The Caldwell Objects

includes a visual description of the dwarf system,
so I had no way of knowing what to expect. But I
believe this "not knowing" was good, albeit
frustrating, because I had no preconceived
expectations. In the early morning hours on one
extremely windy and clear August night that
same year, when the region neared the meridian,
I saw IC 1613 with the Genesis at 23x. In Hawaii,
as on the mainland, cold fronts can bring
incredible transparency, suddenly turning our
night skies into dizzying starscapes of galactic
wonder. When this happens I feel as if I am
looking into the very soul of night. Peering into a
telescope is difficult when the naked-eye sky is
grabbing hold of your heart. Nevertheless, I
immediately set my sights on IC 1613 and very
easily located it. If there is a lesson to be learned
from this celestial adventure of mine, it would be
that the visibility of a celestial object (be it a faint
star, a comet, a tight double star, a galaxy, a
nebula,
206
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or whatnot) cannot be determined solely by
effort alone. The atmosphere's clarity and the
observer's physical condition also matter, as does
his or her level of experience.
At 23x IC 1613 shimmers just above the sky
background; it is definitely a "tube tapper." At
first it appears as a pale circular glow sandwiched
between the 7th-magnitude star and two
11th-magnitude stars 11' to the southwest. With a
concentrated effort and averted vision, the galaxy
displays a mottled form. Its most noticeable
concentration is about 5' northeast of the
southernmost 11th-magnitude star. Two knots,
joined by a tendril of nebulosity, lie to the
northwest and southeast of this "core" of stellar
material. Another knot is displaced several
arcminutes to the northeast. The galaxy is much
more difficult to observe at 72x. I find it best to
take numerous short glimpses over a long period
of time, say 20 minutes, alternating photon
collection with rest. When I do this, the galaxy
appears more triangular in shape, and its bar
becomes a scintillating strand of light with pale,
mottled chunks. The knot to the northeast is
clearly separated from the bar. Here is that gulf
of darkness mentioned above, and a region of
star birth. Imagine the processes going on in the
celebrated Orion Nebula but across a much
larger area and in another galaxy.
Owners of large Dobsonian telescopes
should challenge themselves not only by trying
to see this fascinating system, but also by hunting
down the numerous anonymous galaxies we can
see around and through it. Do not be intimidated
by their minuscule photographic appearance or
by the fact that they are not plotted on the
Millennium Star Atlas. They should be readily
visible at the eyepiece of a large reflector.
Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects