NGC 772 (rev)

On my second attempt at this elusive galaxy...

The sky literally turned black in the FOV. Lost sight of everything. So, got up and walked around, sipped some coffee and went back to it. Paused to relax and breath more often. All better. This time I spent an hour and a half with NGC 772. Went by pretty quick, really. A couple of striking views.

First, I saw the dust lane really well at least twice. The second time, it had a little hook to it like it was wrapping around the core. The first time, just a straight shot over the top.  And I saw suggestions of it several times. I'm convinced I saw it. Just too many good glimpses and fleeting ones combined to turn away from it.

The second striking view was a brighter arc to the north west inside the faint glow. That floored me. I do not know whether it was inside or outside the dust lane, they were not both seen at the same time. I presume outside being a fragment of the elusive spiral arm. Never though to look for that arm inside the galaxy, I kept looking for it jutting out into space.

The stellar core, or a star very near the core, was quite evident and seen often. I cannot say I saw any hint of the spiral arm jutting off into space by itself. About all I can say is, the eastern edge of the galaxy was broader and appeared more rounded. The western portion is not.

I did spend time at 108x power hoping some increase in surface brightness would show the arm. All I can say is, well, maybe one fleeting glimpse of an apostrophe shape. Just one glimpse, and it was so quick I just could not say. I did spend more time at 108x just to see. But, nothing really, except a faint round glow with a slightly brighter center. The best view was at 162x.

The sketch is purposefully brighter this time. I like this one a little better...

That faint star SSE is - not a speck of dust on your monitor - it's magnitude 15.25. Amazing.