Malibu galaxies on two seperate occasions with two different scopes...niceee

I think I am going to be going to Solstice Canyon Park at Malibu more frequently from now on. I had a chance to go on two separate occasions when the moon was new and out of the way and got heaps of observing done. The site, while not the best dark sky site, offers skies that are dark enough for serious galaxy observation and hunting. The very fact that it is only half an hours drive from where I live makes it a whole lot more accessible than say Mount Pinos. Heck I can even go for in prompto observation sessions during the week! Another plus is that I can easily drive to a nearby ocean site that has clear views of the southern horizon (and therefore I can have access to objects that are otherwise invisible from Pinos). Also it does not get nearly as cold as Pinos (which is pretty much covered in snow for half of the year!). My only gripe with the site is that I cannot drive my car into the park, which pretty much limits which scope I can use. I currently park just outside the barricade that leads into the park and setup my scope there. My weapon of choice is usually my Orion SkyScanner on an Orion HD2F tripod. However my Celestron/Vixen C6 on my newly acquired Vixen PortaMount is just as light and portable, plus it shows more detail in objects (read on to find out), so that setup might get more use in the near future.

Anyways onto the observing sessions. The last time I was there, on a Saturday night, I had with me my C6 on PortaMount configuration, as well as my Celestron Firstscope micro dob (which I used on the bonnet of my car to look at objects which were not that high up in the sky and were skirting the treeline). The first stop, just like on Thursday was M81 and M82. Both galaxies looked better in the C6 (of course with the added aperture advantage) than in the SkyScanner. The main advantage I found using a larger aperture was that I could  increase the magnification to ferret out minute details such as mottling in the main body of the galaxy, etc etc. This was the same for M104, the Sombrero Galaxy in Corvus, as was M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici. M104 did not show its dark dust lane or its characteristic somebrero shape in the SkyScanner. This was very evident using the 6mm Radian in the C6. Also I though I could make out the bridge connecting M51 with its companion galaxy, and more of its spiral arms were visible around the nucleus. Other galaxies that showed substantially more detail in the larger scope included M64, the black eye galaxy, NGC 4565 in Coma Berenices (its edge on visage much easier to discern), and M94 in Canes Venatici. All these galaxies benefited from added magnification. The Leo galaxies M65/66/NGC 3628 and M95/96 and M105/NGC 3384/NGC 3389 looked good in both scopes, but again the C6 won out with its greater aperture. I then spent some time just wondering around the Virgo-Coma cluster. This is a superb field to spend some time just surfing from galaxy to galaxy! M83 in Hydra was a disappointment as only the core of the galaxy was visible, even with the C6. I guess this galaxy is southern object and it was not very high in the sky, hence the washed out views. Still better to be able to see it than not at all! The only galaxy that appeared better in the SkyScanner was M101, for some strange reason (go figure). One thing to note though is how spoilt I have become with me using my 10" dob extensively back in Australia. Many of the galaxies looked foreign and even difficult to spot in my smaller scopes. Will have to get used to this until we get a car large enough to transport my 10" dob. Our current Corolla sedan, with the baby seat installed is just not convenient for throw in the back seat observing.

Back to the observing report. As the night progressed, more of the summer constellation started to climb higher into the sky. I got fantastic views of M13, northern hemisphere's best glob (pales in comparison to Omega Centauri and 47 Tuc still...even M22, the crackerjack cluster in Sagittarius). Some of its outer stars showed up in the SkyScanner, although the cluster was cracked wide open with the C6. I noted that the views were very nice even in the Celestron Firstscope! M4 in Scorpius showed its bar of stars in all three scopes, with the brightest views coming from the C6 at high mag. M80 was unresolved in all three scopes. I finished off both nights with M57, the Ring Nebula in Lyra. This still remains my fave planetary nebula as its ghostly annulus is apparent even in the smallest scopes. The ring shape is obvious even in the Celestron Firstscope! Will have to try and image this the next time I am at Malibu!