Not a bad month of observing!

Since my last post I have mailed off two sets of observations for observing pins with the Astronomical League. I have mailed off for the Comet (silver) and Binocular Variable Star, now the waiting and the watching of the mailbox starts! Since my last blog post I did receive my Binocular Double Star pin. In the back and forth to the observing coordinator I mentioned if there was any interest in a Binocular Master Observer pin. The coordinator passed that inquiry up the chain so maybe there will be a Binocular Master Observer pin in the future. That would be cool.

In other news I have been still working on knocking out the Double Star pin, I am about at 30 stars completed with the telescope. I am enjoying the program as a whole, but overall I think I enjoyed the Binocular Double Star program more. The regular Double Star does require a telescope and while fun is a little bit harder to do. I also started the Binocular Deep Sky pin, which will be the last binocular pin I will be able to earn easily. There is a Advanced Double Star Binocular and a Southern Skies Binocular either of which would be tough for me to do, being the former requires big binoculars and a tripod and the other a trip to the Southern Hemisphere!

I am also currently reading a book that maybe next month I can post a review of. I also discovered a neat new podcast called WeMartians. It is available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from!

So that is all I got for this month, next month or two will have some reviews of books and other things in the works, so stay tuned!

So it is 2017

Hi Everyone!

So it is 2017, and it has been a while since I have updated the blog. A few things have happened, I finally finished the Messier pin and got my award in the mail. I have also finished the Binocular Double Star pin and will be mailing it off soon (like next week). I finally got to observe comet 2P/Encke, which is a comet I have wanted to see for a while (like years!). I am one comet away from mailing my observations in to get the Comet Observer pin and certificate (silver level).

So while the blog has been really quiet, I have been getting some sky time. I started the Binocular Variable Star pin late last year and am about 70% done with it. We had good weather in the fall here in Alabama.

So that is all I really have. I am really going to try and update the blog more since I also got a new iMac! My old 2009 MacBook Pro was getting old and slow but I am still planning on using it for observing though.

Virgo Part II: Observations

Here is Part 2, the observations.... enjoy!

M49 A round glow with a bright core. A nice one similar to M87 50X.

M53 A globular cluster NOT a galaxy. It is somewhat resolved and takes power up to 109X pretty well. A nice break from those dim galaxies!

M58 A bright core, mostly evenly bright oval. 50X

M59 A bright oval that brightens more to the core. 50X

M60 It is a brighter galaxy with NGC 4647 nearby. It Averted Vision the galaxies look to touch? 50X

M61 A round glow, with a core, the round halo part of the galaxy is not really even in brightness. 50X

M64 A bright round glow. Even with averted vision not really seeing the black eye, maybe a hint of it. Kinda in a no mans land for star hopping. 50X

M84 A little brighter then M86. A bright oval with a core. 50X

M85 A bright core with a fainter halo. NGC 4394 pairs up with this galaxy.50X

M86 A little fainter then M84. It appears maybe a little bit bigger and/or extended then M84. 50X

M87 A round glow that is bright core. It has a jet, that can be seen with larger scopes 50X.

M88 A bright core, the rest is a oval glow that is somewhat pointed to the south east. Maybe a field star(s) is imposed on the galaxy in the south eastern side.

M89 A bright and round glow. 50X

M90 A unevenly bright and round glow. It has a nice core. 50X

M91 A small but bright core, the rest is just a circular glow. 50X

M98 Pretty bright, elongated but not even in brightness. The core is not every even in brightness either. 50X

M99 Elongated, with a core. Not really seeing the spiral structure with Direct or Averted vision. 50X

M100 Very bright and has a nice core that is round and small. The edges are kind of diffuse. 50X

M104 The Sombrero!, I can see two lanes pretty easily, but it really doesn’t look like a hat though. Very nice. Bright. 50X

I have included all the objects one would hunt down while doing the Virgo/Coma galaxy hunt. I also included M53 which if you are hunting these galaxies down is a nice distraction from the “dim oval” or “dim smudge” of the galaxies. I have always found galaxies interesting but with the rural skies of where I live and the size of scopes that I owned, galaxies have never really been a favorite. They really do take patience and good skies to be able to tease the details out of.

My notes I kept short for the blog and also pretty general. Hopefully they reflect pretty well the impressions that others would have under similar conditions with similar equipment.

I think star hopping these galaxies is really something everyone should do at least once. It really teaches you how to use your scope and navigate the sky in area that is pretty tough to star hop. Once you get started though one mostly just galaxy hops in this area.

Virgo Part 1: My equipment & resources for observing Virgo Messier List Galaxies

This past month I was able to get in a epic observing run to catch all the Virgo galaxies and I was victorious. I did it by star hopping which was a little tough being there isn't a lot of stars to hop from in Virgo. I found a few things essential in getting successful results:

1. A 8X50 Right Angle Correct Image finder scope.
2. Knowing how big the FOV of my finding eyepiece with my scope is (50X with a 1.3 degree field of view)
3. A book with the images of the galaxies. I used The Messier Object by O'Meara.
4. Sky Safari 3 on my Macbook.
(I also used the recent binocular observing article in Sky Telescope from April 2016)

Now do you need all 5 of these things, well no. I do think the first three are pretty valuable. An observer could get by without the Sky Safari and the magazine article if they had a good star chart. Actually there are probably some better printed materials out there for the Virgo cluster then what I used.

I found the galaxies in Virgo to be pretty tough, mostly because of the lack of stars to hop from AND well with an 8in scope galaxies are not going to be bright unfortunately. The skies at Chandler Mountain are darker then where I live, but they are not super dark either. The Milky Way is pretty easy to see in the summer but it is a bit harder in the winter. I also found hopping the Virgo area to be mentally taxing somewhat too. One is pointing their scope in a somewhat small area of the sky, but there is numerous galaxies in the area, so one has to galaxy hop a lot. Also knowing how big your FOV is helps, because for me I can count FOVs to move around in a tougher area of the sky. I personally set my Sky Safari to show the rings for a Telrad and the FOV of my 8X50 finder. I found myself taking my time, studying the image on the laptop and comparing it to the book a lot. I would highly recommend reviewing or looking at sketches of these objects before going out and observing. Try and find sketches made by folks using a size scope similar to your own. I like using The Belt of Venus blog
, but there are others out there too.

I used mostly my 24mm eyepiece which gives 50X with my scope. I find that eyepiece and my 11mm eyepiece are my two favorites for deep sky objects. I also use a 16mm some too if the 11mm is too much power or I just do not like the view. All my eyepieces except one are from Explore Scientific or Meade and are either 68 degree or 82 degree. The three eyepieces give 50X, 75X and 109X in my scope. I also have a oldie but a goodie Orion 32mm Optiluxe, which is for really low power and comets! For higher power observing I have 8.8, 6.7, 5.5 and 4.7 eyepieces from the Meade 5000 series line. I use them for the Moon and planets.

My telescope is a 8in f/6 Orion Skyquest XT dob. I have the 8X50 Orion RACI finder and a Telrad. I use the ScopeStuff magnet weights to balance the scope with the two finders up front putting so much weigh on the scope.

Thanks for reading! Next month will be Part 2, which will be my observations and thoughts on the galaxies. Till then Clear Skies!

Another AL observing pin down

Well earlier this month I got my Sunspotter pin, which is exciting. I also got started on the Hydrogen Alpha Observing pin with my recently acquired PST. I am still learning to use the PST, but it is fun and I do enjoy seeing the Sun outside of the white light bandwidth that I was able to do with my dob.

I also got another five double stars knocked out on the Bino Double Star and knocked a few more features on the Moon for the Lunar II pin.

However I haven't been able to get any real dark sky time due to work and weather. At one point this year I thought I might be able to knock out 5 pins, but that is looking in doubt unless I can get some more of the Messier objects done. Summer and the haze is rapidly approaching and it is tough to get any really good observing done once the haze, heat and clouds settle in.

I decided to not continue the Mike Brown class mainly because I have too many irons in the fire. It is very good, but I just don't have the time to commit to it right now.

I really wish I had more to report this time around, but sadly I just haven't really been getting a ton of eyepiece time the last few weeks.

So till next month, keep looking up!

On turning 70... 70 objects that is...

Hi All! So this past month I went observing and worked in some more Messier objects. I keep a list on a spreadsheet so I can track progress. Well I hit 70 this month, which is enough to get the Astro League certificate (no pin though). I haven't emailed anything in yet to get the certificate, but hitting that 70 objects really makes me feel I have made some real progress towards the pin.

Also this month I am enrolled in Mike Brown's class again for the second time. I really enjoyed taking it the first time and learned a ton.

So I really don't have a ton to really report though, I am just excited about hitting those 70 objects. However Virgo and the galaxies located there still await and it will be a challenge. Hopefully next month I can write my thoughts on it, assuming the weather is good one night and I can get out there and see the Virgo galaxies.

NGC 2362

On Saturday evening I had a chance to get out with the telescope and get some observing in. I only had till 10:15pm local time till the Moon came up and what I really wanted to look at was not favorable in the sky. I am have the Virgo, Leo, and Canes Venatici as the biggest area of the sky left on my journey of star hopping the Messier list to earn a pin.

At the end of the year 2015, the Astronomical League introduced some new certificates to aid folks in earning the Master Observing Pin and to go beyond the initial pin requirements. Of course being a pin addict I had to join the fun of this. One of the certificates is the Observer certificate. To earn this certificate one must complete the Lunar, Solar System, Binocular Messier or Telescope Messier, Constellation Hunter and then a pin of their choice from a list. One of the pins on that list is the Universe Sampler, which I have the workbook for.

I will go into more detail about the Universe Sampler at a later time, but one of the objects in the list is NGC 2362 in Canis Major.

I had never heard of this object before and had to look up a picture of it so I knew what I was looking for. Oh boy am I glad I did. This is a most beautiful open cluster. It has a very bright star in it and that is surrounded by a semi circle of stars that wrap around it... it is absolute beauty. It is magnitude 4.1(v) and is approximately 5000 light years distant. The bright star is Tau Canis Majoris a 4.39 magnitude O8 type star.

Also as a bonus about 2 degrees away to the north is h3945 a double star also known as the Winter Albireo. I stumbled on the double star while panning around for the cluster. It is really beautiful too and worth study.

While I didn’t get a lot of time out under stars this weekend because of the Moon, I did come across this gem of a star cluster and a pretty snazzy double star too. I would really encourage you to get out and look at these before we lose the winter constellations till next fall.

Sources:
SEDS
One Minute Astronomer

Happy Near Year 2016!

Well I am sorry I didn't get to updating the blog since July, I was shooting for once a month last year, and well... yeah didn't happen.

However lots of good observing news is coming your way.

I am about half way through the Messier list, doing it by star hopping. Once I finish later this year, I am going to post my observing notes on that.

Also last year I took trip to Missouri and stopped by the hometown of Edwin Hubble and got pictures of the city square with the model HST and painting. So that is coming! Also I have resumed the Bino Double Star program, so I am going to get some thoughts on paper for y'all on that.

So lots of news and stuff coming. So stay tuned, and sorry for the big hiatus!

Chandler Mountain July 2, 2011

Earlier last week we were afforded some good skies during the work week. We had a front push through that kept most of the gulf moisture to the south. Each summer we get this weather pattern for a few days, they are not long lasting. I encountered one of these patterns back in August 2007. However this time the pattern was starting to breakdown and so by the night I made it out to the observing site, the more typical pattern of weather for summer in the south was starting to return however.

I had been watching the weather the whole day, so once it got within about 2 hours of sundown I headed out to get dinner and to the observing site. I figured even with the Birmingham Astronomical Society having their star party at Oak Mountain State Park to the south of Birmingham someone else would still be on the mountain with me...but alas there was nobody but me.

Unfortunately, as the Sun went down I noticed the seeing was very good, mainly from the humidity. However after twilight finally ended the transparency was improving, but still it fell short of the normal winter time conditions here in Alabama.

I spent most of my time looking for Herschel 400 objects and Messier objects. The H400 is a project I have been working on for quite some time. I did however finish the Binocular Messier list. This has been a project that I thought I had completed back in 2009, but when I got ready to send the object list in to get my pin from the Astronomical League, I came up one object short. I really did not enjoy the binocular observing since I did not feel you could really see the objects clearly, so I sort of put this project to the side.

The Messier Objects are some of the brightest objects in the sky, a small telescope will reveal them easily and a moderate telescope will start to show quite a bit of detail in some. With binoculars the point to is just to locate the objects. There is not much detail to be seen. But to earn the Master Observer Pin from the Astronomical League this is one of the required projects, so therefore I completed it.... finally.

So the night I ended up observing the following towards earning Astronomical League pins:
4 H400 objects--Bringing my total to around 90
2 Messier Bino Objects--Bringing my total to 51

I also observed a beautiful pass of the International Space Station. With 10X50 binoculars, the ISS is clearly got some shape.

But the highlight of the night was observing Supernova 2011dh in the galaxy M51. I found the object not to be super easy nor super hard. The supernova erupted in early June so by the time I got out to observe it was fading.

Before packing up though I spent sometime with M13 the globular cluster. I have always liked globular clusters. What I was wanting to do was see if I could see the propeller pattern in the cluster. I find my eyes see it easily in many pictures, but at the telescope I was having a little bit more trouble. I could see one blade I thought for sure and a possible second, but I was not seeing a Y shape like so many pictures show.

I was using a 10in SCT at between 113X and 208X under fair skies, so if anyone else has seen the propeller effect, I would love to hear about it!

(The link to the Las Vegas Astronomical Society I included for the good information, and because when I was a teenager I was a member of it. Hope you enjoy it)