Not much to report this month. I was attempting to bag some of the galaxies in the rich fields between the Coma Berenices, Virgo and Leo to add to my list of successful viewings for the Astronomical League's Messier Club certification. Especially because these objects hang in the West and are only viewable for a couple of sessions each year - during the Southeast's rainy season.

What I discovered is that this is a tough group to work with. They are all galaxies and they are literally piled one on top of the other. I believe that I observed M58, M59, M60, M84, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90 and M91. But I am not at all certain I have them correctly identified. For instance, I'm not sure that when I thought I was observing M58 that I was not actually observing M89 or M90. In short, I was not really prepared to try and sift through all of these galaxies. So I'm going to work on filling in other corners of the list in the coming months and hopefully next early Spring I'll have clear skies and a better plan.

Astronomical League Messier Club