There have been several promising nights to observe this week, getting my hopes up, only to be thwarted by high thin clouds at the last moment. Like tonight. I have not been idle, though, and have finally written up my notes from the session at Fremont Peak last Saturday. It does take some days on concentrated effort to make fair sketches and notes from what I see, and do the research to confirm, so the cloudy weather is not necessarily unwelcome.
Sorry for the laundry list. All with the 20" in average to poor transparency, Pickering seeing 6-7:
NGC 1045: Gx in Cet; 121x / 0.7°: Moderately bright, round bright core. Halo faintly elongated NE-SW. Foreground star on SW tip of halo
NGC 1114: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Moderately bright, bright core. Halo brightens on West side. 4:1 N-S [actual is 2:1, seems I could not detect some halo on its sides]
NGC 1162: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Stellar nucleus and bright round core. Diffuse round halo. Small.
NGC 1172: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Round bright core, fairly bright halo is oval, tending SSW-NNE. Bright star off to east of the NE tip
NGC 1199: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Bright core, stellar nucleus, round. Four other galaxies in field: 1189 to west a stellar nucleus and faint round core; 1190 to SW is small and faint, elongated 3:1 E-W; 1191 & 1192 are non stellar pair
NGC 1209: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Stellar nucleus and bright core. Elongated 3:1 W-E. Direct vision but faint, very diffuse halo. Did not see companion galaxy 1231 to NE.
NGC 1187: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Fairly bright, diffuse halo, gently brighter in middle but no pronounced core or nucleus. Ill-defined edges. Bright foreground star to NW. 2:1 NW-SE.
NGC 1325: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Faint, 3:1 elongated NW-SE. Not a strong core; diffuse halo. Averted vision needed to bring it out. Star in NE halo. Non-stellar patch NGC 1319 to west
NGC 1332: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Stellar nucleus, round bright core pierced through by thin bright halo, 3:1 NW-SE. Followed closely by non-stellar patch [NGC 1131]
NGC 1353: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: At end of string of three stars. Brighter core, irregular bright halo hints of spiral. 3:1 NE-SW
NGC 1400: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Brightest of three galaxies in field. Round, bright core diffusing to halo, which is evenly bright with diffuse edges. NGC 1407 to the NE is larger, fainter, with a round halo, large brighter core. NGC 1404 is seen averted vision, a hazy patch to the WNW edge of FOV
NGC 1421: Gx in Eri: 121x / 0.7°: Lovely long grey 4:1 N-S. Some mottling in otherwise even surface brightness; some brightening to core with averted vision.
NGC 1012: Gx in Ari: 121x / 0.7°: Moderately bright, even surface brightness halo elongated 3:1 NNE-SSW. Gradually brighter long core. Foreground star touching central region on SE side.
NGC 1060: Gx in Tri: 121x / 0.7°: Moderately bright, round core, diffuse halo. Brighter than nearby NGC 1066, which has a smaller core but is also round. NGCs 1061, 1057, and 1067 noticed nearby as faint, small round patches; 1061 has a brighter core. NGC 1062 not seen.
NGC 1156: Gx in Ari: 121x / 0.7°: Moderately bright, uneven surface brightness / mottled halo 3:2 NNE-SSW. Foreground star on N. tip. Diffuse edges; pretty large.
IC 351: PN in Per: 205x / 0.5°: No filter: a small, hazy blinking star. With OIII it stays in view without blinking. Bright center might be central star. Round, even surface brightness, diffuse edge
IC 2003: PN in Per: 205x / 0.5°: Seen in field as blinking star. OIII helps hold the view and increase apparent disk. Bright, large middle round portion, with a thin ring surrounding it with diffuse edges.
IC 418: PN in Lep: 333x / 0.3°: No filter needed. Bright, faintly greenish and large round halo, mottled, with ragged edges. Central star steady with averted vision, comes and goes with seeing direct vision.
NGC 1663: OC in Ori: 205x / 0.5°: Anchor shaped. 12 stars, some fainter behind, not quite resolved. Row of three brighter stars to south. Est. III2p. [IV2p]
NGC 1662: OC in Ori: 205x / 0.5°: Omega "w" shaped asterism. 15 brighter and as many fainter -- close double in central concentration. III1p [II3m]
NGC 2022: PN in Ori: 205x / 0.5°: Fairly large, bright, round, with a hint of mottling with OIII, which enhances the view. Brighter arc on western rim. No CS. In a rich field of stars
NGC 1514: PN in Tau: 333x / 0.3°: Central star visible in 80mm finder. Bright central star with faint, milky, large round haze around it. OIII shows mottling & defined edges with brighter rims to NW and SE, and absence of halo / darkening in NW & SW parts of shell.
Jonckheere 320: PN in Ori: 333x / 0.3°: Disappointingly easy! Without filter at 205x a hazy, bloated, blinking star. 333x with OIII made it more substantial, with a bright oval and dense core, with a thin shell around that. No CS. Small.
IC 2165: PN in CMa: 205x / 0.5°: Stellar in 80mm finder. Bright CS with small round fringe with OIII enhances. Rich field of stars.
NGC 1579: RN in Per: 121x / 0.7°: Large glow, bright in NE region; fades slowly and irregularly to west. Direct vision no filter, UHC helps contrast for best view. In trapezium of stars.
NGC 1750: OC in Tau: 86x / 1.0°: A concentration of a wide range of medium and faint stars, ~25 within NGC 1746. 1746 fills the field with scattered bright stars, not concentrated. NGC 1758 is a condensation of a dozen faint stars in the SE part of the field.
NGC 2283: Gx in CMa: 205x / 0.5°: Pretty faint, in triangle of stars. Very faintly round halo. Elongation of core tending N-S [this is the bar]. Don't look at Sirius in the finder!
NGC 2359: EN in CMa: 205x / 0.5°: Extensive nebulosity, much mottling. Round hollow sphere with brighter rim to N and NW, with two stars involved. Central star direct vision. There's a larger, fainter arc broadly W-E, and clouds of nebulosity to the NE and south.
NGC 2374: OC in CMa: 205x / 0.5°: "W" shape of 20 brighter stars in a rich field. Mains a N-S chain with extensions arching out to NW. IV1p [IV2p] No nebulosity seen despite use of filters.
NGC 2396: OC in Pup: 205x / 0.5°: Near a bright star to north. A grouping of 25 stars, the brighter of which ten W-E concentration with parallel some parallel strings pointed N. Rich field. IV1m
NGC 2414: OC in Pup: 205x / 0.5°: Bright star with a concentration of about 20 stars close by, especially those W and N. Distinct arc of 3 brighter stars in NW of cluster. I3m
NGC 2438: PN in Pup: 205x / 0.5°: Without filter, central star is direct vision; there is a thick ring, round, defined edges, grey. With OIII no central star seen, but inside ring is mottled, ring is even thicker and also mottled. A field star closely follows it to the SE.
NGC 2432: OC in Pup: 205x / 0.5°: Tight grouping of 10 brighter stars arrayed generally N-S -- forms a giraffe asterism: body and legs to north, neck and head to south. As many fainter stars around; rich field. II2m
NGC 2440: PN in Pup: 205x / 0.5°: Bright CS visible in 80mm finder. IN scope, a star with haze around it. With OIII there is much more extension of the haze into a dumbbell shape. Pretty large. It's a dramatic reveal of the shell with the OIII. Lobes of shell are NNE-SSW
NGC 4361: PN in Crv: 205x / 0.5°: Without filter, CS is direct vision, shell is a grey irregular roundness with irregular edges. Mottled shell but I don't see the brighter arms. OIII loses the central star and does not add any detail.
NGC 2367: OC in CMa: 205x / 0.5°: Sparse group, triangular, rather like a Christmas tree with top pointed south. Top has the brightest stars. II3m
NGC 4039: Gx in Crv: 205x / 0.5°: 4038 to north is brighter oval. 4039 to south is moderately fainter, with a disrupted core and faint but defined halo 3:2 NE-SW. No hint of tails in either galaxy, except some thickening stumps at the eastern junction of the cores. Noticeable dark sly between the lobes.
NGC 3242: PN in Hya: 333x / 0.3°: In 80mm finder as a blinking star. Steady view at 333x, but also tried 667x for details. Wow! Central star sits serene in inner ring which is thick and visibly tubular. The whole is enveloped in a semitransparent shell with defined edges. All features are a teal blue. High power mottles the sphere and reveals bright bolts running between outer shell and inner ring in moments of good seeing.
NGC 1514: PN in Tau: 333x / 0.3°: Central star visible in 80mm finder. Bright central star with faint, milky, large round haze around it. OIII shows mottling & defined edges with brighter rims to NW and SE, and absence of halo / darkening in NW & SW parts of shell.
NGC 4024: Gx in Crv: 205x / 0.5°: Bright core, almost stellar nucleus 3:2 ENE-WSW. At the end of a string of three stars.
NGC 3887: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: Large, diffuse halo of fairly even surface brightness, but a brighter arc / dark lane on west rim -- spiral arm? Brightening to core and stellar nucleus with averted vision. 3:2 NNE-SSW. In a triangle of stars
NGC 3732: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: Small, round, pretty bright core, diffuse edge halo. Stellar nucleus with averted vision.
NGC 3672: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: Pretty large, 3:2 N-S, bright halo with some mottling--hinting of spiral structure. Gradually brightening core. East rim is not as rounded as west and seems to have a sudden fall off in brightness--a dark lane? MCG-1-29-19 is a faint, irregularly round small patch on NE edge of FOV.
NGC 3636: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: To WNW of bright foreground star; round, concentrated bright core and defined edge thin halo. NGC 3637 to NE in FOV
NGC 3637: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: To NE of bright foreground star. Slightly less bright core than nearby NGC 3636, but a larger, more diffuse round halo.
NGC 3892: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: Stellar nucleus and bright elongated core; overall 3:3 W-E. Brighter inner halo direct vision; averted vision shows a faint increase in size of halo
NGC 3693: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: Not plotted in Interstellarium. U2k shows it 0.5° S of IC 2856, which I found first. Very faint, need averted vision to really see. Small bright core and diffuse halo, 3:1 W-E. Overall small.
NGC 3511: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: with 3513. 3511 is in north in FOV; quite large, 3:1 ENE-WSW; stellar nucleus and even surface brightness halo with diffuse edges; foreground star on eastern tip.
NGC 3513: Gx in Crt: 205x / 0.5°: With 3511. Fainter than 3511, smaller; core is a small round glow and the oval halo tends N-S 3:2
NGC 3145: Gx in Hya: 205x / 0.5°: Bright lambda Hya in FOV to NE. Galaxy is pretty large, inclined spiral 3:1 NNE-SSE, small bright core and diffuse / mottled halo. Can see more halo with lambda Hya out of FOV and with averted vision.
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