I took advantage of clear skies on a very chilly Thursday to dabble in a bit of varied observing.
During the early afternoon, I viewed the Sun with my Coronado PST and a 8-24mm Vixen zoom eyepiece. The seeing was poor but I could make out a number of prominences without undue difficulty.
Next came a strictly naked-eye observation. As the Sun was near setting, the shadow of the Earth and the Belt of Venus were readily visible.
Interestingly enough, these phenomena were the subjects of Thursday's episode of Stardate - http://www.stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=detail&id=20050127
There's a photo that depicts them quite well at http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=123776
When I arrived at the Naylor Observatory that evening, I had a peak at Comet Machholz Q2 before moonrise using a Barska 15x70 binocular and the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at magnifications of 118 (55mm University Optics Ploessl), 162 (40mm U.O. MK-70), and 202x (32mm U.O. Koenig-II). I could distinctly see the dust tail and perhaps a hint of the ion tail. The comet was not all that far from the Double Cluster.
There wasn't much time before the waning gibbous Moon's presence was going to make itself be felt. I decided to look at some standard DSO fare and targets of dome shutter opportunity. I viewed M42 and M43 at 162 (with and without an Orion UltraBlock filter) and 202x, M78 at 162x, Almach (Gamma Andromedae) at 118x, NGC 457 and M103 at 118x, NGC 404 at 118x, M31 and its companions M32 and M110 at 162x, M35 at 162x, NGC 2158 at 162 and 259x, NGC 2129 (a small open cluster in Gemini that I hadn't seen in some time) at 162x, and Saturn at 162 and 202x. Unfortunately, mediocre seeing prevailed and little detail could be seen. Four Saturnian satellites were revealed by the 17".
Dave Mitsky
During the early afternoon, I viewed the Sun with my Coronado PST and a 8-24mm Vixen zoom eyepiece. The seeing was poor but I could make out a number of prominences without undue difficulty.
Next came a strictly naked-eye observation. As the Sun was near setting, the shadow of the Earth and the Belt of Venus were readily visible.
Interestingly enough, these phenomena were the subjects of Thursday's episode of Stardate - http://www.stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=detail&id=20050127
There's a photo that depicts them quite well at http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=123776
When I arrived at the Naylor Observatory that evening, I had a peak at Comet Machholz Q2 before moonrise using a Barska 15x70 binocular and the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at magnifications of 118 (55mm University Optics Ploessl), 162 (40mm U.O. MK-70), and 202x (32mm U.O. Koenig-II). I could distinctly see the dust tail and perhaps a hint of the ion tail. The comet was not all that far from the Double Cluster.
There wasn't much time before the waning gibbous Moon's presence was going to make itself be felt. I decided to look at some standard DSO fare and targets of dome shutter opportunity. I viewed M42 and M43 at 162 (with and without an Orion UltraBlock filter) and 202x, M78 at 162x, Almach (Gamma Andromedae) at 118x, NGC 457 and M103 at 118x, NGC 404 at 118x, M31 and its companions M32 and M110 at 162x, M35 at 162x, NGC 2158 at 162 and 259x, NGC 2129 (a small open cluster in Gemini that I hadn't seen in some time) at 162x, and Saturn at 162 and 202x. Unfortunately, mediocre seeing prevailed and little detail could be seen. Four Saturnian satellites were revealed by the 17".
Dave Mitsky
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
