February 24th, 2012

The mercury boasted a temperature of -21. Since the wind was inactive, this created comfortable viewing conditions outside. I wanted to post many of my own pictures with this entry but my chosen photographic subjects were not very cooperative except for the first two seen on the bottom left.

Yeah, yeah,.. I know, "There is no dark side of the moon. As a matter of fact, it's all dark" Pink Floyd

Venus on the other hand did not show any hint of a shadow and it's light beams seemed to stretch beyond what I could see in my eyepiece. With these two pictures I went back indoors to cook and eat my supper since it was past 7:00pm. I made scallops, balsamic rice and asparagus. I washed this culinary delight down with a small glass of Sauvignon Blanc (Bordeaux). For dessert I made myself a small apple turnover and Espresso.

Dessert is supposed to be the last delight of the evening. It my case, it had just begun!

I had noticed for some time now an interesting object in the constellation Monoceros on my Stellarium program. The catalogue indicated a cluster of bright stars engulfed in a reddish haze named the Rosette Nebula or NGC 2244. Further research unraveled this majestic image:

A favourite object for many astro-photographers, and backyard astronomers, it was about time the nebula and I became better acquainted. I was not looking to be completely mesmerized sinceI know far too well that pictures seen above cannot be seen in a telescope but only through a camera with long exposure capacities. Needless to say that the human eye is therefore incapable of such a feat but I would see something right? A blur, a small distortion in the darkness?

Alternating between my telescope at low power and my birdwatching binoculars, I made out something of a haze (maybe more out of wishful thinking) and some bright stars. Further reading highlighted the importance of extremely dark skies and pristine viewing conditions. I had neither. Disappointed? Come now, knowing exactly where these super hot stars delivering extreme amounts of radiation can be found in the night sky is enough to give me chills!

The constellation Gemini is one easily recognized and holds many treasures of its own. I therefore set my gaze towards M35 (NGC 2168).

A hop, skip and a jump away from Propus, my eyes fell on this open cluster that takes up an area in the sky as big as our full moon. Rather faint, this 1billion year young cluster still packs enough punch to capture ones imagination.

During all this time, Mars seemed to look over my shoulder probably wondering why it was being ignored. I just knew it wouldn't show me any detail but since our little red neighbour had made its way far from the horizon, I couldn't evade it any longer. This time, since there was little atmospheric disturbances, Mars gave me hints of black patches and not the usual red ball I had grown accustomed to! I attempted to take a picture to capture the glory I had just witnessed but the details were not distinct enough for my camera.

Three planets and two deep sky objects were seen on this night but although my eyelids were protesting for some much needed sleep, I resisted packing up my equipment knowing full well That Saturn was out as well. I was being greedy. Saturn could be seen but was extremely low in the horizon at this time. I simply had to wait till the end of March and the view it will grant me would deliver much more detail than it could now. I shivered, looked in the direction of our ringed planet and gave a salute. Till next time sir Roman God of agriculture and justice!

Isabelle

Click on individual targets for image sources:

- M35

- Gemini Constellation

- NGC 2244 (Rosette Nebula)

Isabelle