Binocular & Small Telescope Session

Date: 13 January 2008
Time: 3:05: 3:25 U.T.
Binoculars: 8x42 & 20x80
Telescope: 80mm f/5 Achromat
NELM: 6.0 to 6.5

Comet Holmes was visible to the unaided eye, but it was significantly better with the binoculars. A crescent moon was above the horizon to the southwest, but appeared to have little if any adverse effect on the evening's viewing. Clouds were approaching from the west.

Mars looked like a tiny, yellow-orange disk in the ST-80 at 105x without filters. Markings on the planet were difficult to see with the small telescope, but they became easier when the planet's brightness was reduced and contrast was increased via the use of a #23A Light Red filter. The #23A filter transformed the color of the planet to a orange-red. Normally I wouldn't consider using such a small telescope on Mars, but I was curious concerning what could be seen with minimal optical aid. Without any filters, the ST-80 is likely to disappoint just about anyone when viewing Mars. With filters, a fair amount of patience, a bit of observer experience (and a good solid mount!) it's possible to conduct some regular study of Mars when the planet is near opposition, but I would strongly suggest that any interested observer use a larger, higher quality telescope.

Surface markings were ill-defined and difficult to pinpoint in location due to the telescope's small aperture, the relatively low (for Mars) magnification, the less than perfect (achromatic) optics, and the somewhat uncooperative, home-made mount (One of these days I should add a friction adjustment to the mount's altitude axis).

After Mars I lowered the magnification to 22x using a wide-angle eyepiece. I took quick looks at the Great Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy (and its two nearby satellite galaxies), M33, and Comet Holmes. The ST-80 and its home-made, alt-az mount seem to perform at their best when used for such low magnification purposes. All of these objects were very pleasing in the small, short telescope. Comet Holmes looked like a fairly bright, diffuse (amorphous) cloud occupying approximately one-third of the 3.34 degree field of view.

In the course of the evening's short session I never felt any need to uncap the telescope's finder. It was easy enough to point the telescope at Mars, etc. with the 22x eyepiece in place prior to switching to higher power.

I brought the telescope and mount inside, leaving the tripod out in case I decided to try out a 102mm (4-inch) SCT on Mars. Later, when I went back outside, I discovered a cloud covered sky and frost on the tripod. It was clearly time to bring the tripod inside and wait for another clear night.

Comet C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR) & Aurora

Date: 11 July 2007 U.T.
Time: 5:50 U.T.
Instrument: 20x80 Binoculars
Seeing: Steady (for binoculars)
NELM: 6.5
Temperature: +55 F (+13 C)


The above sketch shows the basic appearance of Comet C/2006 VZ13 LINEAR as seen with hand-held 20x80 binoculars. Only a few of the many visible field stars appear in this sketch. South is up. West is to the left. The comet is the large, round, nebulous object with a brighter middle. The galaxy, NGC 6015 was visible in the 20x80 binoculars as a much smaller and fainter nebulous object to the west of the comet. The comet was easily visible with 8x42 binoculars as well as with the 20x80s.

The comet was in the constellation Draco. Its rough location at the time of this observation was RA 15hr 57min, Dec. +62 degrees 28min. I estimated the comet's coma to be about 0.2 degrees in diameter. The comet is currently well placed in the evening sky for observers at mid-northern latitudes.

An aurora was visible a few degrees above my northern horizon. The aurora was somewhat brighter (with a small amount of structure visible) around 5:20 U.T. than it was at the time of the comet observation (5:50 U.T.). The aurora never extended very much above my northern horizon and seemed to have little or no effect on the limiting magnitude higher in the sky.

Two Galaxies and a Planet

Date: 17 April 2007 U.T.
Time: 1:50 - 5:50 U.T. (with breaks)
Telescope: 30cm Newtonian
Magnifications: 150x (Venus)
160x (M81)
250x (M82)
Filters: Moon-SkyGlow & #58 Green (Venus)
None (Galaxies)
Seeing: Fair to Poor
NELM: Bright Twilight (Venus)
6.5 (Galaxies)
Temperature: +43 F (+6 C)

Venus was observed and sketched near sunset. The planet's gibbous (approaching quarter) phase was obvious. Subtle markings were difficult to pin down due to relatively poor seeing conditions. Nevertheless, I was able to complete a rough sketch.

M81, a bright, spiral galaxy in Ursa Major was observed and sketched at 160x. This galaxy had a small, bright, central region surrounded by a fainter, oval glow. Upon closer inspection one of the galaxy's spiral arms became evident on the north following side of the galaxy's nucleus. Other arms were suspected as glimpses were caught of darker regions within the faint glow of M81's outer regions.

M82 is a bright, irregular galaxy near M81 in Ursa Major. A few brighter and darker regions were seen without much difficulty in this interesting, cigar-shaped galaxy.

A Brief Binocular Session

Date: 13 April 2007 U.T.
Time: 4:00 - 4:30 U.T.
Binoculars: 20x80 (hand-held)
Seeing: Good
NELM: 6.4 (or better)
Temperature: +29 F (-2 C)

Three relatively bright non-Messier objects were targeted this evening. The first was NGC 2403. This galaxy was very easy to see with the large binoculars. It looked like a small, distinct patch of nebulosity and was more readily visible than many of the Messier galaxies.

Next was NGC 3242 "The Ghost of Jupiter". This object is a small, but very bright planetary nebula. Through the binoculars it resembled a slightly bloated, slightly fuzzy star. The detailed charts in the Uranometria Atlas allowed for easy identification via the surrounding star field.

Last on my list was NGC 4565 "The Needle Galaxy". This well-known, edge-on, spiral galaxy was visible in the binoculars as a small, faint, elongated glow with a somewhat brighter middle.

For whatever reason, I found myself looking in the vicinity of M81 with the unaided eye. I noted the nearby star pattern as plotted on atlas charts. All of the nearby stars plotted in the Cambridge Star Atlas (2nd edition) were visible to the unaided eye. In particular, I noted 24 Ursae Majoris and the unlabeled star between 24 and M81. At times I suspected a tiny, faint glow at the exact spot where M81 was supposed to be.

I'm not positive that I saw M81 with the unaided eye on this evening; but I'll try to remember to look for this relatively bright galaxy from time to time (with the unaided eye) when conditions are favorable.

M 104 (The Sombrero Galaxy)

Date: 8 April 2007 U.T.
Time: 5:17 - 5:40 U.T.
Telescope: 30cm Newtonian
Magnifications: 250x and 120x
Seeing: Fair to Poor
NELM: 6.5
Temperature: +22 F (-6 C)

The Sombrero Galaxy is a beautiful object! It consists of a small, bright, central core surrounded by an elongated (east-west), fainter glow. The glow is widest in the central region, growing progressively narrower further out. Just south of the core a narrow, dark, dust-lane was visible running the length of the galaxy. The galaxy's glow to the south of the dust lane was considerably fainter than the glow to the north. The galaxy appeared to be slightly brighter along its western extension than along its eastern extension.

The overall shape of M 104 was similar to that of two saucers with their rims in contact with one another -- viewed edge-on.

A magnification of 250x was used for most of the observation and sketching. Later I dropped the magnification down to 120x. It may have been possible to see the faint, outermost glow of the galaxy a little better at the lower magnification; but details showed up better at the higher magnification.

20x80 Binocular Session

Date: 9 March 2007 U.T.
Time: 5:37 - 6:45 U.T.
Binoculars: 20x80 (hand held)
Seeing: Good
NELM: 6.0 - 6.5
Temperature: +28 F (-2 C)

High Humidity and Clouds: A small amount of rain fell during the day prior to this session. The floor of my open-air observatory remained damp. Clouds didn't dissipate until sometime after sunset. Due to these conditions I decided to not set up a telescope. By the time of the observation a fairly thick layer of frost had formed on the porch, etc.

At the start of the binocular session my sky was clear in the west. The rest of the sky seemed to be covered with very thin clouds. Later, conditions improved enough to allow me to see most of the objects that I wanted to observe.

M41 is an open star cluster in Canis Major. Someone had recently mentioned on the newsgroup, sci.astro.amateur that they were disappointed in the appearance of this cluster in their 130mm telescope. I made a response as to some possible reasons, and mentioned that M41 was visible to the unaided eye under a sufficiently dark sky. So, with a clear sky, I decided to pay a visit to M41.

Sure enough, the cluster was a relatively easy object to detect with the unaided eye. Through the binoculars M41 was resolved into numerous individual stars. I found the view to be 'rather nice' despite the cluster's low altitude in my southwestern sky.

Galaxies in Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices: Next on my agenda were the Messier galaxies in the Virgo region. The above sketch has north up and west to the right. It shows the general appearance of M65 (the galaxy to the right of center), M66 (the galaxy to the left of center), and NGC 3620 (the fainter galaxy north of the other two). Galaxies tend to look like faint,fuzzy stains against the background sky when observed with 20x80 binoculars.

In addition to the three objects mentioned above, I observed the following galaxies: M58, M59, M60, M64, M84, M85, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90, M91, M95, M96, M98, M99, M100, and M105.

Near the end of the session the Moon rose. The high humidity scattered the moonlight, making the sky much brighter than it would have otherwise been.

Andromeda Galaxy, Pleiades & Telescope Care

Date: 25 December 2006 U.T.
Time: 4:50 - 5:18 & 5:45 - 6:05 U.T.
Telescope: 30cm Newtonian
Magnification: 38x
Seeing: Good
NELM: 6.0
Temperature: +12 F (-11 C)

Prior to getting down to business:
The telescope was set up shortly after sunset, allowing Andrew a peek at the crescent moon at 80x. Later, after moonset, Ann and Andrew got good views of the Great Orion Nebula at 80x. Andrew stuck around long enough to view a few additional objects.

Starting at 4:50 U.T. I once again worked on sketching the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31). At 5:45 U.T., after having taken a break, I revisited the Pleiades Star Cluster (M 45) for yet another sketch of the associated nebulosity. As it turned out, this wasn't a very good night for these tasks; but I did the best I could under the circumstances. The difference between a 6.5 and 6.0 magnitude sky is quite noticeable when one is attempting to study faint objects or features. Nevertheless, I feel that I now have enough raw material to attempt new and improved paintings of both celestial showpieces.

Telescope Care:
By the end of the session the porch, grass, telescope, etc. had acquired a coating of frost. Yet, due to preventive procedures, I was able to avoid any frost or dew formation on the telescope mirrors -- while outdoors as well as after returning indoors.

Many years ago, after bringing in a very cold telescope, I had learned an important lesson. The telescope had been outside for several hours when the air temperature (excluding any windchill) was -20 F (-29 C). After bringing the frigid telescope indoors, the cold glass and metal attracted moisture like magnets. Before long the telescope had acquired a thick coating of ice (remember, this was after the scope had been brought inside). After more time had passed and the telescope had warmed sufficiently, chunks of ice broke off, fell to the floor, and gradually liquified. Of course, water spots persisted on the optical surfaces after the scope had completely dried.

Now I always cover all optical surfaces, tube openings, etc. before bringing a cold telescope indoors. When practical, either the entire telescope or key components are also boxed prior to bringing them indoors. Despite several recent nights of use at below freezing temperatures, the mirrors of the 30cm telescope have never had any form of condensed moisture on them. Consequently, the optics remain pristine -- no 'water spots'.

Andromeda Revisited

Date: 22 December 2006 U.T.
Time: 2:55 - 4:06 U.T.
Telescope: 13cm refractor
Magnification: 21x
Seeing: Good
NELM: ~6.0
Temperature: +19 F (-7 C)

The sky was partly cloudy at the beginning of this session and almost totally cloud covered by the end. Once again I worked on the Andromeda Galaxy and surrounding star field. This time I was able to see the entire visible portion of the galaxy within the refractor's wide, 3.1 degree FOV.

Most of the session was devoted to marking the numerous field stars. Unlike the sketch that was uploaded with my previous posting, this time all visible stars were recorded excepting only those that I would have had to 'work at' to see.

As for the Galaxy itself, brightness variations were better recorded and dust lanes were less obvious (not that they were all that obvious earlier).

I've yet to transform the 'at the telescope' sketch into a sketch suitable for uploading. I want to try one more M31 session with the refractor in an effort to ferret out any 'hidden' details that might remain to be seen at 21x. I hope to eventually make a painting that more accurately shows the visual appearance of the three galaxies and surrounding star field. If I'm successful, this painting will be the beginning of yet another new project. If I'm not successful, I'll just have to keep on trying until I am!

Andromeda Galaxy

Date: 19 December 2006
Time: 5:25 - 5:50 U.T.
Telescope: 30cm Netwonian
Magnification: 38x
Seeing: Fair
NELM: 6.3
Temperature: +13 F (-11 C)


The above sketch shows the Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and two of its satellite galaxies, M32 above and M110 below. South is up. West is to the left. The circular field is 1.7 degrees in diameter. M31's coordinates are: RA 0hr 43', Dec +41 16'. Only a few of the field stars are shown in this sketch. 38x is my lowest magnification and 1.7 degrees is my widest FOV for the 30cm Newtonian. In order to see M31 in its entirety a smaller telescope (with a wider FOV), or binoculars is necessary. Notice the two dust lanes below the great galaxy's nucleus. Those lanes (and others) are easier to see at higher magnifications.

NGC 247 and More

Objects: NGCs 247, 216, and 210
Date: 12 December 2006 U.T.
Time: 2:46, 3:08, and 4:05 U.T. respectively
NELM: greater than or equal to 6.5
Seeing: Good (for magnifications used)
Telescope: 30cm Newtonian
Magnifications: 56x, 81x, and 98x
Site Latitude: 45.5 North
Temperature: +22 F. (-6 C)



NGC 247: (RA 00hr 47.1', Dec. -20 46') Above is a sketch of NGC 247 with south up and preceding (west) to the left. The sketched area is approximately 31' wide. This fairly bright galaxy appeared better on this night at 56x. NGC 247 appeared large and elongated with a very gradually, little brighter, elongated, central region. An easily visible star punctuated the galaxy's southern end. The north end of NGC 247 appeared to be a little wider and more indistinct (fainter) than the galaxy's south end. Twenty-one point five degrees south declination is near the southern limit for the 30cm telescope. This is the same limit as one series of charts in the Millennium Star Atlas. The south wall of my open-air observatory prevents an unobstructed view much closer to my southern horizon. Consequently, current plans call for observing objects (with the 30cm telescope) at or north of 21.5 degrees S. Dec.

NGC 216: (RA 00hr 41.4', Dec. -21 03') This galaxy was missed at 56x; but at 98x it looked like a small, faint stain on the background sky.

NGC 210: (RA 00hr 40.6', Dec. -13 52') At 98x NGC 210 was small and bright with a much brighter center. A bright star was just west of this galaxy.

Other Notes: An aurora fooled me into thinking the moon was about to rise (most of my low northern sky was blocked from view as seen from my observing site). Frost found its way to most exposed surfaces fairly quickly on this night. I took a quick look at the Great Orion Nebula. It was an awesome sight! Following up on a posting I read on sci.astro.amateur, I used 8x42 and 20x80 binoculars to checkout NGC 2174 in the northeast corner of Orion. This patch of nebulosity is indeed visible with small binoculars. I failed to take time out for a high magnification view of Polaris for an accurate determination of seeing conditions; but stars remained reasonably sharp at all magnifications used on this night.