Clear, fairly dark (1/8 moon to the West). I’m facing East tonight (toward town, so a bit of light pollution). I was out from around 8:45 pm to 9:30.
Virgo is crazy dense with galaxies. All the galaxies tonight were dim, visible in the 25mm eye piece, and still visible but dim in the 12mm EP. Here’s the path I took:
Start at Epsilon-Vir, which is easy to spot with the naked eye, the brightest star between Arcturus and Beta-Leo (Denebola). With Epsilon-Vir in the finderscope, pan 5 degrees to Rho-Vir (magnitude 5 star) in the 2 o’clock direction. Then look through the 25mm EP:
- From Rho, pan 1.5 degrees toward 10 0’clock to find M60.
- From M60, pan 0.5 degrees toward 1 o’clock to M59.
- From M59, continue in the same direction for 1 degree to M58
- From M58, pan 1 degree toward 11 o’clock to M89.
- From M89, pan 0.75 degrees toward 10 o’clock to M90.
- From M90, pan 1 degree toward 1:30 to M87.
- From M87, pan 1 degree toward 1 o’clock to M86.
- M84 is 0.3 degrees toward 2 o’clock, and is visible in the 25mm EP with M86.
The Virgo Cluster - Image via Wikipedia
Virgo Cluster - M87 is the big galaxy in the lower left corner - Image via Wikipedia
I went back and forth a lot to retrace my steps to make sure I was looking at what I thought I was looking at, and to get back on track when I got lost.
Next I attempted some galaxies on Coma Berenices. I found a couple:
About 2/3 of the way from Alpha-Com to Beta-Leo is 11-Com (magnitude 4.7 star). With averted vision it is noticeable with the naked eye. I found it in the finderscope, then through the 25mm EP:
Pan 1.3 degrees toward 8 o’clock to M85.
Back to 11-com, then pan 2 degrees toward 4:30 to M100.
After that, I tried to find M99 but couldn’t – I was cold and had no patience so I packed it up.
Deeby's Astronomy Log 