I packed my primary mirror is a box so I could keep it in the air conditioned office during the day, rather than baking in my car. This was a wise decision, since upon arrival at Fremont Peak my mirror was closer to equilibrium, and I didn't have any major thermal issues. I set up and waited a long time for it to be dark enough to observe. Transparency was 3/5 but seeing was very good, 7/10. There was haze in the sky but it cleared tolerably well; from midnight to 1:30 bands of cloud moved through so I was chasing holes, until it was overcast completely. There was a marine layer over Salinas but not Hollister; SQML topped at 21.1. Temperature was fairly warm as I was in an inversion layer. The conditions affected my results, as objects appeared dimmer than they ordinarily would.
I dove right into the Virgo cluster, thick with galaxies. I was worried I wouldn't be able to navigate but I didn't have much of a problem. I didn't spend more than five minutes on any one object -- a symptom of list-o-mania where I felt compelled to keep going rather than "soaking in the view." I only have a few H2 objects left after this session, which I can finish in June -- then I can switch to more leisurely viewing.
All with the 20-inch, 205x except for one object as noted:
NGC 4880: moderately large, faint, slightly brighter core, no nucleus; 3:2 NNW-SSE. Diffuse halo edge. [SB0-a].
NGC 4647: ! Small, fairly faint, but much elongated streak. There is a long brighter bar or elongated core along its major axis, which is twisted. [seems I observed the wrong thing -- I seem to have seen NGC 4637, which is next to NGC 4638. In this photo the middle pair is M60/NGC 4647, in the lower right is NGC 4637 & 8.]
NGC 4608: Small, bright round core, just stellar nucleus. Elongated SW-NE; bright halo to tips. [SB0; I saw the bar as an elongation but there is a faint round halo around the whole].
NGC 4639: Round, moderately large, fairly faint glow, 3:2 NW-SE, even surface brightness to nearly stellar nucleus. Star just off eastern rim.
NGC 4571: Bright egg-shaped core with very faint, large diffuse round halo. Near bright (double?) star to NE.
NGC 4313: Tough hop to find. Long, faint inclined spiral -- spiral structure hinted by mottling in the halo. Averted visions brightens the halo and reveals a round core & just stellar nucleus. 5:1 NW-SE. Nice!
NGC 4299 & 4294: Wow! 4294 moderately large, moderately bright inclined spiral 4:1 NNW-SSE, bright large core diffuse halo to tips. Star on NW tip. 4299 faint, fairly large, round, very diffuse. Orientated E-W of each other in same FOV.
NGC 4267: Intense bright nucleus and small bright core, very faint diffuse moderately large round halo.
NGC 4168: Fairly bright and large elliptical with bright core & stellar nucleus. Two other smaller, fainter galaxies flank it to the NNW (NGC 4165-- small, fairly faint, stellar nucleus, faint halo elongated 3:1 N-S) and W (NGC 4164 -- small, round, bright small core and diffuse halo).
NGC 4189: moderately large, fairly faint, round, diffuse with a brighter core. SBc
NGC 4212: Very diffuse halo with even surface brightness, very small stellar nucleus. Some structure seen with averted vision. Becomes larger, with slightly brighter core, and mottling in the halo, 2:1 WSE-ENE. Interesting galaxy.
NGC 4298 & 4302: Very remarkable! 4298 is to the west, pretty bright and large, 3:2 NW-SE, pretty much even surface brightness but with a largish bright core and diffuse edges. 4302 is very close to the east, a long edge on 6:1 N-S slightly mottled halo -- photos show a narrow dark lane which I did not see. Low surface brightness and more diffuse than its companion. Many stars scattered about...especially one at N tip of 4302 and one on NE rim of 4298.
NGC 4237: pretty large, fairly bright, 3:2 WNW-ESE. Brighter oval core with averted vision.
NGC 4312: Fairly faint 4:1 N-S streak. Double star following right in line with center of galaxy. No core, even surface brightness, fading tips. [Did not notice faint galaxy near the double stars]. Adding photo with M100 which is nearby, but which I didn't frame in FOV -- I only took a glance at it as I was star hopping to 4312.]
NGC 4340 & 4350: 4340 has a stellar nucleus, bright compact core, round fairly bright halo with diffuse edges; SB0-a. 4350 is bright, has a stellar nucleus, elongated core diffuse halo gradually fading, 4:1 SSW-NNE.
NGC 4379: Very compact bright core, stellar nucleus, small round diffuse halo. Small, pretty bright.
NGC 4233: Fairly faint, small, 3:1 N-S with stellar nucleus and brighter rounded-to-oval core and fading tips. Near some bright stars.
NGC 4223 & 4224: Just fits in 0.5° FOV. 4223 is larger, more diffuse, less bright core, 3:2 NW-SE, large and fairly faint. 4224 is smaller, brighter, with stellar nucleus and gradually brighter core, fading tips, 3:1 NE-SW.
NGC 4235: Large and fairly bright, with a stellar nucleus, bright core, and 4:1 halo NW-NE with fading tips. Cupped by an arc of three stars to the north.
NGC 4241: Small, very faint, stellar nucleus and long tips which are a little twisted. Near double star.
NGC 4260: Bright nucleus and core, elongated 3:1 SW-NE. Near bright star with two small, faint round galaxies next to it [NGC 4269/IC 3155].
NGC 4264 & 4261: 4261 is large and bright oval shape, 3:1 NNW-SSE, very bright core and stellar nucleus. Following it is its little brother 4264, fairly faint, small, slightly elongated. Following it wherever it goes and looking like its big brother too. There are many other galaxies in the area I did not note down.
NGC 4270: 4270 is fairly bright with a bright round core and elongated 3:1 NW-SE. 4270 is to the upper center right in this image. Four more galaxies in the field: NGC 4273 (center in this image), 4277 (just to the east of 4273) , NGC 4259 (center right), and NGC 4281 (upper left).
NGC 4339: Brightest of three galaxies in field. Fairly bright and small, it has a stellar nucleus, and diffuse round halo. Two others in FOV to SW: 4333 (small, faint, round) and 4326 (small, fairly faint, round). All three form a right triangle.
NGC 4343: Brightest and furthest south of four forming a misshapen kite in the field. Pretty bright and large, has a bright core 4:1 NW-SE. Others are: NGC 4342 to north (fairly bright, small, stellar nucleus, elongated NNW-SSE); NGC 4341 farther to NE (small, faint, elongated 3:1 NW-SE), IC 3267 to the ENE (very faint, averted vision needed to see but can hold all the time, small, round diffuse halo).
NGC 4586: Nice edge on. Bright oval core and long tapering tips, 6:1 NW-SE. Near bright star to west.
NGC 4612: Near string of stars. Bright, small, stellar nucleus, round core, diffuse round halo. It looks like the last star in a strung, but one that got smudged or is dissolving.
NGC 4519: Moderately large patch, compact brighter core in center of very diffuse oval. Globular cluster like, a glow with brighter patches or knots. [It is a face-on spiral -- did not notice smaller galaxy to NE].
NGC 4608: Small, round, compact bright core and stellar nucleus. Near NGC 4596 at the edge of the FOV, which is larger and brighter.
NGC 4336: Very faint, small oval glow. Can see direct vision but need averted to bring it out. 3:2, even surface brightness, near star just to south.
NGC 4152: Fairly small, moderately faint oval glow, even surface brightness. Stellar nucleus, large core with ragged edges that fade into diffuse halo. [face on spiral]
NGC 4124 (aka 4119: Moderately large, fairly bright streak, almost stellar nucleus, bright oval core and tapering tips, 3:1 WNW-ESE. In a nice little star cluster.
NGC 4169: The Box! 4169 is the brightest, 3:2 NNW-SSE elliptical with a bright core. The other galaxies in view. Dimmer than I recall seeing from Fremont Peak during the Herschel Sprint a couple years ago, must be the worse conditions.
NGC 4136: Very diffuse large patch, no core. Looks like a phantom of a galaxy. Oval shape, gradually brighter to middle. [Face on galaxy.]
NGC 4185: Very faint irregularly shaped oval glow orientated N-S. Moderately large. Tough. Direct vision ok but averted vision needed to confirm it.
NGC 4310: Fairly small, fairly faint 3:1 NW-SE. Gradually brighter middle oval core. Double star nearby to south.
NGC 4359: Not plotted on Interstellarum. Very faint edge on. Lovely! Direct vision but need averted to brighten it up. Very weakly brighter elongated core. but mostly even surface brightness halo 5:1 WNW-ESE fading imperceptibly at the tips. Very tenuous and hard won!
NGC 4395: Needed to switch to 121x for this one as it is large and spread out. Brighter almost stellar core area in middle of very faint, diffuse round glow uneven surface brightness. Probably a face-on spiral. Don't see any arms, just unevenness. [Turns out those uneven patches are distinct NGC designations, HII knots in the spiral]
NGC 4914: Small, stellar nucleus, bright round core and fainter halo with pointed tips, 3:1 NNW-SSE.
LoTr5 (Longmore-Tritton 5): The only Planetary Nebula on the menu. It is the middle star of an arc of three, which with OIII blinks and shows the faintest of a fairly large shell.
NGC 4956: Small bright compact core and stellar nucleus, small halo with tapering tips, 2:1
NGC 5056: Two galaxies near a star. 5056 is closest to the star to the south, is fairly faint and small, and has a brighter core but no nucleus, fainter 3:2 halo N-S. NGC 5057 is to the NE in the FOV, faint and small, with a stellar nucleus and compact bright and small round halo.
NGC 5012: Pretty bright, large, 3:1 NE-SW with bright knots in halo -- or maybe superimposed star. Irregular brightness. [Star in front of NE part of halo]
NGC 5595 & 5597: Close pair, both oval and diffuse with gradually brightening cores & just stellar nuclei. Very similar looking though 5595 is more concentrated and elongated and 5597 is more diffuse and rounder
NGC 5605: Very faint, moderately large oval glow, gradually brighter middle, though not by much. Slightly uneven surface brightness.
NGC 5728: Inclined spiral 3:1 SSW-NNE faint star on north edge of bright core, and a star on the SW rim. Halo is slightly mottled.
NGC 5791: Fairly bright, large, 2:1 NW-SE, with a bright oval core and almost stellar nucleus. Did not notice IC 1081 just to the NE!
NGC 5812: Moderately large, fairly bright, with a stellar nucleus, bright round core, round halo with diffuse edges.
NGC 5861: Large, diffuse, 3:2 NW-SE. In a group of three with NGC 5858 (brightest of the three since most concentrated, small bright oval) and 5861 (averted vision only, small and round)
NGC 5878: Near a bright star to NE. Moderately large, fairly bright, stellar nucleus with bright core, 4:1 N-S. Averted vision helped to brighten up the halo.
NGC 5813: Pretty bright, small, 2:1 elliptical on with almost stellar nucleus, and bright core, slightly oval NW-SE. In the center of four stars which form a parallelogram.
NGC 5806: Pretty bright and large 2:1 N-S with a stellar nucleus, bright oval core.
NGC 5383: Face on with bar; round diffuse halo but clearly a bright bar E-W coming out from a small very bright round core.
NGC 5371: Pretty large low surface brightness glow, 2:1 N-s No core brightening but a very compact nucleus, and some unevenness in the surface brightness.
For the last hour of the session I was chasing gaps in the clouds. But now it was 1:30am and too much cloud cover. Very close to the forecast I read before coming. Slept fitfully in the car until morning.
