01 October 2008

RA 20h 20m to 20h 40m, Dec -09 to -15


The mushroom cloud shown above was visible in the west this afternoon, but fortunately the smoke drifted south of me and the fire may have been successfully supressed by nightfall. The photo is an enlarged (and somewhat enhanced) portion of the original telephoto. The fire was not as close it may appear above. My sky appeared to be 'crystal clear' by the time I had begun my observing session.


In this region of sky (see title) I observed, split, and sketched seven double stars in the course of a little over an hour with the 13cm refractor. One was particularly nice, showing some color at low power. Another was a particularly close 'split'.


Seeing was much better on this evening (Tuesday evening, September 30th locally or October 1st UT) than it was on the previous evening. I rated it as being "Excellent" -- an "8" on the modified (for a 5-inch scope) Pickering Scale.

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