Astronomy · Obs Report · 5th January 2005

M33 - Triangulum Spiral Galaxy

Another member of the Local Group of galaxies the Triangulum Galaxy ( M33) is a huge spiral galaxy. Although unlike its near neighbour, M31, it has no bright central core. For this reason it was quite a challenge to find even with the help of Turn Left.... The effort paid off though because I was rewarded with an interesting view. The galaxy was very faint with the 25mm Plossl - indeed there was very little in the way of contrast (perhaps a filter might help here?) and I had to keep gently moving the 'scope to ensure I was seeing what I was seeing. There was no detail visible, instead it looked like a very faint, distorted oval. I look forward to seeing this object under darker skies.

Comet Machholz

As this object has climbed in the sky it has got better and better. A naked eye fuzz just below the Pleiades tonight it looked great through the binoculars so I decided to train the 'scope on it. Well - wow - it looked amazing - far better than last time I tried. At x40 it dominated the field of view. The core was bright, a pin point of light, and surrounding this was the glow of the comet - staring at it for a while it was possible to see how this fuzz was slightly stretched to one side in a tear drop shape. Sadly, at x100 the light from the street lights completely ruined the view.

M31, M32 and M110 - Andromeda Galaxy Group

As last night the Andromeda Galaxy looked stunning, spilling across the field of view. This time I used Turn Left... to identify its two companions. M110, a large elliptical, was to the NW of M31 and looked like a large globular fuzz. M32 was something which I had previously mistaken for a star. Looking at it carefully it was possibly to see that it was slightly oversized. I centered it in the x40 FOV and went for x100. The galaxy jumped out at me - a distinct egg-shaped cloud of light.

The Double Cluster

I had been very disappointed with my view of the Perseus Double Cluster when I checked it out under moonlight skies a week or two previously so I decided to try again now that it was dark. I was not disappointed. The cluster was faintly visible to the naked eye, and looked good in the binoculars, but then I put the 'scope on it. It was absolutely breathtaking. In the 25mm Plossl the two clusters fit perfectly into the FOV and had stunning amounts of depth and detail.

Almach - Gamma Andromadae

I remember in Durham trying to split this double and failing (must have been a terrible night for seeing!). I turned the 'scope on this after the success of the Double Cluster (and a cup of tea). Again I wasn't disappointed (this must have been my lucky night!) and could almost see the split at x40! Whacking in the Barlowed 10mm Plossl I was greeted with a perfect double. The primary star is mag. 2.2 and golden yellow in colour. The secondary is mag. 5.1, and appeared with a beautiful turqoise colour. There was a good deal of glare due to the brightness of the primary but the longer I looked the better the view.

M81 - Spiral Galaxy

Located close to Ursa Major, M80, or Bode's Galaxy, is a large Spiral Galaxy. In the 'scope it was only possibly to see the bright, oval-shaped central core which stood out at x40 and was still clear at x200.

M82 - Irregular Galaxy

M82 is a close companion of M81 (in fact, a few million years ago they had a close encounter) but is very different in structure. In the 25mm Plossl it appeared as a very elongated, faint, oval - almost banana shaped with a slight curve visible. I could easily go up to x200 but couldn't make out any more detail (i.e the dark lane that crosses the galaxy). It was still an amazing sight - definitely the weirdest thing I have seen so far.

According to the information this is a very active galaxy - with a highly eruptive nature and a great deal of star forming activity. It is the brightest galaxy in the sky in infrared light.