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(IAAC) Obj: NGC 972 - Inst: TV-102 (102mm f/8.6 APO refractor)
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Observation Poster: Ron B[ee] <ronby@home.com>
Observer: Ron B[ee]
Your skills: Beginner (< one year)
Date/time of observation: 11/21/01 11:30pm-1:30am PDT
Location of site: 117h 9m W (Lat 32h 43m N, Elev 2000 ft)
Site classification: Exurban
Sky darkness: 5.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Seeing: 6 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: TV-102 (102mm f/8.6 APO refractor)
Magnification: 22x, 30x, 60x, 110x, 146x, 176x
Filter(s): none
Object(s): NGC 972
Category: External galaxy.
Class:
Constellation: Tri
Data: mag 12.1 size 3.3' x 1.6'
Position: RA : DEC :
Description:
I must admit that when I first got my 4" TV-102 Light Cup, I thought galaxies
would be disappointing (it was so with my old C102-HD). So I never even bother
to add any galaxies dimmer than 9.9 mag to my list. Well, tonight I saw that
there were two dimmy galaxies on my printed chart near the comet (WM1/LINEAR).
So what the heck.
First one I looked for was a mag 12.2 NGC 972 (size is 3.3' x 1.6'). Remember
this is not the best part of my sky with light pollution. I couldn't see
anything but a star at 22x and at 30x. That changed at 60x; there was a hint
of the galaxy with averted vision and I can now see two very close stars: mag
9.1 GSC 1779:885 and mag 11.3 GSC 1779:955, with the galaxy to the NE of the
stars. The 8mm TV Radian PN killer nailed the galaxy at 110x, obvious with
averted vision but at the edge of detection with direct vision. 146x showed
similar view. But at 176x, the galaxy appeared elongated. This is the dimmest
galaxy the keen-eye TV-102 had bagged so far, even dimmer than the 12.1 mag
Bear Paw Galaxy it bagged last weekend and with non-ideal sky! There were
some scattered high clouds around the sky.
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