What a difference a day makes.
| Observer | Robert Leyland |
|---|---|
| Date | 15 Jan 2001 |
| Time | 1930-2000 PST and 2100 - 2130 PST |
| Location | Novato CA. 38N 122.6W Elev 500' |
| Weather | 5°C Temp, light variable breeze |
| Seeing | LM 5.5 |
| Visibility | Bay Area light dome obscures horizon to the east |
| Equipment | NexStar5, Miscellaneous EPs |
On the evening of Jan 15 the skies were clear, but the stars were twinkling. I set up my smaller telescope (a NexStar5) intending to get another look at the planets.
Early in the evening Venus was very bright, showing a distinct phase, like a fingernail clipping. There was a strong colour shift above and below the planet. Reddish-Orange on one side, and bluish-purple on the other. I left the scope set up, and cooling until Jupiter and Saturn has risen further.
The day prior I had been up to Lake Sonoma, and watched the double transit, really an interesting event, with two little beauty marks floating across Jupiter's face, one splitting the SEB, and one much further south.
I was interested to see the difference in observing locations. Sadly the seeing would not cooperate. It was crystal clear, but achieving focus on the big planets wouldn't happen, they continually shifted and blurred. Additionally a light, but variable, breeze kept ruffling the telescope, really making viewing quite frustrating. I went in early.
| Observer | Robert Leyland |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 Jan 2001 |
| Time | 2030 PST - 2330 PST |
| Location | Novato CA. 38N 122.6W Elev 500' |
| Weather | 4°C Temp |
| Seeing | LM 5.7 |
| Visibility | Bay Area light dome obscures horizon to the east |
| Equipment | 8" F6 Dob, Pentax XL EPs |
Now this was more like it...
Once again the sky was very clear, and early evening twinkling had me worried that it would be a repeat of the night before. Fortunately it settled down nicely, and by 8:30 all was still. A check of the little dipper, all stars are visible with direct vision, and averted vision shows a few more. The double cluster is naked eye visible.
Jupiter is awesome tonight. The Great Red Spot is showing, right at the planets edge. There is also a dark spot centered in the equatorial region, just south of the NEB, it is quite prominent, and I keep track of it as it rotates with the planet during the evening. The SEB is split with a wavy white region between the bands. Two further bands are visible above the SEB towards the pole, and multiple thin bands can be seen below the NEB. Later as the GRS rotates into full view the SEB is distinctly different on either side of the GRS. One side (up-spin?) seemed more solid, while on the other side (down-spin?) the belt is split with the lighter central region.
Saturn is also fascinating, I easily note the Cassini division, and banding on the planet itself. Also the ring's shadow on the planet, and the planet's shadow on the ring are really prominent, giving the scene a dramatic 3-D look. I count 7 moons (or moon like points at least) adjacent to Saturn, with two further afield, that are more probably stars. I've made pen sketches for later comparison with charts/Starry Night Pro.
Truly an exceptional night for seeing.
Quick peeks of some easy objects convince me that it will be worth while breaking out more stuff to take advantage of the conditions. The Pleaides show nebulosity (I compared them to the Hyades stars, and allowing for the brightness "glare", M45 shows more fuzziness around the major stars). M77 is rather nice in magnification up to 200x, M42 is it usual stunning self, and M1 shows a level of detail that I really don't expect to see from my home.
I've been trying to focus on one constellation at a time, visiting key objects and really getting to know a region. Last time out it was Andromeda and Triangulum, this cycle was to be Cassiopeia. Conveniently Astronomy Magazine has a nice write up of Cas, in the Jan 2001 issue. Using that as a starting point, with Rukl* and NSOG as guides, off we go.
M51 is first up, its a nice little smudge in the finder (7x50), and it is easy to see why C.Messier could mistake it for a comet. At 60x one brighter star and a cluster of dimmer stars scattered around it are clear. There might be an outlying cluster of stars related to it towards B-Cas. They are similar in brightness. A check in NSOG, it's called Cz 43, and recognizable from the pair bright stars one just above and one below.
NGC 7635 escaped me, nothing direct, averted or imagined; and only wispy darkness with a UHC filter. I may well have seen it, but nothing positively identified, so I'll have to try this one again at a darker site.
NGC 7789 is an awful lot of faint stars, with a nice filled in circular shape in the center, and five "leggy" extensions like a child's drawing of a star. Some brighter stars surround it, framing the cluster nicely.
NGC 7788 & 7790, are easily spotted and distinguished by the patterns of brighter stars within the clusters. 7790 is more compact and fuzzier, while 7788 has a "house" shaped asterism. Another cluster nearby turns out to be Fr-1 (from NSOG p112 fig 10.7) while the other clusters are recognizable only from their brightest stars, and really don't show up as clusters in the 8" Dob.
The temperature dips, my feet are cold, and it's time to go in. I didn't get as far as I would have liked, just a few of the open clusters. Still is was well worth while, and I hope the weather holds, as I am taking a few days off next week. It would be great to get in some quality observing time.
*Rukl: Antonin Rukl, Guide to the Constellations
NSOG: Night Sky Observers Guide, Kepple & Sanner