Exploring the Suffolk Virginia Night Sky – Astronomy, Astrophotography, Telescopes, EAA – Planets and Stars and Nebula and Galaxies – Looking, Learning, Sharing… Let's see what we can see…
Mostly clear skies and upper 30’s. I uncovered the scopes to do a little EAA on a school night. Had a peek at some of the more challenging objects on the CloudyNight’s February EAA Observing Challenge and a couple of interesting galaxies, including one for Messier Log.
ARP 25 (NGC 2276) an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Cepheus. This object was listed on the CloudyNight’s February EAA Observing Challenge. This is a live stack of 120 x 15 second exposures at 450 gain.
There are a lot of other interesting objects in this FOV. Here is the SharpCap Deep Sky Image Annotation of Arp 25.
Arp 6 (NGC2537), also known as the Bear Paw Galaxy, is a blue compact dwarf galaxy in the constellation Lynx. Another one from the CloudyNight’s February EAA Observing Challenge. This is a live stack of 80 x 15 second exposures at 450 gain.
The edge on galaxy visible in the lower right of the FOV is IC 2233.
Arp 145 is a cluster of galaxies in the constellation of Andromeda. The cluster is on the CloudyNight’s February EAA Observing Challenge. This is a live stack of 60 x 15 second exposures at 450 gain.
Arp 6, Arp 25, and Arp 145 are from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies a catalog of peculiar galaxies produced by Halton Arp in 1966. Interesting list of 338 galaxies, definitely worth exploring a bit.
NGC 3190/NGC 3189, NGC 3187, NGC 3193, NGC 3185 which are members of the Hickson 44 group in the constellation Leo. This is a live stack of 40 x 15 second exposures at 400 gain, then 30 x 20 second exposures at 450 for a total of 20 minutes.
To help find them all, here is the SharpCap Deep Sky Image Annotation:
M106 an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. Another one for the Messier Log. This is a live stack of 120 x 15 second exposures at 450 gain.
NGC 4013 an edge-on barred spiral galaxy ~55 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Live stack of 40 x 15 second exposures at 450 gain.
I packed things in around 9:45 PM. A short night, but a good night. The skies are suppose to be clear Friday night so I am hoping to start a bit later and pick up a few Messier galaxies.
