OR: Last weekend

[Akarsh Simha]

I observed for about 6.5 hours over two nights on the 28-inch last weekend. One night was in the Sierra Nevada and the other site in San Benito county. I was joined by my mother who is beginning her learning of deep-sky observing using my 25x100 binoculars. She was working mostly on Messier objects in Sagittarius. On this note, if anyone knows a good book of deep-sky objects for large binoculars that is complete with maps, I would be grateful for a recommendation.

My focus was largely on galaxy groups, clusters and chains. Some objects observed:

IC 4277 and IC 4278, very dim background galaxies near M 51.

The "MCG Chain", where four galaxies were visible continuously with averted vision. I studied the field for both chained and off-chain galaxies, picking up 10 galaxies in all.

IC 1165 = VV 90, an interacting pair.  Happened to also pick up PGC 56765 in the field.

NGC 6723, the globular cluster in Corona Australis

Shk 166, another galaxy chain in Ursa Major (which appeared in Steve's recent S&T article on Shakbazian groups). I logged 12 galaxies, out of either 13 or 12 (there is a stellar object superposed on PGC 59179 which I did not see, and the images are somewhat ambiguous whether it's a star or a galaxy).

Abell 2199, one of the nicer Abell clusters in Hercules with a rather bright cD galaxy (NGC 6166).

The supernova in NGC 7331: It was blazingly bright and very obvious even at low power. I had observed the galaxy during the previous weekend and did not pick up the supernova, not knowing to look for it. I don't think that could've happened this time -- it was really obvious that one would see it even without knowing to look for it.

NGC 6522 and NGC 6528: The pair of globular clusters near the spout of the Sagittarius teapot, I learned recently, happens to lie in Baade's window.

Here's a roughly processed photograph of my sketch of Shk 166:

In all, I observed about 60 galaxies, with an average pace of 10 galaxies an hour. This was a Type II fun run.

Regards

Akarsh

[Ted Hauter]

Hi Akarsh,

Happy Friday and happy to hear Astronomy is in the family.

Here's John Reads new book out in October to preorder.

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[Richard Navarrete]

Akarsh,

That’s awesome that you go observing with your mom.

Mark W. also observed 6723 on Tuesday night and said it was in Corona Australis. All my resources say it’s in Sagittarius. I’ve got it in my personal logs as being in Scorpio! I’m sure my log is wrong, but it’s interesting that there is some discrepancy.

Richard

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

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[Mark Wagner]

Richard, it is in Sagittarius at the Corona border.  It's a surprisingly large well resolved cluster.

Mark in the Dark

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[Raymond Wong]

Akashi:

Messier book for your Mom - Ken Graun, 2005.  The Next Step, Finding and Viewing Messier’s Objects.   The scope(s) he used had an aperture between 100-150mm, with magnification ranges between 25-50x, with an ‘optimum’ low of 30x.  Admittedly, the aperture and magnifications are on the high side of binoculars, but the author does a good-excellent job of finding and describing the targets.  I believe this book MAY be worth looking into.  

You’re a good Son to share your love of the night sky with your Mother.  

The secret to happiness is Family.

Cheers, 73s, Clear Skies and Clear Blocks,

Ray

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[Steve Gottlieb]

On Aug 1, 2025, at 12:58 AM, Akarsh Simha <akars...@gmail.com> wrote:

I observed for about 6.5 hours over two nights on the 28-inch last weekend. One night was in the Sierra Nevada and the other site in San Benito county. I was joined by my mother who is beginning her learning of deep-sky observing using my 25x100 binoculars. She was working mostly on Messier objects in Sagittarius. On this note, if anyone knows a good book of deep-sky objects for large binoculars that is complete with maps, I would be grateful for a recommendation.

My focus was largely on galaxy groups, clusters and chains. Some objects observed:

IC 4277 and IC 4278, very dim background galaxies near M 51.

Great catch!  IC 4277 is a real tough edge (perhaps 17th mag) — I found it quite faint in Jimi’s 48”.

The "MCG Chain", where four galaxies were visible continuously with averted vision. I studied the field for both chained and off-chain galaxies, picking up 10 galaxies in all.

For those who haven’t heard of this chain, it’s located two degrees due west of M51, and at least 3 members can be seen in an 18”.  The nearby 8th magnitude star is a party-pooper.

IC 1165 = VV 90, an interacting pair.  Happened to also pick up PGC 56765 in the field.

I’m planning to include this pair in my next Sky & Tel article on “double-star” galaxies.  At 500x in my 24", the main component (VV 90a) of was fairly faint, round, 20" diameter, with a stellar nucleus.  The fainter companion (VV 90b) — just 14” to the south — is a very faint, quasi-stellar knot [nucleus of the galaxy], ~5" diameter.  Overall, the combined merged glow is ~30"x20", oriented NNW-SSE.

In my 18”, the pair — 

NGC 6723, the globular cluster in Corona Australis
Shk 166, another galaxy chain in Ursa Major (which appeared in Steve's recent S&T article on Shakbazian groups). I logged 12 galaxies, out of either 13 or 12 (there is a stellar object superposed on PGC 59179 which I did not see, and the images are somewhat ambiguous whether it's a star or a galaxy).

Superb observation of the Shk 166 chain — those fainter members are challenging!  I never caught more than 6 in my 18” or 17.5” scopes and only observed the rest of the chain in Jimi’s 48”.  Here’s a labeled image of the brighter members if someone wants to give a try.

Abell 2199, one of the nicer Abell clusters in Hercules with a rather bright cD galaxy (NGC 6166).
The supernova in NGC 7331: It was blazingly bright and very obvious even at low power. I had observed the galaxy during the previous weekend and did not pick up the supernova, not knowing to look for it. I don't think that could've happened this time -- it was really obvious that one would see it even without knowing to look for it.
NGC 6522 and NGC 6528: The pair of globular clusters near the spout of the Sagittarius teapot, I learned recently, happens to lie in Baade's window.

Here's a roughly processed photograph of my sketch of Shk 166: