So the forecast for a clear sky got me to thinking about the possibility of seeing the current bright comet in a short session. Not feeling quite up to trying to lug the 12 inch from the garage to the backyard, I decided I would try just rolling it out to the sidewalk that goes from our driveway to the front porch about 2200 hours. Taurus would be on that side of the house by then and it was be much easier from the front of the house though many lights were on up and down the street.
About 2145 hours I rolled the scope out of the garage to the sidewalk by the driveway. I had my eyepiece case inside the garage on top of a trash can and my IDSA atlas and binoculars on the hood of my truck in the driveway. I would just kind of wing it and see where my journey would take me. I initially thought I’d only be out about half an hour, but wound up being about 45 minutes as I was having fun, despite feeling some fatigue. The outing was short, but it was fun and relaxing. It left me sated and quite happy be back in the saddle again, albeit only briefly. Here we go, please come along if you wish.
I used this easy naked eye object to align my Rigel Quikfinder and 8x50
Mars (Taurus, planet, mag=0.8, size=9.4”):
I easily scooped up the red planet and observed it at 72x, 116x and 152x with the 12 inch. At each step the Syrtis Major feature was very apparent almost dead center on the small orange disk. Seeing was a bit unstable and no other features were noticed.
C/2022 E3 ZTF (Taurus, comet, mag=6.6,
Aiming the scope at Aldebaran I used Sigma 1 and 2 to its southeast as pointers to find the current bright comet to the northeast of Aldebaran. Easily located with 10x50 binoculars even in my sky glow, it was a small and dim rounded fuzzy glow. The core displayed a very small concentrated brightness set within the very diffuse
By this time Orion was coming out from behind a tree at the corner of the house so I turned the scope its way. At 72x, the famous Orion Nebula was bright and extensive. Despite my sky glow at home, it was easily seen and its wispy wings were easily discerned. However, because of the brightness of the sky, some of its dimmer extensions were not visible. Taking looks at 116x and 152x, the nebulosity became more extensive with more of the delicate features becoming apparent, and its visible angular size increased. Of course the main four stars of the Trapezium cluster at its center were easily seen though I did not push it to try and see other members of the group. I never employed a filter for a more in depth observation, rather I just took it casually just admire the beauty of the object.
Also easily seen, but less obviously, was M43, just north of the main body of M42. At 72x it was a very small, dim diffuse presence surrounding the multiple star Nu Orionis. As magnification was increased, its presence was more apparent, though it remained weak visually as compared to the dark site. This object is always a nice little companion to the majestic M42.
Moving up to the eastern most star in Orion’s belt, Zeta Orionis or Alnitak, I then slipped northward 2° to a scalene triangle of three stars (5th, 6th and 8th mag). I followed their line eastward not quite a degree and easily scooped up the famous
Next moving up to Betelgeuse, I went looking for this planetary that I’d not observed in some time. Moving northwest about 5.5° I settled on the loose cluster Collinder 69. Using the southern portion of the cluster as my guide, I spotted a wide pair of stars (8th and 9th mag). At 72x I spotted the dim diffuse presence of the nebula about 9.5’ southeast of the pair of stars. Initially it was a very small and dim fuzzy ball. As I increased magnification to 116x and then 152x, it became easily apparent as a small round grayish orb with no hint of its mag 14.9 central star. Inserting my DGM NPB filter, its contrast was boosted noticeably, though it remained a fuzzy ball of light with even illumination.
Collinder 69 (Orion, open cluster, mag=2.3, size=70.0’, class=II3pn):
Returning my focus to this previously observed cluster, I centered it in the field of view at 72x. Dominated by mag 3.4 Lambda Orionis (Meissa) at its center, this cluster presented a loose scatter of about three dozen stars from third to 10th mag) It seemed the lion’s share of stars lay in the southern and southeastern portion of the cluster’s field. Also of note is mag 4.4 Phi1 Orionis in the southern portion of the cluster field. This star marks the head of the great hunter Orion.
Dolidze 17 (Orion, open cluster, mag=7.6, size=13.2’, class=IV2p):
As an aide, I moved over to this previously observed cluster, just over 1 degree northwest of Gamma Orionis (Bellatrix). Easily spotted at 72x, it presented a poor and loose grouping of about 7 to 8 stars of 7th to 11th magnitude. Even at 116x and 152x it remained an unimpressive clutch of stars. It is not clear whether this is a true cluster or merely a line of sight random grouping of stars. Regardless it was worth a quick look.
To wrap up my brief outing, I slid up to Gemini which had also slipped past the front edge of our roofline. I quickly swept up one of my favorite open clusters, the delightful
This little cluster is always an interesting contrast to the large and bright M35. Not even half a degree southwest of its dominant field mate, this cluster is interesting and beautiful in its own right, when seen from darker skies. Here at home it was detected at 72x as a very small diffuse glow southwest of the M35. As I increased magnification to 116x and 152x it became more apparent and one could readily tell there was something there. However, no individual stars were pulled from the blended glow of its members. At the dark site in the 17.5 inch it resolves nicely into a small condensed cluster, but not so here in the 12 inch. It remained a ghostly diffuse presence, clearly dominated by its neighbor to the northeast.
It was now just past 2230 hours and I decided to head back inside. It had been three months since I last observed and I was happy to be able to get back out under the night sky again. I rolled the 12 inch back into the garage and closed the door. I packed the eyepieces and other peripherals into their case and retreated to the family room. The outing was relaxing and rewarding. I certainly hope to get back over to the dark site in the near future, weather and time permitting. I am going through severe galaxy hunting withdrawal and I need a hit. Keep looking up friends, because that is where the cool stuff is!