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Unsung NGC 2903
Until recently, the galaxy NGC 2903 somehow slipped under my radar.
I'd viewed it once, through my 7-inch scope, but that was at my astronomy club's suburban site, so I didn't notice much beyond the fact that this galaxy is extremely bright and easy to see. Last spring, I got my first serious look, using Godzilla, the 36-inch Dob that's jointly owned by several club members. What really knocked my socks off was the fact that I could see so much detail in a galaxy under such mediocre skies. True, 36 inches isn't exactly small for a telescope, but as I've said many times, dark skies are usually more important than aperture for viewing galaxies. M33, for instance, shows vastly better through my 7-inch under dark skies than through Godzilla in the Boston suburbs. But NGC 2903 is an exception because so much of what makes it interesting has high surface brightness. Last Friday, I spent some time with this galaxy using my 12.5-inch Dob under moderately dark skies, and in some ways, that was best of all. The most prominent feature of this galaxy is its huge, bright bar. Offhand, I can't think of *any* better example of a barred spiral in the whole sky. M83, maybe, but its bar is much smaller and fainter in relationship to the galaxy as a whole than NGC 2903's is. And at each end of the bar, you can clearly see a spiral arm taking off at clean right angles to the bar itsef -- like a textbook illustration. There's a lot more to see, but I'll leave that to be experienced firsthand. What really surprises me is that people so rarely talk about this galaxy. Everybody's heard of NGC 4565, or 891, or 253. But NGC 2903 is as interesting as any of those, and far brighter and more complex than most of the Messier galaxies, yet it somehow seems consigned to the second class. - Tony Flanders |
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Unsung NGC 2903
wrote
... Until recently, the galaxy NGC 2903 somehow slipped under my radar. I'd viewed it once, through my 7-inch scope, but that was at my astronomy club's suburban site, so I didn't notice much beyond the fact that this galaxy is extremely bright and easy to see........... Tony, This galaxy has been an old favorite of mine for years! It's even easy to see in an 4.25" Astroscan. NGC 2903 was one of many galaxies I observed about a week ago using my Obsession 20 from my rather dark front yard. It was certainly a lot easier to see than Hickson 44 that is not too far from it. Here's my 2001 image of NGC 2903, plus some raw HST data that I found on the 'net and processed: http://www.kopernik.org/images/archive/n2903.htm I'll have to re-do it with my new camera. George Normandin |
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Unsung NGC 2903
Tony Flanders wrote:
Until recently, the galaxy NGC 2903 somehow slipped under my radar... Impossible to believe I might have beat you to something... Last spring, I got my first serious look, using Godzilla, the 36-inch Dob... I used a TeleVue 76 :--) The most prominent feature of this galaxy is its huge, bright bar... As seen at http://www.davidillig.com/ast-ngc2903.shtml. I decided to try to photograph it as a target of opportunity in February of 2005. The bottom photo on the referenced page shows a wider portion of the DSLR frame, with a bonus galaxy -- NGC 2916, a spiral galaxy about which little is known. What really surprises me is that people so rarely talk about this galaxy. Everybody's heard of NGC 4565, or 891, or 253. But NGC 2903 is as interesting as any of those, and far brighter and more complex than most of the Messier galaxies, yet it somehow seems consigned to the second class. OK, OK, you win. I've put a note in my calendar to look for it visually next March. Nice report. Thanks. Davoud -- usenet *at* davidillig dawt com |
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Unsung NGC 2903
On Tue, 02 May 2006 03:26:16 GMT, George Normandin wrote:
Tony, This galaxy has been an old favorite of mine for years! It's even easy to see in an 4.25" Astroscan. Same here. It was one of the ones I liked to observe with my first telescope, a Tasco 4.5" reflector. Visible from fair suburban skies but really a standout in dark skies. Mike Simmons |
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Unsung NGC 2903
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Unsung NGC 2903
NGC 2903 was one of my first binocular targets outside the Messier List
many years ago, but I've never really payed close attention. I'm gonna hafta take a closer look one of these nights... Marty |
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Unsung NGC 2903
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Unsung NGC 2903
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Unsung NGC 2903
Tony Flanders wrote:
Until recently, the galaxy NGC 2903 somehow slipped under my radar. I'd viewed it once, through my 7-inch scope, but that was at my astronomy club's suburban site, so I didn't notice much beyond the fact that this galaxy is extremely bright and easy to see... What really surprises me is that people so rarely talk about this galaxy. Everybody's heard of NGC 4565, or 891, or 253. But NGC 2903 is as interesting as any of those, and far brighter and more complex than most of the Messier galaxies, yet it somehow seems consigned to the second class. So we thought. Now, from the growing number of positive replies in this thread, I'm starting to think that /Tony/ was the only one ignoring NGC 2903 ;--) I remember thinking when I photographed NGC 2903 "I'll bet hardly anyone has seen this obscure beast." Wrong again. Davoud -- usenet *at* davidillig dawt com |
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Unsung NGC 2903
hmm .. not sure if I've seen 2903 before, it seems like such
a long time since we've had clear skies (we had a teaser a few days back). put it on my list, I *know* it'll eventually clear here too! Esmail |
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