An unexpected sighting of Leo I

[akarsh]

Leo I is touted to be a very low-surface-brightness galaxy and the like, so I was pleasantly surprised to be able to see it without knowing the position a-priori from what I would rate as Bortle 4+ (probably closer to 5) skies in Adarsha Joisa's 16" without light shielding/shrouding. Adarsha was able to reproduce the observation exactly without knowing where to look either. We later confirmed this against images.

[adarshajoisa]

Yes, that was indeed a very nice observation. I later came across a photo of Leo I showing the exact size/orientation as we did.

[Howard B]

Hi Akarsh,

My experience with Leo I is either it's rather easy to see or it's invisible. I think transparency makes a huge difference in its visibility.

[Norman]

Hello Akarsh,

what about air humidity that very night?

CS
Norman

[akarsh]

Hello Akarsh,

what about air humidity that very night?

CS
Norman

Norman, the humidity was surprisingly low for South India and I am sure that contributed to the observation. Yet I find it amazing that we could see a dwarf galaxy under those conditions. Sometimes you never know...