OBSERVING REPORT
MAFFEI 1 - Galaxy in Cassiopeia
Date: August 13, 2010
Time: -
Telescope: 24" (61cm.) f/4
Observer: Leo Cavagnaro
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| Click on the image to enlarge |
Finder Chart
How to find it,
About 4° 11' to the north-nothwest of the star η (Eta)Persei (visual magnitude 3.8).
Stars in map up to visual magnitude 6.0
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The galaxy Maffei 1. North is up.
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Maffei 1 (Magnitude 11.4) is a large elliptical galaxy (Hartmut Frommert - SEDS states that it is an E-S0-pec type galaxy) located in the middle of the Zone of Avoidance (galactic coordinates according to Simbad Database are 135.8620 -00.5511, J2000). It belongs to the Maffei 1 group (also IC 342 group), which is a famous nearby group of galaxies in Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis.
Most of the galaxies in the group have only been discovered in the past twenty years because they lie directly behind the plane of our galaxy and are hidden by all the intervening gas, dust, and stars. The existence of Maffei 1 was unknown until 1968, when
Paolo Maffei discovered it on I-N and Ia-E plates acquired with the Schmidt telescope at
Asiago Observatory (paper "The Extinction and Distance of Maffei 1" by Robin L. Fingerhut 2003).
Using low magnification (59x) the zone where this galaxy lies shows faint and extensive nebulosity.
Applying higher magnification (270x) the galaxy can be glimpsed using averted vision. It was barely visible, appearing slightly elongated east-west and with a rather smooth brightness.
The sketch to the left shows how I could see another member of the Maffei 1 group, IC 342, through this telescope at 90x. I made this sketch during good sky conditions. IC 342, discovered by W.F. Denning in 1895, is heavily obscured by interstellar matter of the Milky Way which explain why it was faint even in telescopes of this size. IC 342 is one of two dominating members of that group and is situated in constellation Camelopardalis.
The DSS image here shows the galaxy. The northernmost spiral arm (up in the
picture) is the most conspicuous feature I could see and sketch. The core of the galaxy is another feature enough visible to be sketched.
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| DSS image of IC 342. North is up. |
