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Date: June 22, 2014
Location: Blue Canyon at 5,200 feet in the Sierras
NELM: Average at 6.5
Telescope: 22” f/4.0 reflector sitting on a Crossbow EQT-200 equatorial platform
Eyepieces (not all are used): 24mm Panoptic (finder eyepiece), 16, 10, 6 and 4mm ZAO-II’s, 12.5, 9, 7 and 5mm BGO, 12, 10, 8, and 6mm Delos, and TMB 1.8x ED Barlow.
Selected objects: VV objects and a couple galaxy trios
Images are from PanSTARRS unless noted.
Note: This page was added on June 2026 as I am catching up on the ORs for half of 2013 and all of 2014. At some point, I'll find a way to incorporate my ORs (mid 80s to 2008) from a spreadsheet into an acceptable format.
NGC 5351 galaxy trio 13 53 28.1 +37 54 52
22" at 287 and 383x
NGC 5351: Bright 2:1 elongated glow. Slightly mottled surface brightness. With averted vision at 383x, detected a broken ring that goes almost all the way around the brighter center. Broken at PA 135 and 225. The halo extends 0.4' further from the ring at the ends and proportionally at the minor axis. PA = 80 and 1.9' long.
NGC 5349: Considerably bright 3:1 even surface brightness glow with somewhat defined edges. PA = 90 and 45" long. Lies 3.5' SW of NGC 5351.
NGC 5341: Considerably bright 2:1 elongated glow with slightly brighter center. Defined edges. PA = 20 and 40" long
NGC 6677 galaxy trio 18 33 34.3 +67 07 29
22" at 383x - compact group of three members in a fairly rich star field.
NCG 6677 (VV 672): Considerably bright 2:1 glow with slightly brighter center. Diffuse edges. Even surface brightness halo. PA = 90 and 30" long. A mag 14.5 star is just off the SE edge.
NGC 6679: Considerably bright high surface brightness round glow with well defined edges. A mag 13.4 star is just off the SW edge. 15" across.
MCG +11-22-56: Faint small round glow with defined edges. 10" across Lies 0.5' due north of NGC 6679. A mag 15.2 star lies 0.5' due east.
VV 136, NGC 4504 (12 03 13.1 +57 53 40)
22" (383x) - Component a detected a faint round even surface brightness diffuse glow. About 0.2' across. Component b is just off the SE edge of "a" and appears as a considerably faint very small round glow with a stellar core. b is slightly brighter than a. Didn't see component c.
VV 148, UGC 6596, MCG+9-19-140 (11 37 50.3 +56 08 42)
22" (255 and 383x) - Faint 3:1 elongated diffuse glow. Low surface brightness. I didn’t' see any brightening anywhere on the halo. PA = 45 and 0.6' long.
VV 158 (13 56 20.7 +28 31 22)
22" (230, 287 and 383x) - Nice chain of four nearly equidistant galaxies running at PA = 60 degrees.
Starting with the west member, component a, MCG+5-33-24, is a fairly bright round glow with defined edges and slightly brighter center. 0.2' across.
Component b, MCG+5-33-24a, is 1.5' ESE of "a" and appears as a faint round small glow. Slightly smaller than "a".
Component c, MCG+5-33-25, is 1.5' east of b and is a faint very small round glow.
Component d, MCG+5-33-26, is 2.5' ESE of c and is a 2:1 elongated glow with defined edges and brighter center. PA = 45 and 0.2' long.
The order of brightness is d, a, c, then b is the faintest. Note: I didn't look for the thin galaxy 2' NW of "a".
VV 183, NGC 4199 (12 14 50.2 +59 54 27)
22" (328 and 383x) - Double galaxy with a nearby faint star nearby. The three forms a 30-60-right triangle with the star at the right angle. The two galaxies are identical in appearance through the eyepiece as faint very small round glows with stellar cores. They are 0.4' apart.
VV 202 (14 53 52.3 +33 11 32)
22" (383 and 690x) - A pretty rich field of 5 glows detected within a 3' field, which includes VV 203. Component a, MCG+6-31-12, of VV 202 is a considerably faint round glow with defined edges. Component b, MCG+6-31-15, is similar to a, but slightly lower surface brightness than a. Both are about 0.2' across and about 0.5' apart. Component c, MCG+6-31-13, is 0.6' SW of b and is a very faint very small round glow.
Nearby galaxy, SDSS J135346.05+331416.6, is located 1' NNE of "b" and is a very faint 2:1 elongated glow.
VV 203, MCG+6-31-16 (13 53 45.5 +33 13 15)
22" (383 and 690x) - Part of the rich field with VV 202. VV 203 was an unresolved very faint 2:1 elongated diffuse glow. PA = 150 and 0.1' long. It lies less than 0.3' east of VV 202b.
VV 222, NGC 4893 (12 59 59.7 +37 11 26)
22" (230 and 383x) - Double galaxy less than 0.4' apart. NGC 4893 is considerably bright small round glow with defined edges. Higher surface brightness and slightly larger than component b, NGC 4893A. b is a considerably faint small round glow with defined edges.
VV 235 (13 23 17.4 +52 39 10)
22"(383x) - Component a, MCG+9-22-56 is a faint, very small round glow with sharp edges with a detached streamer to the northwest that appears as an extremely faint streak that pops in and out 33% of the time. It is disconnected. The SDSS image shows a round part with a streamer emanating off the SE edge pointing slightly north of east. Component b, MCG+9-22-55, is slightly larger than "a". It appears as a faint even surface brightness glow with a much brighter small core. It lies just off the WNW edge of a.
VV 241, UGC 6931, MCG+10-17-115 (11 57 24.9 +57 55 48)
22" (230, 287,and 328x) - Faint slightly elongated low surface brightness glow. PA = 135. Didn't see the knot as noted by "b". 0.6' x 0.5'
VV 256 (14 00 55.4 +40 59 49)
22" (230 and 255x) - Component a, NGC 5410, is a 2:1 large diffuse glow with somewhat mottled edges. With averted vision a brighter 3:2 elongated glow was seen slightly off centered to the east. PA of the halo is 110 and PA of the center is 160. The halo is 0.8' long. Component b, UGC 8932 is a considerably bright thin streak with well defined edges. High surface brightness. PA = 0 and 0.3' long. A mag 13 star lies 2' NW of "a".
VV 270, UGC 7070 (12 04 56.2 +58 06 10)
22" (383x) - Component "b" is the main galaxy and appears a faint round diffuse glow with a slightly brighter center. About 0.4' across. I didn’t' detect the knot noted as "a". Member "c" was seen as an extremely faint small very diffuse glow. About 0.2' across. It lies less than 1' SW of "b". Note: there is a very bright star just 1.1' ENE and I kept it off the field by using a 6mm Zeiss orthoscopic and moved the star off the west edge.
VV 273, UGC 6816 (11 50 47.7 +56 27 21)
22" (230, 287,and 328x) - Component a is a large faint 3:2 elongated glow about 0.5' long and PA = 0. No central brightening. Component b popped in and out 25% of the time as a very small round spot less than 0.5' due west of "a".
Nearby galaxies. 1. Small round faint glow about 6' west. 2. Faint 3:1 sharp looking object with well defined edge and high surface brightness. PA = 110 and .4' long. Lies 6' ESE of VV 273. 3. Faint very small round glow with defined edges. 0.1' across and 5' SE of VV 273. 4. Faint small round glow with defined edges. Lies 4.6' SSW of VV 273.
VV 292 (13 06 50.5 +35 07 00)
22" (230 and 383x) - Component a, UGC 8199, is a faint 3:2 elongated even surface brightness glow. PA = 45 and 0.5' long. Component b, MCG+6-29-36, lies 3' NE of "a" and appears as a considerably faint small round even surface brightness glow. About 0.3' across.
VV 310 (13 59 54.0 +38 11 30)
22" (230 and 383x): NGC 5403 is a nice edge on galaxy with a dominant dust lane. Bright 4:1 edge on galaxy with defined edges. A dust lane screams across the entire length. PA = 45 and 2.5' long. MCG+6-31-42 is a considerably faint 3:2 elongated even surface brightness glow. It lies 1.6' NE of "a". PA = 135 and 0.4' long.
VV 320 (11 44 00.6 +55 02 28)
22" (230, 255,and 383x) - Component "a" is considerably bright even low surface 3:1 elongated brightness glow with diffuse edge. PA = 135 and 0.7' long. Component "b" is considerably faint small 2:1 elongated even surface brightness glow. PA = 30 and 0.2' long. It lies 1.2' SSE of "a".
VV 325 (13 29 45.1 +33 20 45)
22" (230 and 383x) - Component a, MCG+6-30-19, is a considerably bright round glow with defined edges and a brighter center. Component b, MCG+6-30-20, is a considerably bright slightly 3:2 elongated glow with a brighter center and defined edges. I didn't pick up the small "jet" to the east. A 30-60-right triangle of 14th mag stars are with the pair.
VV 326 (13 30 38.0 +31 17 07)
22" (230 and 383x) - Component a, MCG+5-32-35, is a considerably faint 4"1 elongated glow with a very faint "hook" off the south tip pointing due west. About 0.3' long and hook is 0.1' long. The PA of the main part is 160. Component b, MCG+5-32-34, is a faint small round diffuse glow with a bright center. 0.2' across. "b" is just 0.6' west of "a".
VV 344, NGC 5474 (14 05 00.8 +53 38 11)
22" (230x) - Very diffuse large round glow with a much brighter round glow with defined edges. What is interesting is that the brighter round glow is near the north edge of the larger halo. The halo is 2.5' across and the brighter part is 0.7' across. Bonus: M-101 is about a degree north. Note: Simbad has VV344 incorrectly labeled as M101.
VV 57, UGC 6912 (11 56 14.4 +58 11 49)
22" (255, 328 and 383x) - Very faint round diffuse glow. Low surface brightness. A bright mag 8.3 star lies 1.7' south and a mag 10.4 star lies 4.5' south. Best to use a narrow field eyepiece and move it off the field to see the galaxy.
VV 69, UGC 8496 (13 03 17.3 +31 19 59)
22" (230 and 383x) - VV 69 appears as one considerably faint round diffuse unresolved glow. About 0.3' across. VV 326 is just 5.5' ESE.
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