Kind of cool

I am typing this blog posting from 35,000 ft up in a flight from NYC to SFO using in-flight wifi. The cool thing is that I am watching and interacting live with an astronomer through the Night Skies Network. Currently looking at M84. The wonders of modern technology!

Viewing galaxies

I took my two oldest kids to a star party at Crestview Park in San Carlos tonight. The transparency and seeing were both outstanding. After looking at the usual showpiece targets (including Saturn - which was spectacular at 266x, M13, M57 etc) I decided to put the great conditions to the test and turn to galaxies. First up was M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici. Although it initially just appeared as two smudges in the eyepiece, I was able to make out the spiral arms with averted vision - which I haven't seen before as this galaxy is usually positioned within the bright light dome of the Bay Area. We then moved on to Virgo - and took in M84, M86 and also M104 (the Sombrero Galaxy). The most striking of these was M104, the disk and central bulge were very clear, and the dark dust lane was also quite visible - looking the best at 133x magnification.