The weather looked promising for observing, after a few months of rain and cloud on 'new Moon' Saturdays. But the skies turned hazy after it got good dark. We also had a change of venue - the observing field was occupied by horses, so we set up down the road on the horses' home field. There was a good open view of the sky, but it seems the light from Calhoun and Adairsville was also stronger. The haze didn't help with the light pollution, either.

I was able to positively locate two globular clusters that were on my list. But the bulk of objects I wanted to track down were galaxies in and around the constellation Coma Berenices. The conditions were just too unsuitable to this pursuit. There were a number of guests in the field so I spent most of my time finding old favorites at the zenith for them to view and describing how the scope works and the process of building it. That was, actually, as rewarding as tracking down those galaxies would have been.

10" f4.7 Reflector | 20mm eyepiece (60x) | 9mm eyepiece (133x)

• NGC 5272 / M3 (GC Club) : Clear but small with the 20mm eyepiece. Ramping up to the 9mm gives me a well resolved and dense cluster of stars. This one is a class V or VI.


• NGC 5024 / M53 (GC Club) : Again, small but easy to spot with the 20mm eyepiece. With the 9mm it is large and bright, but there is no real clear resolution of individual stars. I put it at a concentration class V.

The Northwest Georgia Astronomical Association had an afternoon cookout in honor of it's 5th year as a loose collection of folks who love to observe together and are generally averse to the complications and politics of a formal club. Plenty of good food and an opportunity to actually see my fellows under the light of day and meet some of their families and friends.

Of course we all hung around so as not to miss the opportunity to observe. The forecast was perfect, the early afternoon promising, the late afternoon not so promising, and the evening more disappointing than not. In the late afternoon a light covering of high clouds began to move in and they stuck with us, with random clear respites, until around 10 PM. But as soon as it cleared up the condensation struck. Lots of dew. Everyone pretty much packed it in and went home by 10:30 PM.

However, I did manage to add a few new reports to the lists for the Messier observing Club, the Globular Cluster observing Club and the Herschel 400 observing club.

10" f4.7 Reflector | 20mm eyepiece (60x) | 9mm eyepiece (133x)

• NGC 7078 / M 15 (GC Club) : Fairly clear with the 20mm eyepiece with a well defined core of stars with many outlying stars in a halo around it. The view is much the same in the 9mm eyepiece. I'll consider this one a concentration class III.


• NGC 7089 / M 2 (GC Club) : It took me some time to track this one down with the 20mm eyepiece, mainly because the high atmosphere haze cut down on the number of stars I could see for reference (I don't use a magnifying finder). Once located I found a slightly larger twin of 7078 with a somewhat larger core of stars and smaller halo of outriders. I put it at a concentration class V.


• NGC 7296 (H400 Club): I used the 20mm eyepiece to get to the spot I thought I should be in, but everything just looked like the usual thick scattering of background stars you find in the field of the Milky Way. I had prepared myself with an image and a few other observer's descriptions, so with a succession of higher magnifications (15mm then 9mm) I was able to make out a somewhat triangular grouping of stars that matched the descriptions I'd read.


• NGC 7243 (H400 Club) : With the 20mm eyepiece and a good bit of willpower, I could make out a large and very loose oval grouping of stars. Moving up the 15mm and 9mm didn't reveal much else.


• NGC 7209 (H400 Club) : I'm only half certain I saw this one. My eyes and reflex finder tell me I was pointed at the right location, but the view in the eyepiece looked very much like the fairly uniform rich field of the Milky Way. I'm listing it anyway because other observer's descriptions indicate that's the way it should look.


• M 74 (Messier Club) : Tracked down with the 20mm eyepiece, this galaxy is only barely visible. It was from bumping up the magnification with the 9mm and then a 6mm eyepiece that I was able to discern a faint round patch of light, quite diffuse, and requiring averted vision to clarify.


• M 77 (Messier Club) : Moving down toward the horizon a bit, I was able to locate this one fairly quickly, despite that this is the most light-polluted part of sky from our observing field. Very similar to M 74, but with a discernibly brigher core in the 9mm eyepiece.

Of course we all looked at Jupiter, which was pretty as always and had 3 visible moons. Being close to time for the Leonids, we had a meteor about every 10 to 15 minutes.

Tonight I started observing for the Astronomical League's Globular Cluster Observing Club. I targeted a handful of GC's in Hercules, Lyra, Delphinus, Sagitta and Aquila to start off with. All of these are high in the sky this month. The GC Club requires fairly extensive observations, thorough descriptions, estimating concentration class, and some of the objects are difficult to find.

10" f4.7 Reflector | 20mm eyepiece (60x) | 9mm eyepiece (133x)

• NGC 6205 / M13 : Large and clear. With the 20mm eyepiece there is a well defined core of stars with many outlying stars branching out from it. It nearly fills the view with the 9mm eyepiece, and the outreaching legs of stars are much clearer.


• NGC 6341 / M92 : Located with the 20mm eyepiece and observed with the 9mm eyepiece. This cluster appears a bit oval, with a well-defined core and sizable halo of stars. Some of the outlying stars run in short serpentine patterns.


• NGC 6229 : Located with the 20mm eyepiece as a faint fuzzy spot. With the 9mm eyepiece it is still faint and diffuse. The core is well-defined but even with averted vision and a long stare, no individual stars are discernable in the core.


• NGC 6779 / M56 : Located with the 20mm eyepiece. Viewed with the 9mm eyepiece, it is small but clear. Stars seem evenly distributed with only the merest congregation at the center. There are a number of outlying stars distributed around it.


• NGC 7006 : This one was a challenge to track down, star hopping with the 20mm eyepiece. With the 9mm eyepiece it is very small and dim with a large core of stars and a barely discernible, thin halo of outlying stars.


• NGC 6934 : Located with the 20mm eyepiece. The 9mm eyepiece reveals a dense cluster with an even distribution. The core is large so that it takes up almost the entire span of the cluster, leaving a very thin diffusion of stars on the edge. One defining feature is a bright star just on the edge of one side. I don't know if this star is part of the cluster, or in front of it.


• NGC 6838 / M71 : Tracked down by star hopping with the 20mm eyepiece. Using the 9mm eyepiece, M71 appears more like an open cluster than a globular, with a roughly arrowhead shape. Though small, individual stars are reasonably clear.


• NGC 6960 : Much to my surprise, I landed on this one on the first try, hopping from d Aql with the 20mm eyepiece. With the 9mm eyepiece I see a faint, fuzzy ball with no real detail.

I spent some time also looking at Jupiter, which was bright and clear with 4 moons visible - two to each side. We saw half a dozen satellites, one of which passed through Cygnus in a direct line from head to tail and one which winked in and out of sight, and must have been rotating or tumbling.

Most of the Messier Catalog objects that I have left to observe are low in the West now - that big cluster of galaxies in Virgo. So tonight was spent looking at NGC/IC objects and Jupiter. There was a bit of wispy cloud cover just as the stars were coming out, but it soon dissipated and the skies were quite good for viewing. The stars were crisp and sharp. A look at globular cluster M13 revealed a pile of brilliant diamonds.

I spent a bit of time browsing the star fields of the milky way, just enjoying the clarity. Then someone announced that the ISS would be passing over at about 10:30pm. And right on schedule it came in from the West, passing a bit to the South - bright when it first appeared and fading at about the zenith of it's pass. I tracked it with the Binoculars, but they only made it a slightly larger bright dot.

I decided to take a look at a few objects around Cygnus. First I tracked down NGC6871, a very small open cluster of stars. Then I moved out a little to look at NGC6882 and 6885, both open clusters very near one another and easy to see together in the 20mm eyepiece. I would not have found them had I not looked up images beforehand. Next I decided to make first use of the OIII filter and see if I could find the North America Nebula. I searched and searched, certain that I was in the right spot but not able to find anything. Then Alex came by, looked into the eypiece and told me I was right on it. With a bit of inverted vision and moving the telescope back and forth a bit I was able to make out a ghost of shadow, but nothing like the shape of North America. But at least I can now say I've observed it. After that I moved over past Ursa Major and tried to find NGC4530, which the SEDS NGC/IC database indicates does not exist. I suppose that might be true because I didn't find anything. Nearby is NGC5272 (aka M13) a pretty globular cluster.

Jupiter was up pretty good by this time and was showing well, with 3 moons. Ron showed us a moon transit with his scope and with various filters was able to bring out the great Red spot, which is not so red any more. Other than that there were satellites and several meteors, a couple of them pretty bright.

The forecast was very promising for excellent seeing and transparency, but heat and humidity made the reality a little hazier. Still, with the exception of some early thin cloud cover, the skies were good. Tonight I was viewing with the Oberwerk 20x80 binoculars, working on the Binocular Messier Club list of the Astronomical League. While I had hopes of catching some of the galaxies in the Coma Berenices they turned out to be too low in the sky for tonight's conditions, so instead I concentrated on Ursa Major.

First order of business was to take a gander at Saturn whose rings are still at a very shallow tilt, though not absolutely edge-on as they were in March. In the binoculars, Saturn is tiny but clear. I can see the rings clearly and there was one moon out to the side.

So, on to the Messier objects. First up was M51 right out by the end of the Big Dipper's handle (Alkaid). This galaxy was pretty easy to locate and didn't look like much in the binoculars. At this point the clouds were just beginning to dissipate but there was just enough haziness that M51 tended to blend into the background. A bit of relaxing and averted vision did the trick, though. Next, a short hop Southwards where M94 is about halfway between, and just to the side of, the path between the two stars that make up Canis Venatici. No real detail was visible, but it was certainly clearer than M51. Next I moved down toward the body of Ursa Major, viewing M106 and then M109.

At this point I took a break to view the Iridium flares that some of the other guys were excited about. I'd never seen one of these events, which occurs when the sun reflects off of the large antenna of an Iridium communications satellite, causing the satellite to brighten significantly for a few seconds. We saw the first one at about 11:15pm and then the second about 4 minutes later. Then, a few minutes later, we saw an unexpected third satellite pass over in the same path.

I continued my search in the body of the great bear, locating M108 with a good bit of difficulty. This galaxy is edge-on and obscured by a good bit of dust. It was a short hairline in the binoculars and I wouldn't believe I was seeing it until I got a look through one of the telescopes. Then I found the galaxies M81 and M82 just above the bear's tail toward Polaris. After this I spent a bit of time looking at some other objects and generally browsing about rich star fields. In the end it was a good night, with good company.

Astronomical League Binocular Messier Club

Iridium Flare on Wikipedia

Not much to report this month. I was attempting to bag some of the galaxies in the rich fields between the Coma Berenices, Virgo and Leo to add to my list of successful viewings for the Astronomical League's Messier Club certification. Especially because these objects hang in the West and are only viewable for a couple of sessions each year - during the Southeast's rainy season.

What I discovered is that this is a tough group to work with. They are all galaxies and they are literally piled one on top of the other. I believe that I observed M58, M59, M60, M84, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90 and M91. But I am not at all certain I have them correctly identified. For instance, I'm not sure that when I thought I was observing M58 that I was not actually observing M89 or M90. In short, I was not really prepared to try and sift through all of these galaxies. So I'm going to work on filling in other corners of the list in the coming months and hopefully next early Spring I'll have clear skies and a better plan.

Astronomical League Messier Club

Not a bad night for observing, although the dewfall was relentless. My scope is bare-bones - a simple dobsonian-mounted newtonian reflector without any fancy gadgets or electronics. I do think that I might have to get a power inverter and one of those tiny blowdryers, though. Early in the evening the coyotes were restless - a lot of coyotes from the sound of it - and a couple of dogs were answering out of either annoyance or some instinctive longing.

The first thing to appear in the sky, around 8:00 PM, was Jupiter and it looked wonderful despite being low in the SouthWest and up before even good dark. The bands were very clear with the 15mm eyepiece. I could see 3 moons to one side. Using the 20mm eyepiece I caught another moon pretty far away on the other side. Venus appeared next, but looked pretty much like a really bright star in my scope. Vega was the first star visible, as usual, and I spent some time looking over the charts I'd printed out. I won't have an opportunity to finish up the Messier catalog until late Spring next year, so I've started on the Herschel catalog - and there are so many things to be seen in the Winter skies. It's been a while since I've hunted new objects and my skills are a bit rusty. The humidity fogging up my finder was a hindrance. I may consider, as an auxiliary, building a primitive finder site that has no lens to fog up.

I located M30, a small globular cluster, fairly easily. The other Messier object up this night, M74, eluded me. For Herschel objects, I concentrated on those near Cassiopeia, successfully observing NGC 7789, 7790, 129, 136, 225, 381, 436, 559, 637, 654, and 659 over around two hours time. I made unsuccessful attempts to track down NGC 185, 287 and 40 but by this time my mirrors were also fogging up a bit. Andromeda was striking visible to the naked eye, and looked excellent in the scope along with the companion galaxy. I was winding down around 11:30 PM. Orion was just striding up on the Eastern Horizon, showing a shoulder, a foot and his belt of 3 stars. I casually gazed at the Pleiades with the 25mm eyepiece for some minutes and then began packing my sodden gear. I knew that on arriving home, I'd have to unpack it all and set it up in the garage to dry out.

A few images of the observing site and some of my fellow observers is on flickr.

The forecast was for clear skies last night so I headed up to Ron and Bev's farm in Northwest Georgia hoping to polish off a few more items on the Messier Catalog. Unfortunately this goal was thwarted by the treeline, the waxing moon and a bit of haziness in the West. I have not yet observed several objects near the Coma Berenices (M83 - M91, M98, M99, M100). These objects are best observed in June, but the weather and my schedule have both been generally uncooperative with observing. Ah, well - I'll just have to wait for next year.

On the positive side, I enjoyed viewing Jupiter and 3 of its moons, combing the Milky Way and observing a number of objects in its span. This was the first night out at the farm with the new telescope, and it validated the design and general quality.

Finally . . . it cleared up enough for me to give the telescope a second test. But just barely. The afternoon was clear as a bell, but the early evening brought wispy clouds.

I first pointed the scope at a hole in the clouds and made sure I could get clear, pinpoint stars with the 25mm eyepiece. I'm pleased with the position of the focuser now (had to adjust it slightly to get focus nearer the midpoint of the focuser travel), but there is a little more spikiness than I recall having before. I may need to revisit the spider design.

I noticed Mars was nearly right overhead, so I got it in the field of view and focused very clearly. I observed with the 15mm eyepiece and then the 9mm eyepiece, and it looked better and better. There was another planet low in the East, so I slewed over and found Saturn. It resolved very nicely with the 9mm. I could see a bit of contrast in the planet but not the gap in the ring. Last, I turned the scope on the Orion Nebula. By then the entire sky was covered and only the brightest stars and planets could be seen. Even so, I was able to view the nebula, which was faint but exceptionally clear given the poor conditions.

Overall, I'm satisfied. It will be good to get this scope out to the field for some real observing.

It was a fairly good night for observing with the Northwest Georgia Astronomical Association even though the transparency was not so great and the occasional wispy band of cloud drifted out of the West. On this night I was using the Oberwerk 20x80 binoculars. I observed 8 more objects on the Astroleague's Binocular Messier Club list, admired the Pleiades and the Perseus Double Cluster, casually swept the star fields of the Milky Way and got my first look at Comet 17p Holmes.

The Comet was a pretty impressive sight in the binoculars. I've simulated the view using a screenshot of my FOV from Starry Night and creating a representation of the comet in Photoshop. The comet was visible to the naked eye as a large fuzzy just below the star Mirfak in Perseus. It filled about 25% of the FOV of the binoculars and had a fairly clear brighter core a bit off-center. I could make out a bit of elongation, but nothing like a tail.

On the Messier List I got a look at these:

• M29 - A small cluster, but sharp and clear. Looked a bit like a butterfly or moth
• M56 - Small and very diffuse, I could not resolve the stars at the center of the cluster, but could make out some detail at the edges
• M27 Dumbbell Nebula - Not hard to locate, but hard to really see. No trace of the dumbbell shape with the binocs
• M71 - Another small globular cluster, but the core resolved reasonably well
• M31 Andromeda Galaxy - Very large, of course, but not so clear due to light pollution in the East. More or less a long oval light patch with a brighter core
• M32 & M110 Satellite Galaxies to M31 - Visible in the same FOV with Andromeda, but very faint
• M33 Triangulum Galaxy - Fairly large but faint. I could not make out the arms