90 MilliMeters

Archive for September, 2009

Henry Draper

Henry Draper took the first successful photograph of the Great Orion Nebula on September 30, 1880 using his 11 inch Clark Brothers photographic refractor he took a 50 minute exposure. Draper was one of the pioneers of astrophotography and he took the first stellar spectrum in 1872 that showed absorption lines.

Read more about Henry Draper here.

One of the interesting features about Jupiter is the Great Red Spot (GRS). The GRS is a vast storm, spinning like a cyclone. I learned that the GRS would transit on September 28, 2009 around 11:17 PM EDT (you can get that information here) so I setup my DS-90 and got ready to watch. I know that this happens often enough that it shouldn’t be a big deal but, I never took tje time to really look at the event. The moon on this night was waxing gibbous and shining brightly just left of Jupiter.

I focused on Jupiter at x40 and then dropped in my 11mm Plossl for x90. Much to my disappointment, the planet seemed to boil. This is an effect of the atmosphere known as “Seeing”. While the sky was transparent, the view was poor. You can learn more about Seeing and Transparency here.

As I continued to look, waiting for breaks in the turbulent atmosphere, I caught a few glimpses of the GRS which appeared as a light grayish oval at x90. At x117 the seeing was just a nightmare so I stayed at x90 for the night. 

I will try to watch this event again in the coming weeks.

Clear Skise,

-Dan

M31 – Spiral Galaxy – Andromeda

Another look at M31 in Andromeda, this time under better sky conditions. The galaxy is elongated  NW/SE. At x40, with adverted vision, I can see some detail in M31′s southeastern side toward the center as well as the northwestern edge where a dark lane trails in toward the central glow of the galaxy. At x90 the detail becomes slighty more prominent.

M110 – Elliptical Galaxy – Andromeda.

An At x40 this galaxy is small but bright with a near stellar core. The object is elongated E/W. At x90, no additional detail is noticed beyond the hazy smudge of light.

NGC 663 – Open Cluster – Cassiopeia

This cluster seems to be clumped into 4 sections. A beautiful site at x40, about 11 tenth mag. stars with many 12th mag. stars.

Stock2 – Open Cluster – Cassiopeia

This is a very large cluster best viewed with low power. The cluster fills the entire eyepiece with around 50 tenth mag. stars.

Clear Skies.

Finally tonight we got some clear skies. I didn’t have much time to observe so I setup quickly and looked around while my eyes adapted to the dark. By the time my eyes were ready I could see the 4.3 mag. stars in the little dippers handle.

I went right to Beta Cygnus (Albireo).  This is one of my favorite double stars. It’s an easy split in my 90mm at x40 and the colors of the primary – a yellow or almost Gold and the secondary – Blue are always pleasing.

M31. Andromeda Galaxy. In my 90mm at x40 this galaxy has a bright core with an elongated smudge. With adverted vision I could just detect a dark lane near the center.

That’s all I really had time for tonight. Got a busy day tomorrow.

Clear Skies!

We had some friends over for diner tonight and during diner we promised them a surprise to end the night. Around 9:00PM EDT, I setup my DS-90 to have a look at Jupiter. I dropped in my MA25 eyepiece, which gives me x40, and targeted the bright planet which was well placed for the nights viewing. Jupiter with it’s four bright moons is always a crowd pleaser and tonight was no different. Being that this was our friends first time looking through a telescope, I had to give a little instruction but they caught on quickly. They were wowed with the appearance of Jupiter, noting the two ruddy bands that run through the equitorial reigon and some slight coloration in the polar areas as well. And of course the four bright moons.

Anytime you get a chance share your interest in astronomy with someone, it’s always a rewarding experience. Don’t ever pass up an opportunity to show a friend the moon, a planet or deep sky object through your telescope. They’ll talk about for some time to come.

Clear Skies.