Published on Dec 18, 2012 [Permalink]
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Posted in: Science • Astronomy • Living Simply

Geminids and Galaxies

I've not had a chance to report on last Thursday night's meteor shower and my extended time under the stars! There's a patch of sky I explored, in a constellation called Coma Berenices that is full of galaxies. One after another. The highlight of the night was NGC 4490, the Cocoon Galaxies in Canes Venatici. They are a pair of galaxies about 45 million light years away that have been in interaction and have distorted one another.

During the course of the evening I looked at 17 galaxies, 1 globular cluster and easily 100+ meteors. I was looking through the scope most of the night but in the short times I was looking up with just my eyes I would easily see 1-3 a minute sometimes more or less, depending on the time of night.

All together, about 9 hours looking up :)

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