9PM-3AM
Penfield Illinois
40,18,12 N
87,56,48 W
Explore Scientific AR 152 f6.5
Atlas Pro AZ/
Sky condition
Clear of clouds
Average Seeing and Transparency
Moon Mag 8.8, 35% illuminated, waxing 6 days
So much for the data…
I have not used this Atlas mount prior to this outing. I practiced with it in my driveway during the day to make sure I could…it is almost too have for me these days.
In the beginning I spent a lot of time on the Moon, only intermittently attempting objects from the catalogue. It wasn’t until about Midnight that the Moon had diminished enough to afford satisfactory views in the southern sky, although the Northeast began to give up some OK views about 10:30PM.
The following list is not in the order observed.
M57, NGC6720, mag 8.8
The ring nebula was a satisfactory view with good resolution of a lovely turquoise ring around a darker center. I resolved no central star.
M 13 mag 5.7
The Hercules Cluster. This has been an often visited Globular Cluster and it did not disappoint me tonight. Lots of star sparkle and granulation.
I was able to catch a number of faint, dusty galaxies as well.
M96 and M95 in the same view.
M105 was an averted vision sighting. Very faint dusty slash.
M104.
By midnight M104, mag 8.2, gave me a decent view with a well defined slice of core and what seemed to be a dusty glow irradiating from this slice.
M3,
This is a great Globular Cluster to view. It revealed an expansive, dense cloud of stars with a lot of sparkle and granulation at the core.
M100,
This Spiral Galaxy is in
M87,
This elliptical Galaxy in Virgo was another faint ball with a brighter, dense core.
M86 Elliptical Galaxy in Virgo mag 8.8
A dim ball with a hard core.
I was in the midst of a dense field of galaxies in this location, Markarian’s Chain, but I only list a few here.
M88,
This Spiral Galaxy in
M61
Another Spiral Galaxy. This faint galaxy revealed visible by averted vision.
M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy, mag 8 in Canes Venatici
This view at about 1 AM was a highlight of the evening. I stayed on M51 for 15 or 20 minutes. The moon had set some time before and I wanted to let my eyes relax. I was able to see the spirals of this two interacting galaxies,
I have not recorded all of my successful observations of the evening here, but I had the pleasure of viewing 26 objects before I called to game.
I was getting cold.
It was a good time.
Peace and strength to all.