NGC 3079 with sn2013ee (or not)

This morning I had a short, cold, yet satisfactory observing session. It was no Dobsonian weather; at one point a wind gust (forecast up to 24 mph) threw me at the eyepiece of my 12” LX200GPS. This telescope’s shake, however, could hardly be noticed at 300x.

Attachment 975

I concentrated on one of my favorite galaxies, the complex and intriguing NGC 3079. The supernova 2013ee was at 16.1 and practically coinciding with a small HII region within an enhancement NW of the core. Their presumed combined glow is indicated in my sketch. The starlike dot in that location was glimpsed consistently. Also remarkable to me was a glimpse of three starlike HII regions (all three simultaneously) within an elongated compact enhancement on the opposite side of the galaxy. Two more enhancements flanked the galaxy, diffuse on the SE end and more compact and elongated in the NW. The nucleus was not quite starlike.

Attachment 974

24 mm Panoptic, 16 mm ZAOII, 13 mm Ethos, 10 mm ZAOII, mostly the Ethos at 230x. 21.5 mpsas by SQM-L near Upsilon UMa. 04:00-05:00. Cherry Springs.