#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

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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.