[Nighttime] Amateur Astronomy/Stargazing [Comfy] (15)

8 Name: Anonymous Enthusiast : 2016-09-16 15:12 ID:hJvr4tUq

>>7

Sorry, friend. I haven't stopped observing but I have been very lazy about keeping logs.

With binoculars I was able to split some easy doubles, make out some Galilean satellites and Titan near the oblong blob of Saturn, but found the weight of my rugged 10x50s cumbersome without a tripod.

Researching tripods and mounts brought me instead to purchase an Astronomers Without Borders OneSky reflector telescope. The light gathering power is more than 4x what my binoculars are capable of, and the included kellner eye pieces granted me either 25x or 65x magnification.

By the time I received the scope Jupiter was gone from the evening sky. Mars needs more magnification than 65x to begin seeing surface details, but Saturn's rings are distinct at even 25x and banding of the planet's clouds is apparent at 65x. I've ordered a TMB clone from China that should excel at planetary observation, though whether the 200x magnification will cooperate with the scope's optics and local seeing conditions is yet to be seen.

At this time of year, the brightest cluster in Hercules has proven elusive from my light polluted neighborhood. This is likely more due to my lack of skill, but it's possible that the sky is just too washed out.

On Saturday of Labor Day weekend, I drove an hour and a half out of the city to observe from a dark sky sight, where the milky way was had decent structure. Armed with the book Turn Left at Orion I was able to locate and observe the aforementioned Hercules cluster.

It just so happened that a gentleman with an 11" Celestron SCT on a goto mount was observing that night, and after some small discussions we primarily used his scope to observe clusters, nebulae and galaxies. His high end eyepieces rendered gorgeous views, though at $700 they're more than 3x what I paid for my tabletop dobsonian.

Since I can't find much in my light polluted skies at home, I've taken to splitting double star systems. My three favorites for late summer/early autumn are Mizar (my girlfriend's eyes are good enough to see both stars with her unaided eye!), Albireo, and epsilon Lyrae.

Mizar is nice because, as the arch star in the big dipper's handle, it's easy for anyone to find. Albireo has a star that's whitish blue near a red giant, and the contrast creates a special beauty while showcasing some simple variety in stars. Epsilon Lyrae is also called the "double-double" as it's two binary systems in the same field of view.

In the future, I will try to use this thread to encourage proper log keeping

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