| Designation(s) | C35, NGC 4889, NGC 4874, Abell 1656 |
| Object Type(s) | Galaxy |
| Relevant Catalog(s) | All (Chron), Caldwell, NGC |
| Obs. Lat/Long | 42° 17', 073° 57' |
| Constellation | Coma Berenices |
| Date and Time Observed | 2024-05-12 22:09:00 |
| Instrument | EdgeHD 8" f10-2,032mm FL |
| Camera | ASI294mc-Pro |
| Image Details | Up is 271.8 degrees E of N. Transparency: Fair. Seeing: Fair. Total integration time was 20m 30s. Exposures 30s@305g, UV/IR Cut Filter. Darks subtracted, no flats. Dithered and recentered in SharpCap. No guiding. |
| Description | This is an E4 supergiant elliptical galaxy, discovered by -- you guessed it-- William Herschel in 1785. It's the "anchor" of Abell 1656, aka the Coma Cluster, a massive cluster of over 1,000 identified galaxies. George Abell earned his Ph.D. at Caltech working on the Palomar Sky Survey using the 48" Schmidt telescope, published in 1958. This photographed the entire sky visible from Mt. Palomar. The Abell cluster list is still highly influential. The original list and analysis of galaxy clusters was the guts of his Ph.D. thesis and was later extended to the Southern Hemisphere in the 1960s. This was my first observation of an unexpectedly clear night, my 3rd attempt at the CN Challenge Object during a miserable May. Transparency was pretty mediocre, but I was happy to capture it after so many attempts. |
| Related Observations | C35 (2) |
| Catalog Links | |
