I am finding that the way I get my satisfaction out of this hobby has changed quite a bit. Some has to do with the stupid pandemic, which takes away my favorite activity – sharing the views, and spontaneous outreach. So, left with having to turn inwards to derive pleasure out of the observing itself, I have gravitated away from aiming for the most detailed views, or trying to get the most obscure targets, towards learning more about more accessible targets, and just enjoying and relaxing more under the stars. Hence the switch to a lot more binocular observation, grab-and-go style, and doing a lot more reading and learning.
This particular session was a few nights ago, with the Oberwerk 10x50 Ultra. I am liking this instrument more and more. It took some getting used to, and a big part of that is that individual focus when hand holding is quite annoying. But on the positive side, once set I have been able to do additional sessions without having to fiddle with the focus again. Very well built, solid instrument. Pulls out targets nicely in the horribly light polluted location I have to use them in.
I explored the bit of sky available on my deck, which stretches from a bit West of the
So, first off, I was very happy to actually see the Engagement Ring, the nice ring
Cassiopeia is now mostly climbing above the houses in front, so I hunted for stuff there. First, I learned the Eddie’s Coaster needs a bit darker skies, or higher altitude. Can’t dig out the relevant magnitude low as it is, I’m barely starting to guess at the Eastern end. I hope to see this soon, I’ve only recently learned about it.
But I still tried for ambitious targets close to the horizon, so I started between Ruchbach and Segin, and managed to dig out M 103, which was a direct vision nebulosity with a couple of individual stars visible in it. I caught a minimal glimpse of
Moving West and South, I star hopped to Lambda And and found
I looked for
And since I was in Andromeda, with M 31 now up, I took several good looks, seeing more of it as it was climbing higher. This is required viewing when it’s up, of course.
Moved up into Cygnus, and saw M 39. This is a beautiful bino target, if you only expect dim fuzzies you may miss this one, as its main members are bright and more spread out. Lovely.
Then I went on to split 79 Cyg, a widely separated uneven pair, and 61 Cyg, a tighter (32”) pair of twins, a good test for binos, and this one does a good job splitting them clean.
And that’s all she wrote, folks. Looking forward to the next clear night (and one with less moonlight than the coming days will have) to go play again, and follow the other goodies slowly rising in my home corner of sky.
