Laevens 3 -- a newly discovered probable GC in Delphinus

[oliva]

Another try of spotting Laevens 3 this time with a smaller scope, my 21” Dobson and the GC appeared at 231x relatively easily. Using averted vision the GC could be hold as a faint glow with increasing brightness towards the center. I was really surprised how easy it could be seen. SQM-L readouts around 21,5.

Oliver

[akarsh]

Another try of spotting Laevens 3 this time with a smaller scope, my 21” Dobson and the GC appeared at 231x relatively easily. Using averted vision the GC could be hold as a faint glow with increasing brightness towards the center. I was really surprised how easy it could be seen. SQM-L readouts around 21,5.

Oliver

Thanks, this is encouraging. Tells me I should perhaps try with my 18".

[oliva]

Hi everyone again,

I tried to spot Laevens 3 with my smaller scope in my home region under Bortle 3 sky and interestingly I succeeded again. Scope was a 21 inch Newton. The GC could be hold using averted vision and was relatively easy to spot. Forgot to write down the used magnification, but I think it was 238x. SQM-L readouts were around 21.48 in the Delphinius constellation.

Oliver

[wvreeven]

Hi everyone again,

I tried to spot Laevens 3 with my smaller scope in my home region under Bortle 3 sky and interestingly I succeeded again. Scope was a 21 inch Newton. The GC could be hold using averted vision and was relatively easy to spot. Forgot to write down the used magnification, but I think it was 238x. SQM-L readouts were around 21.48 in the Delphinius constellation.

Oliver

From what I read here in your comments, you own (at least) three telescopes: a 14", a 21" (which you refer to as your "smaller scope") and a 25". Is that correct? Did you try to observe this GC with your 14" as well?

Wouter

[oliva]

Hi Wouter,

The 25" was a rental at Tivoli Astrofarm. The 14" I owned myself in 2013, the 21" is a second hand home built Dobson which I use since last December. I tried Laevens 3 with the 14" in 2021 too but could not spot anything. But the star field is tricky and I used a screenshot from Aladin so I also didn’t succeeded with the 21 the first time recently because I accidentally observed a field nearby, which looks like that at the correct position. So, possibly I was with the 14" when I observed the GC in summer 2021 at the wrong position also even because I tried the same night with a friend’s 21", but could not see anything too. Ok, it’s a little bit complicated...

Oliver

[oliva]

Hi everyone again,

I tried to spot Laevens 3 with my smaller scope in my home region under Bortle 3 sky and interestingly I succeeded again. Scope was a 21 inch Newton. The GC could be hold using averted vision and was relatively easy to spot. Forgot to write down the used magnification, but I think it was 238x. SQM-L readouts were around 21.48 in the Delphinius constellation.

Oliver

This is actually a double post to those from 31. august. Didn’t notice that I already posted my observation.

Oliver

[ScottH]

Since I had access to a 36-inch telescope for one clear evening and was waiting for other objects to get higher, I took a look at Laevens 3. SQM-L reading was no better than 21.15 after darkness. Was surprised to be able to detect it at just 150x and it was easy at 334x! Now I will have to try for it in my 16-inch at 600x under my 21.4 skies at home. Pretty sure I've got a good shot at seeing it. Thanks to Akarsh for starting this thread since there isn't a similar thread on Laevens 3 on CN.

Scott

[ScottH]

Hello

I would expect that this object would need at least 16 to 18 inches of aperture and dark skies, but as we know well, any such assumption is against the spirit of this forum and of science in general. It's good to see the reports of attempts in 12"!

BTW, I recently noticed that SIMBAD has a system for pointing out errors in the database, so I have reported one saying that Laevens 3 must be Gl? (Possible globular cluster) and not G (galaxy).
http://cdsannotations.u-strasbg.fr/a...Object/9705361

Clear Skies
Regards
Akarsh

Okay, Akarsh was right. I could see it occasionally at 300x in my 16-inch as a tiny but nonstellar glow with averted vision. A tough but doable for GC that is 200,000 light-years distant and was discovered less than 8 years ago! I would predict that under optimal conditions, it could be glimpsed in a 14-inch.

Scott H.

[oliva]

Okay, Akarsh was right. I could see it occasionally at 300x in my 16-inch as a tiny but nonstellar glow with averted vision. A tough but doable for GC that is 200,000 light-years distant and was discovered less than 8 years ago! I would predict that under optimal conditions, it could be glimpsed in a 14-inch.

Scott H.

Hi all,

I tried to spot Laevens with my 14 inch Newton (350 mm) in two different nights under Bortle 2 skies but I couldn’t detect the GC so far. I used 65x, 114x and 168x to reveal the glimpse of Laevens 3. But nevertheless it was not visible.

Oliver