NGC 457, Collinder 12, Melotte 7, Raab 3, OCL 321 DSS image 60′ x 60′ FOV Conditions varied throughout the observing session, but improved to the point where there were only a few small isolated clouds. The seeing was very stable. This has been one of the best nights so far of this this Summer/Autumn season. First initial views did not look anything like ET. However I was viewing it upside down so when…
Observing Session: 7, September
While I’m a bit behind writing my observations up, I see that over the last 30 days or so, I’ve managed to find 6 clear nights where observations were possible. I guess we are in a period where the weather is generally more settled and with the nights drawing in, chances are that we are more likely than not we can get out there with the scope. I’ve had a couple of sessions using…
Hexascope First Light: M31
Managed to get out for half an hour with my astronomy club’s home made scope ‘ The Hexascope’. Conditions were not perfect, but the seeing was OK. My log reads Meade Series 4000 26mm Plössl, 48x First Deep Sky views with the Hexascope.Visible extent of Galaxy covers just under one eyepiece worth – about 1 degree. A bright core is tight and small except with averted vision where it seems to grow and resemble…
Observing Session: 5, September
The weather has been pretty good since the BBQ last weekend and my last observing session. Lots of clear bright sunny days and warm with it. Summer has sprung with a vengeance, although I suspect this is more like ‘one last gasp’ before Autumn sets in. Last night wasn’t too bad. The Moon was just starting to come up in the East, which was fine, as I wanted to try and view as may…
Observing Session: 21, August
Well my weather forecast widget indicated there would be clear skies by 21:00 U.T last night and indeed there was. The transparency indicator suggested conditions weren’t going to be ideal though. Rather than just choosing an unobserved object at random, I used Astroplanner to sort by unobserved objects, their highest transit time, and the lowest air mass I could observe them through. The first of these on the list was M14, but this was…
Observing Session 9, August
Astroplanner view though Altair Astro 250mm, UWA 18mm, 113 X, 43.6′, I’m a bit behind with my observations recently. We managed to get out on the Thursday – a few days before the Perseid Meteor show peak, and got some observing done. In between the sessions at the eyepiece, Sand managed to catch about 20 meteors during the hour and a half session. Unluckily for me, I only saw about three while I was looking…