Draco Dwarf Galaxy
On the evening of September 20/08 while out at Pearson College observing with my 12.5” dob I had the opportunity to observe the Draco Dwarf galaxy UGC 10822. This is member of our Local Group of galaxies. I was actually planning on observing something else but noticed the galaxy on the page of my Uranometria star atlas.
I was first able to notice it as an elongate on the E-W axis, ½ degree very faint glow. This was at 107 X magnification, using a 17mm T4 Nagler. It was really a matter of noticing a very faint difference in background brightness as I panned the scope around. Noticing this subtle difference required using a “Monk’s Hood”. When I put a 2-inch 40mm eyepiece in for 45X magnification, the area covered by the galaxy appeared to increase. The galaxy was overlayed by a dozen foreground stars, that to my eye appeared as a chain of interlocking triangles.
The attached sketch is how I saw this galaxy with this setup. The field of view is a little over 1 degree.