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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 5209
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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Two nights ago I took my 10-inch Dob and a recently acquired set of digital setting circles to my usual observing site and started observing once the moon had gone down. In no time at all, I had worked through a list of objects I wanted to see to NGC-1316 and 1317, a bright pair of galaxies in Fornax that also belongs to the Fornax Galaxy Cluster. The haze and light pollution was considerable where they were, but I decided to try anyway and surprisingly enough both sliced through the murk surprisingly well. I could see plainly the larger galaxy has a small and very bright nucleus and an egg shape that matches photos of it. It's very similar to M-87, NGC-1275 in Perseus and NGC-5128 in Centaurus in that it has an actively feeding super massive black hole in it's center. There are two jets extending from it from which very strong radio emissions have been detected, and for this reason NGC-1316 is also known as Fornax A. There are also dark molecular clouds along the outer edges of this galaxy, which probably came from another galaxy recently cannibalized by NGC-1316. The fainter galaxy also had a bright but very tiny core, and although it looks like an elliptical in the telescope, is more likely to be either an S0 lenticular or a SBa spiral galaxy. They made a nice pair at 103X but at higher power the view deteriorated because they were low in the sky and subject to the murkiness there. Undoubtedly if they were better placed they would rival or surpass many of the bright galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.
Taras
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15-inch F/4.5 Dob under construction
10-inch F/4.5 Discovery Dob
6-inch F/8 Homebuilt Dob
4 1/4-inch F/4 Homebuilt reflector
A whole bunch of eyepieces, filters and other accessories....
One curious cat
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WadeVC
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/02/05
Posts: 2831
Loc: Lodi, California,
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Taras,
Very, very nice sketch of two great looking (and unknown to me...so they have been added to my "must see" list) galaxies! Your sketch has me excited to try and spot these gems.
Excellent sketch! 
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Orion XTi10 f/4.7
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A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.
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frank5817
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/13/06
Posts: 4488
Loc: Illinois
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Taras,
Excellent galaxy sketching as usual. I have looked for NGC 1318 in the past because it is very bright. I think I gave up too quickly. Need to try again some clear night. Like you do,I enjoy the galaxy pairs and multiple galaxies in the same field of view. Again very nice.  
Frank 
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my gallery
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xfile101
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/08/07
Posts: 760
Loc: Ocean Gate, NJ
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Beautiful sketch  Alas, I fear I won't be able to see these two from my present location. Maybe I can talk the wife into trip south on of these days 
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Orion XT8I
Celestron 114EQ Firstscope
Meade 70mm
Astroscan
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CarlosEH
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/19/05
Posts: 4603
Loc: Pembroke Pines, Broward County...
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Taras,
An excellent observation of a pair of interesting galaxies in Fornax. I agree that they would be very prominent if closer to our Sun. Thank you for sharing them with us all.
Links;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1316
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1999/06
http://www.spiegelteam.de/ngc1316.htm
Carlos
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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 5209
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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Thanks everyone for taking the time to look at it and the thumbs up as well. This object definitely exceeded my expectations due to the poor position it was in to observe. As for being able to see it, this galaxy gets about 25 degrees above the southern horizon here in southern Alabama at culmination. So if you're up in the northern part of the country, it likely would be impossible to see. It would be great if we could all move to a nice, dark and frequently clear location near the equator so we can see almost the entire sky.
Taras
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15-inch F/4.5 Dob under construction
10-inch F/4.5 Discovery Dob
6-inch F/8 Homebuilt Dob
4 1/4-inch F/4 Homebuilt reflector
A whole bunch of eyepieces, filters and other accessories....
One curious cat
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kraterkid
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/07/05
Posts: 4658
Loc: Jacumba, California
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Taras great capture and intriquing report of this elusive southern couple. Looks like you'll really be taking advantage of those new DSC's.
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Rich
My CN Gallery
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rodelaet
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3064
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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A beautiful duo, Taras!!
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Rony
My Astronomical Sketches
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cildarith
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/26/04
Posts: 2447
Loc: San Diego, CA
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Excellent sketch, Taras!
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Eric
6" f/6 Parks Newtonian
10x50 Bushnell Binocs
CN Sketch Gallery||MinDat Mineral Gallery
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