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Date of Observation ...... February 22, 2020 Instrument ............... 13.1" f/4.5 dobsonian Magnification ............ 76x and 123x Location ................. Blue Ridge Parkway, VA (light pollution map) Observer ................. Eric David Skies .................... dark, clear, transparent, almost no breeze, cold |
This galaxy was a real challenge. I looked multiple times for it before I concluded
that I was finally able to see it. The image on the printed chart I have showed why,
and it's because this galaxy is a loosely-wound face-on spiral, so the surface brightness
is low compared to other galaxies. After going back and forth multiple times to the
charts, however, I was able to find the exact location where the galaxy was supposed to be
and saw in the eyepiece that an extremely faint glow was present.
At this point, I noticed for the first time that going through these Cetus galaxies in the rather painstaking manner that I had been, had allowed this part of the sky to slip quite low in the west-southwest, so I was really not observing these objects in an optimal orientation. Maybe that was a big part of the problem. |