Observations of NGC2964

These are the observations available for NGC2964. If you have any of your own that you'd like to submit we'd love to put them on the website.

• A Superb Session!

  Clearing skies from the north meant that by 8.45pm it was totally clear and with the 92% moon rising just after 10pm there was a potential 2 hour window. The skies looked clear and dew free. So the OMC 200 was wheeled out for the session.

  I was looking forward to Iota Leo (STF 1536) because of the difficult challenge to separate the two components, (mag 4 and mag 6.7, sep 2.1). At my last attempt in April 2016 I was unable to split the pair. Also I was keen to check out any hints of colour.

  I synced the scope on Regulus (always a fine sight with its fainter companion) and then headed to Iota, even though it was not dark (8.40pm).

  At x167, Iota was clearly a pale yellow and as it danced in the centre of the fov, it had that feel that it must be a double. There was a repeating hint of elongation to the shimmering, sparkling star. Going to x220, the yellow colour was still obvious and in the moments of steadiness there was the tiny speck of component B sitting on the first diffraction ring. At x320 I confirmed my sighting of B. Using x400 I could see B most of the time.

  Having met the challenge all that was left was to confirm component C, no problem to spot this mag 11 star. I then just enjoyed the view and before I knew it 40 minutes had passed since I first sighted Iota. A delightful way to spend the time under the stars.

  

  More for a laugh rather than with any seriousness I wondered if the Galaxy of the Month (NGC2964) might be visible in the OMC 200, noting that Owen had chosen a pair of brighter galaxies. So I sent the scope to Castor (glorious double) to sync on it and to get the equatorial flip out of the way and then headed over to NGC2964.

  Noting that Owen had chosen a Herschel Galaxy, I thought NGC 2964 should just be doable. As soon as I looked through the e/p (x167), there it was. A definite oval shape and quite large. Then NGC2968 popped into view. I increased the magnification to x200. Both were easily held in view with a steady gaze. In fact as I settled into the view I kept getting hints of brightness within NGC2964 with the brightest part being towards the western end of the oval. NGC2968 was smaller and lacked any hint of a core.

  The reason locating this pair of galaxies so easily was quite simple. The sky was quite transparent for GB skies. There was none of the dreaded clag or dew. Around 9.30pm (BST) I was able to see direct mag 5.6 stars at the Zenith in the 4 minutes of true astro dark.

  With the moon still out of the way I then pondered Owen’s reference In terms of visibility Harrington in his book Cosmic Challenge suggests all three galaxies may be the range of a 20cm (8”) telescope. Two mag 13+ stars were visible near to NGC2964 so I decided to try for NGC2970.

  The obvious mag 11.7 star to the North of NGC2968 was a useful reference point and to my surprise I could see the mag 13.7 to the east of NGC2968 and then also the mag 14+ star came into view. With these 3 stars identified I stared intently, gently moving the scope to maximise my AV. Yep, there was NGC2970 – not exactly screaming at me but every now and then a small, faint fuzz kept appearing in exactly the right place.

  

  Absolutely no way could I have seen it on a typical claggy, mag 5.4 night. Wow, what a privilege to locate it in the OMC. I now wished I had the Dob out and ready.

  With the moon beginning to lighten the SE sky should I go for doubles? I then remembered that there are comets in our sky...

  Mike Wood - 14 April 2017

• Observation of NGC 2964 in Leo

  Please find attached an observation I made of this month's galaxy last year. I made the observation from my home site under poor skies (as ever). The instrument used was a 12" Newtonian reflector.

  NGC 2964 - Large and quite dim. Brighter in the middle where there is a roundish brighter central area.

  NGC 2968 - Smaller than NGC 2964 and dimmer. Elongated but with no sign of central brightening.

  NGC 2970 - A very small, very faint, round nebulous spot. This galaxy is magnitude 13.6, but was rescued from the gloopy skies by having a high surface brightness of 11.7. It is a Markarian galaxy, bearing the catalogue number Mk 405.

  

  When writing up this observation, I was puzzled by the elongation I had drawn for NGC 2968. Photographs show an elongation, but some way off the orientation I had drawn. Closer examination of the photographs seem to show that the photographic elongation is caused by the outer parts of the galaxy, which may have been too faint for me to detect. The central section of the galaxy does appear to have an elongation more in line with what I saw. This is an odd galaxy, and deep images show that it is interacting with the smaller NGC 2970.

  Patrick Maloney - 2 April 2017

• NGC 2964 in Leo from Norfolk

  I’d been at the SPA meeting at Cambridge all day. Got home, had tea then 2 hours sleep and was out observing by midnight. Choice of scope was the 12” Mewlon with a diagonal fitted for quickness and ease of use.

  My intention was for Galaxy of Month first as I knew Leo would be past the meridian then 41P with C/2017 E4 about 4am.

  Skies were good overhead, NELM of 5.5 but very damp and therefore claggy low down. The galaxy group was in the SW at an altitude of 41 degrees, so in-between these extremes of sky conditions.

  I used a 27mm Panoptic and a 22mm Panoptic giving x132 and x162 respectively. The 27mm gave a nicer field of view but NGC 2970 was better seen in the 22mm – AV1.

  

  Andrew Robertson - 3 April 2017