Took out the 72ED about 0330 this morning, hoping to bag a few open clusters in Cygnus and Aquila. Wasn't sure how much I'd get in since there was scattered cloud moving through.
I usually use a bright star to align my az circle and check my Wixey calibration, and since I was aimed in the general direction of Sadr, I figured I'd use it. Centered Sadr in the
FOV, read the coords on SkySafari and checked the Wixey. It was off by 5°. Now my Wixey is never exactly dead on, but it's never been off by anything like 5°.
QLC?
Ok, technical glitch. Was the Wixey seated properly on the
OTA? Yes. Was SS time set to "Now" or had I locked it at a different time? Yes and no. Wixey battery is pretty new so I didn't think it was insane from lack of breakfast. Did SS think I was in Kentucky instead of Illinois? No. Finally took a closer look at where the
OTA was pointed and saw I was aimed at ε Cyg, not γ Cyg.
Moral of the story - wake up fully before hosing with scope.
So... Slewed over to
M39. Counted about 15 stars at 27X. Was able to resolve the cluster double HD205117 with slightly averted vision. Didn't feel like trying a higher mag.
Since I was in the area, I decided to look for another
OC -
NGC7082. Slewed a bit south and thought I had it. Nope. I was looking at g Cyg and the field stars around it. Backtracked a bit and there it was. But it wasn't much - 4 or 5 stars visible and pretty faint. If I hadn't been looking for it, I would have thought it was just a random star field.
Headed toward Deneb to have a look at the star fields near the NA Neb, but high cirrus was coming in and twilight was about to start, so I called it at 0458. Not a very productive session, but at least I was out under the stars for awhile so I'll take it.