I arrived shortly before sunset and set up at the Chaparral Trailhead parking lot. Lots of curious people wanting to ask about my scope as they came back from their hikes. One couple was very enthusiastic and stayed until 8:00pm. We looked at the Orion Nebula, which filled out in detail as it became darker; and M31. I didn't mind the delay as there were still high clouds. After this couple left there was still one car in the lot. The owners, two couples, came down at around 8:30pm. They had gotten lost in the High Peaks by mistaking a rock climber's trail for the main trail. Seems they bushwhacked most of their way down. "Didn't you hear us screaming for help?" one of them asked -- no I didn't. It's very lucky they made it down.
Speaking of which, after they had left a chorus of coyotes started up. They seemed to be among the High Peaks and were purposely echoing their calls off the rock cliffs. First one group, then another, until the sky was loud with their calls.
Transparency was poor and dew formed quickly; the shroud was well-soaked. Around 11pm I noticed it was crinkly -- it had frozen. There were ice crystals growing on every exposed surface. I had to scrape ice off the plexiglass window of my chart holder. I myself was not cold, wearing a down jacket and snow boots. It was 25°.
I've started to hit my H2 and planetary nebula lists from when I left off last spring, when there was a string of poor weather. I tried to make some progress on those. But I have become so fond of freestyle observing -- picking a nice area of the sky and exploring what I can find in Interstellarum -- that I spent most of my time following these whims. All at 205x in the 20-inch unless otherwise noted.
IC 423 / 424: Emission nebula in Orion, which are shaped by the shock front from the middle belt star Alnilam, about 1500 ly away. IC 423 was ill defined, roughly bag shaped glow, very faint and not distinct; seen best with averted vision. Slightly brighter in the middle. Has a very faint wishbone shape, being brighter along two sides. IC 424 was smaller, a haze around a star, not defined.
NGC 2549: Gx in Lynx: Bright, quasi-stellar nucleus, bright elongated core, halo elongated 4:1 N-S with long tapering tips. Pretty bright, fairly small. Near star 30 Lyncis, 48mly, SA0 edge on.
MGC-10-12-103: Moderately large, faint and diffuse. I see two other galaxies in the view, one edge on the other a faint small smudge.
NGC 2521: Gx in Lynx: I see three galaxies. Brightest is NGC 2521, fairly bright, small, bright core, elongated 2:1 NE-SW. The other two are UGC 2421 and MCG+10-12-070. The UGC is small, pretty faint, brighter core with AV, elongated NW-SW 3:1. The MCG is very faint, small, and round. These three plus a star, Z Lyn, in the northern corner, form a nearly perfect square.
NGC 2497: Gx in Lynx: Faint and pretty small, stellar nucleus, bright core, hazy halo elongated 3:2 NE-SW.
NGC 2488: Gx in Lynx: Bright core, stellar nucleus, 3:1 edge on NW-SE; overall faint and small. I see two other galaxies in the field, one to N and another to SW. Both small round and very faint, though the one to the north (UGC 4164) has a stellar nucleus. [The one to the SW is a close galaxy pair MCG+09-13-112 & -111, both of which are 17B and ~0.5" square, but perhaps became visible to me with their combined glow.]
NGC 2469: Gx in Lynx. Four galaxies in a string. NGC 2469 is brightest and comparatively large (though itself small), elongated 3:2 nearly N-S. The others -- NGC 2463, NGC 2462, & NGC 2458 --are small, faint and round. Near a bright star which hinders the view somewhat. The galaxies have a range of redshift from 0.01 to 0.047, so this is a chance alignment than a cluster If I had panned my scope a little beyond NGC 2469 I could have seen a fifth in this string, NGC 2472, an extremely faint and small item.
NGC 2505: Gx in Lynx: Oval N-S, small, fairly faint. Core brightens with AV. Diffuse edges. Near bright star to NE which hinders the view.
JnEr1 / Jones Emberson 1 = PK 164 +31.1 the "Headphones Nebula: PN in Lynx: Extremely faint, fairly large, round to broken C shape. Seen only when move scope and with OIII. 121x.
NGC 2474 / 2465: Double Gx in Lynx. Looks like a double nucleus, very small and tightly separated in a small and very faint halo. The halo is slightly more extensive to the south.
NGC 2347 + IC 2179: Nice. Both galaxies near stars and look sort of like a double double but with galaxies as the B components. NGC is a little brighter and larger, with a bright core enhanced with AV, 3-1 N-S. The IC has a stellar nucleus and is small, round, fairly faint.
NGC 2253: Gx in Cam: Stellar nucleus, fairly faint, moderately small; elongated 3:2 NW-SE. Two brighter stars to the east form a triangle with it.
Abell 16, PN in Cam: Very faint / diffuse, yet even surface brightness, as low as it is. No central star. Irregularly round, moderately large grey mist against the background. Seen with OIII only.
PnWe1: Purgathofer & Weinberger / 1980 discovery PN in Cam: Excessively faint, -- seen only as a gray scale change, a brighter dark than the dark sky. UHC works, OIII too. Irregularly round, very large, with mottling. @ 87x.
SaSt 2-3 = PN G232.0+05.7 =MWC 574: Small, very faint, stellar, blinks with OIII. Next to another star, appears like a double star.
NGC 2517: Gx in Puppis: Bright core, stellar nucleus, small, 3:1 ENE-WSW with tapering tips. Some mottling in the halo and core. Very dense field; I'm sure this is highly obscured by the Milky Way. Did not see nearby PGC.
NGC 2525: Pretty large, diffuse, low surface brightness. Irregularly oval shape with mottling; in a dense field of stars. It is an SBc.
MCG-2-22-3: Small, very faint, elongated 3:1 N-S with brighter core -- double nucleus, but this could be a foreground star. Near the apex of a wishbone of stars pointed north.
IC 2375 / 77 / 79: Three galaxies piled up, in different orientations. Seen direct vision, brightens with averted -- call them all fairly faint, all of them small. IC 2375 was noticeably elongated 4:1 E-W. IC 2377, in the middle, was oval, NE-SW. IC 2379 was also oval but pointed NW-SE, and had a brighter core.
NGC 2610: PN in Hydra: Round, crisp edges, even surface brightness, no central star. Like a smoke bubble. Very faint unfiltered; responds well to both OIII and UHC. Dense field. Faint star on NE rim. Bright star to NE.
MCG-2-22-25: Galaxy seen between two stars. Very faint, swam into view. Quasi-stellar nucleus, brighter core, elongated 3:1 WNW-ESE. Small. AV needed.
NGC 2781: Fairly large, pretty bright; bright elongated core, tapering halo, 3:1 W-E
NGC 2855: Very bright nucleus of even concentration -- not stellar. Bright round core, diffuse, slightly elongated NW-SE halo.
NGC 2881-1 / -2 = Arp 275: Pretty faint, fairly large, irregular tear-drop shape with a wing coming off it to the west -- a double system. Mottled halo with several superimposed stars. IC 2782 is to the south, fairly faint, small, with a stellar nucleus and a round diffuse halo.
NGC 2889: Stellar nucleus with round diffuse halo, faint and small; it is a face on SB grand design spiral. To NW is NGC 2884, 3:2 N-S, stellar nucleus and diffuse halo, pretty small and fairly faint; it is an Sa spiral but seen at an angle.
MCG-2-25-6 = Arp 221: Two faint stellar nuclei with a lopsided, diffuse halo brighter to the east. Faint -- can see with direct vision but averted brightens. Used 333x to better resolve the second nucleus. There is an extremely faint condensation on the west rim of the halo. Arp classes this under "amorphous spiral arms."
NGC 2993, 2992 = Arp 245: Two galaxies seem to have a connecting bridge. NGC 2992 is small, elongated NNE-SSW and moderately bright, the brighter of the pair. NGC 2993 is smaller and round [did not see the streamer whisking from it to the east. Arp says of these: "Appearance of fission"].
NGC 2986: Two glows, each with a stellar nucleus. The small (but relatively larger) and much brighter is NGC 2986, with a bright round core and faint halo. The smaller [E566-004] to the west, faint, very small, elongated N-S. Near a bright star. Frost on my scope's shroud!
NGC 2775, Gx in Cancer: Looks like a more distant version of M31; it is 62mly away. Bright & large, it has a bright compact round nucleus with brighter elongated core and diffuse, slowly fading halo, 3:2 NW-SE. I see subtle hints of spiral structure. The galaxy sits above the bowl of a mini big dipper asterism. It is a Sa spiral and forms a trio with two other galaxies: NGC 2773 to the NW and NGC 2777 to the NE. NGC 2773 is a small, fairly faint rice grain of even brightness 3:1 orientated E-W on the edge of the FOV. NGC 2777 is small, faint, and nearly round but with a small stellar nucleus.
NGC 2936 & 2937 = Arp 142: Small, faint bean shaped glow with two brighter condensations; used 333x to clearly separate the two galaxies. NGC 2936 is the northern component and is larger, with the brightest part near the NE edge and a faint smudge of a halo trailing to the SW, like a smeared fingerprint. NGC 2937 is the second component and is small, faint, and round and is tucked underneath the other, like an eye under an eyebrow.
NGC 2291 / 2294 / 2290 / 2288 / 2289: I was attracted to this group as it lies in region near the Gemini-Auriga boarder relatively devoid of DSOs. Five galaxies in a wedge shape, all more or less the same faintness and smallness, differing in the brightness of the cores and diffuseness of their halos. Four were in a nice little arc, starting with NGC 2991, small, faint and round. Next, heading south, NGC 2289 was the brightest, with a round core and very faint halo E-W. Very close to it was the very small and very faint round glow of NGC 2288. Last in the string and bright was N2290, with a small brighter core and a very faint diffuse halo 3:1 NE-SW. NGC 2294 was to the NE, very small and faint patch. Interstellarum plots IC 2173 as a sixth galaxy in this area, which I could not find (other than suspecting a couple faint round things which were likely threshold magnitude stars). I found later that NGC 2288 is the same as IC 2173
Abell 31: PN Large, central star easy. Shell is round, diffuse, subtle, soft, and slightly mottled, without defined edge. OIII necessary to see it. 87x
IC 523: Picked out with averted vision, then could hold with direct. 3:1 elongated, small, very faint, gradually brighter core; close to a bright star to the NW A nice elusive glow, close to Abell 31.
NGC 2874 / 2782 = Arp 307: The western component, NGC 2872, has a small bright core, with a regular, if diffuse, halo, 3:1 NNW-SSE. The eastern component, NGC 2874, is larger but fainter, with a stellar nucleus sitting lopsided to the north end of a clearly disrupted halo, which has a bright rim to the south and a very faint arc sprouting from the southern tip and headed toward NGC 2782. I failed to notice three other NGCs in this field: NGC 2785 a small bright dot at the northern tip of NGC 2874's halo; NGC 2871 a similar point at the NW tip of NGC 2872's halo; and NGC 2873, a small and faint galaxy to the north of the main pair.
NGC 2911: Fairly bright, even surface brightness cloud with a small bright core and quasi-stellar nucleus. 3:1 NW-SE. Something strange about the halo, maybe some spiral or mottling, mirrored on each side of the halo along the major axis.
NGC 2958: Plain enough, but a formless oval patch, faint and small, N-S.
I tried for the planetary nebula "Frosty Leo," IRAS 09371+1212, but did not see it
NGC 3016 / 3024 / 3020: Nice! a trio. Faint -- can see with direct vision, but averted adds to brightness. NGC 3020 is to the north, has a bright elongated core and the largest halo of the three, diffuse and elongated 4:1 E-W. NGC 3024 is to the east and is nearly an edge on, with a quasi-stellar nucleus. NGC 3016 is to the far SW and is the smallest but with a sharply brighter core. I did not see NGC 3019 which sits in the middle of the triangle.
EGB6: PN. 87x. Very large, excessively faint & very tenuous arc pointes SW, seen with OIII only.
UGC 4881 = Arp 55: At 333x, very small, very faint irregular glow, slightly elongated E-W, with a slight brightening in western edge of the glow.
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