A very plentiful night
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2022 7:54 am
I took advantage of the last moon free night for a while, and it really paid off. I saw lots of of new targets I have never seen before.
I wanted to kick off my night night with something familiar as always, and since the Orion Nebula (M42) will be slipping out of sight pretty soon, I decided that I would choose it. It is always worth looking at over again. The seeing was also great tonight because I was able to use my 10mm eyepiece to zoom in and it did not get blurry.
Since I was in Orion already, I was going to try for the Flame Nebula next, but I did not find it this time, I think it might be too low to see it now. Alnitak was beautiful though.
Next, I wanted to see if the comets were still visible to me. I tried Borrelly first, but i failed to see it even though I found the area. It is just too low down in the sky and too dim to see now for me, I tried C/2019 L3 (Atlas) next, and I did find that one. It was very dim, and since it is also getting lower, I will probably not be able to see it by the next moonless night. At least I got a goodbye glance tonight though.
Since I was in the area anyway, I looked at the Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264) next, i have seen it before, but it is always worth a second look, and it will be leaving the evening sky in the coming months too, so I have to enjoy it while I can. I didn't see any nebula around it, but I wasn't expecting to see it either, I will need filters for that.
I next moved over toNGC 2244. No Rosette Nebula as always, but the cluster was bright and beautiful as always.
Next, I moved to another target worth looking at again, the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer. Easily seen with the naked eye and even more beautiful in the eyepiece, what's not to love about this one. I will always enjoy looking at this one.
Now, time for something new. My next target was M35, a star cluster in Gemini. This was absolutely stunning to look at, it reminded me of the first time I looked at the double cluster with the number of stars it had in it. I am glad I picked this one because it was definitely something to see. A very beautiful sight indeed.
My next new target was the Crab Nebula (M1) in Taurus. It appeared as a fuzzy smudge against the background sky. I took advantage of my great seeing conditions to zoom in on it with the 10mm eyepiece, and that made it more noticeable, but still comet-like in appearance.
My next new target was the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) in Gemini. This one in the 25mm just appeared as a slightly fuzzy star. It wasn't until I used the 10mm that I could really see that it truly was a nebula as it is a very tiny nebula. It was an interesting sight to see.
Next, I left that section of the sky and moved to Canes Venatici in search of more new targets.
First, I stopped by to see the Cocoon Galaxy (NGC 4490) again, I saw it last time I was out alone, and I wanted to see it again. The smaller companion to it is still not visible, but I think it is a limitation of my scope.
Next, I moved to M94, a galaxy that appears really small, in the 25mm, I could barely tell what it was, but in the 10mm, it was very clear that it was a galaxy. No real structure was visible, but it was easy to see. It was nice to look at.
Next, I decided to take another look at the double star Cor Caroli, since my exceptional seeing allowed me to get a really clear close up view of it. A chance like that doesn't come often for me. It was very clear in the 10mm this time, and really nice to look at again in a clearer view.
Next, I looked at the Sunflower Galaxy (M63). This one was not really that impressive. It was just a smudge against the backdrop, but anything is worth looking at. It was easily found and not hard to see.
Next, I looked at the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) andNGC 5195. I was waiting to look at this one the whole night. It was worth the wait. Both it and the companion were easily visible in both eyepieces. But I couldn't really see any structural detail in either one of them. M51 did appear wider than its companion, but no spiral structure was seen. It was still a very interesting target to look at.
Next, I looked for M101 in Ursa Major. Oh boy, this one was hard to find. It took me a lot of looking over the area before I finally found it after looking in the same spot for a while. I would say this was the most difficult target I found tonight. It marks another target that I have seen though.
Next, I looked at the globular cluster M3. This is the first globular I ever looked at. It appeared as just a fuzzy spot in the 25mm, but when I switched to the 10mm, I could start to make out some of the structure in the cluster and could separate some of the stars on the outer parts of it. It was a worthy target for sure.
Next, I moved toNGC 5466, another globular. This one was not not nearly as easy to find, but I did find it. It could not make out any detail as I could just barely see it at all, but I did find it, so I guess that is what really matters.
Next, I moved to M53, another globular. This one was easy to find like M3, but not quite as impressive. I could make out a few details with the 10mm, but not as much as I did on M3. It was still worth looking at for sure though. I would look at it again.
I tried to find the much fainter globularNGC 5053 that was close to M53, but I could not see it. I located the spot, but I saw nothing. However refusing to end my session in failure, I decided to end with Arcturus, the bright and beautiful yellow star in Bootes, which was just rising above my treeline by that time, which was around 11:20 PM. It was a beautiful sight to look at, just like all bright stars are.
That brings an end to my report. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed seeing all of those wonderful sights of the sky tonight. Happy reading.
I wanted to kick off my night night with something familiar as always, and since the Orion Nebula (M42) will be slipping out of sight pretty soon, I decided that I would choose it. It is always worth looking at over again. The seeing was also great tonight because I was able to use my 10mm eyepiece to zoom in and it did not get blurry.
Since I was in Orion already, I was going to try for the Flame Nebula next, but I did not find it this time, I think it might be too low to see it now. Alnitak was beautiful though.
Next, I wanted to see if the comets were still visible to me. I tried Borrelly first, but i failed to see it even though I found the area. It is just too low down in the sky and too dim to see now for me, I tried C/2019 L3 (Atlas) next, and I did find that one. It was very dim, and since it is also getting lower, I will probably not be able to see it by the next moonless night. At least I got a goodbye glance tonight though.
Since I was in the area anyway, I looked at the Christmas Tree Cluster (
I next moved over to
Next, I moved to another target worth looking at again, the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer. Easily seen with the naked eye and even more beautiful in the eyepiece, what's not to love about this one. I will always enjoy looking at this one.
Now, time for something new. My next target was M35, a star cluster in Gemini. This was absolutely stunning to look at, it reminded me of the first time I looked at the double cluster with the number of stars it had in it. I am glad I picked this one because it was definitely something to see. A very beautiful sight indeed.
My next new target was the Crab Nebula (M1) in Taurus. It appeared as a fuzzy smudge against the background sky. I took advantage of my great seeing conditions to zoom in on it with the 10mm eyepiece, and that made it more noticeable, but still comet-like in appearance.
My next new target was the Eskimo Nebula (
Next, I left that section of the sky and moved to Canes Venatici in search of more new targets.
First, I stopped by to see the Cocoon Galaxy (
Next, I moved to M94, a galaxy that appears really small, in the 25mm, I could barely tell what it was, but in the 10mm, it was very clear that it was a galaxy. No real structure was visible, but it was easy to see. It was nice to look at.
Next, I decided to take another look at the double star Cor Caroli, since my exceptional seeing allowed me to get a really clear close up view of it. A chance like that doesn't come often for me. It was very clear in the 10mm this time, and really nice to look at again in a clearer view.
Next, I looked at the Sunflower Galaxy (M63). This one was not really that impressive. It was just a smudge against the backdrop, but anything is worth looking at. It was easily found and not hard to see.
Next, I looked at the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and
Next, I looked for M101 in Ursa Major. Oh boy, this one was hard to find. It took me a lot of looking over the area before I finally found it after looking in the same spot for a while. I would say this was the most difficult target I found tonight. It marks another target that I have seen though.
Next, I looked at the globular cluster M3. This is the first globular I ever looked at. It appeared as just a fuzzy spot in the 25mm, but when I switched to the 10mm, I could start to make out some of the structure in the cluster and could separate some of the stars on the outer parts of it. It was a worthy target for sure.
Next, I moved to
Next, I moved to M53, another globular. This one was easy to find like M3, but not quite as impressive. I could make out a few details with the 10mm, but not as much as I did on M3. It was still worth looking at for sure though. I would look at it again.
I tried to find the much fainter globular
That brings an end to my report. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed seeing all of those wonderful sights of the sky tonight. Happy reading.
