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Hello astronomy fans! ;D I got out for four and a half hours tonight, and got my first look at Venus for this observing cycle! It has very near the western horizon, but I got my scope on it and followed it down. It's nearly full, but waning gibbous. The low angle made the atmosphere glow red on the lower side and green on the upper. At times it must have streched 10' or more. Weird, but cool.
Jupiter showed all 4 Galilean moons and the Great Red Spot was easily visible.
I got 4 Herschel objects, NGC's 659 and 663 in Casseopia (open clusters, 663 is the better of the two) open cluster 7142 in Cepheus (very dim, and a real challenge to find. I thank Steve O'Meara's book on the Herschel 400 list for pinning this one down.) and NGC 772 the spiral galaxy in Aries that Duane bagged at our last Eagle Bluff outing.
I also got observations on both Uranus and Neptune. I am going to follow those two planets throughout the fall season and track their progress thru Aquarius and Capricorn, respectively. Then I'm going to send in my observations on the planets and see if I qualify for the Planetary Observers certificate.
I finished with binocular looks at the Andromeda Galaxy with M32, the Perseus Double Cluster and Stock 2, the Alpha Perseus Association, the Pleadies, and telescopic looks at NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) and the Moon. (Too tired to get a Lunar II observation in).
What AGNFA! 🙂
Hello astronomy fans! I got out for another four and a half hours on Aug. 26/27 and had a very productive night.
Jupiter was its brilliant self with all four Galilean Moons to the west and the Great Red Spot was plainly visible.
While looking for the planetary nebula NGC 6818 "The Little Gem" I got my first look at Barnard's (or the Sagittarius) Dwarf Galaxy. It is a very faint diffuse glow of light that is surrounded by a field of dim stars. It is easiest to spot if you look to the edges where you can see the open, very black space interact with the brighter glow of the object . It is big, I would guess that is is a half degree or more in angular diameter.
The Little Gem was a treat and not hard to find. I had seen it before at star parties, but this was the first time I had found it for myself. On to NGC 6802 a dim open cluster in Vulpecula that looks more like a "faint fuzzy" galaxy than an open cluster. It is beautiful. I caught NGC 6781 the planetary nebula in Aquila that Randy and I looked at during the Star BQ. Then it was on to NGC's 6823 and 6830 two nice little star clusters in Vulpecula that required careful starhopping.Then the wind picked up and I settled in with an adult beverage and my binoculars. I looked at the Pleadies, the Hyades, Algol, M34, the Andromeda Galaxy and company, the Perseus Double Cluster and Stock 2 (looks like a stick man) and then found Kembles Cascade in Camelopardalis. I needed on more Herschel Object to hit 180 and accomplished that by finding NGC 1502 a planetary nebula near the bottom of the Cascade. Very pretty and very satisfying to hit 180. 🙂
I had quite a few faint to medium bright meterors through the night. Almost all of them went from SW to NE. The last one I saw while packing up was a 1st mag. meteor that dove down to the Big Dipper low above the northern horizon going from SE to NW. It had a nice green trail.
This weekend looks to be very good for astronomy. I'm going out tonight and hope to see some of you at Eagle Bluff Fri and Sat nights. Io reappears from Jupiters shadow at 10:13 CDT on Sat. nite. I''d like to watch the whole thing unfold, and should be able to knowing the timing beforehand. See you there!
Hello astronomy fans! I got out there tonight for 3 and a half hours. The sky was beautiful, but the dewpoints weren't. I got NGC 6905 in Delphinus (planetary nebula), it is very tiny, but very cool at 200X. NGC 1027 in Casseopia is a wonderful open star cluster. It has a 7th mag. star surrounded by other stars in an oval. NGC 6217 a spiral galaxy in Ursa Minor made my Herschel 400 list too. It's a nice object.
Then the dew settled in. The Twins battled the Oakland Athletics, but like my telescope, they succumbed to the adverse conditions. I used my van heater to clear my Celestron G8 and then scored my second observations on the positions of Neptune and Uranus.
It was a short, but AGNFA!
I
Hello astronomy fans! I got out on the night of Aug. 30/31 for five and a half hours. Venus was visible in the west and when I looked at it, I could see a fainter "star" to the SW.
I looked at it in my scope and it showed a disc. Since it neither showed rings or a red color, I think I was looking at Mercury. Correct?Jupiter showed three moons, one to the west and two to the east. At 10 p.m. I focused back on Jupiter and stared at it because I knew that Io was to re-emerge from Jupiter's shadow. At 10:09:30 by my watch, a tiny glimmer of light appeared! It took about 20 to 30 seconds to match the brilliance of the other moons. IT WAS SO COOL! I can't believe how neat a phenomena it was. If you've never seen this happen before, you should. Few things happen in astronomy right in front of your eyes and this is one. I highly recommend it. 8)
I picked up two open clusters in Cygnus (NGC's 6866 and 6834, both very nice), two open clusters in Aquila (NGC's 6755 and 6756 both in the same FOV), two clusters in Scutum (NGC 6712 globular, and NGC 6664 open) and NGC 6633 an open cluster in Ophiuchus, to up my Herschel 400 total to 189.
AGNFA!
Hello astronomy fans! I made it out there for 3 hours tonight. I would have gotten more, but our church needed workers so I did the last shift and was able to scramble to the Flatin Farm hayfield by 8 p.m. The Moon had already risen, but I got nice observations on Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus and the Moon.
My planetary observations will go toward the Planetary Observer's certificate, and my Lunar II observation was on the crater Hercules, Hercules G and Hercules E. It was a very informative look into one of the Moon's more notable craters. 8)
Neptune was easy to find, but Uranus was a lot more difficult, due the the Moon's proximity.
Jupiter (as always) was awesome. Three moons, one to the west and two to the east. The Great Red Spot was center on at first, then moved to the west. The fourth moon never did show.
AGNFA!
;D Hello again, astronomy fans! Last night I got down to the Flatin Farm and was set up by 7:30. Venus was my first target, and while it is still too low for really good observing, it sure is noticable after sunset. Jupiter had a nice spread of all four moons, two to each side, I caught NGC 6638 the globular cluster near Lambda Sagittarius (they can both be seen in the same FOV) for my Herschel 400 quest before the Moon came up. I now have 190 of the 400.
After the Moon rose, I got in looks at Uranus and Neptune, and then journaled Sinus Asperitatus for the Lunar II list. It's the area between the Sea of Tranquillity and the Sea of Nectar.
What really made the night special was a VERY bright circumpolar satellite that cruised through Cygnus, Cepheus and crossed right over Polaris at 8:06 p.m. (It started to fade by then). I wonder what it was?
Oh, and listening to the Twins beat the Rays was pretty neat, too! They're not done yet! 😀
AGNFA!
My first observing session @ WSU – they have a brand new 12". I saw M13 (Hercules Cluster), Jupiter w/four moons, the double star in Ursa Major & also the moon up close (in an 8" scope). For the first time I also saw Uranus! I'm going back tonight since it's homecoming, to help out.
Good for you, Nicole!
I hope that everyone is aware that when the Moon rises tonight at 8:58 p.m that the Pleadies star cluster will be right beside it. The folks in the eastern U.S. and Canada will see the Pleadies occulted by the Moon, but that will be over when it rises here.
Still, the view will be much like it was on the morning of June 30th when the same thing happened. The only difference this time will be that the Moon will be waning gibbous instead of waning cresent.
Those two together in the same FOV are quite lovely. Binoculars or a wide angle scope will give you the best view.
I have had the chance to get my 12" Dob out under the moon a few times this week. Jupiter has been quite interesting to watch. One night I saw Io come out from the planets shadow on the west side and the next night see it transit and come out into space on the east side with good viewing of the Big Red Spot. I have also been tracking Neptune and Uranus. I nailed down two more 'Ms" – M30 & M75. That brings my total to 89.
Two nights ago I decided to try and find the Helix Nebula. I spent an hour searching with no results before giving up. I decided last night to try again. After much searching I was Nebuless. Noticing that two very small faint stars looked a bit fishy I decided to put on my OIII filter and try again…Bingo !!! There it was…exactly where I had been searching and it was quite large and quite faint. I was begining to doubt my star hopping ability. It's been a good week.Happy Trails to you !!
Rick
Awesome, Rick! Good for you!
The Helix Nebula, (NGC 7293) is one of my favorite objects. It is so close to our solar system (670 light years away) and is the biggest planetary nebula in the sky. (Half the size of the full Moon.) But since its surface brightness is so low, it really is a tough object to spot.
I made it out there tonight and got observations on Venus, Jupiter, two NGC objects in Sagittarius for my Herschel 400 search, Uranus and the Moon. I am doing the Lunar II observation of seeing it rise from the same spot, and following that up from the same place the next lunar cycle. I also got Crater Arago, and Arago alpha and beta. Alpha and Beta are two domes that could possibly be volcanic features on the Moon.
I don't have the NGC #'s because I left everthing but the OTA out in the van. Tomorrow night looks good for observing so it is just easier to have everything in place.
I'll be really happy to have my roof re-shingled so I can get some decent sleep at night. Roofing at 53 is a lot different than doing that at 23.
Attention Astronomy Fans! OBSERVING ALERT!
The Clear Sky Chart is looking exceptional for sky conditions. I hope that as many of you that can, can get out.
I am heading for the Flatin Farm hayfield, because my son-in-law is coming down to stargaze and help me finish roofing my house tomorrow.
It's really looking like it could be AGNFA! 🙂
Good news and bad news. The good part is that the seeing was terrific last night, but that the transparency was pretty poor. The sky was murky, especially at the horizons.
I got NGC 6540 in Sagittarius, a globular that can be seen in the same FOV as open cluster 6520. 6540 is very faint. Then the poor transparency and the big boxelder on the fenceline got in the way and I couldn't get any more Herschel's till 10 p.m., so I looked at "the obvious stuff" near the zenith. The Veil Nebula, M57 and M27 I checked out using my Ultra High Contrast and Narrowband filters, and then the Andromeda Galaxy got a long look.
The Moon rose at 10:05 p.m., but struggled mightily to get out of the murk. When it got up high enough, I captured Rima Hadley for my Lunar II quest.
It was a pretty good night for astronomy.
Yes .. The southern horizon was murky. I had hoped to nail a few more 'M's in Ohpichius and Scorpio but all I managed was M9-GC. So, I too visited the usual targets. I did add the Snowball Nebula to that list…That was fun. My Miesser count is up to 94 now.
The night before I walked out on my deck at 9:01 to see Something very bright crossing the sky from the SW. Checking the chart I see it was the ISS. That was fun too.Happy Trails
Rick
After a looooong drought, last night was my first GNFA in months. All I can say is if all night were like last night, urban observing wouldn't have such a bad name. I observed from 8-9:35, and transparency was great. Seeing was at least average, if not a little better than average.
I started out with Jupiter, but due to tube currents, it wasn't much to see. At 120X, it was barely stable. I was able to see 4 belts, and there was a black spot on the NEB. Then it was on to some Messier objects. I logged M25 and then suddenly realized… Sagittarius?!? In October? Who knew? But sure enough, it was an easy spot, in spite of being well past the meridian. So I started hunting and quickly realized that I should be using my binoculars. I've been at 45 Binocular Messiers for practically a year, with the "easy" group missing a bunch in Sagittarius. I took a few minutes to locate M24, and then it was off to the races! M18, M17 and M16 all fit within my binocular FOV. M18 and M17 were small and diffuse, but M16 was very large and bright. I also logged M23, just to be sure (which makes my count 51 out of the required 50 for the patch!)
At this point, I knew it was a rare night, so I decided to check some old favorites. M2 was spectacular, and I took a few minutes to enjoy it. It is so dense, there's no hope of resolving to the core with my 10". I also checked on M15, which wasn't nearly as great, but even it was a showpiece at 200X. More stars resolved, but it also was too dense to get to the core with. Encouraged by those, I checked my H400 list. I hunted NGC6939, a nice open cluster in Cygnus. I also looked for NGC6946, but came up empty on that one. None of my charts provided enough guide stars to find the proper starfield (and there were so many stars around Cygnus that it was quite easy to become lost…) I finished the evening with NGC7006, a "faint fuzzy" in Delphinus.
In short, AGNFA.
Keep good records people. My checklist in my observing folder was out of date. I had already logged all six of the binocular Messiers that, for some reason, weren't checked off. So a premature celebration here on the binocular Messier club. 🙁
Last night was incredible, though. I was only out for about an hour, but conditions were some of the best I've ever seen in Rochester. I was able to detect M110 for the first time through the urban glow. It took averted vision to really be sure, but it was visible. All previous attempts to see it here have failed miserably. At one point, I thought high clouds had rolled in because there was a distinct glow in a line overhead… but no, it was only the… COULD IT BE???!!!??? MILKY WAY! From deep in the heart of Rochester! And it took direct vision well, stretching for a long, wide line.
Looks like rain for the next week, but at least I logged more time than I had all summer in just two nights, and two incredible nights they were. Clear skies (when they return!)
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