Clear Skies Blog update - Astrotrip, Boureuilles, 28 April 2025 (blog 3 of 4)

[Victor van Wulfen]

Hi all,

Just posted a new blog entry for the night of 28-29 April. Another 103 observations logged.

For the galaxy aficionados among use, there's bartalk in there, some arm-wrestling, a bit dark stuff and I twice found the need to draw a line (well, I don't sketch, but you get the idea).

Read all about it at https://clearskies.eu/blog/astrotrips/28apr25/

Enjoy,

Victor

[Scott Harrington]

An enjoyable read, Victor. Plus, your mention of seeing the spiral arm(s) of NGC 5669 made me take a closer look at images of it and, lo and behold, this galaxy has a "bright", concentrated star-forming region in its southeast region. It looks bright enough that it should be a cinch to see in my 16-inch. Interestingly, I plan to set up my 10-inch SCT and observe until moonrise tonight, so I'll try and take a look at the galaxy.

Scott H.

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[Victor van Wulfen]

Good eye..!

Seems to be a galaxy, in fact. SIMBAD has it as Brinchmann, Kunth, Durret WR 380, it's in NED as PGC4114907.

I will add it to my guides and make a go for it next time around.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/adventuresindeepspace/CAGmLLxtg6poFLs_r3sUX91%3D%2B1KqjkuA-y_vYYfhq%3D1sYCd1LLg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Victor van Wulfen]

I delved into it straight away this morning. There's more going on in that galaxy when it comes to HII regions, possibly galaxies, and their designations.

Furthermore, there are 2 superimposed stars north-northwest of the galaxy's center, aligned south to north: 4UCAC500-061609 (mag. 15.6) & 4UCAC500-061610 (mag. 15.1), respectively, that I suspect to easily cause confusion at the eyepiece.

Per the labeled images below, there are 4 PGC (Hyperleda) designated HII regions or galaxies. The brightest southeastern one goes by PGC4114907 (a.k.a. Brinchmann, Kunth, Durret WR 380). On the north-northeastern edge there's two, aligned west to east: PGC4421439 & PGC4114908. Closer to the core of the galaxy, to the northwest, is another one; the Hyperleda position is not an exact match but since there's nothing else nearby I'll give it. It's PGC5066277. The fainter of the two superimposed stars is close to the east-northeast of this one.

Now, knots in galaxies look deceivingly bright on imagery. All but one of these will be tough, even in the larger apertures. The southeastern one, PGC4114907, may be up for grabs in moderately large scopes. I know I will certainly put in my plans for next spring.

Op 20 mei 2025, om 18:16 heeft Scott Harrington <sn4...@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

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[Scott Harrington]

Thanks for your extra research, Victor. Since it lies in a very "poor" part of the galaxy, it could very well be akin to NGC 5471 in M101.

I tried for NGC 5669 and the "bright", compact, star-forming region (PGC 4114907) with my 10-inch. The night was as dark as I've ever recorded on my SQM-L (21.65mpsas), but the transparency was poor. On the other hand, the seeing was quite good! I was able to easily make out the diffuse glow of the galaxy's core, but couldn't see the star-forming region. Alas, I'm about done observing for the next four months. So, like you, it will stay on the list to observe again next spring in my 16-inch.

Scott H.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/adventuresindeepspace/BEA696ED-B1D4-4519-A270-4F2904FAAD85%40clearskies.eu.