Location: Home
Date: 2025-10-11
Time: 9:37 PM ADT
S&T Chart Reference: 62, 64
Instrument: 10" Meade SCT
Eyepiece: SvBony 10-30mm Zoom (I used 15 mm)
Magnification: x167
Seeing: Good (3)
Transparency: Fair (4)
SQM: not recorded
Temperature: not recorded
Moon had not risen yet so took a chance. Using the distance between 2 stars in the Little Dipper (Alifa al Farkadain in the bowl and Urodelus in the handle), I went twice that distance to find that faint galaxy. The nebulosity was bright int he centre and appeared pointed on each end. The star field was sparse it eh eyepiece but was able to sketch what I saw the identified the stars later.
Note: M102 cannot be unambiguously identified. Historical evidence favors that M102 is actually the galaxy NGC 5866 (one of two galaxies commonly called the Spindle Galaxy).
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Constellation: Draco Type: Spiral Galaxy (G-SAO) Distance: 40,000 kly Size: 6.6' x 3.2' |