NGC185 and 147

I was very satisfied the tirst time I saw the two galaxies, NGC147 and 185 in Cassiopeia with an 8-inch, and considered this to be a proof of excellency of my Zambuto mirror.

Recently I had a report from a young guy who was able to see both with an 80mm refractor. And this was not from the Arizona desert, but from windy, humid western Norway.

I start realising that my own visual skills are just average. If I'm able to see anything with a given aperture, many observers will be able to do the same with considerable less.

This is not a problem for me. After all amateur astronomy is not competition, and nobody can claim the ownership of any item in the celestial treasure box.

Inge S

NGC 147 is perhaps the most difficult object I've tracked down with my 6 inch scope, as measured by number of failed attempts. It seemed ridiculous, given that it can fit in the same eyepiece field as 185 and I was able to find 185 repeatedly...

But 80mm...wow! Even O'Meara, in his Caldwell Objects book, mentions the difficulty in seeing ngc 147 with a 4-inch scope. And if S.J.O'M. says something is difficult, you better believe it.

Objects with low surface brightness but relatively high total brightness can be very suprising. On nights where the Helix or M33 are barely discernible blurs in the eyepiece, they can be fairly easy in binoculars. NGC 147 is more difficult than either of these objects, but the mysterious interactions of aperture, eye and magnification could still lead to some suprises.