Best night so far...

Well last night was my best night since purchasing my 130mm parabolic
Newt......no clouds......moon did look a little wibbly- wobbly but sky
looked pretty clear.....well as clear as my maximum naked eye mag +4 LP sky
could be.........
Anyway.......first off was M81 and M82 - locating a barely visible to naked
eye upsilon UMa- I travelled up the Dec northwards until I spotted my
quarry, for me quite near the zenith.....M81 had a noticeable brighter core
with a fainter periphery. M82 was a lumpy disk or bar. Both easier to spot
than M51 (as I had been told was so). I took a look at M51 next.....and I
remembered how to find it without maps - This time it looked different- I
could see TWO bright cores with a 'mist' between them...one bigger than the
other- NGC 5195 I guess......I was on a roll now so I thought I would shoot
for M101.......the one I could never see..........But this time I could-
although it was only observable by indirect tube jiggling........quite dim
and disappointing
Next up was my first planetary nebula.......The Eskimo Nebula NGC 2392. A
pretty easy star hop from delta Gem to the triangle of 61,63,56 Gem- and
there it was- pretending to be a mag 9 star......Upping the mag to my max
without a barlow of 65x I could discern it as a fuzzy brighter inner core
with a paler outer shell (my x2 barlow is a poor Skywatcher mega chromatic
piece of junk)........Not bad but I cant wait for M57 and M27 to get higher!
Next up were some galaxies around Leo......M65 and M66 (although I couldnt
find NGC3628) and I think M105 (found by traveling west from Regulus)
Then onto M44- very pretty open cluster and not to spread out at 26x- are
those red giants there?.....My usual experience of open clusters is the
Pleiades which are young blue stars.....Anyway as I was in cluster mode I
thought a look at the one west of Leo Mel 111- this was well spread out and
to me looked almost like lines of stars......traveling southwards from
Mel111 I think I spotted another galaxing- but couldnt decide if it was M85
and M100 and as it was getting late and today had to work I decided to
packup and go indoors........

My future sessions will hopefully be from darker skies.........and I now
want to see a globular cluster.......M13 should do it!

--
M
------
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security
will deserve neither and lose both."
[Benjamin Franklin]

"War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it."
[Erasmus]

"A collision at sea can ruin your entire day."
[Thucydides]

On Mar 23, 6:06 pm, "M" wrote:
iece of junk)........Not bad but I cant wait for M57 and M27 to get
higher!

They'e grand objects...

Next up were some galaxies around Leo......M65 and M66 (although I couldnt
find NGC3628)

Keep after it, it's not that tough. If you could see the bridge
in M51, 3628 is no problem.


Then onto M44- very pretty open cluster and not to spread out at 26x-
are
those red giants there?.

Most of the members range from A6 to about K 3. M44
is what you might call an "adolescent" cluster

My future sessions will hopefully be from darker skies.........and I now
want to see a globular cluster.......M13 should do it!

Be sure to track down M3 and M5. I think those are the
most stunning in a backyard scope. See how many stars
you can resolve in each. (There will be more than you can resolve
in M13)

Ben

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007, "M" wrote:

Well last night was my best night since purchasing my 130mm parabolic
Newt...

Wow! Sounds like you had a great night! . . . M81, M82, M51, NGC
5195, M101, the Eskimo, M65, M66, etc.

You're likely to really enjoy M57, M27 and M13 when those objects are
high in your sky. When you go after M57 and M27, stop roughly midway
between them and have a look at Beta Cygni (Albireo). It's one of the
most beautiful double stars in the sky!
--
Bill
Celestial Journeys
http://cejour.blogspot.com

I am sort of kicking myself for not tracking down M3 and M53....having never
seen a glob before I was looking in about the right part of the
sky.........but just didnt realise......
My excuse.???........I had only "planned" on M81, M82, M51, M101 and
NGC2392.......the other objects were cos I found the planned ones so quickly
and the atmosphere was so clear......

Ah well..........need to wait for another good night now........prolly be
cloudy and/ or misty for weeks!

--
M
------
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security
will deserve neither and lose both."
[Benjamin Franklin]

"War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it."
[Erasmus]

"A collision at sea can ruin your entire day."
[Thucydides]

"Ben" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 23, 6:06 pm, "M" wrote:
iece of junk)........Not bad but I cant wait for M57 and M27 to get
higher!

They'e grand objects...

Next up were some galaxies around Leo......M65 and M66 (although I
couldnt
find NGC3628)

Keep after it, it's not that tough. If you could see the bridge
in M51, 3628 is no problem.


Then onto M44- very pretty open cluster and not to spread out at 26x-
are
those red giants there?.

Most of the members range from A6 to about K 3. M44
is what you might call an "adolescent" cluster

My future sessions will hopefully be from darker skies.........and I now
want to see a globular cluster.......M13 should do it!

Be sure to track down M3 and M5. I think those are the
most stunning in a backyard scope. See how many stars
you can resolve in each. (There will be more than you can resolve
in M13)

Ben

When the clouds next clear I am planning on tracking down some GC and some
PN......prolly M5, M3, M53.....M13, M57 & M27 will only be on my list if I
take my scope out of my back garden (back of my house faces west......and
there is a street lamp by my front garden- so I think I will travel into the
wilds!)

--
M
------
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security
will deserve neither and lose both."
[Benjamin Franklin]

"War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it."
[Erasmus]

"A collision at sea can ruin your entire day."
[Thucydides]

"W. H. Greer" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 24 Mar 2007, "M" wrote:

Well last night was my best night since purchasing my 130mm parabolic
Newt...

Wow! Sounds like you had a great night! . . . M81, M82, M51, NGC
5195, M101, the Eskimo, M65, M66, etc.

You're likely to really enjoy M57, M27 and M13 when those objects are
high in your sky. When you go after M57 and M27, stop roughly midway
between them and have a look at Beta Cygni (Albireo). It's one of the
most beautiful double stars in the sky!
--
Bill
Celestial Journeys
http://cejour.blogspot.com