20 replies to this topic

[KidOrion]

I've just dropped another 11,000 words on the deep sky, complete with 2200 on the Orion Nebula alone. This installment is Messier-oriented, unlike the Shakhbazian Compact Groups and flat galaxies of some of my more-recent endeavors. Plus, Ren & Stimpy!

 

https://unfrozencave...essier-madness/

[KidOrion]

It's 80s Night over at the blog, with a new post of flat galaxies, The Far Side, and old beer commercials. So crack open a Lowenbrau and hang out on the crag for a while with some of the EAS Irregulars!

 

https://unfrozencave...hing-thee-long/

[KidOrion]

A long-awaited (by someone, no doubt) update to tribal history, with plenty of obscure galaxies, two prominent Messier objects, some Wordpress-straining diacritics, and a tribute to Icelandic post-rock. Catch it before it disapp—errrr… sits on the Internet for all eternity!

 

https://unfrozencave...agaetis-byrjun/

Edited by KidOrion, 09 December 2023 - 11:34 AM.

[SNH]

I read some of it. Quite a different project indeed trying to view the brightest galaxies contained within the expansive Summer Triangle. I managed to get the crown jewel of them all back in October using my friend's decent quality 36-inch Dob under 21.00 mpsas skies. I'm talking about Cygnus A (LEDA 63932)! On the second night, I got several strong glimpses of it at 516x as a compact yet diffuse glow. At 750 million light-years away and directly behind several arms of the Milky Way, it felt good to catch sight of it.

 

How many galaxies total do you think you'll have a shot at in your project?

 

Scott H.

[KidOrion]

I read some of it. Quite a different project indeed trying to view the brightest galaxies contained within the expansive Summer Triangle. I managed to get the crown jewel of them all back in October using my friend's decent quality 36-inch Dob under 21.00 mpsas skies. I'm talking about Cygnus A (LEDA 63932)! On the second night, I got several strong glimpses of it at 516x as a compact yet diffuse glow. At 750 million light-years away and directly behind several arms of the Milky Way, it felt good to catch sight of it.

 

How many galaxies total do you think you'll have a shot at in your project?

 

Scott H.

I had 43 on my list and got about 25-30 of them (I’ll have to get an exact count in a bit, when I can use my kid’s computer). Many of the others were too faint for the 20”, although I did get Cygnus A and found it not impossible.

 

Another long blog post to follow, but it’ll be some time yet.

[SNH]

Wow, you saw over two dozen galaxies! Impressive. And I'm really impressed that you saw Cygnus A in your 20-inch since I figure that's pretty much the "minimum aperture" for it. Great job, Andy.

 

SH

[KidOrion]

Wow, you saw over two dozen galaxies! Impressive. And I'm really impressed that you saw Cygnus A in your 20-inch since I figure that's pretty much the "minimum aperture" for it. Great job, Andy.

 

SH

I actually went back and counted; I have at least 35 and possibly as many as 37 galaxies that I tracked down (my recording of one of the galaxy clusters up there in Cygnus is on my regular computer, which is in storage). So it makes me wonder if the list I have currently is the I was working off of, because there were more than eight of them that were beyond the range of my aperture, conditions, and eyes.

 

Admittedly, two of those galaxies were in western Sagitta, just outside the Summer Triangle, so I probably shouldn’t count those. (But it does bring my total in Sagitta to three!)

[SNH]

When it comes to those right at the edge of the Summer Triangle asterism, how are you able to be so exact? Did you draw a ruler line in U2000.0 or have you found a way to draw such a line on a program?

 

SH

[KidOrion]

When it comes to those right at the edge of the Summer Triangle asterism, how are you able to be so exact? Did you draw a ruler line in U2000.0 or have you found a way to draw such a line on a program?

 

SH

I used SkySafari’s distance finder to draw lines, then zoomed in along them. Having the galaxies in an observing list and highlighted means that they’re circled, so I can see their positions on the screen at all times, and can follow where they are along the lines. (I could only draw one line at a time, though, so Vega-Altair, Altair-Deneb, Deneb-Vega.)

 

I’m pretty sure there are better ways to do it, but I haven’t found any. In this project, I’m willing to be 90% accurate on locations as long as my observations are accurate. And I’d rather err in the direction of observing too many galaxies than missing a few that belong.

[SNH]

Well, Andy, it's June. With no new blog posts, I have to assume that you haven't been able to do much observing. I'm so sorry to hear that.

 

By the way, why does your location say you're on the East Coast when I thought you were in the PNW...could that be a reason?

 

Scott H.

[KidOrion]

Well, Andy, it's June. With no new blog posts, I have to assume that you haven't been able to do much observing. I'm so sorry to hear that.

 

By the way, why does your location say you're on the East Coast when I thought you were in the PNW...could that be a reason?

 

Scott H.

It’s kinda timely that you mention it—I do have another (long!) post in the pipeline, but (ironically) the more time I’ve had to write, the less I’ve gotten done!

 

The dominant factor in the delay is the foot surgery that I had back in August; I then decided to add insult to injury and broke the same foot two weeks after the surgery. That’s kept me from observing until very recently, although I’ve had some great sessions of late and should have a few more this Moon cycle.

 

As for the other stuff, all will be revealed in time…. 

[SNH]

It’s kinda timely that you mention it—I do have another (long!) post in the pipeline, but (ironically) the more time I’ve had to write, the less I’ve gotten done!

 

The dominant factor in the delay is the foot surgery that I had back in August; I then decided to add insult to injury and broke the same foot two weeks after the surgery. That’s kept me from observing until very recently, although I’ve had some great sessions of late and should have a few more this Moon cycle.

 

As for the other stuff, all will be revealed in time…. 

Wow. an overdue observing report, a broken foot, and a teaser. You sound like Ferris Bueller!

 

Well, I'm just glad to hear that you are able to observe again and that your foot is okay.

 

Scott H.

[KidOrion]

Another 15K post, this one full of more tiny galaxies in the summer Milky Way, a couple of Messier interlopers, uncertainty, and the best song Rush never performed live!

 

https://unfrozencave...vailable-light/

Edited by KidOrion, 16 June 2024 - 01:22 PM.

[Knasal]

Great post, thanks Andy! And agree, best RUSH song never performed live…. They loved playing the 2112 suite, but not this one. One of my favs.

 

Hope you’re on the mend.

 

Kevin

[SNH]

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your detailed reports! I've got a few things for you.

 

"The general hierarchy with galaxies, as I understand it, should be Messier > NGC/IC > UGC > MCG > CGCG > PGC > LEDA > 2MASSX, etc"

 

Well, I believe it goes Messier > NGC > IC > Helwân (1912-1935) > CGCG (1960-1968) > MCG (1962-1974) > FBS "Markarian Survey" (1967-1981) > UGC (1973) > ESO (1982) > PGC (1989) > 2MASS (1997-2001)

 

"(The LEDA numbers are also used as PGCs for galaxies beyond PGC 73197.)"

 

You know, I've never understood what was going on there. But looking into it, you're right! The PGC was a selection of galaxies (according to certain criteria) extracted from the Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database (LEDA), which was created in 1983. So, any number beyond PGC 73197 automatically carries the designation 'LEDA'. Good to know!

 

"Our numbers had been low all year, as they seemed to have been across the US. Forest fire smoke was one culprit, while solar minimum was reportedly another."

 

I think you mean 'maximum' here, my friend.

 

 

Scott H.

Edited by SNH, 25 June 2024 - 02:11 PM.

[KidOrion]

In terms of naming hierarchy, though, I think my list is pretty close; I haven’t seen MCG or CGCG/Zw trump UGC (for example). I did forget to add the ESO, though, so thanks for reminding me of that one! (I’ve only taken notes on one galaxy where the primary designation was ESO, so I haven’t been able to really screw that one up.)

 

I didn’t know that about the PGC/LEDA thing either, until I saw it mentioned by Steve G. I’ve always felt a bit unnecessarily proud of observing galaxies with super-long PGC prefixes, but it’s cooler to use the LEDA designation anyway.

 

I had read a journal article that inferred that the solar minimum was the issue, which struck me as odd, but I went with it. When I get back to the States and my actual computer, I’ll have to look into it a bit more. (As soon as I get done writing a draft of my actual article, that is!)

Edited by KidOrion, 25 July 2024 - 07:16 PM.

[KidOrion]

New post, after the better part of a year, a horrible cross-country move, and dangerous bipedalism:

 

https://unfrozencave...04/04/entracte/

[Knasal]

Andy, your blogs are so good. I like the words you use to describe your target objects, as well as your sessions. And I really like your stories! (Two-whole-***-dogs  )

 

The sharing of your personal journeys makes the blog very relatable. I think many of us share similar experiences during our time in the hobby, but I appreciate you taking the time to put your words into the blog to capture them, for you and us.

 

Good luck with your observing, and with your current “life” situation (health, distance, and in-law living).

 

Hope your family is well - we on the forum are thinking about you.

 

Kevin 

Edited by Knasal, 05 April 2025 - 12:46 PM.

[KidOrion]

Thanks, Kevin!

 

It's been pretty trying lately, I'll admit. But I got my observing research done for another article (and very challenging it was!) by the skin of my teeth, I've managed to find a couple of decently-dark (B4) observing sites within a 3-hour drive, and Cherry Springs and Cave Mountain are five hours away. (I used to be able to get better skies than that just 45 minutes from home!)

 

I think the more personal stuff accents the observing notes, especially since those tend to be pretty dry and boilerplate. When I started, I included the narrative things to help me remember the observing sessions; I can read what I wrote ten years ago and remember a specific night like it was just last week. Problem now is, with the time between the notetaking and now (when I'm writing up a post), I've forgotten some of the details (as you could tell from reading!). I've got one more to write from Oregon and then two from here on the East Coast. Given how long it takes to write them, I'd better get moving!

[Knasal]

Looking forward to whatever you produce. Interested in hearing about new observing sites and new friends, too.

 

Wishing you good luck with everything going on!

 

Kevin

[Astroman007]

Interesting blog. Will devote some of my free time to reading through it. Thanks for sharing.