**A SPRING NIGHT WITH A NEXSTAR**

DS041404 RECENT OBSERVATIONS
by David Knisely

DATE: April 14, 2004, 0330 to 0600 hrs UTC.
LOCATION: Rockford Lake, Nebraska 40.227N, 96.580W, elev. 1400 ft (427m)
INSTRUMENTS: NexStar 9.25GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain (altazimuth mode): 78x, 99x,
168x, 235x, 297x, 367x, 479x.
CONDITIONS: Mostly clear, Temp. 45F (7.2C), wind SW at 0-5 mph.
UNAIDED-EYE ZENITH LIMITING MAGNITUDE: 6.6
SEEING (above 45 deg. altitude): 0.6" to 1.2" (Antoniadi II).

OBJECTS OBSERVED: M48, M50, Sh2-274 (Medusa Nebula), NGC 3115 (Spindle Galaxy)
NGC 2353, Leo-1, NGC 2903, NGC 3185-87-90-93 (Hickson 44), M65, M66, NGC 3628,
M84, M86, NGC 4387, NGC 4388, IC 3303, M100, NGC 4328, NGC 4322, NGC 4312, IC
783, UGC 7425, M64, NGC 4565, NGC 4038-9 (Ring-tail Galaxy), NGC 4361, M104,
M83, NGC 5128, NGC 5139, M5, M51, M101, NGC 5474, M97, M108, M81, M82, NGC
2357 (Bear Paw Galaxy), M13.

OBSERVATIONS: Clear skies and not too cool temperatures presented themselves
after a few days of clouds, so I decided to put both the NexStar and my
little laptop to the acid test by running both "in the field" at my rural
dark-sky site above Rockford Lake. I did learn a lot by doing this, as
previously, this setup had only been tested on my driveway. As I quickly
discovered, Murphy *really* likes it when you go "digital".
The first "fact" of electronic telescope operation is, "You will forget
at least one important cable or cord". I managed to only get two blocks from
home before I realized this and returned for the main power cord of the
NexStar. After about an 18 minute drive over some rural roads, I arrived at
my favorite spot above the lake and began to set up. The second fact of
electronic telescope operation was, "All cords or cables will be too short".
The DC power outlets I had installed in my minivan were intended to power my
amateur radio equipment which is usually mounted at the base of the dash
board. Thus, I had to add some wire "in the field" to the NexStar's power
cable to get it to go all the way through the length of the van and out a few
more feet to where I had set up the NexStar (thank goodness I had taken some
electrical tape along).
The next occurance of this came in the heat of DSO hunting when I decided
to fire up the laptop to let it take control the NexStar's pointing. I had
already had enough cord length to power the computer, but the RS-232 cable
connecting it to the NexStar is a little on the short side, so the computer
ended up sitting at ground level on a few old magazines at the base of the
scope. Obviously, I will need to cobble something together to support the
computer if I want to ever do this again (good thing there wasn't any snow on
the ground). I suppose I could have connected everything through the side
door, but, unlike the minivan's rear hatch, the interior light can't be
easily shut off when that door is open. In any case, the van nicely blocked
the glare of Venus, which was so bright that it allowed shadows to be cast.
Finally, I got down to actually using the scope. Surprisingly, the
NexStar got a better initial star alignment in my rural setting than it
usually does on the driveway, placing the alignment stars well within the
field of view of the finder. A little tweaking and all was now ready to go.
I did a slight touch-up in collimation using Polaris, and enjoyed the fact
that the star is a rather pleasing double with the brilliant off-white
primary accompanied by a much fainter 9th magnitude companion about 18.4 arc
seconds away. After this, it was off to the races. I did keep a close eye
on where the NexStar was going while it was slewing, as I had heard that even
small power interruptions can cause things to go out to lunch (and my "field"
wiring was a little suspect). Fortunately, from my years of starhopping,
I could tell that the NexStar definitely knew where it was going as it went
from object to object at my command. Initially, I just ran the scope off of
its own database using the hand controller, and for most of the time, this
was all I needed.
My first target was just a "guess" from memory about M50. It is a rather
nice cluster in the constellation of Monoceros which seemed a little bigger
than I remembered, probably because I was viewing it at 78x instead of the
59x I use in my 10 inch Newtonian. Its fairly rich with maybe 70 or 80 stars
visible over an area of less than 20' arc in width, so it fit nicely in the 1
degree field of my 30mm WideScan III. M48 was a few button pushes away (as
long as I remembered to push a preceeding "zero" on the keypad (ie: the
comand should be M048: ENTER). It nearly filled the field and has a lot of
stars, but they seemed fainter and somewhat more scattered than those of M50.
I had wanted to revisit "the Medusa Nebula" from my driveway a few weeks
ago, but had been thwarted by a number of things, so it was time to try it
again. Unfortunately, this large faint planetary nebula in the middle of
nowhere is not in the NexStar's database, so I had to finally fire up the
computer and connect it to the NexStar, which, of course, led to the earlier
conclusions about cord length! Its numerical designator is non-NGC
(Sh2-274 or PK205+14.1), so its a rather obscure object which isn't often
shown on some charts (although it is on both Uranometria and Sky Atlas 2000).
I knew roughly where it was in the sky (in Gemini, roughly 5 degrees north
and 40' east of Gomeisa (Beta Canis Minoris)), and could have just slewed the
scope to it manually or entered the coordinates into the NexStar's hand
controller. However, with the computer ready to do its thing, I just fired
up Megastar and clicked on the object. The NexStar quietly slewed to the
area and then suddenly stopped. I looked in the eyepiece and initially saw
nothing but stars, so I thought "Uh-oh, NexStar's finally gone out to lunch".
However, as I looked, I noticed a large *very* faint C-shaped glow near the
bottom of the field. Bingo! I had picked this one up with my 10 inch, but
it had been years ago, and I had forgotten just how faint this sucker really
is (especially at the higher power I was now forced to use due to the
NexStar's longer focal length). The OIII filter tended to bring it out
somewhat better with hints of faint detail, but this challenge object wasn't
all that spectacular.
I had been trying to remember the NGC number of Thor's Helmet (NGC 2359),
but failing that, I noticed a star cluster on Megastar which showed a bright
star in its middle (NGC 2353). On a whim, I sent the Nexstar over to it and
found it to be a rather pretty object with not a lot of stars which reminded
me a little of the "Christmas Tree" cluster north of the Cone Nebula. The
next stop was "the Spindle Galaxy", NGC 3115 in Sextans, and this bright
little galaxy was very pleasing in the NexStar. It looks quite a bit more
elongated and less fat in the middle than is commonly shown in pictures. At
168x, it showed a bright almost stellar core with a pronounced linear spine
of light running down almost the entire length of the galaxy. From there, it
was on to one of my very favorite planetary nebulae, NGC 3242, "the Ghost of
Jupiter". Of course, it looked nothing like Jupiter, but it was quite pretty
all the same. 78x showed an almost brilliant bluish-green disk with a
brighter inner ring-like core imbedded in the fainter more oval outer haze.
It looked a bit more like an "eye" staring back at you than a planet. The
inner core was a bright but distorted ring with a somewhat varying brightness
and the faint central star was visible when seeing settled down.
I was curious if the NexStar 9.25 would show something like the nearby
dwarf galaxy Leo-1 (UGC 5470), located just a little north of Regulus. Leo-1
isn't in the NexStar's database either, but Regulus is. Slewing to Regulus
put that bright star in the lower half of the field, but I was surprised when
the large dim diffuse oval glow of the galaxy was visible even with brilliant
Regulus still in the field of view! In my 10 inch Newtonian, I generally
have to put Regulus just outside of the field, so I guess its time get the
10's optics recoated! This showed the high contrast of the StarBright XLT
coatings as well as the good overall optical quality of the NexStar which, a
couple of months ago, had changed me from a product reviewer to an owner.
While in the area, I went up into the "mane" of Leo to the bright galaxy
NGC 2903. This one has been one of my favorites for many years and tonight,
it didn't disappoint me. Even at 78x, it showed some detail, with its small
brighter core and very patchy outer haze. 168x revealed the spiral structure
to some extent, and it has always looked a bit like a barred spiral even at
low power, with a sort of linear set of brightenings on both sides of the
core region. Earlier classifications of the galaxy tended to call it Sc, but
I noted Megastar has it as SAB(rs)bc, so perhaps it is indeed barred.
From here, it was off to a small quartet of galaxies in the back of
Leo's mane: NGC's 3185, 3187, 3191, and 3193, which together are known as
Hickson 44. Again, I was a little surprised when all four showed up at only
78x, although little NGC 3187 was rather marginal. NGC 3193 was probably the
brightest of the group appearing as a small round fuzzy spot with a very
bright core. NGC 3190 was the next brightest in line with both 3193 and
3185, appearing as a rather elongated patch with a small brighter center and
possibly a hint of a dark lane at 168x. NGC 3185 was fainter still,
appearing as a faint oval with a slightly brighter middle and possibly a
slightly brighter outer edge. Little NGC 3187 was merely a short faint
cigar-shaped streak smaller and noticably fainter than any of the other
galaxies in the group.
I stopped briefly at Leo's Trio (M65, M66, and NGC 3628) and was rewarded
with a fine view of all three galaxies. M66 showed segments of its two
spiral arms, with the one on the west side being the more prominent (almost
flaring fan-like towards the south) along with a little mottling, while M65
revealed its brighter core and more elongated form. NGC 3628 was noticably
fainter but was equally interesting, as its long irregular dark lane was easy
to see. To me, the ends of this edge-on spiral look almost broadened or
"bushy".
I usually use my Telrad on the ten inch to get to the start of the
Markarian Chain of galaxies in Virgo, but I decided to just use the NexStar's
Go-To and see how close it would come. I selected M84 as the target
destination and off the NexStar slewed to its "prey". I had inadvertently
left in the 14mm Ultrawide (29' arc field), but the scope still found M84,
along with M86, NGC 4388, NGC 4387, and IC 3303 all nicely framed in the
field. The two giant ellipticals were quite easy, with NGC 4388 being the
other "dominant" object in the field, with its long cigar-shaped form. It
was nice to see the NexStar get these guys all in the field even at 168x!
I went up to M100 and was fairly satisfied at the view. 78x showed
extensive dim mottling around its somewhat brighter core, while 168x showed
segments of the spiral arms, although this object has never shown an overall
"grand design" kind of spiral structure to me. Clustered around M100 were
a number of faint companion galaxies: NGC's 4312, 4322 and 4328, and the
fainter IC 783 and UGC 7425. UGC 7425 and IC 783 were marginal at best and I
only noted them after seeing the two plotted on Megastar. NGC 4312 is the
one I am most used to seeing in the ten inch due to its brightness and
elongated form. The two others right (4322 and 4328) adjacent to M100 were
also merely *very* faint spots of light, but I don't recall ever seeing them
in the ten inch. I guess 78x and 168x are pretty good powers for this scope.
Next on my list of things to look at was a quick stop at M104. Again,
this was a beautiful sight at moderate to high power, with the long dark
lane and prominent nuclear region. From there, I thought I might try for the
"Ring-Tail" Galaxy, NGC 4038-9, and the NexStar obliged. I was again quite
surprised as to how nice this object looked, as I seem to have hit a "sweet
spot" in power at 78x to 168x. The object was faint but unusually easy to
see, showing the interacting objects fairly well as an oval fuzzy patch with
a short fat tail on the southern portion. In fact, I could see some
brightness variations in both the northern and southern components at 168x
and 297x. The northern galaxy seemed to have a series of small patches near
the limit of visiblity in a sort of broken ring or oval, while the "tail" of
the southern one had one patch near its middle. While in the area, I sent
the scope over to the bright planetary nebula NGC 4361. It was quite easy to
see with a bluish coloration, but it showed some odd flaring of its outer
haze in various directions which gave it a less than disk-like form. Higher
power confirmed this sort of flared effect (mostly on the northern and
southern sides of the main oval), making it look rather unusual for a
planetary nebula. I went farther south to the large barred spiral M83 and
again was a little surprised at the detail I could see, although none of it
was exactly bright. Still, I could see the central bar and the numerous
diffuse patches that surround the core region.
I noticed that Spica was almost on the meridian, so it was time for my
annual "lets try for Omega Centauri from 40.3N" exercise. I quickly found
NGC 5128 (Centaurus "A") and noted its dark lane vaguely, but then punched in
NGC 5139. The scope promptly slewed onto a low tree about 100 feet to my
south! I had to wait about 5 minutes for the rotation of the Earth to carry
Omega out from behind the low branch, but eventually, this big globular did
appear as a *very* large dim fuzzy ball with a few stars in it. Considering
that it was only 2.2 degrees above my south horizon, I suppose I am lucky to
have seen anything at all!
I went back northward to something "a little higher" in the form of the
"Black-eye" Galaxy M64. As usual, the NexStar put me almost right on top of
the object, and it appeared a bit larger and maybe a tad brighter than I am
used to seeing it. Indeed, the brightness of the galaxy made seeing the dark
arc north of the nucleus a bit more difficult at 78x than I am used to. The
area around the core seemed to show some soft brightness variation that
hinted at a very smooth almost uniform spiral form in the outer haze, with
some flaring off the east and west ends. After this, it was on to the huge
edge-on spiral NGC 4565, "Berenice's Hair Clip" (a John Dobson name). This
monster was very nice at all the powers I tried, and essentually filled the
field of view at 297x. The star-like core, the dark lane across the
egg-shaped nuclear bulge, and the long mottled pointed ends were all seen
with little trouble, although it took a lot of averted-vision and moving the
eye around to catch all the detail.
After a brief look at M5 and M13 (mostly to straighten the cord to the
NexStar out), I went to M51. It was simply stunning at both 78x and 168x,
showing the dim bridge between the two galaxies as well as the spiral
structure. Indeed, the view at 168x is one of the finest I have ever had of
that object in a modest-aperture scope. I even pushed things to 297x to see
the dark lane-like features which separate the spiral arm segments. I tried
M101, and it showed much patchy detail, but like M100, its spiral structure
is somewhat vague at best. After this, it was getting rather late, so I did
a quick tour of M97 to see both of its eyes (without a filter for once),
M108 to see its patchy structure, M81 and M82 (both shown well), and finally,
an object which has puzzled me ever since getting the NexStar: the "Bear Paw"
galaxy (NGC 2357). I had seen it in the "named objects" portion of the
database, so I selected it and sent the NexStar to work. What I found was
a small dim round puff of fairly uniform brightness but with maybe a hint of
some dark detail, but nothing more. I may have to revisit this one in a much
larger aperture sometime.
All in all, I am satisfied that the NexStar 9.25GPS is a pretty good
scope for deep-sky work, so I guess I can part with the mirrors in the ten
inch for a while to get them recoated. Clear skies to you.

--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

All in all, I am satisfied that the NexStar 9.25GPS is a pretty good
scope for deep-sky work, so I guess I can part with the mirrors in the ten
inch for a while to get them recoated. Clear skies to you.

David:

Nice post. Checked Cartes du Ciel, the Medusa Nebula is also in its named
nebula data base.

Jon

David Knisely wrote:

DS041404 RECENT OBSERVATIONS
by David Knisely

DATE: April 14, 2004, 0330 to 0600 hrs UTC.
LOCATION: Rockford Lake, Nebraska 40.227N, 96.580W, elev. 1400 ft (427m)
INSTRUMENTS: NexStar 9.25GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain (altazimuth mode): 78x, 99x,
168x, 235x, 297x, 367x, 479x.
CONDITIONS: Mostly clear, Temp. 45F (7.2C), wind SW at 0-5 mph.
UNAIDED-EYE ZENITH LIMITING MAGNITUDE: 6.6
SEEING (above 45 deg. altitude): 0.6" to 1.2" (Antoniadi II).

OBJECTS OBSERVED: M48, M50, Sh2-274 (Medusa Nebula), NGC 3115 (Spindle Galaxy)
NGC 2353, Leo-1, NGC 2903, NGC 3185-87-90-93 (Hickson 44), M65, M66, NGC 3628,
M84, M86, NGC 4387, NGC 4388, IC 3303, M100, NGC 4328, NGC 4322, NGC 4312, IC
783, UGC 7425, M64, NGC 4565, NGC 4038-9 (Ring-tail Galaxy), NGC 4361, M104,
M83, NGC 5128, NGC 5139, M5, M51, M101, NGC 5474, M97, M108, M81, M82, NGC
2357 (Bear Paw Galaxy), M13.

OBSERVATIONS: Clear skies and not too cool temperatures presented themselves
after a few days of clouds, so I decided to put both the NexStar and my
little laptop to the acid test by running both "in the field" at my rural
dark-sky site above Rockford Lake. I did learn a lot by doing this, as
previously, this setup had only been tested on my driveway. As I quickly
discovered, Murphy *really* likes it when you go "digital".
The first "fact" of electronic telescope operation is, "You will forget
at least one important cable or cord". I managed to only get two blocks from
home before I realized this and returned for the main power cord of the
NexStar. After about an 18 minute drive over some rural roads, I arrived at
my favorite spot above the lake and began to set up. The second fact of
electronic telescope operation was, "All cords or cables will be too short".
The DC power outlets I had installed in my minivan were intended to power my
amateur radio equipment which is usually mounted at the base of the dash
board. Thus, I had to add some wire "in the field" to the NexStar's power
cable to get it to go all the way through the length of the van and out a few
more feet to where I had set up the NexStar (thank goodness I had taken some
electrical tape along).
....
You really need a Power Tank (Celestron and Orion sell them), a
jumpstart pack, or homemade battery pack to power that scope. Take a
look at the page:

http://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsEnds.htm

and look at the battery tutorial and power sources articles.
--
Pat O'Connell
[note munged EMail address]
Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints,
Kill nothing but vandals...

Pat O'Connell wrote:

You really need a Power Tank (Celestron and Orion sell them), a jumpstart pack, or homemade battery pack to power that scope. Take a look at the page:

http://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsEnds.htm

and look at the battery tutorial and power sources articles.

I have seen that site and its information is fairly accurate. Unfortunately,
I may need a *lot* more juice than the Power Tank can provide. The NexStar
draws about 1.5 amps and the laptop+inverter a little over 4.7 amps (laptop
doesn't run at 12V). In a night's observing (say, 4 hours), that's nearly 25
amp-hours of capacity, which is well over the Power Tank's 17 amp-hours. Add
in a CCD system and I would probably need two Power Tanks at least. I have my
doubts about some of the "Jump-start" packs I have seen, as they may use
non-deep-cycle batteries which could eventually be killed in long-term
continuous duty applications (they don't say on the box anything but
"lead-acid" battery). Its was no problem for the van's battery when used in
this first test, but I do plan on something a little more beefy (probably a
deep-cycle battery) down the road. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

"David Knisely" wrote in message
...
I have seen that site and its information is fairly accurate.
Unfortunately,
I may need a *lot* more juice than the Power Tank can provide. The
NexStar
draws about 1.5 amps and the laptop+inverter a little over 4.7 amps
(laptop
doesn't run at 12V). In a night's observing (say, 4 hours), that's nearly
25
amp-hours of capacity, which is well over the Power Tank's 17 amp-hours.
Add
in a CCD system and I would probably need two Power Tanks at least. I
have my
doubts about some of the "Jump-start" packs I have seen, as they may use
non-deep-cycle batteries which could eventually be killed in long-term
continuous duty applications (they don't say on the box anything but
"lead-acid" battery). Its was no problem for the van's battery when used
in
this first test, but I do plan on something a little more beefy (probably
a
deep-cycle battery) down the road. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely

David,

I've used deep cycle marine batteries I got at WalMart. They
carry enough juice for an evening, and are not very costly.
I have trickle charger I use to recharge them. Their not very
heavy either. Wouldn't take much work to make a wooden
case to carry them with receptacles.

I've found that two batteries will readily power everything
you refer to with no issues (even though one might do it,
I like the extra insurance).

Thanks, Tom Davis

David Knisely writes:


I was curious if the NexStar 9.25 would show something like the nearby
dwarf galaxy Leo-1 (UGC 5470), located just a little north of Regulus.
Leo-1
isn't in the NexStar's database either, but Regulus is. Slewing to
Regulus
put that bright star in the lower half of the field, but I was surprised
when
the large dim diffuse oval glow of the galaxy was visible even with
brilliant
Regulus still in the field of view! In my 10 inch Newtonian, I generally
have to put Regulus just outside of the field, so I guess its time get the
10's optics recoated! )


A couple of things here. Sometime last week this object (UGC 5470) came to
my attention. I'm not sure if there was a picture of it in s.b.p.a. or if
it was mentioned in s.a.a. or another astronomy group but it is on my list
of objects to try for.

In the past month, the mirrors to both my 114mm and 12.5 inch newts have
been recoated (along with their secondaries), but I haven't had the chance
to try for Leo-1 since first, too much moon was in the sky and second,
clouds returned as soon as the moon was no longer a factor. Sound familiar?

Al M. of Sirius Optics (who did my mirrors) told me that they will now
reflect at 93 to 95 percent. . .so, to get to my question, is there any
chance of netting Leo-1 under the fifth magnitude night sky which my
property presents? I have planned to give it a go this coming Monday or
Tuesday night.


Next on my list of things to look at was a quick stop at M104. Again,
this was a beautiful sight at moderate to high power, with the long dark
lane and prominent nuclear region.


First light for the new coatings on the 114mm scope was M104 and although it
suffered from its location in a localized light dome, I believe I saw hints
of that long dark lane at a power of around 100x (9mm Scopestuff UltraWide
EP on the 910mm focal length scope). The NELM in the light dome could not
have been better than 4.0 -- give or take a little in either direction. My
recent discussion with Brian Tung concerning perception and reality makes me
wonder if the observation of the dark lane could be a valid one under the
conditions described. Comments?


--
Martin

David Knisely wrote:

Pat O'Connell wrote:

You really need a Power Tank (Celestron and Orion sell them), a jumpstart pack, or homemade battery pack to power that scope. Take a look at the page:

http://www.nexstarsite.com/OddsEnds.htm

and look at the battery tutorial and power sources articles.

I have seen that site and its information is fairly accurate. Unfortunately,
I may need a *lot* more juice than the Power Tank can provide. The NexStar
draws about 1.5 amps and the laptop+inverter a little over 4.7 amps (laptop

"Nominal current" for a 114GT is .75 amps or so, with slewing taking
1.25 amps. However, if your ammeter says otherwise for your scope...

doesn't run at 12V). In a night's observing (say, 4 hours), that's nearly 25
amp-hours of capacity, which is well over the Power Tank's 17 amp-hours. Add
in a CCD system and I would probably need two Power Tanks at least. I have my
doubts about some of the "Jump-start" packs I have seen, as they may use
non-deep-cycle batteries which could eventually be killed in long-term

Mostly gel cells I believe, unless you buy a premium pack.

continuous duty applications (they don't say on the box anything but
"lead-acid" battery). Its was no problem for the van's battery when used in
this first test, but I do plan on something a little more beefy (probably a
deep-cycle battery) down the road. Clear skies to you.

And you also.

--
Pat O'Connell
[note munged EMail address]
Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints,
Kill nothing but vandals...

Martin posted:

Al M. of Sirius Optics (who did my mirrors) told me that they will now
reflect at 93 to 95 percent. . .so, to get to my question, is there any
chance of netting Leo-1 under the fifth magnitude night sky which my
property presents? I have planned to give it a go this coming Monday or
Tuesday night.

Leo-1 might not be visible under those conditions, however, go ahead and try
for it, as I have been proved wrong before. I have generally been
unsuccessful in seeing the galaxy if the zenith limiting magnitude is less
than 6.0. I have only observed it in my 10 inch so I have no idea what the
minimum aperture needed to detect it would be (probably a 6 inch RFT with
smooth optics and excellent coatings might have a chance).

First light for the new coatings on the 114mm scope was M104 and although it
suffered from its location in a localized light dome, I believe I saw hints
of that long dark lane at a power of around 100x (9mm Scopestuff UltraWide
EP on the 910mm focal length scope). The NELM in the light dome could not
have been better than 4.0 -- give or take a little in either direction. My
recent discussion with Brian Tung concerning perception and reality makes me
wonder if the observation of the dark lane could be a valid one under the
conditions described. Comments?

I think that you may indeed have seen it. I was surprised at a star party we
put on for the National Park Service (Homestead National Monument) with a fat
crescent (5-day) moon in the sky. One of our younger members had the Orion
XT4.5 Dobsonian, and after the crowd thinned out, I put the little thing on
M104. At about 100x, I could indeed just barely detect the dark lane, so I
think you could have too. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
**********************************************

David wrote:

I was curious if the NexStar 9.25 would show something like the
nearby
dwarf galaxy Leo-1 (UGC 5470), located just a little north of Regulus.
Leo-1
isn't in the NexStar's database either, but Regulus is. Slewing to
Regulus
put that bright star in the lower half of the field, but I was surprised
when
the large dim diffuse oval glow of the galaxy was visible even with
brilliant
Regulus still in the field of view!


I now have an image of this challenging object on my website. As David
points out, it is VERY close to Regulus. For those wishing to get an idea
of the faintness of Leo-1 and its proximity to Regulus, go to:

http://home.earthlink.net/~martinhowell and click on "Other stuff"


The FOV of the image is 30' x 30'


--
Martin