Date: 8./9.10.2015
Time: 21:30-23:00 (local time)
Observing site: El Retamar (2100m), Teide N.P., Tenerife, Spain
Instrument: L80/400mm (3” refractor)
NELM: 5.7
SQM: 20.93-21.15
Darkness of the background sky: 1
Seeing: 2
Transparency: 2 to 3
Weather: Some high clouds, otherwise clear sky, calm, +12 C
Objects observed: NGC 55, 253, 288, 6624
The third night of my observing trip to Tenerife was the only night when the observing conditios weren’t ideal. During the early night, there were some high clouds in the sky diminishing transparency. But during the night, the clouds drifted away, and the conditions got better. During this night I was observing exactly in the same spot than during the first night. This night it was totally calm and observing was very pleasent. This time I was quite tired though, and I observed only four objects.
NGC 6624
During this night my first object was NGC 6624 (Hidden treasure 91), one of the globular clusters in Sagittarius. This object is located within the Teapot, just 50′ SE from delta Sagittarii. Of this object I wrote as follows:
Small and faint globular cluster, not resolved.
NGC 288
NGC 288 (Hidden treasure 4) is a lonely globular cluster in the faint-starred constellation of Sculptor. It could barely be visible from Finland, but it’s easier to observe it from a southern location. This globular cluster is located in the northern part of Sculptor, near the famous galaxy NGC 253, just less than 2 degrees SE from the galaxy. Of this object I wrote as follows:
Small globular cluster, not resolved, pretty even brightness distribution.
NGC 253
My next object was previously mentioned galaxy NGC 253 (Caldwell 65), also known as the Silver Dollar -galaxy in northern part of Sculptor. I have actually observed this already from Finland, but I decided to observe it again because it was near the other targets that were on my list. In Southernmost Finland this object rises just 4 degrees above horizon and it is barely visible. But when I observed it from Mt. Teide, I wrote following notes of it:
Large and bright edge on -galaxy. The long axis of the galaxy is in SW-NE orientation. The galaxy seems to have a little bit mottled appearance.
NGC 55
The last object of the third observing night was NGC 55 (Caldwell 72), yet another galaxy in Sculptor. This galaxy is located in the southernmost part of the constellation, on the Sculptor-Phoenix boundary. Of this object I wrote as follows:
Large and faint edge on -galaxy. Long axis in SW-NE orientation. Visible only with averted vision.
Celest1al Sphere 