Looking back at 2011

My last good observation year was in 2009. 2010 represented almost nothing on the astronomical front.  But since 2011 I'm slowly but surely revigorating the hobby.

Ultimately 2011 was actually still quite OK. I could observe a few times under dark skies (in France) and I have made new friends, as well in Belgium as in the Netherlands.

Here's a list of "achievements"

* Presentation at Urania public observatory: "I have completed the Messier list, now what?"
* Observation supernova SN 2011B in NGC 2655 in Cameleopardalis
* Purchase filter slider (what a comfort!)  and an eyepiece ES 82° 6.7mm
* Successful deepsky week in Varages, Provence, with Belgian friends. Could observe during 5 nights.
* My first deespky sketches (thanks to Tomc). 5 drawings so far. 2 are published in this blog
* Observation Supernova in NGC 3972
* HII regions in M101
* A great observation of M20, the Trifid Nebula, with magnificent dark lanes
* Central star in M57
* 40 galaxies observed in AGC 1367 (Leo)
* Copeland Septet
* 3 new Palomar globular clusters observed (and also some unable to spot)
* M51 Supernova (SN 2011DH)
* For the first time I missed Starnights (!!!) because of an early flight the next day for work.
* Deepsky weekend in Grandpre with Dutch and Belgian friends
* 4 new Abell planetaries observed
* Two times observed at home with Jan Vana ..
* Comet Garradd C/2009 P1
* 2 attempt to observe in Sourbrodt, but failed due to bad weather conditions
* Mini-Presentation on NGC 604 druing deepskydag in Nijmegen

* A total of 205 observations logged in www.deepskylog.be, still in the top 12 as 2011 is concerned.
* My 399ste object of Herschel II list logged. One more to go.

I hope to observe much more during 2012. The top priority is to finalize the HII list. I think I will be the first Benelux observer to complete this list. If not please let me know.

I hope you had a great year too. I whish you all the best and a lot of clear skies for 2012.

An ultrathin galaxy in Coma - UGC 7321

UGC 7321 is an ultrathin galaxy of 5' x 0,5' in Coma. A beautifull view in an 18". Observed in Varages (Provence) on May 5, 2011. A very faint and thin galaxy with a slightly brighter core. Recommended!

Jones-Emberson 1

Observation in Varages (Provence) - Sqm 21,19 - Obsession 18"<br />
Jones-Emberson 1 is a large planetary planetary in Lyn. It must be very faint as I cannot see it when I do not use filters. An UHC works OK but the best view is obtained with an OIII filter. The typical shape of the headphone is visible. These are 2 lobs connected by a ring. The other side of the ring has not been observed. The eastern lob is the brightest area of this object. The bridge and western lob remains faint. At the western lob there is a star just at the inner edge. There is another star, but fainter, just at the outside of the edge. Observation at 88x and 124x.