Galaxies & Galaxy Groups

Despite the balancing act the sketch came out reasonably well. Subtle, somewhat large and diffuse spirals can be tricky to portray accurately.

NGC 2997 was discovered by William Herschel in 1793, and it lies about 25 million light years away. The plane of the galaxy from our vantage point is about 45°, so imagine the view if it was directly face on.

At the top of the sketch and very conspicuous is the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070). The rest of the field is strewn with a plethora open clusters and nebulosity to numerous to mention here.The sketch took quite some time to complete and was very tedious. However it can never replace the actual visual splendor of this object.

The Large Magellanic Cloud was first mentioned in literature as far back as 964AD. Amerigo Vespucci recorded observations of it in 1503-04. Ferdinand Magellan during his voyage in 1519 noted it, and it now bears his name. The LMC was home to supernova 1987A, the only naked eye supernova visible for over 400 years.

NGC 2294/2291/2289/2288/2290

Galaxies Gemini

Ilford NSW Australia 12/12/10

56cm f5 dobsonian telescope

Field: 17′ Magnification: 354xBlack Canford paper, white pen, white pencil, white oil pencil, white pastel chalk, paint brush, blending stumpThis was quite a nice collection of galaxies in Gemini that viewed well in the 56cm dob. The brightest member of this group is NGC 2294, as is quite evident in the sketch. Descending to the right is NGC 2291 a diffuse mag 14.0 galaxy, followed directly below about 6′ by two quite faint and small galaxies

NGC 2289/2288 which are only some 2′ apart. The last object in this group is NGC 2290 another diffuse mag 14.0 galaxy about 1.0′ x 1.0′ in size.This was a fairly faint group, but they were not overly challenging from a dark sky site. I do not know whether any of these galaxies are in interaction, but looking at some DSS images of this group it seems unlikely.

NGC 4517

Galaxy Virgo

Ilford NSW Australia 28/03/06

41cm f4.7 Dobsonian telescope

Field: 23′ Magnification: 210xSky quality: N/ABlack Canford paper, white pen, white pencil, white pastel chalk, blending stump, paint brushNGC 4517 is a really nice edge-on galaxy around 12′ x 2′ in size. In the 41cm dob this galaxy looked very elegant and is designated as type Sc. However visually it looks somewhat irregular in its appearance. It reminds me of NGC 55 in Sculptor. This is one of my older sketches from 2006.

NGC 5194/5195 (M51)

The “Whirlpool Galaxy”

Interacting galaxies Canes Venatici

Ilford NSW Australia 24/05/06

41cm f4.5 dobsonian telescope

Field: 23′ Magnification: x210Black Canford paper, white pen, white pencil, white pastel chalk, blending stump, paint brush.

What can I say about the Whirlpool Galaxy? At my location Messier 51 is at a little over +47 deg, so it is about as far north as I can go without getting ridiculous, especially when there is a big chunk of glass sitting at the bottom of the telescope. At this extreme declination I only require a modest chair to sit on as the object is so low in the northern sky.

I did this sketch in 2006 in my old 41cm dob, which was before I purchased a sky quality meter so information on the “seeing” conditions is a bit scant. However the northern sky from my site always seems to look a bit hazy down low despite the fact that there is no major city in that direction except from the rural township of Mudgee some 40km away. I had best leave any thoughts on my interpretation of NGC 5194/5195 for those who observe it far higher in the sky than me.

NGC 5566/5569/5560

Galaxies Virgo

Ilford NSW Australia 14/05/10

56cm f5.0 dobsonian telescope

Field: 17′ Magnification: 354xBlack Canford paper, white pen, white pencil, white pastel chalk, fine tip paint brushFrom the Realm Of The Nebulae comes this interesting trio of relatively bright galaxies. At the top of the sketch we have NGC 5569 followed by NGC 5566 (Arp 286) and at the bottom is NGC 5560. Deep images show that these galaxies are interacting, with the dominant member being NGC 5566.

NGC 839/838/835/833

Hickson 16 Cetus

Ilford NSW Australia 09/08/10

56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope

Field: 15′ Magnification: 314xBlack Canford paper, white pen, white pencil, white pastel chalk, blending stump, paint brushThis lovely little chain of four galaxies was easily visible in the 56cm dob. Though small all of them were fairly bright at around mag 12.5. Quite a number of the Hickson galaxy groups are faint and challenging objects.This group however was a pleasant surprise.

MGC-3-1-15

“Wolf-Lunmark-Melotte System” Dwarf irregular galaxy Cetus

Ilford NSW Australia 09/08/10

56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope

Field: 32′ Magnification:: 129xBlack Canford paper, white pen, white pencil, white oil pencil, white pastel chalk, paint brush, blending stump.

This diffuse dwarf galaxy required a relatively wide field with modest magnification to show it at its best. The WLM system is a distant local group member around 4 million light years away and was discovered by Max Wolf in 1909. However it was not until 1926 that its nature as a galaxy was determined by Knut Lundmark and P.J. Melotte. This galaxy also has an extra-galactic globular which is a challenge for keen deep sky observers.

NGC 6822

Barnard’s Dwarf Galaxy Sagittarius

Ilford NSW Australia 24/07/09

Field 27′ Magnification 218x

56cm f5 dobsonian telescope

Black Canford paper, white pastel, white pen, soft white pencil, blending stumpNGC 6822 or “Barnard’s Dwarf Galaxy” is not a particularly difficult object from a dark sky site, but it is rather diffuse, and can suffer visually from poor sky conditions. I always find medium to low magnification the best when observing this galaxy as it contrasts nicely with the numerous field stars.I noticed there had been one or two entries in previous years on ASOD dealing with NGC 6822, so I thought I might add my own just for another perspective on this fascinating object. As you can probably notice just to the right of center in the sketch and about 6′ apart are two of the brighter H-II regions of this object.

A local group member NGC 6822 is quite famous as being the basis for Edwin Hubble’s seminal paper- NGC 6822 A Remote Stellar System (Hubble 1925) wherein he was able to identify 15 variable stars, the majority of which were Cepheid’s. He was then able to determine the distance to NGC 6822 with great accuracy (over 700 000 ly). This virtually concluded the “Great Debate” of 1920 between Shapely and Curtis over the scale of the Universe and the nature of “Spiral Nebulae”.

So if you get a chance to observe NGC 6822 you are looking at a bit of history in more ways than one.

NGC 4038/4039

“The Antennae”

Interacting galaxies Corvus

Ilford NSW Australia 13/05/10

56cm f5 dobsonian telescope

Field: 17′ Magnification: 354xBlack Canford paper, white oil pencil, white pastel pencil, white pastel chalk, white pen, blending stumpThe interacting galaxies NGC 4038/4039 are always good value in any size of telescope. In the 56cm dob there was subtle detail visible without using averted vision, I just wished the sky conditions were a bit better on the night.

The protruding “Antennae” that are so spectacular in images were not visible (which is not surprising). When you look at the magnificent HST image of this object with all its associated colours, and then look at the object in a large aperture dob at fairly high magnification, its shape and form is not too dissimilar.

NGC 4268/4272/4277/4281/4270/IC 3153

Galaxies

Ilford NSW Australia 14/05/10

56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope

Field: 17′ Magnification: 354xBlack Canford paper, white pen, white pencil, soft white pastel chalk, white oil pen, blending stump, fine tip paint brush for smoothnessWhenever Virgo is well placed in the southern sky I always try and tick a few more objects off my observing list. I noticed an interesting group of galaxies as I was checking my charts, and I marked them down for observation.

I was most impressed when I finally managed to get them in the eyepiece of the 56cm dob. It is quite a rare treat to have so many bright galaxies gathered together in the one field.

NGC 55

Irregular Galaxy Sculptor

Chillagoe, Queensland Australia 16/11/09

TeleVue 76mm Apo Refractor

Magnification: 32x

Field: 128′

Black Canford paper, white pen, soft white pencil, blending stumpLast November I went to visit my sister who lives Cairns in Queensland. My travel scope is a TeleVue 76mm Apo and it fits into a large duffle bag, along with the Telepod mount and drum stool, eyepieces etc. It stows well for airline travel. We hired a car at Cairns and took a trip to outback Queensland and the mining town of Chillagoe.

We stayed at the Eco Lodge resort and Observatory which was rather comfortable considering it is made up of ex mining dongas. The Lodge had an observatory/shed which housed a C-8, in front of which was a nice flat dry and dusty expanse where I set up my scope for what turned out to be two nights of clear skies. Lots of nightlife punctuated my observing as creatures scurried about and argued amongst the trees. I completed three sketches out at Chillagoe, one of which was NGC 55. This large galaxy looks good even in a very wide field using low magnification.

ESO 270-17

“Fourcade-Figueroa Object”

Galaxy Centaurus

Ilford NSW Australia 18/03/10

56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope

Field: 15′ Magnification: 314This is a sketch I done recently of the elusive galaxy ESO 270-17, sometimes described as the “Fourcade-Figueroa object”. Studies have shown that this galaxy could quite possibly have collided with NGC 5128 “Centaurus A” in the distant past and thus is considered as a “shred”. The alignment of the dust band of NGC 5128 with ESO 270-17 and also its lack of rotation has lead researchers to conclude that this quite faint galaxy had collision based origins. A dark sky site and some decent aperture are essential for observing this unusual object.

NGC 5291 & MCG -5-33-5

”Seashell Galaxy” Interacting galaxies Centaurus

Ilford NSW Australia 21/02/10

56cm f5.0 Dobsonian telescope

Field: 15′ Magnification: 314xBlack Canford paper, white pen, white pastel chalk, soft white pencil, white oil pencil. This strange little pair of galaxies first came to my attention many years ago when I purchased the lovely coffee table book “Exploring The Southern Sky” by Laustsen-Madsen-West. On page 106 there is a lovely negative image showing why the companion to NGC 5291 is called the “Seashell”.

In my 56cm dob it is a struggle to discern any hint of the unusual shape of this object even with averted vision. However this is a very interesting tight pairing and they both viewed quite easily in the 56cm dob. Both objects I believe are classed as disturbed S0 type. MCG-5-33-5 is the object to the left of the brighter NGC 5291 as seen in the sketch. Also of note is the very faint galaxy PGC 4887, this galaxy can be barely seen about 7′ further to the left of NGC 5291/Seashell almost to the edge of the field.

The whole region surrounding this pair is strewn with numerous galaxies of varying brightness and size, all of which are part of the IC 4329 cluster. I recommend those interested visit the CDS or NED databases if you wish to view the “Seashell” in greater detail.

NGC 1313

Star Burst Galaxy Reticulum

Ilford NSW Australia 12/12/09

56cm f5 Dobsonian

Field: 17′ Magnification: 354xBlack Canford paper, white pen, white pastel, soft white pencil, white oil pencil, blending stumpI was not all that impressed with the quality of the observing conditions while I was sketching this impressive galaxy. Waves of unsteady air were crossing the eyepiece field at intervals. Still, when there is a clear sky to be had then beggars cannot be choosers.NGC 1313 is big and bright enough to hold its own in such conditions. A noted Star Burst galaxy as is quite evident from its ramshackle appearance. In a large dob this galaxy is a very rewarding sight.

ESO 350-40

The “Cartwheel Galaxy” Ring Galaxy

Ilford NSW Australia 13/12/09

56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope

Field: 27′ 218x magnification. Black Canford paper, white oil pencil, white pen, white pastel chalk. The enigmatic Cartwheel Galaxy is a tough enough object to observe let alone sketch. During a nice clear night in December I made an attempt to sketch it as accurately as possible to the actual eyepiece view, and I was reasonably pleased with the end result. The trouble with the Cartwheel is that it is quite faint and ill defined in most amateur telescopes, as averted vision is required to capture glimpses of the more subtle features of the object.To sum up the galaxy is visible as a soft oval glow some 2.0′ x 2.0′ in size, with the two unusual companion galaxies around 1.3′ to the left as can be seen in the sketch. Another galaxy some 2.0′ above and slightly to the left of the companions was also visible, this galaxy has no relationship with the Cartwheel.

Sculptor was getting a bit low in the west whilst I was doing this sketch, but it was possible during moments of steady seeing and using averted vision to just barely make out the ring structure, but it was very faint. I could not detect any hint of the “spokes” as seen in the Hubble image, but with a larger scope and steadier seeing they could quite possibly be a chance. The brighter more active star forming region of the galaxy was discernible as a slightly mottled curved patch some 1.6′ x 0.4′ in size, as can be seen slightly off center to the lower right.

The Pavo Group of Galaxies IC 4970/NGC 6872/ PGC 64439/ NGC 6876/ NGC 6877/ NGC 6880/ IC 4981

Galaxies

Ilford NSW Australia 24/07/09

56cm f5 Dobsonian

Field: 27′ Magnification: 218xSky quality meter reading: 21:64. This has always been a nice collection of galaxies to visit in Pavo. Sometimes with a sketch it can be a bit confusing sorting out which galaxies are which. Hopefully I have got all their designations correct.

NGC 4594 (M104)

The Sombrero Galaxy

Galaxy Virgo

Ilford NSW Australia 30/05/08

56cm f5 dobsonian

Field: 15′ Magnification: 314x. I had not long got my home made 56cm dob up and running with a Servo-Cat drive installed, and was still ironing out a few problems. However it was tracking sufficiently enough that I popped in to visit the Sombrero, hence the result was this sketch.