Location: Anza Observatory, Bortle 4.
Equipment: Celestron 14” EdgeHD SCT with 0.7x reducer, on Celestron CGE Pro mount.
EPs
Baader Aspheric 36mm, 72 deg (76x, 4.7mm exit pupil, 0.95 deg/57’ TFV).
Pentax XW 20mm, 70 deg (137x, 2.6 mm exit pupil, 0.51deg/31’ TFV).
Pentax XW 10mm, 70 deg (274x, 1.3mm exit pupil, 16’ TFV).
Pentax XW 7mm, 70 deg (391x, 0.9mm exit pupil, 11’ TFV).
Last Friday a bright Moon was dominating the evening sky. Because of that I have opted for the morning session instead. Caught a few hours of sleep and woke up past midnight to the late summer sky. Pegasus, Aquarius and Capricorn were rising in the east, while Sagittarius and Scorpio were at their highest in the south, and the Moon was setting down in the west. I have timed it so I could pursue asteroids in those constellations. Below is my haul for the night.
01:00. ASTEROIDS
(169) Zelia - mag 12.1 asteroid in Sagittarius (137x).
(245) Vera – mag 12.9 asteroid in Capricorn (137x).
(446) Aeternitas – mag 12.7 asteroid in Sagittarius (137x).
(550) Senta – mag 12.1 asteroid in Sagittarius (76x).
(579) Sidonia – mag 12.5 asteroid in Capricorn (137x).
(702) Alauda – mag 12.7 asteroid in Aquarius (137x).
(74) Galatea – mag 13.1 asteroid in Capricorn (137x).
(76) Freia – mag 14.2 asteroid in Aquarius (137x).
(104) Klymene – mag 14.2 asteroid in Capricorn (137x).
(150) Nuwa – mag 13.5 asteroid in Aquarius (137x).
(151) Abundantia – mag 13.0 asteroid in Sagittarius (137x).
(152) Atala – mag 13.9 asteroid in Microscopium (137x).
(158) Koronis – mag 14.2 asteroid in Capricorn (137x).
(168) Sibylla – mag 13.4 asteroid in Sagittarius (137x).
(176) Iduna - mag 13.8 asteroid I Pegasus (137x).
(177) Irma – mag 13.9 asteroid in Capricorn (137x).
This pursuit of the space rocks took me the whole night, but in the process I have also revisited a few of old friends and took breaks for other targets.
01:29 Watched moonset. Don’t care for the bright Moon, but love watching moonsets.

M75 – globular cluster in Sagittarius and M72 - globular cluster in Aquarius. For both the best views were achieved using Pentax XW 10mm EP (274x). Both were larger than what I remember seeing in smaller scopes and enriched in details. They extended in size considerably when observed with averted vision. I don’t remember such a drastic effect of AV with smaller apertures. They were large, bright, irregular in shape with darker bands and brighter areas but, surprisingly, mostly unresolved. Just a few stars visible in the dimmer portions.
PGC 64161 (mag 13.9, size 1.4’ x 0.6’) – the only galaxy of the night. Was passing by chasing asteroids. A very faint oval detected with AV by moving EP (274x).
The Saturn Nebula (NGC 7009, mag 8.3, size 28”, SB 6.4) – such a beauty! Bright light blue ellipse with oval dark hole in the middle (391x). Pretty much resembled the Saturn rings with Saturn globe removed. Except Saturn rings are yellowish and sharp and Saturn Nebula had fuzzy and knotty appearance and was a color of midday blue sky. I love the colors 14” aperture brings in the planetary nebulae!

PLANETS
Saturn – mag 1.1 planet in Aquarius. Why not compare the view of the Saturn Nebula to the real thing? That was my first view of the season and what a difference from last year! Such a sharp edge-on view of the rings. The rings were well resolved even across the globe but very narrow and getting narrower to the sharp points on the sides. The rings shadow was a thin, black, sharp straight line across the globe and above it was another thing grayish line of the North Equatorial belt. (274x).
Neptune – mag 7.9 planet in Pisces. Easily resolved little greenish disk with no details (274x). SkySafari has informed me that Nereid, mag 19.5 moon of Neptune is nearby. Good to know!

Mars – mag 1.0 planet in Aries. Mars has just cleared the horizon, but was unmistakably red, even naked eye. The scope has resolved prismatic little disk. It was too low to the horizon and too far from the opposition (which is coming in Jan 2025) to expect any details visible.
04:15 Predawn sky started to brighten when I have finished my session. Morning sessions are harder to pull but somehow turn out a bit more special and enjoyable.