So, I found darker skies, but no Dark and Stormy alas, before the waning halfish moon rose, and got the 10x50s out to try the Auriga open clusters again.
M36, M37 and M38 were all easily seen, or rather 37,36 and 38 as that is the order they kind of appear in. I could get two of them in the field of view at once, but not three. The Perseus Double cluster looked great - in binocular terms, and the Orion and Monoceros corner of the sky is a fantastic starfield. I reckon I'm deceiving myself, but I swear I can pick up nebulosity around the Pleides.
Don't know what the limiting mag of the 10x50s is under urban skies, probably about 8-9 I guess.
General sweeping reveals all manner of little knots of stars and fuzzy nebular blobs that could be anything - I have no star map to hand nor my OHs StarWalk I pad app, but I reckon I spotted two open clusters in Monoceros low over a neighbours rooftop - M50 would be one, the other, Christmas Tree cluster???
I am as bad with deep sky objects as I am with birds! But I guess, why does anything have to be anything? In some ways, it's pretty enough just being there without having to know exactly what it is!
However, Messier 1 Crab Nebula was not doable - it might be too small to show at 10x. And by then my badly out of practice eyes were beginning to tire. And my fingers were beginning to turn a fetching shade of purple!
PS - I think talking about "Messier objects" is getting folk excited who are looking for sploshing fetish stuff online! Messy Messy Messy! There you go. It puts my blog stats up and makes me think people care!
Showing posts with label messier catalogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label messier catalogue. Show all posts
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Friday, 13 January 2012
Messier Hunting
Or rather two sessions.
First was midnight last night, where a waning gibbous moon was the target for my 10x50s. Too bad I've got a fearfully shaky grip, which makes seeing details really difficult! Two big craters were easily defined on the terminator though, perhaps craters like Langrenus or Petavius. The moon made deep sky viewing difficult, and air conditions weren't great either.
So, earlier tonight, shivering and fresh off my bicycle from yet another unrewarded day at work, I got the binoculars and went on a deep sky object hunt.
The three open clusters in Auriga were my target, and I reckon I picked up Messier 38 despite the neighbours deploying the outside light to scare away non existent demons of the early evening. These Messier objects in Auriga are always a bit of a confuser for me, I remember looking at M38 in my 6in reflector years ago, supposing it was M38 as it was the brightest! For all I know I was looking at reflected nodules on my retina or something.
Messier 35 in Gemini was also easy to find, as was The Andromeda Galaxy - the satellites are a bit much for my shaky hands. The Double Cluster in Perseus is an easy view, and The Alpha Perseii cluster looks great in binoculars, like a half Hyades. Didn't even know that was such a thing until fairly recently. Looks cool though!
With clearer skies and darker non terrified neighbour settings, wondering infMessier 1 The Crab Nebula is possible, or Messier 33?
What is possible, a whole lot of whatever, is that I can have a Dark and Stormy or a Cuba Libre, or some other nice drink while I observe. And I shall!
First was midnight last night, where a waning gibbous moon was the target for my 10x50s. Too bad I've got a fearfully shaky grip, which makes seeing details really difficult! Two big craters were easily defined on the terminator though, perhaps craters like Langrenus or Petavius. The moon made deep sky viewing difficult, and air conditions weren't great either.
So, earlier tonight, shivering and fresh off my bicycle from yet another unrewarded day at work, I got the binoculars and went on a deep sky object hunt.
The three open clusters in Auriga were my target, and I reckon I picked up Messier 38 despite the neighbours deploying the outside light to scare away non existent demons of the early evening. These Messier objects in Auriga are always a bit of a confuser for me, I remember looking at M38 in my 6in reflector years ago, supposing it was M38 as it was the brightest! For all I know I was looking at reflected nodules on my retina or something.
Messier 35 in Gemini was also easy to find, as was The Andromeda Galaxy - the satellites are a bit much for my shaky hands. The Double Cluster in Perseus is an easy view, and The Alpha Perseii cluster looks great in binoculars, like a half Hyades. Didn't even know that was such a thing until fairly recently. Looks cool though!
With clearer skies and darker non terrified neighbour settings, wondering infMessier 1 The Crab Nebula is possible, or Messier 33?
What is possible, a whole lot of whatever, is that I can have a Dark and Stormy or a Cuba Libre, or some other nice drink while I observe. And I shall!
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Late Night Astronomy and Messier 44
After a pub visit last night featuring many creatures let out of their christmas cages by their keepers, I was relieved to get home in one piece rather than several, and happy to note that skies were clear enough for me to get the 10x50s out for a bit of an enhanced stargaze.
Once again had good views of Messier 42, The Perseus Double Cluster and Messier 35 (not 34 as I referred to it previously!!!) in Gemini. The main target however was Praesepe, Messier 44 in Cancer. Even on a fairly unfrosty night, the sky conditions were evidently still good and the cluster was quite easily visible with the naked eye using averted vision, and a good view was had in the binoculars...sees to be 4 or 5 brighter stars in a sort of squared off ring in the centre of the cluster, with the fainter stars surrounding. It does rather look like a mini Pleides.
Orion, especially in the belt area, is alive with stars in the 10x50s and Monoceros is rich too - possibly may have spotted Messier 50;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_50
As a nebulous patch containing 2 prominent stars. But I could be wrong.
I did find that I still struggle to really use both eyes with the binoculars, and found that after my half hour observing session my eyes were strained and I had a dizzy-ish headache, so perhaps observing when not used to it and after a fair few drinks over the day is NOT TO BE BLOODY RECCOMMENDED!!!
Once again had good views of Messier 42, The Perseus Double Cluster and Messier 35 (not 34 as I referred to it previously!!!) in Gemini. The main target however was Praesepe, Messier 44 in Cancer. Even on a fairly unfrosty night, the sky conditions were evidently still good and the cluster was quite easily visible with the naked eye using averted vision, and a good view was had in the binoculars...sees to be 4 or 5 brighter stars in a sort of squared off ring in the centre of the cluster, with the fainter stars surrounding. It does rather look like a mini Pleides.
Orion, especially in the belt area, is alive with stars in the 10x50s and Monoceros is rich too - possibly may have spotted Messier 50;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_50
As a nebulous patch containing 2 prominent stars. But I could be wrong.
I did find that I still struggle to really use both eyes with the binoculars, and found that after my half hour observing session my eyes were strained and I had a dizzy-ish headache, so perhaps observing when not used to it and after a fair few drinks over the day is NOT TO BE BLOODY RECCOMMENDED!!!
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