Astronomy

Observing Log for

Session Details


Tillicoultry

56.157, -3.749

50m

Notes

Mild and clear with very occasional light cloud that grew thicker after 23:00. Heavy dew forming.

Observations

Saturn

Reasonably good views despite being low in the sky and just above a roof. Spent some time attempting to capture videos using my phone but the view through the eyepiece simply wasn't good enough to resolve any details. With visual observation Titan was obvious as well as some banding on the planet itself.

Jupiter

I briefly observed Jupiter before it disappeared behind a roof. Three moons visible as well as bands on the planet itself.

M29

A small cluster, framed nicely in the 25mm eyepiece. Not much detail beyond the brightest stars which form a "cooling tower" shape.

NGC 6826 (C15) - The Blinking Planetary

Poor conditions with haze obscuring the view and its position near the zenith causing issues. Very faint but the blinking was apparent.

NGC 7662 (C22) - the Blue Snowball Nebula

Easier to find than the blinking planetary this target was immediately obvious in the eyepiece. It looked like an out of focus star in the finder. Displayed its blinking nature best at 25mm. Elongated oval shape very apparent, with bright blue colouring seen.

M45

Observed with the 25mm eyepiece. Hazy skies gave an impression of background nebulosity.

M31

Bright core and evidence of haziness across the 25mm eyepiece's field of view. A hint of the foreground dark lane in less than ideal viewing conditions.

M13

Views somewhat diminished by proximity to a neighbour's light with skies growing hazy. The cluster was still very visible with granularity extending outward.

Mars

Observed with the barlowed 10mm. Polar cap visible but very little detail seen on the rest of the planetary disc.

Images