Object of the Week November 18, 2012 Maffei 1

[Jimi Lowrey]

Maffei 1 (UGCA 34)

Cassiopeia

RA
02 36 35

DEC
+59 39 17

MAG 11.4

Type S0 Pec

Maffei 1 was found in 1967 by Paulo Maffei who was working with red sensitive film. It was believed to be part of the local group until it was shown to part of its own group, the IC 342 Maffei group at approximately 10 MLY. Maffei 1 is the closest giant elliptical type galaxy to us which makes it a unique object and has the mass in the neighborhood of of several billion suns. Maffei 1 is obscured by over five magnitudes of extinction and if not obscured by the Milky Way would be a naked eye object.
342

This image is from the paper by Buta and McCall with the stars subtracted.
343

I am working on observing all the members of this group from the paper by Buta and McCall and have found it to be a real challenge for the 48". Maffei 1 although is fairly easy and I have seen reports of it being seen in a 13" I wonder what is the smallest aperture that can catch this obscure giant?

Like most objects, if you look closely you can find obscure and challenging objects near by and Maffei 1 is no exception. In 1971 Sidney Van den Berg charted three objects near Maffei 1 from an image with the 200" Palomar (Hale) telescope. I have two objects marked in the image below. The one to the North East is in MegaStar as MAC 0237+5942 and is a reflection nebula. The one to the South East is more interesting. Van den Berg thought it could be a globular cluster or a compact Dwarf of Maffei 1 at this time it is not known what it is and research is under way to see what and were it is.
344

"GIVE IT A GO AND LET US KNOW"

GOOD LUCK AND GREAT VIEWING!

[RolandosCY]

Maffei 1 (UGCA 34)...Cassiopeia...I am working on observing all the members of this group from the paper by Buta and McCall and have found it to be a real challenge for the 48". Maffei 1 although is fairly easy and I have seen reports of it being seen in a 13" I wonder what is the smallest aperture that can catch this obscure giant?...

Hi Jimi! Finally an OOTW object that I have observed BEFORE it appeared on the forum! And not only that, but with an even smaller aperture than Jimi mentions! I did observe Maffei I on November 18, 2009 from Xyliatos Reservoir (altitude 1900ft) in Cyprus. This is probably the darkest readily accessible location from all major town on the island and is hidden in a valley surrounded by 5,500ft mountains in most directions (unfortunately, since 2011 the reservoir has opened up for angling and there are too many cars in the parking lot where we used to set up). That night was magical - it seemed like there was no atmosphere! The transparency was beyond words and the seeing was very steady.

Maffei I was one of the hard targets I wanted to try, and the night seemed ideal. My big gun at the time was a SkyWatcher 12" flextube. Well, after locating the field I felt pretty confident that I did see the galaxy. Using my Ethos 13mm eyepiece at 115x I could see a distinct slight oval haze behind a line up of faint foreground stars that matched DSS images I had prepared for the evening. By increasing the magnification to 214x with my 7mm Nagler some nugging thoughts prevailed because the oval faint haziness seemed to weaken, and some more very faint foreground stars appeared. At the time I thought that maybe the glow was coming from more unresolved stars beyond the resolving capability of my telescope, but since then my experience in very faint DSOs has increased substantially and now I am 100% certain that I have seen Maffei I. I definitely believe that under ideal conditions from very dark locations it might be doable with less aperture, maybe 8 inches or even less. The trick will be to separate the background faint light of the galaxy from the foreground stars. maybe a good place to practice before hitting Maffei I is IC342 which has a similar effect but is considerably brighter and easier.

Even before Jimi suggested Maffei I as an OOTW I did prepare a set of charts for Maffei I via Megastar for my 18". Unfortunately, almost during the whole of this new moon period, we have been plagued by thin cirrus clouds which of course foil any attempts on such targets, so it will possibly become December by the time I have a chance to renew my acquaintance with this old friend!

[Jimi Lowrey]

Rolandos,

That is impressive that you got Maffei 1 with a 12"

[RolandosCY]

Rolandos,

That is impressive that you got Maffei 1 with a 12"

It was an impressive night Jimi - the same night gave me by far the best view of the Horsehead as well! So it was not a surprise that such a faint target was visible. Actually that night was something like an apocalypse for me, since then I have realized that dark skies and atmospheric conditions may be the most important factor in deep sky observing.

After replying to you earlier today I started pondering whether Maffei I might be visible from my light-polluted backyard with my 18". My SQM readings in good nights average at 19.8, and I have seen quite a score of NGC galaxies. The Milky Way is visible near the zenith, and 5.4 magnitude stars are routinely visible. If the sky is clear after moonset tonight I might give it a shot!

[Uwe Glahn]

Cool object Jimi.

Like you mentioned the easiest member of the group and pretty easy to detect with 16". In contrast Maffei II took me to the limit for my 27".

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[Jimi Lowrey]

Hi Uwe,

I have found that you need a very dry and transparent night to see Maffei II. To catch the faint glow of this Peculiar SB galaxy the less humidity the better. I looked at Maffei II twice last week on a night of 20% humidity it was easy direct vision and extended and surprisingly big. A few nights later at 50% humidity it was a very faint small averted vision only glow.

[Uwe Glahn]

Thanks for the comment Jimi. That helps a lot.

A friend of mine mentioned similar observations. He could detect Maffei II as a large and laminar glow with his 20". When I tried it, I could barely see a very tiny spot of light - probably only the very small and faint nucleus.

What magnification and AP do you used?

[Jimi Lowrey]

13 Ethos @ 375X is what I used on the night it looked so good. Uwe I would try Maffei II again on a night of good transparency with your 27"it really helps if its dry.

The night that Maffei II looked so good I also was able to see Dwingeloo 1 and Dwingeloo 2. These LSB obscured galaxies are much easer to see when its dry and not humid from my experience with them.

[Bill Weir]

Logged Maffei 1 from my backyard Sept 23/06 with my 12.5" dob at 317X (5mm T6 Nagler). SQM 21.31 Transparency about as good as it ever gets here on the south west coast of Canada at sea level. It was not an easy obsevation but Uwe's sketch pretty much shows what I saw. It was part of my quest to observe the RASC's Deep Sky Challenge list.

Bill

[Astrojensen]

I have suspected Maffei 1 in my 63mm Zeiss Telemator. It was a very faint, threshold glow behind the stars of Zernike 11, but I was unsure then whether it was just unresolved stars. It was placed in the right location, though, so today I'm pretty sure I bagged it. I'll revisit it again, when I get the chance, both with the 12" and the 63mm.


Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

[Sue French]

The center of Maffei 1 is visible in a 105mm scope at 87x with averted vision.

Sue