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(IAAC) Obj: M31 M32 NGC205 (M110) - Inst: 60mm f/15 altazimuth Unitron

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Observation Poster: Ben Waranowitz <bekirwicz@yahoo.com>

Observer: Ben Waranowitz
Your skills: Intermediate (some years)
Date/time of observation: Early 1960s
Location of site: Queens, New York City (Lat 40*44', Elev 10m.)
Site classification: Exurban
Sky darkness: 5.5 <Limiting magnitude>
Seeing: 8 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)>
Moon presence: None - moon not in sky
Instrument: 60mm f/15 altazimuth Unitron
Magnification: 36x, 50x
Filter(s): None
Object(s): M31 M32 NGC205 (M110)
Category: External galaxy. Group of galaxies.
Class: 
Constellation: AND
Data: mag 8.5  size 17' x 10'
Position: RA 00:40  DEC +41:41
Description:
I was learning the sky from my parents' backyard in Queens NY near the border
of Nassau county. Queens Village / Elmont NY. It was a dark night and no one
had floodlights in their backyard then. No shopping mall parking lots lit 24/7!
My eyes were about 20 years old, not 63 with retinal problems, lens implant and
cataract. I located M31 and M32 with my 60mm f/15 Unitron and a 25mm eyepiece.
The sky background was dark. I only saw the brighter central region of M31, but
could plainly detect the dust lane. M32 wasa bright fuzzy. I used a Unitron
'Hexagon' rotating eyepiece holder with a 1.25 in. Jaegers 30mm f.l. eyepiece
and all my .965-in. eyepieces in steps: 25 18, 12, 9, 6, down to 4mm. The slow
motion adjustments on its sturdy altazimuth mount were adequate. I bumped off
of M31 and found a faint fuzzy. I got all excited as I thought I had found a
comet. I made mental notes to the locations of M31 and M32 so I could locate
it again, then went inside to check Norton's Star Atlas, epoch 1950. This was
NGC205! I couldn't believe that a 60mm would show this but it plainly did.
I can not see M32 nor M110 from Nashville, Tennessee with a 5 inch SCT!
This is a very dated observation but my memory of that night is clear.
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