Last night, Richard Navarette, Mark Johnston, Jeff Weiss, Al Howard, Rogelio Bernal Andreo and I met at the DARC observatory, a private property located in the Diablo Range, roughly 15 miles south of the San Luis reservoir. As I was driving down I-5 on my way there, the sky was completely overcast! However, it cleared up nicely by the end of astronomical twilight (9:09pm) and the sky remained clear all night. There was quite a bit of humidity in the air, and the work tables/paper charts got a bit wet. However, nobody had any issues with dew as far as I know. The temperatures dipped as low as 38F. The wind was pretty much non existent. Although I did not do any formal measurements, I estimate by experience that the NELM was around 6.7. There must have been some fog in the central valley because the light dome from Fresno was almost invisible, and this must have helped a bit with the darkness. The seeing was just about average. Among the highlights, M101 was showing a lot of structure, which is usually a sign of good conditions. NGC 2903 and NGC 4725 (which Al was imaging) also were showing a lot of structure. We observed comet Garradd, which is still going strong. Finally, Mars looked pretty good with numerous surface features easily visible whenever the seeing settled. Besides the obligatory eye candy, I mostly observed galaxies from the Herschel II list with my 16″ F/4 homemade dobsonian telescope. Below is my log for the night. Cheers!

Log format: [designation(s)] [type] [constellation] [RA] [Dec]
[magnitude] [date and local time (PDT)]

Location: D.A.R.C. Observatory [Elevation 1400ft]
Telescope: 16? F/4 homemade dobsonian with Paracorr
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (69x – 1° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (117x – 42′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (208x – 24′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (267x – 18′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (374x – 13′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

NGC 3652 GX UMa 11 23 21 +37 41 45 12.2 04-14 09:00pm
Fairly uniform faint core measuring 1′x45″ elongated NNW-SSE surrounded by a very faint halo that was suspected to stretch as much as 2.5′x1′. Upon close examination, the halo seemed “assymetrical” in brightness, which may be caused by two far flung spiral arms. While observing, I sketched what I think I saw and later verified that the spiral arms matched exactly my sketch.

NGC 4062 GX UMa 12 04 43 +31 49 29 11.9 04-14 09:15pm
Fairly uniform faint halo 3.5′x1′ E-W. Slightly brighter core 1′x30″. Moderately faint (mag 17.1) superimposed star roughly 1.2′ W of the core. Very faint (mag 17.7) superimposed star just east of the eastern tip of the halo.

NGC 4244 (Silver Needle) GX CVn 12 18 08 +37 44 12 10.4 04-14 09:30pm
Fairly bright halo 10′x1′ NE-SW, slightly and gradually brighter towards the center. A tight pair of mag 15.3 stars are located just outside the halo 2′NNE of the core. A fairly bright (mag 13) star is located just north of the NE tip. Best seen at low magnification (Nagler 16mm)

NGC 4369 GX CVn 12 25 14 +39 18 47 12.4 04-14 09:40pm
Very bright round core roughly 15″ in diameter. Moderately bright round halo measuring 45″, surrounded by a very faint and thus ill-defined halo which seems to extend as much as 1.5′.

NGC 4395 GX CVn 12 26 27 +33 28 36 10.8 04-14 09:45pm
At low magnification (Nagler 16mm), this galaxy appears as a very pale oval measuring 6′x4′ elongated in the NW-SE direction. It is very uniform, but close examination shows some subtle mottling. At higher magnification (Nagler 9mm), I can spot 2 knots near the center on a NW-SE line. The halo also shows a hint of spiral structure with the NW tip bending towards towards the N and the SE tip bending towards the S.

NGC 3642 GX UMa 11 23 02 +59 00 24 11.7 04-14 10:00pm
Fairly bright round core roughly 20″ in diameter surrounded by a faint halo which seems to be round and extend as much as 1′. At high magnification (Nagler 5mm), the halo gives an impression of mottling. A faint superimposed star (mag 15.0) shows up 15″ W of the core.

NGC 3669 GX UMa 11 26 10 +57 39 15 12.6 04-14 10:15pm
Moderately faint and uniform halo 2′x30″ NNW-SSE. No sign of central condensation…

NGC 3683 GX UMa 11 28 15 +56 48 34 12.9 04-14 10:30pm
Moderately faint, fairly uniform, 1.5′x20″ NW-SE, slightly brighter in the center, hints of a stellar nucleus.

NGC 3756 GX UMa 11 37 31 +54 13 30 12.0 04-14 10:35pm
Moderately faint, 3′x1′ NS, very uniform, barely brighter in the center region. Fairly bright (mag 10.6) field star 4′ NNW.

NGC 4271 GX UMa 12 20 11 +56 40 03 13.6 04-14 11:00pm
Fairly bright, tiny (but non stellar) core surrounded by a fairly faint halo roughly 30″ in diameter. Moderately faint (mag 15.5) star 30″ NNE. Moderately faint (mag 15.5) star 1′ W.

NGC 4290 GX UMa 12 21 25 +58 01 24 12.7 04-14 11:10pm
Faint smudge roughly 1′ in diameter, slightly elongated E-W, fairly uniform. Interesting FOV in Nagler 7mm with 2 field stars forming an equilateral triangle and NGC 4284 just 5′ east.

NGC 5204 GX UMa 13 30 06 +58 21 18 11.7 04-14 11:30pm
Moderately faint and uniform halo measuring 1.5′x1′ NNW-SSE. Note: this is actually the core that we saw. The halo extends further out…

NGC 5308 GX UMa 13 47 27 +60 54 36 12.2 04-14 11:45pm
Nice edge on showing its bulb. 2′x20″ NE-SW. Bright round core roughly 20″ in diameter. Moderately bright halo, slightly brighter in the SW half.

NGC 5430 GX UMa 14 01 12 +59 16 02 12.6 04-14 11:55pm
Faint halo 1′x30″ NW-SE. Moderately faint round core 15″ in diameter. Faint (mag 16.6) superimposed star 20″ SE of core.

NGC 5443 GX UMa 14 02 39 +55 45 12 13.3 04-15 12:05am
Faint halo 1.5′x30″ NNE-SSW. Tiny non stellar moderately bright core. Moderately faint (mag 14.8) superimposed star at the SSW tip.

NGC 5485 GX UMa 14 07 39 +54 56 28 12.4 04-15 12:15am
Roundish, slightly elongated NW-SE, moderately bright, fairly uniform, roughly 1′ in diameter. A faint (mag 16.4) is 1.2′ NNE. A brighter (mag 13.9) star is 2′ ESE. Forms a nice trio with NGC 5484 and NGC 5486, both much dimmer.

NGC 5585 GX UMa 14 20 13 +56 40 13 11.4 04-15 12:30am
Moderately faint round core, rouhgly 1.5′ in diameter, gradually fading to an ill defined halo maybe 3′ in diameter showing hints of mottling… A moderately faint (mag 15.8) star is 2′ E. Another one (mag 14.8) is 2′ S.

NGC 4047 GX UMa 12 03 30 +48 33 59 12.8 04-15 01:05am
Moderately faint, fairly uniform, 1′x45″ E-W, gradually brighter towards the center. Moderately bright (mag 11.9) star 3.5′ WSW.

NGC 4100 GX UMa 12 06 48 +49 30 45 11.7 04-15 01:10am
Moderately faint, very uniform halo, 3.5′x1′ NNW-SSE. Small (almost stellar) slightly brighter core. Halo shows hints of mottling pretty easily. A bright (mag 8.9) star is 8′ NW. A moderately bright (mag 12.5) star is 4′ S.

NGC 4096 GX UMa 12 06 40 +47 24 28 11.1 04-15 01:20am
Moderately faint, fairly uniform halo 5′x1′ NNE-SSW. Moderately bright core 45″x30″.

NGC 4144 GX UMa 12 10 38 +46 23 14 12.0 04-15 01:25am
Moderately faint halo (very faint at the tips) measuring 5′x1′ WNW-ESE, gradually brighter to a 2′x45″ moderately bright core. A moderately faint (mag 15.0) star is located at the eastern tip of the halo.

NGC 5383 GX CVn 13 57 37 +41 47 01 12.2 04-15 01:35am
Very faint halo 2′x1′ N-S. Much brighter core 45″x30″ E-W. Hints of spiral structure.

About a year ago, I announced on this blog that I had started designing and building an Albert Highe inspired 16″ F/4 dobsonian telescope. This project has now come to its conclusion as you can see in the photos below. I am very excited about the final result, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the journey and would recommend anyone with a strong interest in amateur astronomy to consider building their own telescope.

Were present: George Feliz, Rogelio Bernal Andreo, Paul Duncan, Peter Natscher, Jim Molinari, Jeff Weiss and myself. The conditions were extremely pleasant: warm (temps in the 50s), dry, no wind. The transparency was good (NELM 6.2 in UMi) and the seeing was good to excellent (4/5). We followed a GRS transit on Jupiter, which was showing a lot of details. The Gegenshein was seen fairly easily by several people after I pointed it out, just south of the body of Aries. I saw quite a few shooting stars throughout the evening, some of them were slow movers and pretty bright. I used my laptop and SkyTools 3 on the field for the first time fairly successfully, but noticed a few kinks I am going to have to work out. Below is my log for the night.

Log format: [designation(s)] [type] [constellation] [RA] [Dec]
[magnitude] [date and local time (PDT)]

Location: Dinosaur Point [Elevation 648 ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

NGC 7419 OC Cep 22 54 48 +60 52 46 13.0 11-02 07:50pm
Appears as a barely resolved smudge at low power (95x). At 305x, a dozen faint stars over a hazy background that seems to be composed of many more very faint stars can be spotted within 3′. A moderately bright (mag. 10.5) star lays just outside, 2′ NW. A fairly bright (mag. 8.6) star is 5′ NW.

NGC 7762 OC Cep 23 50 36 +68 06 17 11-02 08:05pm
About 20′x10′ NW-SE. Composed of roughly 30 fairly faint stars over a hazy background, with many more faint stars popping in and out of view. A very bright (mag. 5.0) star is located just 20′ SW.

NGC 6997 OC Cyg 20 56 53 +44 41 53 11-02 08:20pm
Roughly 30 moderately bright stars scattered within an area 8′ in diameter. Looks best at low power (Pan 27 - 1.2 degree TFOV) where the cluster appears located inside a triangle of very bright stars, surrounded by large dark areas devoid of stars contrasting with ambient nebulosity from the North America nebula (NGC 7000).

NGC 55 GX Scl 00 15 43 -39 09 33 8.5 11-02 09:30pm
Observed just above the hills surrounding the Dinosaur Point parking lot, this galaxy suffers greatly from atmospheric extinction at our latitudes. About 20′x5′ WNW-ESE. The bright core measures 8′x5′ and is offset towards the W. The eastern half of the halo is much dimmer. Some mottling seen pretty easily, especially inside and around the core.

NGC 147 GX Cas 00 33 50 +48 34 25 10.6 11-02 10:10pm
Diffuse moderately faint round glow, slightly brighter toward the center, about 4′ in diameter, very slightly elongated E-W (strange! the real PA is NNW-SSE!) This dwarf spheroidal galaxy is a member of the Local Group and a satellite of the Andromeda galaxy.

NGC 410 GX Psc 01 11 37 +33 12 48 12.5 11-02 10:35pm
Round diffuse faint halo, about 50″ in diameter, with a moderately bright almost stellar core. In the center of a triangle formed by 3 galaxies belonging to the same group/cluster, all seen at 217x.

NGC 499 GX Psc 01 23 50 +33 31 15 13.3 11-02 10:55pm
Very faint halo 40″x30″ E-W, small (~ 10″) moderately faint round core. Located in an area very rich in galaxies.

NGC 513 GX And 01 25 06 +33 51 36 13.2 11-02 11:05pm
Moderately faint diffuse glow, about 30″x20″ E-W, slightly and gradually brighter toward the center.

NGC 821 GX Ari 02 08 58 +11 03 04 11.7 11-02 11:50pm
Diffuse round glow (size not noted?), moderately faint, slightly and gradually brighter toward the center, moderately bright stellar nucleus. A fairly bright (mag. 9.2) is 1′ NNW. A moderately bright (mag. 12.9) star is 2′ S.

NGC 1012 GX Ari 02 39 56 +30 12 04 13.1 11-02 12:00am
Faint halo 1.5′x30″ NNE-SSW. Moderately faint core 30″x10″. A superimposed star is located 15″ SE of the core.

Attendance at this year’s CalStar was surprisingly low compared to last year. I setup in the “dark enforced area”, right next to Mark Johnston whom I must thank for helping me get out of a bad battery situation…

The skies were roughly similar on Friday and Saturday night. I estimated the NELM was around 6.5 while seeing was average to slightly better than average after midnight. Friday night was very dewy, and Saturday night was a little breezy at times. Temps were in the mid 80s during the day and dropped to the low 40s by the time I went to bed (~2am)

Comet Hartley 2 was a real treat on Friday night through Mark Johnston’s William Optics 110mm triplet refractor. Outfitted with a Televue Nagler 26mm eyepiece, the comet was visible along with the double cluster in the same field of view! On Saturday night, Hartley 2 had moved and was located right near a rather bright (~ mag 6) orange star. Jupiter also put on a good show, with an Io shadow transit on Friday and a GRS transit on Saturday.

My observing list consisted of a mixed bag of rather difficult objects for a 12″ scope: a few Palomar globular clusters, a tiny proto-planetary nebula, a few local group members, and some Herschel II objects. I also spent some time observing several galaxy groups, using Alvin’s guide “Selected small galaxy groups”.

Log format: [designation(s)] [type] [constellation] [RA] [Dec] [magnitude] [date and local time (PDT)]

Location: Lake San Antonio [Elevation 1082 ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x – 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x – 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x – 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x – 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x – 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PDT)

Galaxy groups observed on Saturday night

• NGC 6211 group: saw all 4 members, forming a chain. N6211 was seen easily, N6213 was a little harder, while M+10-24-32 and M+10-24-34 were very hard but positively detected multiple times.
• NGC 6962 group: N6962, N6964 and N6967 were seen easily, and N6961, although fainter, was fairly easily detected.
• NGC 7184 group: N7184, N7180, N7185 and N7188 seen easily within one field of view of 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′)
• NGC 7103 group: N7103 and N7104 were detected fairly easily, IC 1393 a little harder, while IC 5124 and IC 5122 were very hard but positively detected multiple times.
• NGC 7385 group: N7385 and N7386 were easily seen. N7387, N7389, N7390 and N7383 were detected fairly easily. N7384 was barely detected.

Friday, October 8

PK 080-6.1 (Cygnus Egg) PN Cyg 21 02 45 +36 44 29 13.5 10-08 08:20pm
Appears as a slightly fuzzy tight double star. The components, aligned N-S, actually are the lobes of this proto-planetary nebula. The lobe to the N appears brighter.

NGC 7354 PN Cep 22 40 46 +61 20 51 12.9 10-08 08:45pm
Easily spotted in 9mm eyepiece (169x, 29′) as a small and moderately faint uniform round disc roughly 30″ in diameter. Better seen in 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′). OIII filter works well but does not bring out any additional details. Traces of annularity glimpsed. Two moderately faint (mag. 14.8) stars are located right outside the nebula to the W and SW. A faint star (mag. 15.9) is visible to the NW.

Palomar 12 GC Cap 21 47 17 -21 11 59 11.7 10-08 09:20pm
Very pale round glow, roughly 1.5′ in diameter, barely detected with 16mm eyepiece (95x, 52′), better seen with 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′). Located 2′ NW of a small rectangle triangle of moderately bright stars. Note: I sketched the field and verified later on that the position was correct.

NGC 7507 GX Scl 23 12 44 -28 28 45 11.4 10-08 10:35pm
Small (~ 10″) bright round core, moderately faint halo 1.5′ in diameter. Located 20′ from dimmer NGC 7513.

NGC 7562 GX Psc 23 16 32 +06 45 02 12.6 10-08 10:55pm
Small (< 10") moderately bright core, faint halo roughly 1' in diameter, both very slightly elongated E-W. Located 2' W of a moderately faint (mag. 14.3) star. Faint (mag. 15.8) star 1.5 NW. Did not see NGC 7562A and 7557 (a DSS sheet of the region would have helped in locating those)

NGC 7541 GX Psc 23 15 18 +04 35 48 12.5 10-08 11:05pm
3′x1′ E-W, moderately faint, fairly uniform. Located 3′ W of a moderatelt bright (mag. 13.0) star and 4′ ENE of smaller and dimmer NGC 7537. Traces of mottling detected?

IC 10 GX Cas 00 21 01 +59 21 24 11.8 10-08 11:40pm
Extremely faint glow, about 2′x1′ E-W. 2 moderately faint stars are superimposed, the brighter one to the W. A few more faint superimposed stars pop in and out of view. Knowing where to look and what to look for helps tremendously here, and I had just looked at this object in Mark Johnston’s 18″ scope prior to looking for it in my 12″ scope. Otherwise, I probably would have missed it…

MCG-3-1-15 (WLM Dwarf) GX Cet 00 02 33 -15 23 53 11.0 10-09 12:00am
Extremely pale glow, 15′x5′ N-S. Moving the scope back and forth over the field helps to distinguish the object’s glow from the background sky.

NGC 24 GX Scl 00 10 31 -24 54 00 12.1 10-09 12:30am
4′x1′ NE-SW. Fairly faint, uniform halo, only slightly brighter toward the center. Some mottling was suspected. A fairly bright star lays at the ENE end.

NGC 171 GX Cet 00 37 56 -19 52 20 13.0 10-09 12:40am
Fairly faint, round, 1′ in diameter. Slightly brighter round core, 20″ in diameter. Forms an isoceles triangle with 2 nearby field stars of similar brightness (mag. 10.8 and 11.5) Note: NGC 171 = NGC 175 (see NGCBUGS for story)

Saturday, October 9

NGC 7785 GX Psc 23 55 54 +05 58 48 12.6 10-09 10:45pm
Almost stellar bright core, faint halo 1′x45″ NW-SE. Moderately faint (mag. 14.7) star just outside the halo to the N. A few fairly bright stars visible in the same field of view of the 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′)

NGC 125 GX Psc 00 29 25 +02 54 09 13.3 10-09 11:05pm
Moderately faint, round, about 30″ in diameter, gradually brighter toward the center. 2 moderately faint (mag. 10.8 and 13.1) stars located just S. Forms a nice group with NGC 126, 127 (seen with great difficulty), 128 and 130, all seen in the same field of view of the 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′)

NGC 7832 GX Psc 00 07 03 -03 39 09 14.3 10-09 11:15pm
Fairly faint, 45″x30″ NE-SW, weak small core.

NGC 7635 (Bubble Nebula) BN Cas 23 21 14 +61 16 22 11.0 10-09 11:25pm
Faint nebulosity around SAO, (mag. 8.7), about 1′x45″ E-W. With careful examination, using a 9mm eyepiece (169x, 29′) outfitted with an OIII filter, and knowing in advance what to look for, I was able to detect a faint extension to the E, arcing toward the SE. Another fairly bright star (SAO 20562, mag. 6.9), 5′ WSW, also appears fuzzy (probably just scattering)

NGC 198 GX Psc 00 39 58 +02 51 40 13.1 10-10 12:00am
Round uniform glow, about 1′ in diameter. Visible in the same field of view of the 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′) as NGC 200, both galaxies being at the end of a nice galaxy chain.

IC 1613 GX Cet 01 05 29 +02 11 41 10.1 10-10 12:15am
Extremely pale glow, 10′x5′ WNW-ESE, barely distinguishable from the background sky. Using a low power eyepiece (16mm, 95x, 52′) and moving back and forth over the expected position helps in convincing yourself that you’re actually seeing the darn thing!

NGC 315 GX Psc 00 58 26 +30 24 51 12.2 10-10 12:30am
Fairly bright small core (~ 20″), fairly faint round halo measuring roughly 1′ in diameter. Faint star just 40″ E. Another faint star 45″ NNW. Visible in the same field of view of 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′) as NGC 311.

NGC 514 GX Psc 01 24 40 +12 58 38 12.3 10-10 01:00am
Very faint uniform oval glow, 2′x1.5′ E-W. Caught a glimpse of an almost stellar core (?) Located 2′ W of a fairly bright star (HIP 6558)

NGC 660 GX Psc 01 43 38 +13 42 05 11.9 10-10 01:05am
Moderately faint halo 2′x1′ NNE-SSW, brighter core 30″x15″.

NGC 665 GX Psc 01 45 32 +10 28 50 13.2 10-10 01:10am
Faint halo 45″x30″ NW-SE, small (~ 15″) moderately bright round core.

NGC 718 GX Psc 01 53 49 +04 15 09 12.6 10-10 01:15am
Small (~ 10″) bright round core. Moderately faint round halo 1′ in diameter showing hints of mottling.

NGC 706 GX Psc 01 52 26 +06 21 13 13.2 10-10 01:20am
Very faint uniform round glow, 45″ in diameter. Located 45″ SSW of a moderately faint (mag. 16.1!) field star.

NGC 741 GX Psc 01 56 57 +05 41 06 12.3 10-10 01:25am
Round, fairly faint, 30″ in diameter. Forms a very tight couple with smaller and dimmer NGC 742, just to the E, sharing a common halo with NGC 741. Galaxy IC 1751 was barely detected in the same field of view of the 7mm eyepiece (217x, 22′)