90 MilliMeters

Archive for the ‘Observation Notes’ Category

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.

But so what? It was late and I had a long day designing a website for a fussy client and just didn’t feel like getting out my scope so, I grab my trusty binoculars. Nothing major about my binoculars, 7 x 35, kind of small for astronomy. But hey, it’s what I got.

So, what’s cool to look at? I looked at the moon, of course. saw some craters. I know many seasoned amature astronomers don’t bother to look at the moon so much because they looked at it a thousand times. So have I and I will continue to look at the moon because it’s still interesting. Always will be.

Next, I turned my attention to Jupiter. Perfectly placed for viewing. Even though my binocluars are small, I can still see the largest moons. The area of sky where Jupiter is currently placed was awash with moon light but I could still make out two of the moons on one side of the big planet and, I suspected one on the other side, but I couldn’t be sure.

Maybe tonight, if all is quite, I’ll take out my camera and try to capture Jupiter. We shall see.