Date: Sept 25th, 2010 Sat
Observation Time: Late night 1:15-2:00am (45 mins),
Location: Archstone Apts, Mission Valley, SD CA
Weather: Lil clouds. Full Moon.
Instruments: AT102ED
Jupiter - All 4 moons visible. Best View with 7T1 @ 107x. Tried higher mags with Xcel-10-x2 (@ 140x), TMB 4mm @ 177x, 7T1-x2 @ 202x , but they weren't great. So just stayed with 7T1 @ 107x
Didn't remember the nomenclature, while observing, but now it seems like observed: EZ, NEB NTB NPR, SEB, SPR. A black spot on NTB.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Jupiter_Belt_System.JPG
http://www.astrosurf.com/cidadao/jupiter_obs.htm
Uranus - In Pan35 @ 20x and 17T4 @ 40x, it didn't show distinctive blue color again, but in 7T1 @ 100x, it showed the color, as well you can feel the disk spae, compared to background pin-pointed stars.
Tried NGC 253 Gal and NGC 288 GC located in the nearby regions. the location was spot on, but i didn't see both of them. Considering ~8.0 magnitude, i thought that it will be visible, but again FAILED.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Observing Uranus
Date: Sept 22nd, 2010 Wed
Observation Time: Late night 1:00-1:15am (15 mins),
Location: Archstone Apts, Mission Valley, SD CA
Weather: Lil clouds. Full Moon.
Instruments: Binocs 10x50 Nikon Action Ex.
Uranus: Full Harvest Moon, Jupiter and Uranus are very close to each other tonight. Uranus is always hard to catch, but just being so close to Jupiter its easier to locate. Its only a degree apart from the Jupiter towards NW towards moon. The Uranus magnitude is almost same as 24 Psc which is SW of jupiter on opposite side. mag 5.4. So its indeed Uranus. Uranus-Jupiter-24 Psc were in the same field of view of my binocular.
Can't see the bluish disk. it seemed yellow.. it wasn't really a clean sight. probably because of moon light.. so didn't try it in the APO... but will watch it again after few days and should be able to see the bluish color.
Saw this fella probably after two years.. nice !!
Jupiter: Dazzling bright in the binocs. Ganymede and Europa at two opposite ends. Hard to get IO-Callisto pair near Europa. Too much shaking.
Observation Time: Late night 1:00-1:15am (15 mins),
Location: Archstone Apts, Mission Valley, SD CA
Weather: Lil clouds. Full Moon.
Instruments: Binocs 10x50 Nikon Action Ex.
Uranus: Full Harvest Moon, Jupiter and Uranus are very close to each other tonight. Uranus is always hard to catch, but just being so close to Jupiter its easier to locate. Its only a degree apart from the Jupiter towards NW towards moon. The Uranus magnitude is almost same as 24 Psc which is SW of jupiter on opposite side. mag 5.4. So its indeed Uranus. Uranus-Jupiter-24 Psc were in the same field of view of my binocular.
Can't see the bluish disk. it seemed yellow.. it wasn't really a clean sight. probably because of moon light.. so didn't try it in the APO... but will watch it again after few days and should be able to see the bluish color.
Saw this fella probably after two years.. nice !!
Jupiter: Dazzling bright in the binocs. Ganymede and Europa at two opposite ends. Hard to get IO-Callisto pair near Europa. Too much shaking.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Moon - First Quarter
Date: Sept 14th, 2010 Monday
Observation Time: 8pm to 8:45pm (45 mins),
Location: Archstone Apts, Mission Valley, SD CA
Weather: White zone observation. No clouds. Moon (first quarter).
Instruments: Astrotech 102ED APO. Pan35 (20x), 17T4 (41x), 7T1 (101x), 7T1x2 (202x)
Observed Moon:
Crater Aristoteles and Crater Eudoxus : Just next to terminator, these crater shadows look fabulous. Shows massive depth.
Montes Haemus : Western border to Mare Serenitatis, across N-S. Shows good details on these mountains peaks. These peaks are just on the terminators today. Tomorrow might be better day to observe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montes_Haemus
Crater Posidonious and the wrinkles : On the North-Eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis. Its like small scale Crater Plato. Also has a crater inside its plain surface. the plan surface also shows a big wrinkel across N-E-S border.
Crater TheoPhilius, Crater Cyrillus, Crater Catharina : These three craters in SE region (bottom corner). Cyr-Cath are joined together. Yesterday they were closer to terminator, so they showed this connection very well, because of the shadows. Its like shape of 8 but middle section sort of merged. Today being away from terminator, they were washed out. They didn't show this connection very well today.
Crater Maurolycus: Being closer to terminator the central peak shows good details. It seemed to be made up of 3 mountain pieces in itself. Third one is actually complex in formation.
--
Kaus Australis i.e. Epsilon Saggi: Brightest star of the Saggi constellation. Map shows it as double, but seems like the binary component is too faint to be seen. FAILED.
--
Moon Observation projects to follow:
http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/lunar/lunar2.html
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3308811.html
Observation Time: 8pm to 8:45pm (45 mins),
Location: Archstone Apts, Mission Valley, SD CA
Weather: White zone observation. No clouds. Moon (first quarter).
Instruments: Astrotech 102ED APO. Pan35 (20x), 17T4 (41x), 7T1 (101x), 7T1x2 (202x)
Observed Moon:
Crater Aristoteles and Crater Eudoxus : Just next to terminator, these crater shadows look fabulous. Shows massive depth.
Montes Haemus : Western border to Mare Serenitatis, across N-S. Shows good details on these mountains peaks. These peaks are just on the terminators today. Tomorrow might be better day to observe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montes_Haemus
Crater Posidonious and the wrinkles : On the North-Eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis. Its like small scale Crater Plato. Also has a crater inside its plain surface. the plan surface also shows a big wrinkel across N-E-S border.
Crater TheoPhilius, Crater Cyrillus, Crater Catharina : These three craters in SE region (bottom corner). Cyr-Cath are joined together. Yesterday they were closer to terminator, so they showed this connection very well, because of the shadows. Its like shape of 8 but middle section sort of merged. Today being away from terminator, they were washed out. They didn't show this connection very well today.
Crater Maurolycus: Being closer to terminator the central peak shows good details. It seemed to be made up of 3 mountain pieces in itself. Third one is actually complex in formation.
--
Kaus Australis i.e. Epsilon Saggi: Brightest star of the Saggi constellation. Map shows it as double, but seems like the binary component is too faint to be seen. FAILED.
--
Moon Observation projects to follow:
http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/lunar/lunar2.html
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3308811.html
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Archstone First Light..
Date: Sept 13th, 2010 Monday
Observation Time: 7:30pm to 8:15pm (45 mins),
Location: Archstone Apts, Mission Valley, SD CA
Weather: White zone observation. Very light polluted.. .No clouds.. Moon (a day before first quarter).
Instruments: Astrotech 102ED APO. Pan35 (20x), 17T4 (41x), 7T1 (101x), 7T1x2 (202x)
Buddies: Aparna
Observed first time from new Home. Somehow never got a chance to observe, in last 5 weeks, since we moved here.
Apprently, this is highly light polluted area. This is all white zone area. Summerset atleast was in Red zone. The Naked Eye visibility has gone down drastically. NELM ~3. In Saggitarius, Phi Saggi was barely visible.
http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/50420.aspx
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Sagittarius_constellation_map.svg/2000px-Sagittarius_constellation_map.svg.png
Because of this, it indeed gives new respect for dark skies.. Also, just identifying the constellation boundaries is also tough. Good way to test what you know, based on judgment. e.g. Ophiuchus was visible, but i wasn't able to locate the constellation boundary.
Target List:
Moon: Moon is just a day before first quarter. Just above the neighborhood roof. Probably because of that high mag views (202x) weren't sharp.
Scorpion - Antares was red OR deep orange-brown. Moon is closer to Antares. M4 (mag 7.12) not visible. Must have washed out because of moonlight.
M7 Ptolemy - M6 butterfly: was easy catch from Sco tail duo stars. Apparently not many background stars in the view were visible. Still M7 shows bunch of bright stars.. sort of like multiple K shapes joined at various angles. Just above towards sco tail, M6 butterfly visible. The red-orange-brown star in butterfly pops up. cluster is not at all impressive. Also the FoV doesn't have any other stars..
While hunting M6-M7, got a feel of refractor orientations again. L-R swapped. U-D are fine. Need to get a judgment on the True FoV so that hunting will logical. Didn't know the APO+EP combination TrueFoV.
M8 Lagoon - Very depressing. Very little nebulosity visible at the central (probably near hourglass). increasing the mags 35Pan-> 17T4 definitely made the view better. UHC in 35mm pan showed similar..but nothing impressive. Still the open cluster 6530 next to M8 stands out. Compact as compared to M6 butterfly. Circular in shape.
M20 Triffid not visible. considering the magnitudes, indeed surprising. Not sure why i din't see it. Moonlight?
M17 Swan visible: Felt like its brighter than M8. OR surface brightness of swan is evenly spread as compared to M8, so feels like it.
M16 Eagle not visible again. somehow i missed the V shape cluster as well.
M22 and M28 - M22 bigger and brighter. Was an easy catch in washed out light. M28 is tight, small and lil fainter. Can fit the Lambda Saggi and M22 in the same view. Not all three in same view.
Observation Time: 7:30pm to 8:15pm (45 mins),
Location: Archstone Apts, Mission Valley, SD CA
Weather: White zone observation. Very light polluted.. .No clouds.. Moon (a day before first quarter).
Instruments: Astrotech 102ED APO. Pan35 (20x), 17T4 (41x), 7T1 (101x), 7T1x2 (202x)
Buddies: Aparna
Observed first time from new Home. Somehow never got a chance to observe, in last 5 weeks, since we moved here.
Apprently, this is highly light polluted area. This is all white zone area. Summerset atleast was in Red zone. The Naked Eye visibility has gone down drastically. NELM ~3. In Saggitarius, Phi Saggi was barely visible.
http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/50420.aspx
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Sagittarius_constellation_map.svg/2000px-Sagittarius_constellation_map.svg.png
Because of this, it indeed gives new respect for dark skies.. Also, just identifying the constellation boundaries is also tough. Good way to test what you know, based on judgment. e.g. Ophiuchus was visible, but i wasn't able to locate the constellation boundary.
Target List:
CON OBJECT OTHER TYPE RA DEC MAG SUBR SIZE_MAX SIZE_MIN NGC DESCR NOTES 1 SGR NGC 6523 M 8 CL+NB 18 03.7 -24 23 5 13 45 m 30 m !!!;vB;eL;eiF;w L Cl Lagoon Nebula;Cl NGC 6530 invl;dark lane crosses neb 2 SGR NGC 6618 M 17 CL+NB 18 20.8 -16 11 6 13 11 m !!!;B;eL;eiF;2 hooked Omega nebula;Swan Nebula;many F outer loops;use filter 3 SGR NGC 6514 M 20 CL+NB 18 02.7 -22 58 6.3 13 28 m vB;vL;Trifid;D* inv Trifid nebula;sev dark lanes;H IV 41 & V 10;D* HN 40 invl 4 SGR NGC 6656 M 22 GLOCL 18 36.4 -23 54 5.2 11 24 m vB;vL;R;vRi;vmC Stars mags 11...;one of finest globs 5 SGR NGC 6626 M 28 GLOCL 18 24.5 -24 52 6.9 11 15 m vB;L;R;geCM;rrr 45' NW from Lambda Sgr;* mags 14... 6 SGR NGC 6530 OCL 19 OPNCL 18 04.5 -24 21 4.6 99.9 15 m Cl;B;L;pRi;f M8 In Lagoon nebula M8;25* mags 7... 7 SCO NGC 6121 M 4 GLOCL 16 23.6 -26 32 5.4 12 26.3 m Cl;8 or 10 B* in line;rrr Look for central bar structure 8 SCO NGC 6405 M 6 OPNCL 17 40.3 -32 15 4.2 10 20 m Cl;L;iR;lC;st7;10... Butterfly cluster;51 members to 10.5 mag incl var* BM Sco 9 SCO NGC 6475 M 7 OPNCL 17 53.9 -34 48 3.3 12 80 m Cl;vB;pRi;lC;*7...12 80 members to 10th mag;Fine naked eye cluster
Moon: Moon is just a day before first quarter. Just above the neighborhood roof. Probably because of that high mag views (202x) weren't sharp.
Scorpion - Antares was red OR deep orange-brown. Moon is closer to Antares. M4 (mag 7.12) not visible. Must have washed out because of moonlight.
M7 Ptolemy - M6 butterfly: was easy catch from Sco tail duo stars. Apparently not many background stars in the view were visible. Still M7 shows bunch of bright stars.. sort of like multiple K shapes joined at various angles. Just above towards sco tail, M6 butterfly visible. The red-orange-brown star in butterfly pops up. cluster is not at all impressive. Also the FoV doesn't have any other stars..
While hunting M6-M7, got a feel of refractor orientations again. L-R swapped. U-D are fine. Need to get a judgment on the True FoV so that hunting will logical. Didn't know the APO+EP combination TrueFoV.
M8 Lagoon - Very depressing. Very little nebulosity visible at the central (probably near hourglass). increasing the mags 35Pan-> 17T4 definitely made the view better. UHC in 35mm pan showed similar..but nothing impressive. Still the open cluster 6530 next to M8 stands out. Compact as compared to M6 butterfly. Circular in shape.
M20 Triffid not visible. considering the magnitudes, indeed surprising. Not sure why i din't see it. Moonlight?
M17 Swan visible: Felt like its brighter than M8. OR surface brightness of swan is evenly spread as compared to M8, so feels like it.
M16 Eagle not visible again. somehow i missed the V shape cluster as well.
M22 and M28 - M22 bigger and brighter. Was an easy catch in washed out light. M28 is tight, small and lil fainter. Can fit the Lambda Saggi and M22 in the same view. Not all three in same view.
Towards Messier Finishing.. I
....
Mercury - Naked Eye
Venus
Jupiter
Alberio
M57 - ring
Swan
Lagoon
Triffid
Nebulas using filter
M4
M75
M55
M80
Mercury - Naked Eye
Venus
Jupiter
Alberio
M57 - ring
Swan
Lagoon
Triffid
Nebulas using filter
M4
M75
M55
M80
Towards Messier Finishing.. II
..
Ophiuchus GCs.. Various NGCs nearby Messiers
M10 - M12
M107
M14
M9-M19-M62
6355-6293
M13-NGC 6207 galaxy
Double cluster
M92
M92-NGC6229
PN nearby 6210
Ophiuchus GCs.. Various NGCs nearby Messiers
M10 - M12
M107
M14
M9-M19-M62
6355-6293
M13-NGC 6207 galaxy
Double cluster
M92
M92-NGC6229
PN nearby 6210
Labels:
Her Gal 6207,
Her GC 6229,
Her GC M13,
Her PN 6210,
Location Boulevard,
Oph GC M10,
Oph GC M107,
Oph GC M12,
Oph GC M14,
Oph GC M19,
Oph GC M62,
Oph GC M9,
Oph GC M92,
Per Double Cluster 869-84
Towards Messier Finishing III
..
M33
M31
Blue snowball - lil hard to find again
Showed some objects to Aparna before leaving: M31, M57, Jupiter, M13
So only 3 messier are missing now.. Here M40 and M102 are indeed misleading numbers in the list. People observe nearby NGC objects to complete the list.
Const M# Type R.A. Dec Mag Size Notes
h m deg m min
Peg 15 Gb 21 30 12 10 7 12 rich, compact
UMa 40 DS 12 22.4 58 5 9 1 DS Winnecke 4, sep 50"
Dra 102 Gb 15 6.5 55 46 12 2x 1 M102=M101, NGC 5866 used
M33
M31
Blue snowball - lil hard to find again
Showed some objects to Aparna before leaving: M31, M57, Jupiter, M13
So only 3 messier are missing now.. Here M40 and M102 are indeed misleading numbers in the list. People observe nearby NGC objects to complete the list.
Const M# Type R.A. Dec Mag Size Notes
h m deg m min
Peg 15 Gb 21 30 12 10 7 12 rich, compact
UMa 40 DS 12 22.4 58 5 9 1 DS Winnecke 4, sep 50"
Dra 102 Gb 15 6.5 55 46 12 2x 1 M102=M101, NGC 5866 used
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