Apparent Magnitude

Astronomers rate objects in the sky with a scale called “apparent magnitude”. You can look up the value of the apparent magnitude of an object of interest in various catalogs of sky objects. The bigger the number, the dimmer the object. Really bright things have a small (or even negative) number whereas dimmer things have a larger number. The dimmest things you can see with just your eye have a magnitude of six. One thing that a telescope does is to allow you to see much dimmer things than you could otherwise. With the 16 inch telescope at the Morgan County Observatory seeing things with a magnitude of six, seven, or eight is no big deal - it’s easy. Dimmer than that, things get a little more challenging. On a good, dark night magnitude ten objects are seen as very faint fuzzy patches when using the telescope with an eyepiece. On the best nights magnitude 11 or 12 is just barely possible. With the electronic eye of the camera, however, some really dim stuff can be imaged.

NGC 3344

This spiral galaxy is found in the constellation Leo Minor. It is listed as having an apparent magnitude of 9.81, but that is just the bright central region. The spiral arms are much dimmer and can only be seen with the help of the sensitivity of the camera.