… echoes of december…

A week after our previous excursion, we found ourselves again out at Eagle’s Rest under clear December skies—an unlikely occurrence, given my previous winter experiences here in the Willamette Valley. The CSC forecast was as good as I’d seen it for a winter’s night, so there was no doubt I’d be making the nearly hour-long drive. Herschel objects awaited.

The fog was ominous, however. In fact, it didn’t even wait for nightfall this time; it was already pea-soup dense by the time I reached Highway 58 south, letting up only slightly down at the “bottomlands” along Rattlesnake/Lost Creek Road. Fortunately, despite the fog, I was able to find the bus stop at the end of Eagle’s Rest Road, the stop that we all used as a landmark for turning up the mountain.

I left the fog behind early on the trip up, but there was still the unsettling feeling that it would make its presence felt before long. Even though it was perfectly clear at the gravel site, I didn’t start unloading my gear, choosing instead to wait for the others and their opinions.

Jerry and Joe E pulled in a couple of minutes after me. None of us was quite willing to commit to going up to the Ridge yet; we had a new member (Dan B, owner of Doge, who had trekked out to Eureka with us during the summer) who had been to neither of the Eagle’s sites and might not know his way up, and I was leery of taking the Caveman-Mobile up on the gravel road if it was icy. After a few minutes’ hedging, though, we decided to take the risk and go the final four miles to the spur road at Eagle’s Ridge, our decision further abetted by Jerry’s contacting of Oggie G (as Oggie knew Dan and would pass along the message that we’d gone to the “summit”) in a moment of good cell reception.

It was not a simple drive up. The ridge itself is only 3.4 miles farther up the mountain than the gravel site, but it’s not a fast 3.4 miles—the road winds in ways that roads shouldn’t wind, and the last half-mile is a steep climb up rutted gravel. This particular night, the gravel was also spotted with patches of ice—some of them large and treacherous. This was where I ran into trouble, getting stuck about a third of the way up, with Jerry already at the top and Joe behind me in a vehicle much more capable of handling the conditions.

At length, Jerry walked down to see what had happened, and he and Joe managed to help me extricate the van from where it was stuck. Once we got the van moving, I kept it moving until I got to the Ridge spot at the junction; I felt bad leaving Jerry to walk, but I think Joe must’ve given him a ride up (I don’t recall at this point). I waited for them before we decided to pull onto the spur road and set up, Dan finding his way up as I was putting my scope together. (Jerry had to walk down to the junction to direct Dan to the spur road site, as he went too far up the road in the opposite direction.)

I had no intention of staying past midnight this particular night, as I had a four-day run of work beginning the next morning. But this looked to be a pretty spectacular night, and with clear winter nights so rare here, I needed to make some headway on the Herschel lists while conditions allowed it. So I got to work as quickly as possible—our wait at the gravel site and my getting stuck on the road having used up the evening twilight—jumping in just before 7 PM with what turned out to be the brightest member of a long chain of galaxies in Pisces… one I had first seen at the 2016 Oregon Star Party, which by now seemed an eternity ago.

12/10/17
EAGLE’S RIDGE (spur road)
MOON: 22 days (44% illuminated; rose at 12:56 AM)
SEEING: 6
TRANSPARENCY: 7
SQM: 21.5 (at 11 PM)
NELM: not checked
WEATHER CONDITIONS: temps in low 30s, breezy early
OTHERS PRESENT: JO. JE, DB

All observations: 12.5″ f/5 Discovery truss-tube Dobsonian, 14mm ES 82˚ eyepiece (112x, 0.7˚ TFOV); 10mm Delos (158x, 0.5˚ TFOV) used for observation of Arp 141

6:55
NGCs 198, 200, 194, 193, 204, 203, 182  (Psc): galaxy central–chain goes on a long S-N way and a bit P–198: diffuse round glow–somewhat brighter core–does not have a visible nucleus–1.25′–not well defined, fades into background–gradually brightens to core but halo fades out–galaxy is N-most vertex of an isosceles triangle–to SP by 5.5′ is a 11.5-mag star; to SF by 5.5′ is a 10th-mag star; two stars separated by 8′–long side of triangle is to the S edge of field–N of galaxy by 3.5′ and 4.5′ are two 12th-mag stars–NF 198 by 6.5′ is a second galaxy (NGC 200):  elongated NP-SF–1.25′ x 0.75′–equally bright as 198–not much of a core but a substellar nucleus–face-on spiral?–almost due N of NGC 200 by 5.5′ is an 11th-mag star–NP that star by 6′ is a third galaxy (NGC 194): smaller than previous two–slightly elongated N-S–1.0′ x 0.75′–brightish substellar nucleus but not much visible core–not particularly well defined, fades away raggedly–N slightly P 194 by 5.5′ is a 7th-mag star–12′ N of that star is NGC 193: has a 13th-mag star on SP edge of halo–roundish–has diffuse halo with a brighter core–no real nucleus visible–F and slightly S by 3.5′ is a 10.5-mag star–F and slightly S of that star by 4′ is NGC 204: round–quite diffuse–very poorly defined–1.0′ round–distinct substellar nucleus–may have a threshold star just off SF edge of halo??–13.5-mag star 2′ to NP–back to the 10.5-mag star between 193 and 204: due N by 7.5′ is another fainter galaxy, NGC 203: very intangible–brighter nucleus that’s most obvious thing about it–0.67′ round–extremely diffuse, very difficult, could be mistaken for a threshold star in poorer seeing–N of that galaxy by 11′ is an 8th-mag star–back to 198: 21′ SP 198 is an 8th-mag star–SF that star by 4′ is another galaxy (NGC 182): quite diffuse–1.25′ round–substellar nucleus and slightly-brighter core–quite diffuse–one of brighter galaxies in group; none are “bright” and all would be better served by a few more inches of aperture

7:23
NGC 175 (Cet): very very diffuse, plus seeing “soft”–largish galaxy–slightly elongated P slightly N-F slightly S–1.5′ x 1.25′–has a very faintly brighter core–core not well defined–very faint nucleus, threshold star on P edge of halo?–forms nearly-isosceles triangle with an 11th-mag star F very slightly N of galaxy by 5′ and a 12th-mag star S very slightly F of galaxy by 4.25′–two stars separated by 6.5′

7:41
NGC 337 (Cet): very interesting galaxy–a colliding pair P-F? [No]–bright galaxy with irregular-shaped core–elongated NP-SF–large galaxy–2.0′ x 1.5′–SP point of pentagon of stars–no nucleus–N very slightly P galaxy by 6′ is a double star of NP-SF aligned components separated by 0.5′; SP star 12.5-mag, NF star 13th-mag–5.5′ NF galaxy is an 11th-mag star; 4.5′ NF that star is an 11th-mag star; NP by 6′ is the brightest in pentagon at 10th-mag which is separated from double star by 5′ from fainter component–5.5′ NF of galaxy in middle of pentagon is 13th-mag star 

7:54
NGC 428 (Cet): nice large diffuse galaxy–elongated P somewhat N-F somewhat S–2.5′ x 1.75′–bracketed on P slightly N and F slightly S edges of halo by 13th-mag stars–just off NF edge of halo is a 13.5-mag star–irregularly bright, almost mottled–long brighter central region that makes up inner 50% of galaxy–halo irregularly bright and pretty well defined–no visible nucleus–bracketed on NP and SP by 9th-mag stars each 6′ from center of galaxy–due F galaxy by 9′ is a 10.5-mag star–on NP edge of central brightening are a couple of very faintly brighter spots

8:07
NGC 636 (Cet): surrounded by brightish stars in an interesting field–galaxy pretty bright–roundish–0.75′ round–bright core and bright substellar nucleus–well-defined halo–probably elliptical–forms a diamond with two 14th-mag stars and a 13th-mag star; one of 14th-mag stars is 3′ SF and other is 3′ N very slightly F; 13th-mag star is 3.5′ F slightly N the galaxy–S very slightly F galaxy by 7′ is an 10.5-mag star; SF that star by 7.5′ is another 10.5-mag star–star S slightly F galaxy is southernmost vertex in triangle of one 10.5-mag and two 9th-mag stars whose N side is 17′ long and other two sides are 20′ long–brightest star is NF galaxy by 16′ and other 9th-mag star NP galaxy by 16′

8:36
NGC 779 (Cet): very bright edge-on spiral–TriAtlas has wrong orientation–galaxy elongated N slightly P-S slightly F–very large–2.5′ x 1.3′–obvious stellar nucleus–brighter core/central region–well defined–no hint of a dust lane–to S of galaxy by 4.5′ is a 12th-mag star–S slightly P galaxy by 11′ is the brighter of a double star, which is 10th-mag and fainter is 13.5-mag; fainter component is SF brighter by 0.67′–N of galaxy by 8.5′ is a 12th-mag star–NP galaxy by 10′ is a 12.5-mag star–Messier-quality galaxy!

Jerry’s primary target of the evening was asteroid 3200 Phaethon, and he located it among the stars of Auriga. I’d never seen an asteroid visibly drift before, and took a break from faint(ish) galaxies to take advantage of the opportunity; it was incredible to see a natural object move among the stars at such a rate of speed.

8:48
NGC 1045 (Cet): least-impressive individual galaxy so far this evening–0.75′ x 0.5′–elongated SP-NF–bracketed to N and SF by brightish stars; star to N is 10.5-mag 7′ from galaxy; 9.5′ SF is an 11th-mag star–galaxy fairly diffuse and not well-defined–somewhat brighter core and a substellar nucleus–maybe a threshold star on SP edge of core, almost like a double nucleus–just outside field of view to F and SF (22′ each away from galaxy) are 10th-mag stars–NP galaxy by 11′ is a double star: less than 0.25′ separation; 11th-mag and 12.5-mag components; brighter star SP fainter

8:58
NGC 991 (Cet): very very large diffuse galaxy–pretty round–very little central brightening, no nucleus–central 80% very slightly brighter–3.0′ round–poorly defined–13th-mag star just on S very slightly F edge of halo–SF galaxy by 9′ is a double star of 11.5 and 12.5-mag stars separated by 0.3′, with brighter F very slightly S of the fainter–on P very slightly N edge of field 14′ from galaxy is a 11.5-mag star–SP galaxy by 8′ is the F-most, 11th-mag vertex of an isosceles right triangle of 10.5- and 11th-mag stars; star P slightly N of it by 7′ is also 11th-mag; star 7′ S very slightly F-most one is 10.5-mag; hypotenuse faces SP and is 9′ long

As I settled in on my next target, NGC 1022, I stopped to check something; when I looked back, the star field had changed—one of the stars was moving exceedingly slowly through the field. I watched as it passed over the galaxy, calling for Jerry and Dan to have a look. This was the first of several geosynchronous satellites I would sweep up while scouring the skies in Cetus and Eridanus this particular evening.

9:15
NGC 1022 (Cet): much brighter than 991–1.3′ round–pretty well defined–small fairly-bright core and stellar nucleus–galaxy has a 13.5-mag star N slightly F by 2.5′–12th-mag star 5′ F very very slightly S of galaxy–10th-mag star NF galaxy by 10′–P and P very slightly N of the galaxy is a small triangle of 10th- and 11th-mag stars; two 11th-mag stars on side of triangle closest to galaxy, 12.5′ P galaxy; 10th-mag star 3′ P very slightly N of the more-S of the 11th-mag stars; 11th-mag stars separated by 4.5′; S-most of 11th-mag stars has a couple of threshold stars P very slightly S of it and F very slightly S of it–12.5-mag star 5′ SF galaxy

9:25
NGC 1084 (Eri): very very bright impressive galaxy–also Messier-worthy–elongated SP-NF–2.25′ x 1.25′–large bright core but no detectable nucleus–well-defined halo–due N by 14′ is the middle star of a bent line of three 10th-mag stars bending slightly toward galaxy; middle star is 10th-mag; 10th-mag star P slightly N of it by 6′; 10.5-mag star F and very slightly N of middle star by 7′–galaxy forms tip of arrowhead-shaped pattern with these three stars–two 12th-mag stars between galaxy and brighter stars in bent line; one N very slightly P by 9′ and one N very slightly F by 10′–S very slightly P galaxy by 12′ is a 12.5-mag star–13th-mag star SP galaxy by 7′–SP galaxy by 35′ is a 7th-mag star–SP galaxy is a pair of 8th- and 9th-mag stars 30′ from galaxy separated by 2.5′; brighter is P slightly N of the fainter–poor seeing this low

9:44
NGCs 936, 941, 955 (Cet): contrasting galaxies–936: considerably bright–large diffuse halo and small bright core, substellar nucleus–well defined–elongated P slightly N-F slightly S–core region only 25% of total diameter–1.75′ x 1.25′–has bent/crook asterism to NP; “handle” of crook is NP galaxy by 5.5′ and is 11.5-mag; 9.5-mag star NP that star by 4′; NP previous star by 4′ is 10th-mag star; 4′ NF that star is 10.5-mag star–NP brightest star in crook by 17′ is a 7.5-mag star; F and somewhat N of 7.5-mag star by 6′ is a 9th-mag star; 10th-mag star N slightly F previous by 7′–back to 936: F and slightly N of galaxy by 5.5′ is a 13th-mag star; SF that star by 5′ is a 12th-mag star; N of that star by 7.5′ is NGC 941: faint, diffuse, but fairly obvious–elongated NP-SF–1.5′ x 1.0′–poorly defined–NF galaxy by 17′ is a 12th-mag star–F and slightly N of 941 by 33′ is another galaxy (NGC 955)–much brighter than 941–elongated SP-NF–1.25′ x 0.67′–bright nucleus–brightish central region along length–definitely an inclined spiral–SF by 3′ is a 13th-mag star–F and S of galaxy by 11′ is a 12th-mag star–NF galaxy by 25′ is a 6th-mag star that’s somewhat reddish (even to my colorblind eye)–F and somewhat N of galaxy by 25′ is an 8th-mag star

10:05
NGC 1032 (Cet): reasonably bright–elongated SP-NF–1.25′ x 0.67–has a brighter core and substellar nucleus–fairly-evenly illuminated–maybe sharper on S and F edges?–forms a tiny diamond with three 13th- and 14th-mag stars; two 13th-mag stars are P (by 1.5′) and N slightly F (by 2′) of the galaxy and the 14th-mag star is NF the galaxy (by 0.75′)–N of the galaxy by 16′ is an 8.5-mag star–NF the galaxy by 21′ is a 10th-mag star–S of the galaxy by 5′ is an 11th-mag star–SP the galaxy by 16′ is a double star, the brighter component of which is about 0.25′ SP the fainter; 11th- and 12.5-mag stars

10:52
NGCs 1199, 1188, 1190 (Eri): 1199 quite bright–supposedly in the middle of Hickson 22, but can see two other galaxies with a LOT of effort–1199: elongated SP-NF–1.25′ x 0.75′–has a brightish core and a substellar nucleus–fairly well-defined/evenly illuminated–N slightly F by 3′ is a 12.5-mag star–due N by 6′ is a 13th-mag star–F the galaxy by 8′ is an 11th-mag star–star due N of galaxy: N slightly P that star by 3′ is a very faint glow elongated N-S (1188)–no central brightening–0.67′ x 0.3′–extremely faint, just above threshold-level–SP 1199 by 11′ is an 11-mag star–SP 1199 by 4′ is a fleeting apparition of a galaxy (1190) that is a smudge in averted–seemingly elongated NP-SF but too faint to be sure or to estimate size

11:04
NGC 1209 (Eri): not far from Hickson 22–P-F glow–1.25′ x 0.75′–edge-on or inclined spiral? [elliptical]–bright stellar nucleus and bright middle–halo well defined, regularly illuminated–F by 13′ is an 11th-mag star–6′ F and slightly S is a 13th-mag star; due S that star by 5′ is a 12th-mag star–NP galaxy by 7′ is a 12.5-mag star–19′ SF galaxy is the N-most vertex of a small triangle of 10th- and 11th-mag stars; this N-most vertex is the brightest at 10th-mag; SF that star by 4.5 is an 11th-mag star; another 11th-mag star 5′ F and very slightly S that last star; long side between brightest star and second 11th-mag star is 8′

11:11
NGC 1172 (Eri): fairly faint, apparently elliptical galaxy–slight SP-NF elongation–1.0′ x 0.75′–has a brighter core and faint substellar nucleus–not really well-defined but low in sky–due P galaxy by 3′ is a 13th-mag star–S very slightly P galaxy by 5′ is a 12.5-mag star–F and very very slightly N by 2′ is an 10.5-mag star–even more P galaxy by 8′ is an 11.5-mag star

11:38
NGCs 1400, 1407, 1393, 1391, 1394, 1383 (Eri): two ellipticals (likely) separated by 12′–1400: elongated very very slightly SP-NF–1.5′ x 1.25′–gradually brightening to somewhat brighter core and substellar nucleus–SP galaxy by 2′ is a 15th-mag star–S of galaxy by 19′ is an 8.5-mag star–double star due P galaxy by 15′; components are 10th- and 12.5-mag separated by 0.5′; brighter component SP fainter–12′ F and slightly N of 1400 is 1407: much bigger–pretty round–1.5′ round–slight bit of NP-SF elongation?–galaxy is N-most vertex of a triangle with a 13th-mag SF by 4.5′ and SP that star by 4.5′ is a 12.5-mag star (about 6.5′ S of galaxy)–N of galaxy by 6′ is S-most (13th-mag) vertex of another triangle of 12th- and 13th-mag stars; a 12th-mag star 3.5′ N very slightly P that star; 13th-mag star P very slightly S of second star by 3.5′–back to 1400: 20′ NP galaxy is brighter of a pair of galaxies (1393)–fairly obvious–elongated NP-SF–0.75′ x 0.67′–not easy but well defined–small brighter core and substellar nucleus–NF that galaxy by 5.5′ is another (1391)–much fainter–elongated P very slightly S-F very slightly N–0.5′ x 0.3′–almost no central brightening to speak of but a very faint stellar nucleus–N very slightly F 1391 by 1.5′ is a 15th-mag star; NF that star by 2.5′ is another galaxy (1394): elongated N-S–brighter than second of group–obvious substellar nucleus–0.67′ x 0.3′–better defined than previous–1.5′ N of 1394 is a 13th-mag star that disrupts view of galaxy–back to 1393: P slightly N galaxy by 8.5′ is a 12.5-mag star; NP that star by 7′ is another galaxy (1383): elongated SP-NF–reasonably well defined but faint–brightish substellar nucleus–0.75′ x 0.5′–SP galaxy by 1.5′ is a 13.5-mag star–NF galaxy by 1.25′ is a 14th-mag star

At this point, I was torn between my desire to keep observing and my need to make sure I got at least four hours’ sleep before my shift the next morning. I’d had Mrs. Caveman load me up with caffeine while shopping earlier in the day, so I could make it through eight hours on scant sleep, and it was certainly a rare thing to have such a great night in December. Against my common sense, I plowed on ahead.

Jerry had been looking for planetary nebulae with bright central stars for part of the night, and had shown me NGC 40 as a good example. I suggested NGC 1501 in Camelopardalis, and remembered that I had looked for Arp 141—the Deep Sky Forum’s “Object of the Week” for the first week of the month—at the gravel pit the previous time out, being skunked then both by the treeline and the early Moon rise (1501 is in Camelopardalis not far from Arp 141; hence the connection). Here, though, this colliding pair of galaxies was well placed, and there were several other objects along the way that I wanted to observe.

I took long looks at NGC 2683, the UFO Galaxy in Lynx, and NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis while working my way toward Arp 141. I had observed both of these before, but had only taken notes on the former; why I didn’t take any on 2403 (a Herschel object) while I was there I can’t say. I had also seen UGCs 3714 and 3697 (the Integral Sign Galaxy) before, but couldn’t pass up another shot at the Integral Sign—it was as elusive and fascinating as on the previous occasion. I eventually made my way over to my intended target, and was quite surprised to see it so easily, despite mistaking one of its nuclei for a star.

12:36
UGC 3730 (Arp 141) (Cam): DeepSkyForum’s Object of the Week: using 10mm Delos–difficult but obvious–1.0′ long–radiating S from a 14th-mag star [actually one of the galactic nuclei in this colliding pair]–wedge-shaped–0.5′ wide at the base–a couple of little knots within it, including one a third of the way down from the star to the base–along the edge of the base is brighter, with a knot at the end of the base–a knot on P side just off end of base–galaxy is definitely an irregular object–not consistently bright–isosceles triangle of 11th- and 12th-mag stars N slightly P galaxy; triangle 1′ on two sides and 1.25′ on long side–to P and SP is a Capricornus-shaped asterism made mostly of 10th- and 11th-mag stars–SF of the galaxy by 15′ is a 9th-mag star

By this point, the three of us all decided to call it a night, with the Moonrise imminent and having seen our share of celestial wonders for the evening. I took one long lasting look at the Orion Nebula—never break down the scope without a look at M42, as skipping it is nearly a cardinal sin among astro-types.

Teardown after a session usually takes about a half-hour from covering the primary mirror to pulling the van out onto the road. Unlike past drives down from Eagle’s Ridge, I went first, so as to ensure that the van was able to manage the icy gravel without hitting someone driving in front of me. Past the ice, I expected the fog from earlier in the evening, so thick it could’ve been used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, to be waiting for us. But even the fog had retreated by this hour, and the drive home was considerably easier than the drive out had been.

 

 

 

Echoes of December

Tuesday, December 5th, found Mrs. Caveman and I on a bit of a mini-vacation to Seattle. The reason was simple: the fourth-to-last ever concert date in America by the great John “Mahavishnu” McLaughlin, British guitarist without peer and one of my own most-important musical influences. As a discovery of the great Miles Davis, McLaughlin helped in the creation of fusion jazz; as founder of the incandescent Mahavishnu Orchestra, McLaughlin took fusion to its most groundbreaking and eclectic extreme. As he was to perform a whole set of Mahavishnu music, there was no chance I was going to miss this show—I’d already missed out on King Crimson’s Seattle dates, and Midnight Oil’s Portland shows had sold out within an hour—so I snapped up a pair of tickets for the 5th, McLaughlin’s Portland show having already sold out before I could even get the date squared away with the Mrs. (The fact that the original Mahavishnu violinist, Jerry Goodman, is the brother of my next-door neighbor and was likely to be a special guest at the Portland show led to no small amount of head-meeting-desk on my part.)

The concert was spectacular. McLaughlin was ably supported by his protege, Jimmy Herring, and Herring’s band The Invisible Whip; their music was like a more fusoid version of Phish. McLaughlin’s own band, the 4th Dimension, was ridiculously good (especially bassist Étienne M’Bappé, who should make bass-worshippers forget about Victor Wooten). I actually got misty-eyed during the final bows—that this colossus of the jazz scene was hanging up his fretboards at age 75, playing as well as ever, was a jarring reminder of the inexorable creep of age.

We took the train home the next day, and it was during the train trip that I saw an e-mail through the EAS vine—skies were clear, and telescopes were being dusted off for a rare December session. A quick check of the Clear Sky Chart quelled my disappointment at being in transit home, rather than in transit to observe; the next night looked even better, and the forecast for the next whole week was optimistic.

So I spent Thursday prepping for a cold few hours at Eagle’s Rest, the gravel-pit site 4.4 miles down the road from Eagle’s Ridge. The Ridge was likely to be under a fair amount of snow, and Jerry had reported that high winds had prevented him from setting up on Wednesday night; he had ducked back down to the Rest, which was ringed with trees and thus avoided much of the wind. (This was also the drawback to using the Rest–anything below about 20˚ altitude was pretty much blocked out.) I wasn’t willing to test the Caveman-Mobile’s tires on a snow-covered gravel road, so I’d asked if we could observe from the Rest, which was below the snow line.

I was first there on Thursday, and started setting up as soon as I got there. It looked like a fine night, if a short one (Moonrise was at 9:33). The great advantage to winter observing is that the sky darkens so early; it’s possible to get six hours’ observing in and be home around midnight. Jerry and Kathy pulled up as I was unloading the scope, and after a brief bit of chatting, we finished putting scopes and gear together and settled in for the sky to darken. (Jerry tested Bob the Dob’s mirror with his new Ronchi eyepiece, and the grid of perfectly-straight lines it generated indicated a superb mirror. We all knew that already—Jerry had already complimented the 12.5″ primary—but it was nice to see it confirmed.)  Oggie arrived somewhat afterward, rounding out our dedicated quartet.

My plan, as it so often did, involved the Herschel 400 and Herschel II lists. Tonight {and the next time out, if it happened soon) was to be spent in Pisces and in snagging NGC 821, my last object in Aries.  Given the early Moonrise, I got straight to work once it was dark enough.

12/7/17
EAGLE’S REST (gravel pit)
MOON: 19 days; 77% illuminated, rose at 9:33 PM
SEEING: 8
TRANSPARENCY: 7
SQM: 21.4 (at 9 PM)
NELM: not checked
WEATHER CONDITIONS: temps in low 40s, air still
OTHERS PRESENT: JO, KO, OG

All observations: 12.5″ f/5 Discovery truss-tube Dobsonian, 14mm ES 82˚ eyepiece (112x, 0.7˚ TFOV) unless otherwise noted

6:02
NGCs 7541, 7537 (Psc): pair of very elongated glows—7541: much the brighter and larger of the two—elongated P very slightly N-F very slightly S—off F end of galaxy just beyond edge of halo is a 13^th-mag star—galaxy 2.25′ x 0.5’—pretty well defined—irregularly bright—has brighter central region but not a visible nucleus—7537: more ghostly, fainter—has a brighter core and substellar nucleus—elongated P slightly S-F slightly N—1.25′ x 0.3′, but hard to tell ends of halo—definitely noticeable in field but not easy at all—galaxies separated by 3.5′; 7537 is S and slightly P 7541—P the pair and slightly S of 7541 (in middle of two) by 7.5′ is an 11^th-mag star—S slightly P 7537 by 9′ is a pair that are the N edge of very small scalene triangle; pair consists of 12.5- and 13.5-mag stars; brighter closer to galaxies and NF the dimmer star by 0.3’— almost due F 7541 by 24′ is a 10.5-mag star—N very slightly P 7541 by 30′ is a 7^th-mag star

6:15
NGCs 7562, 7557 (Psc): above Circlet—7562: quite small—roundish at first glance—maybe has a little bit of P-F extension on very ends of halo—1.25′ x 0.75’—quite bright—brighter core that makes up majority (80%) of diameter—substellar nucleus—in middle of a line of three 10^th-mag stars; one to NP by 9′, one SF by 8′, one SF by 11′; closer one SF is slightly fainter than other two—to N, NF, and F slightly S of galaxy are 13.5-14-mag stars, each about 3.5′ from galaxy (not quite a square)—P galaxy and very slightly N by 4.5′ is another extremely faint and extremely diffuse galaxy (7557)—very small—slightly smaller than 7562—very difficult, better in averted—threshold-level star a couple of arcminutes S of galaxy—seems to have very very faint nucleus but not much core—galaxy round? hard to tell—noticeable in direct vision, but not much more visible than that

6:31
NGC 7785 (Psc): up near Omega Psc—bright but fairly small—elongated very slightly NP-SF—1.0′ x 0.75’—fairly well-defined—regularly illuminated—bright core—stellar nucleus—threshold star 0.5′ N slightly F—another threshold star 3′ due NF—galaxy in middle of triangle, brightest star (8.5-mag) 5.5′ to P very slightly N; S very slightly F galaxy by 3.5′ is 10.5-mag star, other 10.5-mag F and slightly S by 3.3’—NP galaxy by 13′ is an 8^th-mag star—P slightly N galaxy by 13′ is an 11^th-mag star

6:48
NGC 7832 (Psc): down by parallelogram inc. 27 and 29 Psc—very small, roundish, nondescript galaxy—very slight NP-SF elongation—0.67 x 0.5’—slightly brighter core and fairly-obvious substellar nucleus—NF galaxy by 8′ is a 9^th-mag star—SP by 18′ is an 8^th-mag star—SF by 3.5′ is an 11^th-mag star; F and slightly S of that star by 2′ is a 10.5-mag star

Although not on my list, I had noticed that Hickson 98 was nearby on the TriAtlas chart. I’m always on the lookout for Hickson Compact [Galaxy] Groups, as there’s not much more interesting than small clumps of galaxies. That the members of this one had NGC numbers made it impossible to pass up, as I was very likely to be able to see it in a “mere” 12.5-inch scope.

7:08
NGCs 7783A, 7783B, 7783C (Hickson 98) (Psc): tough! Using Delos to split—galaxies are 15′ S of an 8^th-mag star and 2′ S of a 10^th-mag star—very difficult to separate—piled on top of each other—almost due F the group by 5.5′ is a 12^th-mag star—main “mass” of galaxies (7783A/B) is elongated P very slightly N-F very slightly S—main mass is 1.25′ x 0.3’—appear to be a couple of distinct nuclei involved, although one may be very faint star, possibly outside main mass (so faint it’s hard to tell!)—SF main mass is a detached section that may be another galaxy (7783C)—very difficult to separate!

7:33
NGCs 488, 490 (Psc): 488: large and impressive—elliptical profile although I know it’s an Sa spiral—large halo—3′ x 2.25’—elongated mostly N-S, maybe S very very slightly P-N very very slightly F—small bright core and a substellar nucleus—just off S slightly F edge of halo is a 12^th-mag star—SP galaxy by 3.5′ is a 10.5-mag star—due F galaxy by 9′ is an 8^th-mag star; SF that star by 14′ is a 10^th-mag star—N very slightly P galaxy by 6′ from halo is an 11^th-mag star—N of galaxy by 12′ is a 13^th-mag star; not quite halfway between that star and 8^th-mag star F 488 is a threshold-mag glow (490)—very small and faint—NF 488 by 8′ —mostly an averted-vision object—star just off S edge of 488’s halo and the star SP 488 are two middle and two brightest stars in a line of four evenly-spaced stars, each about 3.5′ apart that run along edge of field due F to P slightly S of 488

My next target, NGC 524, was at the center of a very busy group, according to the TriAtlas. I spent extra time here ferreting out as many of the other members of the 524 Group as I could manage without being absolutely painstaking about it; there were only about 90 minutes before Moonrise, and I had a number of other galaxies I wanted to get to.  But I spent about a half-hour here in this rich degree of sky, and was well rewarded for it.

8:07
NGCs 524, 518, 516, 525, 522, 532 (Psc): 524: in complicated field—bright, round galaxy—1.75′ round—bright core and bright stellar nucleus—well-defined galaxy—surrounded by a group of faint stars; to N slightly F by 2′ is a 13^th-mag star; S very slightly P by 2′ is a 12.5-mag star; 2.5′ SF galaxy is a 13^th-mag star; 1.5′ F slightly S of galaxy is 14.5-mag star—SP 524 by 6′ is a 10^th-mag star; 6′ that star is another 10^th-mag star; P and slightly S of that second star is a faint glow (518): elongated P very slightly N-F very slightly S—very small, 0.5′ x 0.25’—has threshold stars to SP and P slightly S—in averted a flash that there’s a stellar nucleus but no other real brightening—not well-defined—back to 524: P and slightly N of 524 by 10′ is another faint galaxy (516): larger and brighter than 518—0.75′ x 0.3′ but not well defined—elongated SP-NF—has some central concentration but hard to define—very faint averted-level substellar nucleus—NP 524 by 8′ is a 10.5-mag star—due F that star by 2.5′ is a 11.5-mag star—10.5-mag star forms an isosceles triangle with 524 and 516—N of 524 by 9′ is a thin N-S streak (525): very difficult—0.67′ x 0.5’—has a 12.5-mag star NP by 2′ that makes observation difficult—very faint central concentration, maybe very faint stellar nucleus—N of 525, 30′ N of 524 is 522: larger and brighter than others except 524—elongated SP-NF—1.25′ x 0.5’—not much central brightening—in steady moments a faint core is visible but no nucleus—in fairly-barren field—10^th-mag star 17′ due N of galaxy—SF 524 by 19′ is a largish glow (532), brighter than others in group aside from 524—elongated SP-NF—1.5′ x 0.5’—irregularly bright—not much core, but occasional flash of stellar nucleus?—better defined than other small ones in group, second-most impressive of group after 524

8:13
NGC 514 (Psc): very round, very very diffuse galaxy—almost no central brightening at all—core is only very slightly brighter than halo and largish—face-on spiral?—2.25′ round—threshold star on F edge of halo—due F galaxy by 2.75′ is a 9.5-mag star that obstructs view—not much detail in galaxy—P and slightly S of galaxy by 3.5′ is a 13^th-mag star—SF galaxy by 7′ and 9′ are 12^th– and 11.5-mag stars (respectively)—these make up southern edge of equilateral triangle whose N vertex is 13.5 mag

8:29
NGC 718 (Psc): near Al-Rischa—1.25′ round—gradually brightening to substellar nucleus—well defined—nice obvious galaxy—not a lot of detail—23′ due P (just out of edge of field) is northernmost of a long zig-zag line of seven 9^th-12.5-mag stars that starts at N and moves S, bends F, and continues S; northernmost star is 9.5 mag, 24′ due P 718; 3.5′ S slightly P that star is brightest in pattern at 9^th-mag—S slightly P galaxy by 5′ is a 12^th-mag star—10th-mag star N of galaxy by 9.5′

8:43
NGCs 741, 742 (Psc): in non-descript field—741: galaxy fairly interesting—round, with large brighter core—substellar nucleus—1.25′ round—pretty well defined—on F side of halo looks as if a bit of detached halo or contacting galaxy (742)—P and very slightly N of 741 by 2.25′ is an 11.5-mag star—N and very slightly P 741 by 5.5′ is brighter and more-southern of a very faint pair (13.5 and 14.5-mags) separated by 0.5′ with fainter due N brighter—on N, P and F edges of field are 11^th-mag stars forming a triangle—galaxies just inside southern edge of triangle, in middle of edge

9:02
NGC 821 (Ari): very bright—small—round—obvious core—maybe a difficult substellar nucleus?—brightish (9.5-mag) star just on NP edge of halo—S very very slightly P by 2′ from galaxy is a 13.5-mag star—galaxy well defined—12′ N very slightly P galaxy is an 8^th-mag star—on SF edge of field is an arc of four 11^th-mag stars, from due S of galaxy to F galaxy

By the time I was done with NGC 821—which cleared out the constellation Aries as far as Herschel objects went—the sky was starting to brighten slightly, with the Milky Way fading in richness. The Moon hadn’t yet risen, but it was making its presence known already.  The Orion Nebula was just above the treetops from my position in the clearing, and I spent a few minutes crunched down awkwardly, peering into a very low eyepiece at this most stunning of celestial objects.  I also swept up the Crab Nebula before deciding  that it was time to call it a night. (Earlier, I’d seen NGC 188, the most-northern and possibly the oldest open cluster in our sky, in Jerry’s Trackball.)

Leaving an observing session is always difficult when the sky is still clear, but I had no regrets this night. It had been a fine, rewarding session, neither too brief nor too exhausting, and not even cold enough to require using gloves (although chemical hand warmers had been a great boon). I’d captured 10 more Herschels, a number of other galaxies in the vicinity of my intended targets, and an intriguing Hickson group that I would need to return to if the weather forecast stayed true. As I write this, a few days later, the sky is still clear and inviting, and my gear is awaiting being loaded into the van for another trip down to the mountain.