DEEP SKY OBSERVING
May 2008
by Mark Wagner

Targets are rated 1 to 4 for challenge, with 1 very easy, 4 most difficult. All objects are within a one hour of right ascension, north to south, in the east at astronomical dark. Available as a Megastar .obs file or Excel spreadsheet.
Rating
Object Const. Type Size
Mag
R.A.
Dec.
3
N5308 Uma GX 3.7'x0.6'
12.3B
13 47 00
60 58 23
  Bright, fairly small, almost edge-on, unusually bright nearly stellar nucleus.

2
NGC 5322 Boo GX 5.9'x3.8'
11.1B
13 49 14
60 11 26
  Small, bright, obvious, with apparently stellar center, dim extent beyond core.

3
N5430 Uma GX 2.2'x1.1'
12.7P
14 00 45
59 19 43
  Fairly faint, fairly small, elongated, brighter core containing a stellar nucleus.

2
N5585 Uma GX 6.1'x3.8'
11.2B
14 19 47
56 43 45
  Moderately bright, fairly large, elongated, brighter core. Member of the M101 group.

3
NGC 5631 Uma GX 1.7'
12.4B
14 26 33
56 35 01
  Bright, fairly small, round, sharp concentration, prominent core dominates the galaxy.

3
N5443 Uma GX 3.2'x1.2'
13.1P
14 02 11
55 48 56
  Moderately bright, edge-on, broad concentration, irregular surface brightness.

3
Arp 239 Uma GX 0.8'x0.6'
13.5
13 41 39
55 40 12
  NGC 5278 - fairly faint, fairly small, round, double system with N5279.

2
N5485 Uma GX 2.4'x1.8'
11.4V
14 07 11
55 00 05
  Wonderful field. NGC 5486 has NGC 5485 just to its south, significantly brighter, more obvious.

3
NGC 5473 Uma GX 2.3'x1.8'
12.4B
14 04 43
54 53 35
  5473 was the most intriguing, part of a W-shape of bright stars, with a bright core and compact halo. On study it showed a swirl, esp off to the eastern side.

3
N5687 Boo GX 2.4'x1.6'
12.6B
14 34 52
54 28 35
  Faint, small, elongated 4:3 E-W.

2
N5462 Uma Knot 1.7'x0.8'
14 03 53
54 21 53
  HII regions in M101 - NGC's 5462, 5461 and 5447 stood out like beacons.

2
M101 Uma GX 28.9'x26.9'
8.3B
14 03 12
54 20 55
  Arp 26 fairly bright, very large, round bright core. Fairly low surface brightness, several distinct arms.

2
N5447 Uma Knot 1.0'x0'5'
14 02 29
54 16 29
  HII regions in M101 - NGC's 5462, 5461 and 5447 stood out like beacons.

2
NGC 5474 Uma GX 4.7'x4.7'
11.3B
14 05 01
53 39 38
  Fairly bright, large, irregular,unusual appearance, brighter knot or core located at NE edge.

3
N5480 Uma GX 2.1'x1.6'
12.8P
14 06 21
50 43 29
  Two galaxies quite close together. Western is larger and low SB. East one is smaller and bit brighter center.

3
N5481 Boo GX 1.6'x1.2'
13.3P
14 06 41
50 43 23
  Two galaxies in same FOV (9mm), quite close together. The Western one is a little larger and low SB. The East one is smaller and has a bit brighter center. Shapes of both are uncertain, but not obviously elongated.

3
N5602 Boo GX 1.4'x0.7'
13.6P
14 22 19
50 30 06
  Fairly faint, small, slightly elongated with a bright 20" core. M+08-26-022 is in the field 9' SW.

3
N5520 Boo GX 2.2'x1.0'
13.3P
14 12 22
50 20 58
  Fairly faint, elongated, small bright core and faint extensions.

2
N5448 Uma GX 4.0'x1.7'
11.9B
14 02 50
4910 25
  A nice edge-on, roughly E/W. A stellar core seems to come and go, like the blinking PN

3
N5660 Boo GX 2.8'x2.7'
12.4B
14 29 48
49 37 24
  At 122X, pretty large, medium bright, round, not much brighter center.

2
NGC 5676 Boo GX 4.0'x1.9'
11.9B
14 32 46
49 27 29
  Very elongated, pretty bright, pretty much brighter center (122X).

3
NGC 5689 Boo GX 4.0'x1.1'
12.8B
14 35 29
48 44 35
  Big and easy to detect, extended streak of a core.

3
N5383 Cvn GX 3.1'x2.6'
12.1B
13 57 04
41 50 46
  Fairly bright, fairly large, elongated, prominent bright core elongated E-W with the fainter halo tilted to core.

2
N5371 Cvn GX 5.5'x4.0'
10.5V
13 55 39
40 27 42
  Bright, fairly large, small bright nucleus, slightly elongatedN-S.

3
HCG 68 Cvn GX5 3.3'x1.8'
10.9V
13 53 26
40 16 58
  NGC 5350 - gorgeous easy group. Beautiful double star, different magnitude and colors dominate.

3
N5582 Cvn GX 2.8'x1.7'
12.5B
14 20 43
39 41 35
  Fairly faint, moderately large, elongated. Small, rounder, prominent core moderately concentrated to quasi-stellar nucleus.

3
Arp 297 Boo GX 2.1'x1.8'
13.9
14 45 19
38 43 57
  NGC 5754 - fun due to closeness of NGC 5755 and NGC 5753. All three are within about 4' of each other.

3
Arp 84 Cvn GX 3.1'x1.6'
12.1B
13 58 37
37 25 31
  NGC 5395 fairly bright, elongated. Small bright nucleus. Possible dark lane. Contact system with N5394.

3
Arp 199 Cvn GX 1.0'x1.0'
14.2
14 17 02
36 34 17
  NGC 5544 very elongated, moderately large, uneven. Contact pair, two brighter knots at SW and NE ends.

2
NGC 5557 Cvn GX 3.6'x3.2'
11.9B
14 18 25
36 29 36
  122X, small and bright. At 176X, still just small and bright; a little brighter center, not obviously elongated.

3
N5529 Cvn GX 6.2'x0.8'
12.8B
14 15 34
36 13 36
  Faint, large edge-on, weak concentration.

3
N5533 Cvn GX 4.3'x2.7'
12.7B
14 16 07
35 20 42
  Fairly bright, moderately large, elongated, small bright core, diffuse halo.

4
Arp 69 Cvn GX 2.2'x1.5'
14.3P
14 20 26
35 11 17
  NGC 5579 faint, slightly elongated, diffuse, even brightness. Closeby N5590 and N5567/N5568 pair.

3
N5444 Cvn GX 2.4'x2.0'
12.8B
14 03 24
35 07 56
  Two galaxies in same FOV, 5444 is a little brighter, 5445 is a little dimmer.

4
N5445 Cvn GX 1.8'x0.6'
14.0P
14 03 31
35 01 31
  Two galaxies in same FOV, 5444 is a little brighter, 5445 is a little dimmer.

2
Arp 178 Boo GX 2.4'x2.2'
11.6V
14 24 07
34 51 31
  NGC 5614 fairly bright, moderately large, slightly elongated, prominent core. Pair with N5613.

3
N5440 Cvn GX 4.1'x1.6'
13.2P
14 03 00
34 45 27
  Fairly bright, moderately large, slightly elongated, faint stellar nucleus. N5441 ESE. close to N5444.

4
HCG 70 Cvn GX7 1.4'x0.3'
16.1
14 04 10
33 20 15
  IC 4371, 4 of 7 members seen. Observed at 301x.

3
NGC 5466 Boo GC 9.0'
13.8
14 05 27
28 32 04
  Quite dim, low surface brightness. About 10-12 stars resolved. Not much brighter center.

4
HCG 71 Boo GX3 2.5'x1.3'
14.4B
14 10 57
25 29 48
  IC 4381 brightest member, in a trio with IC 4382 and Hickson 71c.

3
N5523 Boo GX 4.6'x2.1'
12.8P
14 14 51
25 19 04
  Faint, edge-on streak, moderately large, almost even surface brightness.

3
N5548 Boo GX 1.4'x1.2'
13.3B
14 17 49
25 08 14
  Pretty small and dim; shape uncertain, but not obviously elongated; slightly brighter center.

4
HCG 69 Boo GX4 1.4'x0.4'
15.8B
13 55 29
25 04 26
  IC 4345, very faint, round, diffuse, 3 of 4 components seen.

3
Arp 117 Boo GX 5.3'x4.6'
12.5B
14 10 04
17 44 01
  IC 983 and IC 982 = Arpl 117 part of N5490 group.

3
N5490 Boo GX 2.4'x1.9'
13.1B
14 09 57
17 32 44
  Moderately bright, moderately large, slightly elongated, stellar nucleus. Brightest in a group. Arp 79 nearby.

3
N5600 Boo GX 1.4'x1.3'
12.7B
14 23 49
14 38 19
  280x moderately bright, broadly concentrated to bright core. The small halo is slightly elongated

3
Arp 49 Boo GX 2.5'x1.6'
12.7P
14 32 25
08 04 25
  NGC 5665 moderately bright, moderately large, elongated

3
Arp 274 Vir GX 1.1'x0.7'
13.8
14 35 08
05 21 32
  NGC 5679 faint, small, elongated WNW-ESE, low surface brightness.

2
NGC 5363 Vir GX 4.0'x2.5'
11.1B
13 56 07
05 15 25
  Looked pretty much face-on, with a very bright stellar core and a bright halo. 7 galaxies in group.

2
NGC 5364 Vir GX 6.7'x5.4'
11.2B
13 56 12
05 00 55
  Moderately bright, large, broad weak concentration, elongated. Forms pair with N5360 and N5363 6th of 7 in N5363 group.

3
N5668 Vir GX 3.3'x3.0'
12.2B
14 33 24
04 27 00
  Pretty small, medium dim, a little elongated? Looks asymmetric; maybe a little bit brighter center.

3
N5560 Vir GX 4.3'x1.2'
12.4V
14 20 44
03 59 33
  NGC 5660, 5676, 5673 (Bootes), galaxy group, face-on and eliptical galaxies within one view.

2
NGC 5566 Vir GX 6.7'x2.1'
11.5B
14 20 20
03 56 01
  Arp 286 bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, small bright nucleus. Brightest of three with N5560 and N5569.

2
NGC 5576 Vir GX 3.9'x2.6'
11.0V
14 21 03
03 16 16
  NGC 5660, 5676, 5673 (Bootes), galaxy group, face-on and eliptical galaxies within one view.

2
N5638 Vir GX 2.7'x2.4'
11.2V
14 29 40
03 14 00
  Pretty small, dim, round, maybe slightly brighter center

2
NGC 5746 Vir GX 7.5'x1.3'
11.3B
14 44 56
01 57 14
  Fairly faint, moderately large oval, broadly concentrated with no core.

3
N5507 Vir GX 1.5'x0.7'
13.5B
14 13 19
-03 08 56
  Moderately bright, fairly small, elongated, small bright coredominates, faint extensions.

3
N5506 Vir GX 2.8'x0.8'
12.8B
14 13 14
-03 12 27
  moderately bright, moderately large, edge-on 5:1 E-W, 3.0'x0.6', broadconcentration. Located 11' NE of mag 7.9 SAO 139790. Forms a pair with N5507 3.7' NNE.

3
N5493 Vir GX 1.6'x1.2'
12.3B
14 11 29
-05 02 35
  fairly bright, moderately large. Sharply concentrated with a very brightcore 40"x15" elongated WNW-ESE, increasing to a stellar nucleus.

1
NGC 5634 Vir GC 5.5'
9.5
14 29 37
-05 58 35
  210x showed ragged edge, bright core, didn't resolve, so it really did look like a galaxy.

3
N5426 Vir GX 3.0'x1.6'
12.7B
14 03 25
-06 04 10
  Faint, small, slightly elongated, small faint nucleus. Forms a close interesting pair with N5427.

3
HCG 67 Vir GX4 1.4'x1.0'
13.1B
13 49 11
-07 13 25
  NGC 5306 moderately bright, fairly small, round, well concentrated with bright core.brightest member of HCG 67.

3
N5605 Lib GX 1.6'x1.3'
12.9B
14 25 07
-13 09 47
  Fairly large, diffuse, weakly concentrated to a small brighter core,fairly low surface brightness.

3
N5597 Lib GX 2.1'x1.6'
12.6B
14 24 27
-16 45 48
  Faint, small, round, small bright nucleus, very slightly elongated, faint halo. Forms a pair with N5595.

4
Abell 37 Vir PN 54.0"
14.9P
14 04 25
-17 13 40
  IC 972 oval, fairly smooth disk; suggestion of mottling at highest power w/ filter, hint of brightening along limb.

3
N5728 LIb GX 3.1'x1.7'
12.3B
14 42 23
-17 15 07
  Moderately bright, very elongated. Contains a bright coreand possible stellar nucleus.

1
NGC 5694 Cen GC 4.3'
10.2
14 39 36
-26 32 18
  Moderately bright, but compact globular of 2'diameter with a round, symmetrical appearance.


Source catalogs:

Messier, Arp, Abell Planetary, Abell Galaxy Cluster (AGC), Hickson Compact Galaxy (HCG), Sharpless HII Regions, Barnard Dark Nebulae, Herschel 400, Herschel 400-II.

Herschel 400 are identified as NGCXXXX,
Herschel 400-II are indentified as NXXXX.
Descriptions are from the following web-sites:

visitors since August 31, 2007