Astronomy

Observing Log for

Session Details


Tillicoultry

56.157, -3.749

50m

Notes

A mild summer night. After heavy rain earlier in the evening the sky was clear with the Milky Way clear overhead.

Observations

Jupiter

I first turned the ED80sf on the Jupiter, bright in the southern sky and not far above the rooftops. The seeing was good with the planet holding up to 200x magnification. The large equatorial bands were obvious although there was no sign of the Great Red Spot.

Saturn

Saturn was a dimmer target just a short distance east of Jupiter. The same good seeing conditions helped and the planet stood up reasonably well to x200. At x80 (2x Barlow with 25mm Plossl) the planet was crisp with the Cassini division clear. Titan was very obvious with a second, dimmer Moon, also visible.

M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy

After spending some time capturing video footage of Saturn and Jupiter using my phone and eyepiece mount, I changed out the ED80 for the 200P. Away from bright lights near the road my first stop was M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, now nicely placed in the eastern sky. In the 25mm Plossl the bright core was immediately obvious with averted vision bringing out a faint image of the disk stretching out across space. It was a beautiful sight and one that I haven't seen for a few years. A faint fuzzy patch of light in the same field of view showed that M110 was also visible.

M13 - The Great Cluster in Hercules

I next swung the telescope over to the west, following the directions in Turn Left at Orion to quickly locate the Great Globular Cluster, M13, in Hercules. This target never fails to impress and with the good seeing provided stunning views. It felt like individual stars on the edge of the cluster were resolvable and there was a detailed granularity to the whole view.

M92 - Globular Cluster in Hercules

My next Turn Left at Orion target was M92, another, more compact globular cluster near the keystone of Hercules. Though less impressive than M13 there was good detail in this cluster with a fine granularity across the cluster. Averted version brought out the best of this cluster which was framed nicely in the 25mm eyepiece with 2x Barlow lens.

Mars

Mars was sitting just above a neighbours roof. Though the red colour was immediately obvious the warm air above the roof made it impossible to see any other detail.

Perseid Meteor

I spotted a bright, fast moving meteor that shone brightly for less than a second as it travelled towards the horizon through the Plough. Likely a Perseid which are set to peak next week.

Images