Austin

AstroChallenge contributor

Points: 5562

Observations: 74

Kudos: 48

NameAustin Riba
LocationSanta Barbara, California
TimezoneAmerica/Los_Angeles
Latitude34.4058592738
Longitude-119.696321208
Altitude10m

Beginner astronomer, constant neck-ache, Admin of Astrochallenge.com

Clear
M95

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

I did not believe my luck finding the Leo triplet in such bad light pollution, but I suppose my eyes could be better than I had thought. Inspired, I decided to check out the other group of galaxies in Leo, closer to the center of his belly. That's where I found M95. A small, nearly imperceptible smudge of galactic light.

M66

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

M66 is part of the Leo Triplet, the three galaxies I unexpectedly found. Really, the three of them look like a smiley face with M65 and M66 forming the eyes and NGC3628 looking like the mouth. This is a very pretty sight in the eyepiece. I'm glad I looked for them.

M65

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

I couldn't believe it, but I had found the Leo triplet! M65 was one of the 3, and one of the 2 smaller rounder looking galaxies. What can you say really about a galaxy this magnitude in a small scope in light polluted skies? A small, dim smudge. What made this smudge special though was that it happened to be very close to 2 others...

Sarah's Galaxy (Leo triplet)

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

After observing some open clusters in Auriga I decided: "what the heck" and swung my scope towards Leo. I did't expect to find much. I happened to be sandwiched between my roomate's and my neighbour's open windows, with light shining out of both. I've never attempted to view galaxies in Leo before.

I scanned around for a bit on Leo's belly, and behold! 3 faint smudges of light!

M37

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

I observed M37 after M36 and M38. It is similar to M36 in size and brightness but without the interesting features of a background cluster or a nearby companion (or a satellite, for that matter) but with a nice wide FOV eyepiece this triplet of clusters was easy to find.

InstrumentObservations
Naked eye 7
Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian 53
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars 2
Mead LX200 (Cabrillo Observatory) 4
LCOGT 1Meter Scope - Sinistro 8