A Work Night Session

[The Wave Catcher]

Telescope: 102 mm, f/4.5, Achromatic Refractor
Aperture Mask: 60 mm (yogurt lid) if needed
Eye Pieces: Astro-Tech ED Paradigm, 5 mm (91.8X),12 mm (38.3X), 25 mm (18.4x)
Mount: Manual Alt/Az

2021-10-25
20:30-21:30 CDT (UTC -5)

I came home, had supper with my family and watched a show with my wife. My city skies were exceptionally clear and were calling to me so even though it was a work night, I brought my telescope out for a few quick targets. Starting with my low power 25 mm eyepiece I aimed west and immediately came upon the open cluster NGC 6633. I have not logged it before though I’ve likely seen it by accident. In my telescope the stars in clusters are quite sharp and beautiful. While gazing at the cluster a west to east satellite passed right through the foreground of the cluster. From there I swung next door to the Graff’s open cluster that I had observed shortly during my last session. I wanted to check it out longer this time before it goes behinds the trees again. At first glance it just seems like several bright stars but the longer I observed it a great many more stars came into view. I put in my 12 mm eyepiece to peer deeper into the cluster and it was quite a sight. And of course while observing a north to south satellite passed through it.

I turned my telescope to near my zenith to the constellation Cygnus and to the star Sadr. Sadr is embedded in a rich star field so I spent some time gazing at the beauty. Next, I thought I’d try to see the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888. This was my main goal of the evening. I knew it would likely be a futile attempt with my 4” telescope and Bortle 8 skies but I had an Astronomik UHC Nebula Filter as an advantage. I found all of the stars in the vicinity of the nebula but as hard as I tried I could not detect the nebula, even with the filter. At least I know how to find its location easily and maybe later this fall or winter I can make it out to some dark skies and give it another try.

As I was turning away to scan the vast star fields in Cygnus, a meteor shot across my 25 mm eyepiece’s wide field view. Man, it was so fast it startled me. I enjoyed the view in Cygnus and scanned across several clusters I’ve seen before. After that I had to call it a night. I didn’t have much to write about but I hoped to convey the relaxing enjoyment of even a short session. It was getting late and the smell of a nearby skunk was getting way too strong!

[notFritzArgelander]

Congratulations on a nice evening. You're not far off from getting the Crescent. I have Bortle 6 skies and managed it without a filter.

Short session are indeed pleasant....

[Makuser]

Hi Steve. A very nice observing report from you using your 4" refractor telescope. And I can imaging the light pollution that you endure in the DFW Metroplex area. However you still came away with a lot of nice targets in your short observing session. Thanks for your well written and nice read observing report Steve and keep looking up.

[John Donne]

A nice session Steve.
Thank you.
I enjoy the experience of dwelling on the target and observing the star field propagate slowly as my eyes and body relax.

[Bigzmey]

Nice session Steve! I checked my notes and the Crescent Nebula seems to require smaller exit pupil (~2 mm) in addition to UHC filter. For you scope that would be 9mm EP. EP producing ~2mm exit pupil is a must have, since it delivers best results for many DSOs, galaxies in particular.

[The Wave Catcher]

Nice session Steve! I checked my notes and the Crescent Nebula seems to require smaller exit pupil (~2 mm) in addition to UHC filter. For you scope that would be 9mm EP. EP producing ~2mm exit pupil is a must have, since it delivers best results for many DSOs, galaxies in particular.

Thanks for the tip Bigzmey! I’ll give that a try. Once the dust settles down from the recent very high winds the next few nights look to be perfect for observing.