by Tom Campbell
| Observer | Tom Campbell |
|---|---|
| Location | Iola, Kansas (Long: 95 30' W Lat: 37 55' N) |
| Equipment | 8" Discovery DHQ dob |
| Eyepieces | 1.25" Plössls (25mm, 15mm, 10mm, 6.5mm, 4mm) |
| Time | 9:30pm - 11:00pm CDT |
| Transparency | Clear |
| Seeing | Stable |
| Weather | Temperature in 60s. There was little to no wind. |
With what must be a record around here for this time of year, I was able to go observing for three nights in a row! I didn't have time to make up a formal observing plan, so I mainly just looked at some of my favorites.
While I was out, however, I did bag a few new objects (at least for me), so I'll only report on those.
| ) Moon - 9:30pm CDT |
|---|
|
The moon was a beautiful crescent tonight, so while I waited for my
telescope to cool, I took a peek. At 49X, the entire Moon fit nicely within
the field of view. The bright crescent side of the Moon, combined with the
Earthshine on the dark side, made for an interesting sight. Despite the tube
currents, the view was gorgeous enough to bring my family outside to take a
peek. When I kicked the magnification up to 305X, there were a few comments
that the view made them feel like they were in lunar orbit.
As an added bonus for the evening, I was able to see the Moon occult a nearby star (I'm not sure which one). It was right above the Moon (on the dark side). Right as the Moon was about to swallow up the star, the star gave a few last twinkles (probably shining between mountain peaks) before disappearing for good. I knew that the Moon would set before the star reappeared again, so didn't bother looking for it. Nevertheless, it was kind of neat to be able to see visible evidence of our nearest neighbor in motion. |
| # NGC 3242 (Ghost of Jupiter) [Hydra] - 9:50pm CDT |
|
At 49X, this planetary nebula appears medium blue in color and looks like a
wide, round, out of focus star. True to its nickname, it does look similar
to a planet, and is similar in size to Jupiter. However, it reminds me more
of what Neptune would look like, if it were much closer to Earth.
Increasing magnification really didn't bring out any details. But one interesting effect was that when I looked directly at the nebula, it faded in and out (sometimes almost disappearing completely). But when I used averted vision, it appeared pretty bright. |
| @ M102 [Draco] - 10:35pm CDT |
| This is a pretty small galaxy. At 81X, it has an elliptical shape, which bisects two fairly faint field stars. At lower powers, these field stars blend in with the galaxy, creating what appears to be a small, unresolved open cluster. Except for its general shape, no other details could be seen. |
Next, I went to Leo and searched for M95, M96 and M105. I found two of these, but couldn't detect the third one. I need to print out a better finder chart for Leo before I report on these galaxies.
Similarly, I played around for a while in Virgo. But after a few minutes, I realized that I was seeing a lot more galaxies in my telescope than what I had printed up on my chart. I need to print out a deeper version of the chart and come back to it. I can tell that a person could easily get lost there.