These are our observations in Hercules

• NGC 6058 in Hercules

  Sadly no new observations from me of late as my telescope software has malfunctioned and I can't find a remedy!

  However I do have a sketch that matches up with one of this months challenges 😀 It's NGC 6058 in Hercules observed with 14" Newtonian in June 2008, and sketched using a Watec video camera.

  

  Dale Holt - (19 May 2021).

• Galaxy Group ACO 2197 in Hercules

  I managed to get the following image of ACO 2197 after reading Owen's very interesting Galaxy of the Month for May 2018.

  

  ACO 2197 is a hidden galaxy cluster in the constellation of Hercules. There are so many eliptical, spiral, and irregular galaxies but the brightest three are NGC 6160, NGC 6173 and NGC 6175 and were all discovered by William Herschel in 1787. These galaxies also have very interesting dust halos which were the most challenging thing to process, however, I'm more than pleased with the result.

  Image Details

  • Telescope: C ED 80.
  • Camera: QHY 183 Mono Cool, QHY 5 guide.
  • Mount: Skywatcher Heq5 PRO.

  The image is composed of 120s sub-exposures with a total integration time of 11 hours.

  Vasileios Spanakis-Misirlis - (29 March 2021).

• July's Galaxy of the Month: NGC 6548

  Sky conditions were good last night (30/07/17), NELM 5.5/5.6 with very little dew and a gentle breeze.

  Pointing the 20” Dobsonian at NGC 6548, with an 8mm Ethos eyepiece (x294), the galaxy was immediately obvious. Closer inspection showed a definite oval bright core, extending either side. Hints of a surrounding halo could be detected but very difficult to be certain of this observation.

  

  Nearby NGC 6549 was difficult to detect. It appeared as a thin oval patch of fuzz but I was not convinced of its orientation. At higher power (x336), the core and its extension became brighter and more extensive as did the surrounding halo (there was no better definition at x470 or x 537 but it was fun trying). NGC 6549 remained difficult at all magnifications.

  Whilst in Hercules I wandered over to M13 – glorious at x537, picked up nearby NGC 6207 and as usual failed on IC 4617.

  Mike Wood - 31 July 2017

• An observation of M92 in Hercules

  Here is a sketch of M92 from last night (6th August 2016, 21:39 UT) under a clear sky with no moon during Nautical twilight. Observing with a 12" f/5 Dobsonian with 15 mm lens from Moonfish. Pencil on cartridge paper. North is to the left in the sketch.

  

  Visually M92 seems somewhat elliptical with the major axis roughly north-south. There is a distinct and unresolved core and a visual impression of concentric rings. There seemed to be an extended light source to the west only. I suspect this was some sort of optical illusion rather than anything to do with M92.

  Rob Peeling - (7 August 2016).

• Flat Galaxies Hunt

  Got out shortly after 10pm on Sunday night and went until 3am!

  My skies were reasonable but not the best. I was getting SQM of 21.0 and NELM of 5.5 but they were very damp skies and I suspected them to be going ‘off’ later on in the observing session.

  I had no lists planned so decided to go ‘Flat’ galaxy hunting using the Webb Society's latest Flat Galaxy publication, courtesy of Alvin Huey. I always find thin edge on galaxies more difficult than their quoted magnitude. For example UGC 3696, the integral sign galaxy is quoted at mag 13.5 but difficult enough in a 16” scope from a good sky. For tonight I was using my 600mm driven Dobsonian with Argo-Navis.

  Anyway, started off with NGC 5777 in Draco. Quite easy with 8mm Ethos (x340); suspected UGC 9570 in same FOV but couldn’t be certain – need a better sky. Just left the 8mm (x340) in for the rest and the Argo-Navis and ServoCat ‘found’ them ☺.

  Then the rest as per the attached sketches (click on them for a better view.)

  

  

  

  The only one I really struggled with was UGC 11964 near NGC 7241 in Pegasus. It was the only one where I had to hunt down the correct field stars, tried 13E, 8E and 4.7E. Nearly gave up but in the end confirmed it with the 8mm Ethos - but the sky was getting damper by now (0130 BST) although I was still getting 21.0 SQM but then I have had 21.35 from this location.

  

  I then tried for a couple of exotic PN’s but failed – a better night maybe?

  Very enjoyable session.

  Andrew Robertson - 22 August 2015