by Tom Campbell
| Observer | Tom Campbell |
|---|---|
| Location | Iola, Kansas (Long: 95°24'W Lat: 37°55'N) |
| Equipment | 8" Discovery DHQ dob |
| Eyepieces | 1.25" Plössls - 25mm (49x), 15mm (81x), 10mm (122x), 6.5mm (188x), 4mm (305x) |
| Time | 9:45pm - 10:30pm CST (03:45-04:30 UT) |
| Transparency | Mostly Clear (7/10) |
| Seeing | Mostly Stable (7/10) |
| Weather | Temperatures in the lower 40s. There was a slight breeze. |
| PERSEUS | NGC-1023, Struve 331 |
|---|---|
| TAURUS | Chi |
Tonight was the first clear night in over two weeks. Unfortunately, I was committed to some other tasks for the evening, such as voting and running the sound booth for the community college choir/band concert. As a result, I didn't get home until after 9:00pm. The sky was too pretty to pass up, though.
Temperatures were falling fast, and I didn't have time to properly cool down my telescope. Star tests were revealing a lot of tube currents. Nevertheless, I had to take advantage of the clear, dark sky. I didn't have a real observing plan in mind, instead opting to just point the telescope at whatever caught my fancy.
| Struve 331 | Perseus | Double Star | 9:45pm CST |
|---|---|---|---|
| HD 18537 | RA: 0300.9 | Dec: +5221 | Mag: 5.3, 6.7 |
| This is a nice double, easily split at 49x. However, the best view is at 81x. The primary star is white and the secondary is a pale blue. Although not spectacular, it has enough of a magnitude and color contrast to be interesting. | |||
| NGC 1023 | Perseus | Barred Spiral Galaxy | 10:15pm CST |
| RA: 0240.4 | Dec: +3904 | Mag: 10.4 | |
| This galaxy is fairly bright, situated right next to some even brighter stars. It's pretty easy to find by following the arc of the front leg of Perseus. 125x was offering the best view tonight. At this magnification, it appears as elongated, with a stellar core. With direct vision, the core seems to spread out a little, rather than appearing stellar. Averted vision makes the galaxy appear larger. It appears to be nearly edge-on, with a large central bulge. This one would be nice to see from a little darker sky or with a bit more aperture. | |||
| Chi | Taurus | Double Star | 10:30pm CST |
| 59 | RA: 0422.6 | Dec: +2538 | Mag: 5.4, 8.4 |
| This double is wide, easily split at 49x. The best view is at 81x, however. The primary is bright white, with a tinge of blue, and the companion is a few magnitudes fainter, appearing a dull yellow, almost brown. That's an unusual star color, and it might be due to either atmospheric effects or the relative faintness of the secondary. | |||
Saturn and Orion were clearing the trees, and were beckoning me. They were still too low to observe properly, but I gave Saturn a quick peek to see how it was getting along.
At this point, the dew was really starting to become a nuisance, and a cold breeze was starting to pick up a bit. I decided to call it a night. Despite the shortness of the session, it felt good to get back under the stars once again.