Deep Sky Observations with eVscope April 2020

Conditions | Observation Overview | List of Observed Sky Objects | References

Since the end of January 2020, I own an Unistellar eVscope telescope for observing and taking photos of deep sky objects. On this page, I collect information about first observations in April 2020 using the new version of the Unistellar app (version 1.0), which might be of interest to other beginners. The photos that were taken during the observations are shown elsewhere on this site.

Notes:

See page Overview of the Unistellar Pages for just that!
I present the first five observation sessions, including photos, on page Unistellar eVscope - Observations.

Conditions

Sky Region and Objects

In April 2020, I observed the sky area in the south, southwest, and somewhat to the west, but also looked into further directions (Ursa Major, Virgo, Canes Venatici, ...). Therefore, a map does not make much sense here...

Observation Time

The observations in this phase started at the beginning of April 2020. They typically took place shortly after dusk, when it was sufficiently dark for a successful star alignment. Once, I also observed in the early morning.

Observation Location

All observations took place in Mühlhausen/Kraichgau (Germany):

Coordinates: 49° 15' N , 8° 43' E
Coordinates (dec.): 49,25° N, 8,72° E

Equipment Used

When observing with the eVscope, I only needed the eVscope and my iPhone.

General Conditions

In general, the sky above Mühlhausen/Kraichgau is "light-polluted" and does not invite you to search for deep sky objects. This is certainly one of the reasons why I found some of the deep sky objects that I wanted to observe only sometimes or not at all. For astro photography, however, light pollution is not as disturbing as for visual observations.

Observation Overview

Observation Dates

Date 2020	Observed Objects	Observed Objects, Details	Remarks	Further Remarks
Apr 8	G: M 51, M 63, M 81, M 82, NGC 2403	Order: M 51, M 81, M 82, NGC 2403	Full moon, a lot of noise in the photos	New app version 1.0.2, seemed more stable...
Apr 11	C: C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS), C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) OC: M 35 G: NGC 2403	Order: C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS), M 35, NGC 2403	Moon did not disturb	Unistellar had called for concerted observation of comet ATLAS, but data download and upload did not work; so I observed for myself...
Apr 15 (M)	GN: M 27, M 57 GC: M 56, M 92	Order: M 57, M 56, M 92, M 27	The sky got too bright in the morning	Observations in parallel to observing a special constellation of the planets and the moon
Apr 19	G: M 51, M 101, M 108, NGC 4236, NGC 4631 PN: M 97	Order: M 51, M 101, NGC 4236, NGC 4631, M 101, NGC 4236, M 97, M 108	Observed from about 10 p.m. to shortly before midnight	Four nights before new moon; all photos regrettably not quite sharp...
Apr 21	GC: M 3, M 53 G: IC 2574, M 51, M 63, M 64, M 81, M 82, M 94, M 101, M 102, M 106, M 108, M 109, NGC 4236, NGC 4244, NGC 4449, NGC 4490/85, NGC 4559, NGC 4565, NGC 4631, NGC 5005 PN: M 97 DS: M 40	Order: M 108, M 97, M 40, IC 2574, M 81, M 82, NGC 4236, M 101, M 102, M 51, NGC 4631, NGC 4559, NGC 4565, NGC 5005, NGC 4490, NGC 4449, NGC 4244, M 94, M 63, M 106, M 109, M 3, M 53, M 64	Observed from about 9:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. the next day	Two nights before new moon; used the Bahtinov mask before observing to focus the eVscope
Apr 22	G: M 51, M 60, M 65, M 66, M 84, M 85, M 86, M 95, M 96, M 101, M 104, M 106, NGC 4565, NGC 4665 PN: NGC 40	About 9:30 p.m.: NGC 40 (Bow Tie Nebula) From about 10:15 p.m. on: M 65/66, M 105, M 95, M 96, M 104, M 86/84, M 85, M 60, M 101, M 51, NGC 4665, NGC 4565	Observed from about 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.	For the first time, I took rectangular photos without overlay (app version 1.0.3)
Apr 23	G: M 65, M 66, M 95, M 96, NGC 2903, NGC 3628	Order: NGC 2903 (very faint), M 66 and M 65 together, M 95, M 96, NGC 3628	Observed from about 8:00 p.m. (with dinner break) to 11:00 p.m.	Parallel observation eVscope versus C8 (except for NGC 3628)

Bold: First observation during this observation period; G = galaxy, OC = open star cluster, GC = globular star cluster, GN = galactic nebula, PN = planetary nebula, P = star pattern, DN = dark nebula, C = comet, SN = supernova

List of Observed Sky Objects

Object details can be obtained via the links to the relevant deep sky objects.

DSO Details	Name	Constellation	Type	Remarks
C/2017 T2	C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS)	---	C	The comet can be recognized as such. Better to see than in March.
C/2019 Y4	C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)	---	C	The comet can be recognized as such. Better to see than in March.
IC 2574		Ursa Major	G	Very faint spiral galaxy, hard for the eVscope
M 3		Canes Venatici	GC	Nice globular cluster, one of the larger ones
M 27		Vulpecula	GN	Already too bright in the morning, nebula hardly to see
M 35		Gemini	OC	Large and nice open star cluster
M 40	Winnecke 4	Ursa Major	DS	Optical double star; nearby are three small galaxies (NGC 4284, NGC 4290, PGC 39934)
M 51	Whirlpool Galaxy	Canes Venatici	G	Nice spiral galaxy with connected satellite galaxy
M 53		Coma Berenices	GC	One of the smaller globular star clusters
M 56		Lyra	GC	Already too bright in the morning
M 57	Ring Nebula	Lyra	GN	Nice view of the ring
M 60		Virgo	G	Elliptical galaxy with satellite NGC 4647 (spiral galaxy)
M 63	Sunflower Galaxy	Canes Venatici	G	Nice, elongated spiral galaxy, somewhat larger
M 64	Black Eye Galaxy	Coma Berenices	G	Impressive spiral galaxy with unique look, somewhat larger
M 65		Leo	G	Thin, elongated spiral galaxy, spiral hard to see; part of the Leo triplet (with M 66 and NGC 3623; with M 66 just about into the field of view of the eVscope
M 66		Leo	G	Elongated spiral galaxy, spiral visible; part of the Leo triplet (with M 65 and NGC 3628; with M 65 just about into the field of view of the eVscope
M 81	Bode Galaxy	Ursa Major	G	Nice spiral galaxy; the spiral is not very conspicuous in the eVscope
M 82	Cigar Galaxy	Ursa Major	G	Elongated irregular galaxy (cigar), dirsturbed by an encounter with M 81
M 84		Virgo	G	Elliptical galaxy that can be seen together with M 86 in the eVscope's field of view (+ NGC 4387 and a bit of NGC 4402)
M 85		Coma Berenices	G	Elliptical galaxy that can be seen together with the galaxy NGC 4394 in the same field of view of the eVscope
M 86		Virgo	G	Observed alone and together with M 84 in the field of view (+ NGC 4387 and a bit of NGC 4402)
M 92		Hercules	GC	Already too bright in the morning
M 94		Canes Venatici	G	Small spiral galaxy, the spiral appears more like a nebula
M 95		Leo	G	Small spiral galaxy, the spiral appears more like a nebula
M 96		Leo	G	Small barred spiral galaxy, relatively faint, but the bar is visible. Forms a pair with M 96, but too far away for the eVscope (40').
M 97		Ursa Major	PN	Small green dot with two dark spots
M 101	Pinwheel Galaxy	Ursa Major	G	Spiral galaxy, seen face-on, similar to M 99 and M 100, but much larger than both; quite impressive in the eVscope
M 102		Draco	G	Seen edge-on; shares the name "Spindle Galaxy" with two other galaxies
M 104	Sombrero Galaxy	Virgo	G	Spiral galaxy, seen nearly edge-on; the dust ring and the bright nucleus led to the name; very impressive in the eVscope.
M 106		Canes Venatici	G	Larger and bright spiral galaxy with bright core
M 108		Ursa Major	G	Barred spiral galaxy, nearly seen edge-on
M 109		Ursa Major	G	Barred spiral galaxy, the bar is easily recognized in the eVscope
NGC 40	Bow Tie Nebula	Cepheus	PN	Has a white dwarf as central star, the nebula looks violet in the eVscope.
NGC 2403		Camelopardis	G	Spiral galaxie, regarded as one of the best galaxies for small telescopes; unclear why Messier overlooked it; fairly impressive in the eVscope. Not as good as in March.
NGC 2903		Leo	G	One of the brighter spiral galaxies; unclear why Messier missed it..
NGC 3628		Leo	G	Spiral galaxy seen edge-on; it forms a conspicuous group with M 65 and M 66, the Leo Triplet.
NGC 4236		Draco	G	Barred spiral galaxy, very faint
NGC 4244	Silver Needle Galaxy	Canes Venatici	G	Spiral galaxy, very thin and long, seen edge-on
NGC 4284/4290	See M 40	Ursa Major	G	Two small galaxies in the vicinity of the optical double star M 40
NGC 4449		Canes Venatici	G	Irregular galaxy
NGC 4490/85	Cocoon Galaxies	Canes Venatici	G	Distorted spiral galaxies, which interact with one another
NGC 4559		Coma Berenices	G	Spiral galaxy
NGC 4565		Coma Berenices	G	One of the most prominent and famous edge-on spiral galaxies in the sky
NGC 4631	Whale Galaxy	Canes Venatici	G	Spiral galaxy, seen edge-on; above it, there is a companion, the elliptical dwarf galaxy NGC 4627.
NGC 4665			G	Spiral galaxy
NGC 5005		Canes Venatici	G	Oblique spiral galaxy with bright core

G = galaxy, OC = open star cluster, GC = globular star cluster, GE = galactic emission nebula, GR = galactic reflection nebula, DN = dark nebula, C = comet, PN = planetary nebula, SP = star pattern, HII = HII region (emission nebula in other galaxies)

References

Books

Michael Feiler & Philip Novak (2014). Deep Sky Reiseatlas, Oculum Verlag
www.oculum-verlag.de/detailview?no=2014
Ronald Stoyan (2014). Deep Sky Reiseführer, Oculum Verlag
www.oculum-verlag.de/detailview?no=2015
Erich Karkoschka (2016). Atlas für Himmelsbeobachter, Kosmos Verlag
www.kosmos.de/buecher/ratgeber/astronomie/einsteiger/6598/atlas-fuer-himmelsbeobachter?number=15147