OR: Dinosaur Point, November 26, 2022
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Julien Lecomte
Nov 27, 2022, 2:24:43 PM11/27/22
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After glancing at his squirrel meter, around 11pm, Dave Cooper starkly enunciated his verdict: "Nothing to write home about". Well ... If you'll allow me, I'll go ahead and write a quick report about last night's observing conditions at Dinosaur Point. I hope that this won't be a waste of bandwidth, Mr Gortatowsky ;)
Peter Natscher, Dave Cooper and I had a quick dinner at Casa de Fruta. Then, we drove the remaining 15 minutes to the Dinosaur Point parking lot. As always, Peter had to train the new park ranger. There is so much turnover at the California state parks that you would think it is being led by Elon Musk ;) We were later joined by Token Canadian Tony Hurtado (Heh!) with his sweet 18" Starmaster-like dobsonian, Kurt Kuhlmann with his fancy C14 EdgeHD on an iOptron CEM70 mount, and Scott Mikusko with his sharp Stellarvue 127mm doublet on a CGEM. Sameer Panwar was also there. I had my trusty homemade 16" F/4 Albert Highe dobsonian telescope. Peter and Dave were grinding coffee all night with their fancy goto dobs.
Driving down towards the parking lot, I immediately noticed the haze, which is fairly usual at Dinosaur Point. You see, Dinosaur Point is my favorite observing site because it is an easy 55 minute drive from my house in south San Jose, because it is a paved parking lot behind a locked gate, and because it is decently dark (Bortle 4). But the transparency is often not so great there. It just lacks altitude. Fremont Peak has theoretically more light pollution, and yet the altitude really helps (FPOA is my other favorite local site). That explains the rather low 20.8 SQM readings Dave was getting.
The seeing was average. Temps dipped into the low 40s. I was appropriately dressed and remained warm all night.
Early on, we gawked at Saturn and Jupiter. Right before packing up, we looked at Mars and Jupiter again. All were showing some nice details, but I was not that impressed. The seeing was just a little too soft.
I focused my observing on revisiting old friends, like NGC 253 (Sculptor galaxy), NGC 7331 and Stephan's quintet in Pegasus, a few pretty planetaries (the Helix nebula, the Blue snowball, etc.), M74 (which showed some hints of mottling), M77, M42, etc. All were lovely.
I bagged over a dozen new objects, mostly from the Herschel II list, which I have been working on since ... 2012! ;) I focused on the part of the sky that was the darkest (towards the south) and gave up on anything that was below -20° in declination to mitigate the impact of the haze. I also avoided pushing the magnification too high since the seeing was not all that. So, I used my 16mm, 9mm, and 7mm Nagler type 5 eyepieces.
We started packing up around 11:30pm, and we were out of the gate in an orderly fashion around 12:10am. I was sleeping in a warm bed at 1:15am.
This was a fun night, with a good 5 hours of observing, which makes it a great ROI as far as I am concerned.
NGC 134 GX Scl 00h31m29.9s -33°07'15" 11.2 mag 07:30p
Easily found from Eta Scl. In 16mm eyepiece FOV, 4 stars form a perfect 5'x6' rectangle with a star in its center, just 8' SW of NGC 134. Elongated 4'x1' NE-SW. Well defined core ~ 2'x30". Moderately bright (13.5m) star 45" NNW of core. Slightly dimmer (13.7m) star 2' SSE.
NGC 520 GX Psc 01h25m44.5s +03°55'12" 12.2 mag 08:30p
3'x40" NW-SE, moderately faint, mostly core, not much of a very faint halo. Faint (15.4m) superimposed star 2' NW.
NGC 697 GX Ari 01h52m34.1s +22°28'21" 12.8 mag 09:40p
Easy star hop from Beta Ari. Relatively uniform, 4'x1' WNW-ESE, with a moderately defined core ~ 2'x40".
NGC 750 GX Tri 01h58m53.3s +33°19'21" 13.1 mag 09:00p
Two fairly faint galaxy cores, separated by only 30" N-S. The northernmost galaxy (NGC 750) appeared slightly larger and brighter than the other one (NGC 751) Surrounded by a faint and vaguely defined nebulosity ~ 45"x30" N-S.
NGC 1060 GX Tri 02h44m38.6s +32°31'25" 13.0 mag 09:20p
Largest and brightest member of a group of 5 galaxies (1057, 1060, 1061, 1066, 1067), all visible within the FOV of my 9mm eyepiece. Stunning! NGC 1060 appeared round, moderately faint ~30" core, faint 1' halo. Faint star located about 1' E.
NGC 1114 GX Eri 02h50m12.1s -16°53'56" 13.2 mag 10:05p
Fairly uniform, only slightly brighter in its center. 3'x1' N-S. Very faint star ~ 2' S.
NGC 1162 GX Eri 03h00m02.4s -12°18'27" 13.5 mag 10:00p
Round, faint halo ~ 1' diameter, moderately bright core ~ 30" diameter, featureless.
NGC 1156 GX Ari 03h01m03.9s +25°19'59" 12.1 mag 09:50p
3'x1' NE-SW, fairly uniform, hints of mottling. Moderately bright (12.3m) star 1' N of the core. Fainter (13.8m) star 1'S. Very faint star 45" NNE of the core.
NGC 1187 GX Eri 03h03m39.8s -22°46'42" 11.3 mag 10:10p
Faint, fairly uniform halo, almost round, ever so slightly elongated N- S, about 2' in diameter. Core is almost stellar, and barely brighter than the surrounding halo. Faint superimposed star 1'N, at the edge of the halo.
NGC 1232 GX Eri 03h10m48.0s -20°29'39" 10.6 mag 10:20p
Round halo, about 4' in diameter, fairly uniform, maybe some hints of mottling? Core barely brighter ~ 50" diameter. DSS shows that it's a pretty face-on spiral.
NGC 1325 GX Eri 03h25m27.5s -21°27'48" 12.3 mag 10:30p
Also known as Holmberg VI. I'd be curious to learn more about the Holmberg "catalog" as I was not able to find any information on the internet. Moderately faint, 3'x1' ENE-WSW, very uniform, with a poorly defined core. Fairly bright superimposed star at the ENE end. Moderately faint (14.4m) star 1.5' ESE. NGC 1319 located just 7' W.
NGC 1332 GX Eri 03h27m19.1s -21°15'19" 11.2 mag 10:40p
Moderately faint halo, 2.5'x1' WNW-ESE. Rather bright, almost round core about 40" in diameter. Moderately faint star 1' SW of core. "Followed" by a faint smudge (NGC 1331) ~ 3' ESE.
NGC 1353 GX Eri 03h33m05.1s -20°44'25" 12.4 mag 10:50p
Faint halo 2.5'x45" NW-SE. Almost round, moderately faint core about 30" in diameter.
Peter Natscher, Dave Cooper and I had a quick dinner at Casa de Fruta. Then, we drove the remaining 15 minutes to the Dinosaur Point parking lot. As always, Peter had to train the new park ranger. There is so much turnover at the California state parks that you would think it is being led by Elon Musk ;) We were later joined by Token Canadian Tony Hurtado (Heh!) with his sweet 18" Starmaster-like dobsonian, Kurt Kuhlmann with his fancy C14 EdgeHD on an iOptron CEM70 mount, and Scott Mikusko with his sharp Stellarvue 127mm doublet on a CGEM. Sameer Panwar was also there. I had my trusty homemade 16" F/4 Albert Highe dobsonian telescope. Peter and Dave were grinding coffee all night with their fancy goto dobs.
Driving down towards the parking lot, I immediately noticed the haze, which is fairly usual at Dinosaur Point. You see, Dinosaur Point is my favorite observing site because it is an easy 55 minute drive from my house in south San Jose, because it is a paved parking lot behind a locked gate, and because it is decently dark (Bortle 4). But the transparency is often not so great there. It just lacks altitude. Fremont Peak has theoretically more light pollution, and yet the altitude really helps (FPOA is my other favorite local site). That explains the rather low 20.8 SQM readings Dave was getting.
The seeing was average. Temps dipped into the low 40s. I was appropriately dressed and remained warm all night.
Early on, we gawked at Saturn and Jupiter. Right before packing up, we looked at Mars and Jupiter again. All were showing some nice details, but I was not that impressed. The seeing was just a little too soft.
I focused my observing on revisiting old friends, like NGC 253 (Sculptor galaxy), NGC 7331 and Stephan's quintet in Pegasus, a few pretty planetaries (the Helix nebula, the Blue snowball, etc.), M74 (which showed some hints of mottling), M77, M42, etc. All were lovely.
I bagged over a dozen new objects, mostly from the Herschel II list, which I have been working on since ... 2012! ;) I focused on the part of the sky that was the darkest (towards the south) and gave up on anything that was below -20° in declination to mitigate the impact of the haze. I also avoided pushing the magnification too high since the seeing was not all that. So, I used my 16mm, 9mm, and 7mm Nagler type 5 eyepieces.
We started packing up around 11:30pm, and we were out of the gate in an orderly fashion around 12:10am. I was sleeping in a warm bed at 1:15am.
This was a fun night, with a good 5 hours of observing, which makes it a great ROI as far as I am concerned.
Here are a couple shots I took while waiting for astronomical twilight, and then my actual observing report (I only logged objects I had not yet seen)
Until next time!
- Julien, the token Frenchman -
NGC 134 GX Scl 00h31m29.9s -33°07'15" 11.2 mag 07:30p
Easily found from Eta Scl. In 16mm eyepiece FOV, 4 stars form a perfect 5'x6' rectangle with a star in its center, just 8' SW of NGC 134. Elongated 4'x1' NE-SW. Well defined core ~ 2'x30". Moderately bright (13.5m) star 45" NNW of core. Slightly dimmer (13.7m) star 2' SSE.
NGC 520 GX Psc 01h25m44.5s +03°55'12" 12.2 mag 08:30p
3'x40" NW-SE, moderately faint, mostly core, not much of a very faint halo. Faint (15.4m) superimposed star 2' NW.
NGC 697 GX Ari 01h52m34.1s +22°28'21" 12.8 mag 09:40p
Easy star hop from Beta Ari. Relatively uniform, 4'x1' WNW-ESE, with a moderately defined core ~ 2'x40".
NGC 750 GX Tri 01h58m53.3s +33°19'21" 13.1 mag 09:00p
Two fairly faint galaxy cores, separated by only 30" N-S. The northernmost galaxy (NGC 750) appeared slightly larger and brighter than the other one (NGC 751) Surrounded by a faint and vaguely defined nebulosity ~ 45"x30" N-S.
NGC 1060 GX Tri 02h44m38.6s +32°31'25" 13.0 mag 09:20p
Largest and brightest member of a group of 5 galaxies (1057, 1060, 1061, 1066, 1067), all visible within the FOV of my 9mm eyepiece. Stunning! NGC 1060 appeared round, moderately faint ~30" core, faint 1' halo. Faint star located about 1' E.
NGC 1114 GX Eri 02h50m12.1s -16°53'56" 13.2 mag 10:05p
Fairly uniform, only slightly brighter in its center. 3'x1' N-S. Very faint star ~ 2' S.
NGC 1162 GX Eri 03h00m02.4s -12°18'27" 13.5 mag 10:00p
Round, faint halo ~ 1' diameter, moderately bright core ~ 30" diameter, featureless.
NGC 1156 GX Ari 03h01m03.9s +25°19'59" 12.1 mag 09:50p
3'x1' NE-SW, fairly uniform, hints of mottling. Moderately bright (12.3m) star 1' N of the core. Fainter (13.8m) star 1'S. Very faint star 45" NNE of the core.
NGC 1187 GX Eri 03h03m39.8s -22°46'42" 11.3 mag 10:10p
Faint, fairly uniform halo, almost round, ever so slightly elongated N- S, about 2' in diameter. Core is almost stellar, and barely brighter than the surrounding halo. Faint superimposed star 1'N, at the edge of the halo.
NGC 1232 GX Eri 03h10m48.0s -20°29'39" 10.6 mag 10:20p
Round halo, about 4' in diameter, fairly uniform, maybe some hints of mottling? Core barely brighter ~ 50" diameter. DSS shows that it's a pretty face-on spiral.
NGC 1325 GX Eri 03h25m27.5s -21°27'48" 12.3 mag 10:30p
Also known as Holmberg VI. I'd be curious to learn more about the Holmberg "catalog" as I was not able to find any information on the internet. Moderately faint, 3'x1' ENE-WSW, very uniform, with a poorly defined core. Fairly bright superimposed star at the ENE end. Moderately faint (14.4m) star 1.5' ESE. NGC 1319 located just 7' W.
NGC 1332 GX Eri 03h27m19.1s -21°15'19" 11.2 mag 10:40p
Moderately faint halo, 2.5'x1' WNW-ESE. Rather bright, almost round core about 40" in diameter. Moderately faint star 1' SW of core. "Followed" by a faint smudge (NGC 1331) ~ 3' ESE.
NGC 1353 GX Eri 03h33m05.1s -20°44'25" 12.4 mag 10:50p
Faint halo 2.5'x45" NW-SE. Almost round, moderately faint core about 30" in diameter.
Rajah
Nov 27, 2022, 6:57:33 PM11/27/22
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Awesome report Julien, enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing.
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Jeff Gortatowsky
Nov 27, 2022, 7:21:05 PM11/27/22
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Why are you ragging on me when clearly you posted a REAL honest to God OR?
If your OR had been nothing more than: "we gawked at Saturn and Jupiter. Right before packing up, we looked at Mars and Jupiter again. All were showing some nice details, but I was not that impressed."
Then yes, that WOULD have been a waste of bandwidth. However your OR included real honest to goodness information about what you saw (I presume in the 14 inch?). I enjoyed it and it was worth tagging and archiving.
Cheers.
---------------------------------------
Jeff Gortatowsky - California
Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a telescope, which is about the same thing!"
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Julien Lecomte
Nov 27, 2022, 7:47:33 PM11/27/22
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> Why are you ragging on me [...]
Because it's fun to push your buttons 😂
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Peter Natscher
Nov 27, 2022, 7:48:49 PM11/27/22
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A true frenchman :))
Mark
Nov 27, 2022, 9:21:28 PM11/27/22
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Amazing! My notes on those targets show 12 "faint smudges" and one "very faint smudge".
Dang Think I'll try washing my eyepieces and buffing my mirrors
Really Julien, fine night. You still have good star hopping skill. Are the specific notes yours, or from another source?
Julien Lecomte
Nov 27, 2022, 9:56:58 PM11/27/22
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The notes are mine. Painstakingly written down on paper with a dim red light, and, unfortunately I might add, with my new most essential accessory: A pair of reading glasses. I can no longer read when there is not a lot of light. I'm sure a lot of you know what I'm talking about. But I got used to it really well, so not a big deal.
One thing I forgot to mention: The next time I go out, I'll bring a computer. Some of those galaxy fields are really crowded, and identifying what's what is impossible without the proper tools.
- Julien
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Mark
Nov 27, 2022, 11:13:45 PM11/27/22
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Impressive notes Julien. I find estimating size and getting good orientations the most challenging aspect of observing. I struggle with it.
I remember when I discovered I needed reading glasses. It was while looking at a star chart at night, wondering wtf the problem was.
Jeff Gortatowsky
Nov 27, 2022, 11:16:58 PM11/27/22
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A simple magnifier on the table works well. Or forgo the pen, and use a small voice recorder. Spoken in French, no one will know. :)
The biggest issue with a recorder is making sure you actually transcribe the notes.
---------------------------------------
Jeff Gortatowsky - California
Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a telescope, which is about the same thing!"
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David Cooper
Nov 28, 2022, 12:08:40 PM11/28/22
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Nice OR Julien! You managed to make some fine observations on a sub-par night at Dino.
Kurt Kuhlmann
Nov 28, 2022, 1:20:54 PM11/28/22
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I had the 14”. OR: Ummm, let’s see. I looked at some colored stars. Saw a red one.
More seriously I was using the PVS-14 to look at Ha regions in M33 and sculptor galaxy. Trolled around in the Eridanus galaxy cluster around NGC1407 and also Fornax A just below it which was the darkest part of the sky. Shamefully took no notes. I got the new optolong ultimate dual 3nm narrowband and compared it to the Baader 3.5nm Ha. Mostly the same view except for a few objects like the veil which has more O3 so understandable that the dual band performed better.
Nice to see everyone,
Kurt
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Peter Natscher
Nov 28, 2022, 1:26:46 PM11/28/22
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On Sunday, November 27, 2022 at 11:24:43 AM UTC-8 Julien Lecomte wrote:
"After glancing at his squirrel meter, around 11pm, Dave Cooper starkly enunciated his verdict: "Nothing to write home about". Well ... If you'll allow me, I'll go ahead and write a quick report about last night's observing conditions at Dinosaur Point. I hope that this won't be a waste of bandwidth, Mr Gortatowsky ;)"
At
Dino last Saturday, I was having a great time observing ARPs higher up
in the sky, in Pegasus. The transparency overhead was very good. Using
my 16" JP Astrocraf Dob, I was seeing mag 14-15 ARP galaxy pairs/groups
easily.
In ARP 169, I didn't expect to see the faintest galaxy NGC 7237C but
stayed with the view for 15 minutes and was astonished to have seen it
advertedly flickering 50% of the time.
ARP 169
ARP 278
Julien Lecomte
Nov 28, 2022, 3:18:29 PM11/28/22
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It’s always a treat to see your drawings, Peter. Fantastic!
- Julien
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David Cooper
Nov 28, 2022, 4:29:37 PM11/28/22
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Beautiful sketches Peter as always. My sketches of six Arps from last Saturday are, shall we say, nicht so gut. I think they are all do overs for me - maybe next month at Pinnacles.
-Dave
Peter Natscher
Nov 28, 2022, 4:53:17 PM11/28/22
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Magnitude 16.9 for 7237C doesn't look correct. I couldn't have noticed it at that faint magnitude with my 16" Dob AND Bortle 4 location. Steve Gottlieb has more info about this in a Arp 169 topic on Deep Sky Forum about an observation he made of Arp 169. Magnitude 15.7 sounds correct and is reachable with my 16" from moderately dark sites. I've seen magnitude 16 galaxies from Dinosaur Point during nights of very good transparency and seeing while observing Abell Galaxy Clusters.
Steve Gottlieb
August 15th, 2021, 05:23 PM
I
believe it's possible this is a triple merger. The redshift of PGC
200377 (z = .024) is ~10% less than NGC 7236 and 7237 (both z = .026).
Perhaps the difference is caused by individual motions (not Hubble flow)
if PGC 20037 is "falling" into the merger from the backside.
I like that the three galaxies (first seen in my 17.5" back in 1988) are neatly arranged in a NW to SE line, equally spaced, and in order of visibility! (NGC 7236 - 7237 - PGC 200377) The last one was visible, though fairly tough (V ~15.7) in my 17.5", but it could be held steadily in my 24".
--Steve
I like that the three galaxies (first seen in my 17.5" back in 1988) are neatly arranged in a NW to SE line, equally spaced, and in order of visibility! (NGC 7236 - 7237 - PGC 200377) The last one was visible, though fairly tough (V ~15.7) in my 17.5", but it could be held steadily in my 24".
--Steve
ma...@astrospotter.com
Nov 28, 2022, 8:37:34 PM11/28/22
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My 'This is a fantastic night' object for this time of year is Ngc7320c in stephen's quintet. That too is 16.7 area.
I'll have to add 7237C on the another look list. I don't see a 'C' component in my info or on MegaStar.
My arp list from TriValley just says N7236 and N7237 with no 'hickson like alpha designations'.
A bit confused but in a good way.
Marko
Ted Hauter
Nov 28, 2022, 9:49:04 PM11/28/22
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Excellence.
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