The Way I See It > Mid-South Stargaze 2003

Limiting Mag:	5.73 (IMO Leo Chart 9)
Antoniadi:	II
Weather:	68°F, light/moderate breeze
Constellations:	Boötes, Camelopardalis, Cancer, Centaurus, Draco, Hercules, Hydra, Leo Minor, Lynx, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Scorpius, Ursa Major, Virgo
Equipment:	203mm SCT, 22mm Nagler T4, 16mm Nagler T5, 13mm Nagler T6

Dave Paessler and myself attended the 2003 Mid-South Stargaze in French Camp Mississippi. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and setup our equipment on the observing field. As dark approached Wednesday night, a layer of high, thin clouds moved in and blocked out all but the brightest objects in the sky.

Thursday brought heavy winds and rain throughout the day and the evening.

As darkness fell on Friday evening, the limiting magnitude was only around 5.3 with a light haze in the sky, which actually enhanced the viewing of Jupiter and Saturn. Approximately 12:30 a.m. a cloud bank quickly moved across the area and caused many of the participants to quit for the evening. However, the clouds moved out just as fast as they moved in and about an hour later and the sky conditions improved dramatically. I worked until nearly 4:00 a.m. on the Herschel and Caldwell Astronomical League lists.

Session Observing Log

The following forty-seven objects were observed during this session with forty-six objects being observed for the first time. These objects are listed in seventeen observation lists.

= first observation

ID	UT	Object / Description	Type	Con
968	03:10	NGC 2775	Glx	Cnc
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC2775 appears as a faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light with a brighter diffuse central core.
969	03:21	NGC 2683	Glx	Lyn
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC2683 appears as a very elongated, diffuse patch of light with a bright diffuse central core. A very faint dark lane runs along one side of the diffusion.
970	03:30	NGC 2811	Glx	Hya
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC2811 appears as a very elongated, very faint, diffuse streak of light with a brighter diffuse central core.
971	03:40	NGC 2859	Glx	LMi
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC2859 appears as a small, very faint, oval-shaped diffuse patch of light with a brighter diffuse central core.
972	03:47	NGC 2841	Glx	UMa
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC2841 appears as a large, bright, elongated, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, diffuse central core.
973	03:55	NGC 2768	Glx	UMa
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC2768 appears as a very faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light. The central core region is diffuse and brighter than the surrounding halo.
974	04:04	NGC 3147	Glx	Dra
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC3147 appears as a very faint, oval, diffuse patch of light. The central core is diffuse and brighter than the surrounding halo.
975	04:12	NGC 2655	Glx	Cam
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC2655 appears as a very faint, slightly elongated, diffuse patch of light. At the center of the diffusion is a diffuse ball of with a stellar-looking central region.
976	04:25	NGC 5128	Glx	Cen
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC5128 appears as a large, very faint, round, diffuse patch of light. A prominent dark lane extends across the face of the diffusion dividing it into two halves.
977	04:32	NGC 5139	GC	Cen
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC5139 appears as a very large, diffuse ball that fills approximately one-third the eyepiece field of view. The surface of the cluster appears mottled and has a constant light level from the center to the edge. Hundreds of stars are resolved along and around the edge of the cluster. With averted vision, the surface of the cluster contains dozens of faint, resolved stars.
978	04:41	NGC 5286	GC	Cen
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC5286 appears as a very faint, diffuse ball of light, with no discernible brighter cental core. With averted vision, a few very faint stars are resolved around the edge of the cluster. A bright forth magnitude yellow star (HR5172) lies approximately five arcminutes to the southeast.
979	04:50	NGC 4261	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4261 appears as a very faint, round, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, diffuse-looking central core. NGC4261 is the brightest of a group of four galaxies in the eyepiece field of view with NGC4260 to the north and NGC4273 and NGC4281 to the southeast.
980	04:51	NGC 4260	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4260 appears as a small, extremely faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, diffuse-looking central core. NGC4260 is the northernmost galaxy of a group of four galaxies in the eyepiece field of view with NGC4261 to the south and NGC4273 and NGC4281 to the southeast.
981	04:52	NGC 4273	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4273 appears as a small, extremely faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, diffuse looking central core. NGC4261 is the southernmost galaxy of a group of four galaxies in the eyepiece field of view with NGC4261 and NGC4260 to the north and NGC4281 closeby to the northeast.
982	04:53	NGC 4281	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4281 appears as a small, extremely faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, diffuse-looking central core. NGC4261 is the easternmost galaxy of a group of four galaxies in the eyepiece field of view with NGC4261 and NGC4260 to the northwest and NGC4273 closeby to the southwest.
983	04:57	NGC 4179	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4179 appears as a small, faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, stellar-looking central core.
984	05:04	NGC 4527	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4527 appears as a very elongated, diffuse patch of light. The central region is diffuse and contains a stellar-looking central core.
985	05:16	NGC 4536	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4536, appears as a faint, very elongated, diffuse streak of light with no discernible central core.
986	05:24	NGC 4643	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4643 appears as a very faint, slightly oval, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, diffuse looking central region.
987	05:28	NGC 4636	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4636 appears as a faint, slightly elongated, diffuse patch of light with a much brighter diffuse looking central core.
988	06:34	NGC 4665	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4665 appears as a very faint, oval, diffuse patch of light with a brighter diffuse buldge in the central region.
989	06:40	NGC 4666	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4666 appears as a faint, very elongated, diffuse streak of light. No discernible brighter central region is visible.
990	06:47	NGC 4753	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4753 appears as a faint, very elongated, diffuse patch of light with a brighter diffuse central region.
991	06:53	NGC 4845	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4845 appears as a small, extremely faint, very elongated, diffuse patch of light with no discernible central core.
992	07:00	NGC 4900	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4900 appears as a small, extremely faint, round, diffuse patch of light with no discernible central region.
993	07:06	NGC 4365	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4365 appears as a faint, oval shaped, diffuse patch of light with a much brighter, stellar looking central core.
994	07:13	NGC 4570	Glx	Vir
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC4570 appears as a faint, very elongated, thin diffuse streak of light with a diffuse buldge at the central core.
995	07:20	NGC 5248	Glx	Boo
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC5248 appears as a large, faint, oval shaped, diffuse patch of light with a brighter, round, diffuse central region.
996	07:25	NGC 5557	Glx	Boo
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC5557 appears as a small, oval shaped, diffuse patch of light with a brighter stellar looking central core.
997	07:29	NGC 5676	Glx	Boo
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC5676 appears as an extremely faint, elongated, diffuse patch of light with no discernible central core.
998	07:34	NGC 5689	Glx	Boo
		At 91x with the 22mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC5689 appears as a faint, very elongated, diffuse streak of light with a large diffuse buldge in the center of the galaxy.
999	07:39	NGC 6144	GC	Sco
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6144 appears as a faint, round, diffuse ball with no discernible brighter core in direct vision. With averted vision, some stars are resolved around the edges of the cluster. A bright field star or knot is visible on the surface of the diffusion.
1000	07:46	NGC 6540	GC	Sgr
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6540 appears as a small, faint, cluster of very faint stars with averted vision. With direct vision, the cluster appears as a faint diffuse patch of light.
1001	07:51	NGC 6207	Glx	Her
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6207 appears as a small, very faint, very elongated, diffuse streak of light. A diffuse buldge lies at the center of the galaxy. NGC6207 lies approximately one-half degree northeast of M13.
1002	07:55	NGC 6229	GC	Her
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6229 appears as a small, diffuse ball with a small halo surrounding a brighter diffuse central region. No stars are resolved with averted vision.
1003	08:01	NGC 6235	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6235 appears as a faint, small, diffuse ball of light with no brighter central core with direct vision. With averted vision the cluster looks somewhat wedge shaped and some stars are resolved along the edge of the cluster.
1004	08:06	NGC 6284	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6284 appears as a faint, small diffuse ball with a small halo surrounding a bright diffuse center. With averted vision, some stars are resolved around the edges of the cluster.
1005	08:13	NGC 6287	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6287 appears as a faint, diffuse ball with no discernible central region. With averted vision, some stars are resolved around the edges of the cluster.
1006	08:17	NGC 6293	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6293 appears as a bright, small diffuse ball with a large halo surrounding a small stellar central core. With averted vision, some stars are resolved along the edges of the cluster.
1007	08:21	NGC 6304	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6304 appears as a small, bright, round, diffuse ball with a small halo surrounding a brighter diffuse central region.
1008	08:26	NGC 6316	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6316 appears as a small, round, diffuse ball with no brighter central region.
1009	08:30	NGC 6342	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6342 appears as a small, faint, diffuse ball with a small halo surrounding a brighter diffuse central region.
1010	08:35	NGC 6355	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6355 appears as a small, very faint, round, diffuse ball with no discernible brighter central region.
1011	08:39	NGC 6356	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6356 appears as a large, bright, diffuse ball with a small halo surrounding a bright diffuse central region. With averted vision, some stars are resolved along the edges of the cluster.
1012	08:44	NGC 6369	PN	Oph
		At 154x with the 13mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6369 appears as a small, faint, round, grey diffuse ball of light with direct vision. With averted vision, the nebula has a donut or ring shape.
1013	08:50	NGC 6401	GC	Oph
		At 125x with the 16mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6401 appears as a small, faint, diffuse ball with a brighter diffuse center.
1014	08:56	NGC 6426	GC	Oph
		At 154x with the 13mm eyepiece in the 203mm SCT, NGC6426 appears as a small, extremely faint, diffuse ball with no discernible central core. Averted vision does not reveal more detail.