10/19/19
The weather apps promised cloud-free sky for days. I drove to Anza to discover patches of high clouds lazily drifting across the sky. They did not disappear completely, but I had enough clear sky to make it work.
Mercury
I have set my scopes and was enjoying sunset colors when I noticed a bright star barely 5 degrees above horizon. I checked SkySafari 6 and it was Mercury! Apparently, I caught it a day before 25 degree eastern elongation. This shows how elusive Mercury is. I put my 8”
SCT on it and even with prismatic colors have resolved gibbous phase. Pentax XW 20mm (102x). According to SS6 Venus was near Mercury, two degrees to the lower right, but hidden behind the low mountains in the west.
Orionids
Half an hour forward and the sky got dark enough for the Milky Way to appear. I was scouting the sky for targets and bright orange meteor went rather slow across a large section of sky leaving smoky trace behind. Wow! Over the evening I saw another two large bright meteors like that, but of white color; and a few smaller ones in between. Nice show ahead of October 22 maximum.
Mercury and Orionids, the session was already to a great start even before I hit the galaxies.
Aquarius
NGC 6962 and
NGC 6964 – galaxies – two faint oval disks with averted vision (AV) and stellar cores. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 6967 – gal – small oval next to a bright star. 8”
SCT/XW 14mm (145x).
NGC 6965 – gal – very faint spot with AV. 8”
SCT/XW 14mm (145x).
NGC 7081 – gal – small AV spot above a star. 8”
SCT/XW 14mm (145x).
NGC 7165 – gal – small elongated disk. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7183 – gal – narrow elongated shape. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7230 – gal – small narrow oval. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7246 – gal – elongated disk touching star. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7251 – gal – small very faint oval with AV, moving
EP. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7284 – gal – oval disk with brighter round core. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7309 – gal – faint round disk with AV, brighter central area. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7364 – gal – small oval disk with brighter core, AV, moving
EP. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7391 – gal – small round disk with brighter central area, next to a star. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7393 – gal – faint narrow disk with brighter central area. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7443 and
NGC 7444 – galaxies – two faint oval disks with AV, brighter central areas. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7450 – gal – very faint round disk with AV. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7492 – glob – I have tried and failed for this globular cluster in the past. This time it did not take long to resolve large very faint round shape with AV. I feel that upgrading to Baader BBHS diagonal and Pentax XW
EP pushed it to detectable level. 8”
SCT/XWs 20mm (102x), 14mm (145x), 10mm (203x).
NGC 7526 –
asterism –
AP images show a group of 4 stars. I was not able to resolve them. Instead, I saw a tiny glowing patch. No surprise that Herr Herschel mistook it for a
DSO. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7665 – gal – small spec with AV. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 7725 – gal – very faint round spot with AV. Had to sit on it for a while and shake
EP to resolve. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
Cetus
NGC 244 – gal – very faint round spot with AV. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 259 – gal – narrow elongated shape with AV. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 270 – gal – faint oval with AV, brighter core. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 271 – gal – elongated disk with AV next to a bright star, brighter central area. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 279 – gal – very faint oval with AV. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 352 – gal – small faint narrow disk with AV, brighter central area. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 426 and
NGC 430 – galaxies – two very faint AV ovals, side by side. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
NGC 429 – gal – very faint small narrow shape with AV below
NGC 426 and
NGC 430. 8”
SCT/XW 14mm (145x).
NGC 493 – gal – faint edge-on with AV. 8”
SCT/XW 20mm (102x).
Around 23:00 the sky started to brighten. I set for a few minutes watching moonrise and then hit the slipping bag.
Woke up around 5:00, like I often do. The half Moon was up high in Gemini. Orion was next to it with his Dogs of Winter below. Chaparral stood motionless in the moon light. Not a sound, the desert asleep in the crisp autumn air. What a beautiful sight!