking Planetary" is the brightest object in the field of view at magnitude 7. Has a magnitude 10 central star but is lost in the over exposed nebula. Blue colour.

NGC 6857

 NGC 6857 HII Nebula, Cygnus. Pleasing red nebula   surrounding relatively bright star. A couple of  small,   fainter, red nebulous areas are in the field of view.

 NGC 6888 HII Nebula, Cygnus.  Very large, red, crescent   shaped nebula in rich star field. Much detail seen but   deserves better viewing conditions.

                        

#4 COMET NEOWISE: A SUMMER VISITOR.

     The long hours of daylight during June and July usually result in very few observing opportunities.  But when I found out Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise had survived perihelion and was a naked eye object in the late evening sky I  had to see it.  At 22:00 UT on 16th July I scanned the still twilit northwest horizon and thought I could make out an elongated misty patch in Ursa Major. With 8x40 binoculars the comet was revealed. The nuclear region was very bright - around magnitude 2 and disc-like but no stellar nucleus was seen. The outer coma had a greenish hue and  extended into an elongated tail of several degrees length. Hints of structure could be seen in the tail. This comet reminded me very much of a smaller version of Hale - Bopp back in 1995. The image was taken on the 19th July with the Atik Infinity camera and the 4" f5 refractor 8x10s exposure.

   I observed the comet again on the 27th July by which time it was positioned to the south of the Plough. It seemed slightly dimmer than before but could still be seen with the naked eye in my light polluted sky.

  As observing a bright comet is on my Grand Tour this deserves to be my 39th observation.

           

#3 GRAND TOUR PROJECT : 38 down 462 to go.

        The night of the 20th May was very clear so I decided to leave the camera in its box and do some visual observing with the 8" SCT f10 at x60. With Leo and Virgo heading into the gloom of my western horizon I decided to have a look at what Canes Venatici  had to offer.  It had a lot to offer as I soon discovered

M3    Certainly one of the best  Globular Clusters in the northern sky. The outer stars were resolved but faint whilst the core was round and well condensed. Several brighter stars (foreground?) were seen on its western edge.

M63   This Sbc galaxy was a surprisingly bright oval elongated east - west. I could not detect a "core" but rather a brighter, mottled central area surrounded by a fainter halo. There is a bright foreground star on its western edge

M94   The third Messier object in Canes V.  is a Sab galaxy. It has a striking bright, round core surrounded by an easily visible halo. Appears to be elongated slightly east - west.  

NGC 5005  This spiral galaxy is a large, bright oval with an elongated brighter central area aligned east - west.

NGC 5033 Another Sbc galaxy larger than 5005 but with a lower surface brightness and more gradual brightening to centre. Some structure is glimpsed.

NGC 4631 This Sbn galaxy appears as a large elongated oval of ratio 4:1 and aligned east - west . It gradually brightens towards the centre.

NGC 4490 Smaller and brighter than 4631. Elongated 3;1 NW - SE with gradual brightening to centre.

         At midnight the clouds rolled in and put an end to this session. I was very impressed by the galaxies in this constellation as they were much larger and brighter than expected.

          The night of 22nd May was probably going to be my last chance to observe before darker nights return in August so concluded the first stage of the Grand Tour with three classic Messier objects in Ursa Major.

M81 Fabulous Sbc galaxy. Bright well defined nucleus with sweeping spiral arms and dust lanes visible as the image built up.

M82 This peculiar starburst galaxy showed much detail including dust lanes and brighter areas.

M97 The "Owl Nebula" is one of my favourites. I have seen the "eyes" visually on a darker night but tonight the imager is needed to see them.

    I finished of the night with a look at comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs at magnitude 8.7. which showed a nice "antitail" pointing towards the sun.

                                                                           M82

                                                  COMET C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS

#2 GRAND TOUR PROJECT: First observations.

38 DOWN 462 TO GO.

The project  finally got underway on the 11th May with the giant elliptical galaxy M86  in Virgo.    With the nights getting shorter I decided concentrate on the realm of the galaxies before Virgo and Leo sank into the summer twilight.

    5 more galaxies were imaged that night  M49, NGC 2903, NGC 3190, NGC 3227 and NGC 3377.

( Objects on GT500 list highlighted in blue)

M86

              The 15th of may added 11 more galaxies to the tally including giant elliptical M87 in Virgo  along with  a Leo contingent M105, M65, M66, NGC 3384, 3412, 3489, 3521, 3593, 3607 and 3628. On 13th May Spiral Galaxy M61 and its recent  Type 2 Supernova  were imaged along with galaxies NGC 3640, 4429, 4435,4438,4442,4526, 4527 and 4535.                 As luck would have it another bright Supernova, this time a Type 1 was observed in  NGC 3643  ( Not  on the GT500 list) The supernova this time  was much brighter than its host galaxy!                   

                                                                                  

 

M61 and Supernova

                                                                                

                                                                     M65 AND M66

 

  

  NGC 3643 and Type 1 Supernova

#1: The Grand Tour Project

                                                                                        It was 40 years ago on a warm July night that I had my first  look through a telescope at the stars above. From that moment on I wanted to explore the universe and to try and understand what was out there.                                                                     For the first ten years or so I was out every clear  night observing galaxies, star clusters, variable stars, planets and pretty much anything I could hunt down from my back garden. However though my enthusiasm never diminished the amount of time I spent observing grew less and less, largely due to light pollution, getting up early for work and other interests.  In the last few years this reduced to a handfull nights - something needed to change.

            What I needed was an observing project,  something that would take maybe a year or two to complete. The question was what form should it take?

             I began to ponder how much I had seen and experienced in those 40 years of observing and conversly how much I hadn't seen. Perhaps I should try and observe as many of the most interesting objects in the night sky that I can see from my backyard - a bucket list of astronomical objects.

            Thus The Grand Tour Project was devised consisting of 500 of the best, brightest and most fascinating objects to be seen. 466 of these I have taken from deep-sky guru Steve Gottlieb's Deep Map 600 list of his must see objects ( the ones north of -20 degrees declination that I can observe). The remaining 34 are additions of my own, my personal favourites and ones on my bucket list. 

            The objects on this list range from planets to quasars, double stars, open clusters,galaxies, variable stars and sunspots to name a few. I will observe these with a combination of visual and using an Atik Infinity video camera on the telescope. Sometimes I will try to sketch what I see and others I will just describe or take an image. Being out there under the stars and observing is the main aim of this project.

    Will I complete this project? I guess it will be slow going and take a couple of years at least but I hope to post my progress on here from time to time.