Cold night (-8 celcius and breezy), nice and dark, but my targets tonight were in the sky over town so not the darkest part of the sky.
M106 – Magnitude 8.2 galaxy in Canes Venatici. Extend the line from Beta UMa to Gamma UMa (the bottom of the big dipper) for 5 degrees to 5-Cvn. Pan 2.5 degrees to 3-Cvn. M106 is another 1.7 degrees away. Fairly easy to find, though not too bright. It’s oblong, bright center, seems a bit brighter along one of the long sides than the other.
Image via Wikipedia
M53 – Magnitude 7.7 globular cluster in Coma Berenices. Coma Berenices is difficult to locate because the stars are dim. M53 is near Alpha-Com. Extend the line from Arcturus (how easy is that to find amirite?) to Eta-Boo, 11 degrees away is Alpha-Com. I can just barely see it with the naked eye. I found it in the finder scope and then panned 1 degree to M53. I couldn’t resolve individual stars, but it seemed like I was_so_close to resolving. As it is, it was a roundish smoky thing in my 25mm ep, 12 mm ep, and even with the barlow + 12mm ep.
Image via Wikipedia
M3 – Magnitude 6.4 globular cluster in Coma Berenices. By now I can also make out Beta-Com and Gamma-Com. Follow Gamma to Beta-Com and extend almost 7 degrees. A magnitude 6 star is right near M3. I found the star and then M3. I found it on the first attempt! M3 is brighter than M53, and I was able to resolve the brighter stars and they appeared throughout the cluster.
Image via Wikipedia
Deeby's Astronomy Log 