11/12/21
Location: Anza desert site,
Bortle 3.5
Equipment: Celestron 9.25” Edge HD
SCT F10 and Celestron 150ST
achro F5 on
SW SkyTee 2 manual AltAz mount.
I thought my 2021 galaxy season is over but after clouds and fog we suddenly got hot and dry weather last weekend. I jumped on the opportunity and drove to Anza Friday evening. It was cooler and windy at the site, and after setting up the camp I have noticed high clouds approaching from south. Bummer! Still, the bright Moon was to set around 1 am and a lot could happen in a few hours.
17:00 Since the scopes were already deployed, I decided to do some planetary.
Venus
Venus provided one of the better views this season. It has shown ~40% phase at low power. The best result was achieved with Pentax XF 12mm in 9.25” Edge (196x) with Baader Blue 470 bp filter. Hints of clouds were detected along the terminator, and lighted portion of the disk has shown darker area in the middle.
Jupiter
Io transit was in progress. The view was soft, no fine details in Jupiter belts. Io shadow was easily identifiable, but I could not resolve Io itself. 9.25” Edge/ XF 12mm (196x). Could be atmospheric turbulence or scope acclimation issue since I have used it straight out of the bag. After making my first insulation jacket for the iOptron Mak I have now good idea on how to make them for larger scopes. I plan to equip all my catadioptric scopes with them and will report back on their effectiveness.
I had dinner watching sunset, set alarm for 00:30 and hit the slipping bag. Woke up couple of times and saw Moon shining through clouds – well, I would have a good 12-hour sleep at the very least.
Miraculously though, by the time the alarm went off the clouds were all gone!
I woke up just in time to watch the moonset. I like them as much as sunsets. The moment the Moon disappeared the grander on winter sky was upon me, with Orion high in the southeast and winter Milky Way running from Canis Major to Cassiopeia. Winter Milky Way is not as bright as summer but since I don’t see it very often every opportunity is special. I was like a kid in the candy store, but finally decided to start with low riding constellations.
01:00 Lepus
NGC 1954 – gal – large lens with averted vision (AV). Edge 9.25”, Baader Aspheric 36mm (65x), TV Panoptic 27mm (87x), Pentax XW 20mm (118x).
NGC 1979 – gal – small round disk with brighter core. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 1993 – gal – small faint oval. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2073 – gal - faint disk with AV, brighter central area. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2076 – gal – faint oval with AV. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x), XW14 (168x).
NGC 2089 – gal – small narrow oval with brighter central area. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2124 – gal – narrow lens with AV. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
Puppis
NGC 2413 -
OC – about 20 scattered stars, not detached from field. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2423 –
OC – dense triangular patch of many stars with background glow, connected by star chain to M47. Nice rich field. 150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x).
NGC 2425 –
OC – neat cluster, small seagull-shaped patch of ~10 faint stars with background glow. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2428 –
OC – large patch of stars with background glow in the rich field. 150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x).
NGC 2430 –
OC – cluster next to
NGC 2428, a few brighter stars in the rich field, not detached. 150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x).
NGC 2439 –
OC – small, nice looking cluster. Smaller rings of stars inside larger ring with nebulosity. Nebulosity was confirmed with Lumicon UHC and OIII filters. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2578 – gal – faint oval with AV. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
Monoceros
NGC 2167 – bright mag 6.6 star. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2225 –
OC – small dense patch of faint stars with background glow. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2260 –
OC – large patch of scattered stars with three star chains, semidetached. 150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x).
NGC 2262 –
OC – about 10 faint stars with background glow. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2270 –
OC – two chains of stars forming cross with another chain below in the rich field. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x) and 150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x).
NGC 2306 –
OC – small group of scattered stars, not detached. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x).
NGC 2319 – AST – chain of stars in the rich field. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x) and 150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x).
NGC 2349 –
OC – a few scattered stars in the rich field. Edge 9.25”/XW20 (118x) and 150ST/TV Panoptic 27mm (28x).
04:00 Run out of gas. It was windy all night so got chilled as well. It was worth it though. Saw a few meteors (Leonids?) over the night, one bright with smoke trail.
