NGC 891

[mdstuart]

I have always found this a hard galaxy to see.

I finally managed it with low power in a 10 inch reflector with averted vision.

Anyway I was in Cornwall in the sw of England with my 100mm binoculars.

I did not expect much but there it was clear as day , an extended glow even with direct vision.

Has anyone else enjoyed this edge on galaxy?

Mark

[lamperti]

Mark,
I, too, had a hard time with a 10" back in 1987 under 86x. Though very faint, it was "large". In 2000, I observed it with an 18" at 256x and it was: "Nice skinny, elongated galaxy. It fills the field. Even brightness with tapered edges." It was part of a large group of galaxies in the area: NGC-898, 906, 909, 911, 912, 913 and 914 all within less than 1 degree of each other.
Al

[Ivan Maly]

From a dark site, 12" begin to show the tilt of the dust lane. Definitely a favorite.

[mdstuart]

Thanks for the feedback. I was out again tonight and I have found another low sbr edge on which I have struggled to find in the past. It is NGC 4217. It is near M 106 and looks superb in images but I could not spot it in my 10 inch...The 16 inch tonight could just pick it up with averted vision. Glad to have finally cracked it.

Mark

[Uwe Glahn]

I picked up the dust lane with 8". Transparency was good but not the best. Very important is the right AP. I used 1,8mm (114x with 8"). Smallest aperture I tried for NGC 891 was 4". I picked up the galaxy with 4" with averted vision.

8", 114x, NELM 6m5+
1533

[mdstuart]

Thanks UWE for your experience with this one.

[omahaastro]

Have you observed NGC 5907 in Draco, Mark? While it doesn't seem as popular as 891, I find it to be easier to pick out the dark lane in smaller apertures.

[Howard B]

Wow Uwe, I really like your 8 inch sketch! Here's my sketch with my 28 inch, which looks very much the same:

1538 1539

My sketch was also done under relatively poor skies, but even under better conditions I haven't seen more in this galaxy than this sketch shows.

[Uwe Glahn]

Thanks Howard,

but I see "a little more stars" in your sketch :) I in the past I was amazed, that the 8" shows much the same detail like the 27". The dark lane was visible with equal length and without problems under good transparency. But for real, the impression in the 27" is not comparable with the 8", even when the fun with the small instrument is not much less.

By the way (omahaastro), I find the dark lane in NGC 5907 much more difficult than the dark lane in NGC 891. I found the hard edge at the long SW side easy to see but the dark lane as a lane with a brighter counterpart was always difficult to spot even with mid size telescopes for me.

[Howard B]

Yes, but I think it shows the power of an 8 inch scope in the hands of an experienced observer even better! I've had much the same experience with NGC 4565, with larger scopes not revealing more detail, only more field stars and perhaps fainter companion galaxies. I observed 4565 with the 90 inch Bok telescope a few years ago and it was the only disappointing object we looked at all night - the view was just a brighter version of what I'd already seen in my own scopes!

Also, my experience with seeing the dust lane in NGC 5907 is the same as yours, it is significantly more subtle than 891's dark lane. I need to look for 5907's dark lane with averted vision for a good view, compared to 891's dark lane being its defining feature.

1555 1556

[Steve Gottlieb]

Here are my notes from the last look at NGC 5907. I only see the dust lane along a (central) part of the galaxy ---

24" (7/8/13): this showpiece edge-on contains a very bright, large, thin extended core but no well defined nucleus. The galaxy nearly fills the 15' field at 280x, extending ~12'x1', with a patchy surface brightness towards the tips. A thin dust lane on the preceding side of the core can be traced at least 5'. A thin, low surface brightness strip (catalogued as NGC 5906) is visible on the west side of the dust lane.

[Ivan Maly]

On the subject of NGC 5907, here is my sketch from last year (16" and a very borderline dark 21.05 mag/sq arcsec):

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PDPUktSHM_k/U-v_I0RK0lI/AAAAAAAABMk/v1sbC9hjKjc/s1600/2014-07-31%2BNGC%2B5907.jpg

[4meter]

I love NGC 891! Back in the day when I had an 8" f6 Newt in eastern Tennessee, NGC 891 was one object used to gauge transparency of the sky. If I could see 891 at low power the seeing and transparency was good to excellent and it was a deep sky observing night; if I could not see it, it was an open cluster observing night.

[Galaxter]

The first time I tried for 891 it was very illusive and ghostly in my 10" at 44x and 68x even from my Bortle 3 site. Since then I discovered 891 takes practice and averted vision. The last time I viewed in my 10" Dob I was able to make out a faint dust lane through its central bulge.

[glxytrios]

NGC 891 is one of my favorite edge-ons. We call it "The Jazz Galaxy". Listener-supported radio station KMHD in Portland, OR plays jazz ("all jazz, all the time") is at 89.1 on the FM dial, thus the name. For some of the thinnest edge-ons try UGC 7321 in Com, UGC 711 in Cet, and UGC 12281 in Peg.
Clear skies, Glxytrios aka Miles

[akarsh]

Just to add a data-point NGC 5907 was visible in a friend's 25x100 Oberwerk binoculars from Bortle ~4 skies. This observation made me get a 25x100 pair myself. I've seen NGC 891 multiple times with 8" from Bortle ~4 skies, but it still remains "dimmer than you would think" in my 18". Turns out, though, that in an 18", as you bump up the power, you can see the "ragged" nature of the dust lane, which is something I couldn't have imagined doing with an 8".

Clear Skies

Regards
Akarsh

[sanath]

Hello,
i have observed NGC891 with my 8" as a part of the hershel-400 , i am attaching my log, it was a suburb sky NELM 5.5mag,elongated, looks like a typical edge on galaxy and using a 20mm or lower power on an 8" helps as its a big galaxy. ATTACH=CONFIG]1800[/ATTACH]

[mdstuart]

Update....I recently observed NGC 898 which is just to the west of NGC 891.

It is an exquisite edge on like 891 but much further away. It was an easy catch in my 16 inch.

So next time you observe 891 go compare with 898!

Mark

[RolandosCY]

Here is a link to my NGC 5907 drawing in the relevant OOTW discussion, the dark lane is quite nice with 18". Since then the galaxy has been detected in instruments down to 4" here in Cyprus.

http://www.deepskyforum.com/showthread.php?166-Object-of-the-Week-June-24-2012-%96-NGC-5907-quot-The-Splinter-Galaxy-quot

[RolandosCY]

And here is an 18" sketch of NGC891 produced in a rather untraditional fashion - I printed the stars using Megastar (after determining from before to which magnitude I could reach) and sketched the galaxy on the printout. This made the sketch appear more realistic, giving that 3D effect of the very faint galaxy "floating" behind the stars....

1878

[theritz]

I have seen 891 several times in my (now sold) LB 12" from suburban skies (meh....) and through my 10" Sumerian Optics under a 21.75 avg sky in Germany (wow!)
One of the best edge-ons, or easiest anyway, showcase galaxies. But not easy to see! I have tried to show it to several onlookers but they simply could not see the galaxy. After some hits on where to look they managed though.
Thanks for the other suggestions, I will definately have a go at them sometime!