Location: home,
Equipment: Celestron 9.25” Edge HD
Week ago we had a heat wave. I have capitalized on dry warmer nights and had two back-to-back sessions in our backyard. Our new in-land home has just slightly better sky,
Here are the scopes waiting for the dark.
11/15/20
I have started with planets
Jupiter in the south was disappointing. Bad seeing affected all scopes from 9.25” to 80mm. Main belts were barely resolved.
Mars in the west was better, not the best views but not too bad. Finally saw Hellas this season. Edge 9.25” with Pentax XF 12mm
The sky is too bright here for the faint galaxies, but I got plenty of open clusters to last a few seasons.
Cassiopeia open clusters
Berkeley 1 – loose group of 6 faint stars. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
Berkeley 2 – only 1 brighter and 2 faint stars resolved. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Berkeley 4 – crescent of 10 stars. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
King 16 - ~20 stars scattered over the large area. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x) resolved less stars in Berkley 4 and King 16, but they were better framed in the same
Berkley 5 – FAIL – just one 13.7 mag star resolved with Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Berkeley 6 – pair of brighter stars with ~10 faint stars scattered around. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
Trumpler 1 – trapezium-shaped small tight group of ~10 stars, nicely framed in Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
Berkeley 7 – 2 brighter stars with 7 faint stars scattered around. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
Berkeley 8 – 4 very faint stars resolved. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Collinder 463 – large pentagon of stars with chains of stars coming from the corners. Best viewed at lower power. 150ST/Baader Aspheric 36mm (21x).
Berkeley 102 – 7 stars resolved. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
Mlb 103 – double star in Berkley 102 - 10.9, 11.3, 5”, white pair. Clean split in Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
11/16/20
Next night I have started again with Mars. Seeing was better than the night before. Once again Edge 9.25”/XF 12mm (196x) resolved most of fine details with Baader Contrast Booster + Moon & Sky Glow filter combo. However, I had to wait for the image to snap in focus at the moments of better seeing. Mars disk was smaller in Onyx 80ED/Delite 3mm (167x). However, the image was steadier and larger dark features easier to spot. Baader Contrast Booster + Moon & Sky Glow filer combo and Red 23A filter delivered about the same level of resolution. Surprise of the evening was 150ST/XW 5mm (150x). Image quality and level of details were similar to 80ED and Red 23A filter took care of
After that I have continued where I left with
Cassiopeia open clusters
Berkeley 103 – FAIL – just one star resolved with Edge 9.25”.
Berkeley 104 – 4 brighter stars form narrow rectangle with 2 additional faint stars resolved. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Frolov 1 – 5 stars form narrow triangle. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
Berkeley 58 – 8 stars scattered in a large area. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
150ST/Panoptic 27mm (28x): Berkley 58 – 5 stars resolved, but better framed than in the Edge 9.25”. Frolov 1 and
Harvard 21 – 8 stars loosely scattered. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Berkeley 60 – only 2 stars resolved. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Berkeley 61 – FAIL – no stars resolved with Edge 9.25”.
Berkeley 62 – tadpole shape formed by 10+ stars. Edge 9.25”/XW 20 (118x).
Berkeley 63 – pair of brighter stars with a few faint stars and background glow.
Berkeley 64 – very faint unresolved glow. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Berkeley 65 – 2 brighter and 2 faint stars. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Berkeley 66 – FAIL – nothing resolved with Edge 9.25”.
Czernik 01 - FAIL – nothing resolved with Edge 9.25”.
Czernik 03 – faint unresolved spot with averted vision. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).
Czernik 04 – patch of 7 stars. Edge 9.25”/XW 10 (168x).