Until very recently, the heavenly bodies have been investigated only with reference to their position and their laws of motion, and a quarter of a century ago astronomy was little more than celestial topography.
/ George Phillips Bond /



In memoriam Halton C. Arp (1927-2013).


My astronomy sketches. Hover mouse over image for the inverted look. For fainter objects, take a look at the black-on-white original, sometimes it reveals more details.


Need advice? Want to discuss an observation? Feel free to contact me at flovro gmail*com.

ÚJ! Amennyiben elérhető, a ikonra kattintva magyarul is olvashatod az észlelést.


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NGC 4866 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 13h 00m Declination: 14° 07'
Constellation: Virgo
Date/time: 2009.05.20 20:30 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 24' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 4/5
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Description:

A faint, but clearly detectable galaxy of about 12 magnitudes, with a tiny, star-like core. Near this, a faint little star can be noticed that seems to be a supernova, however it is only a bare foreground star. Compared with photographs, it seems that the area seen by me is in fact only the brighter region around the galactic core. The galaxy has even fainter outer territories that cannot be seen visually by me. With these, the area of the galaxy is about twice the size, but for now, I estimate an apparent visual size of about 3.5' x 0.8' only. The foreground star is encircled by the galaxy and it looks as if the latter would be darker around the star. However, this is obviously only an optical illusion. Apart from that, it still shows many details: brighter and darker areas. Because of this, it seems to be an irregular galaxy, yet it is in fact belongs to a rare sub-group of spirals.


Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]
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All text and images are ©opyright of Ferenc Lovró. All rights reserved worldwide.

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