January 8th, 2011

Many stargazing enthusiasts have to travel far from their houses in order to savor inky black skies when observing. Teaching as far as I do from city lights gives me the unique privilege of viewing right off my porch, a hop away from the patio doors and the warmth of my kitchen. Star gazing with an espresso anyone? Being so close also gives me easy access to my Stellarium program that helps me navigate the stars in search of new Messier objects to uncover.

I don't know how well you can read the above picture that I took but if you can find the constellation Cassiopeia, you will see a blue deep sky object indicator that says "double cluster". This was my first destination. Standing together, NGC 869 and 884 is a marvel to see! I was unable to take a picture but I'm sure that this gives you an idea of what I saw in my eyepiece:

File:NGC869NGC884.jpg From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Earlier that night, I was indeed able to take a couple of pictures of my own. First, the waxing crescent moon showing a glimpse of "earth shine" and the star HIP 107820:

You can clearly see Jupiter's main moons in this picture. Seemingly glued to the right side of the planet is Io, then Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. I have to say that I am quite proud of this picture considering the fact that I have no tripod and use a simple point-and-shoot camera.

I gave up my search for M35 still early into the night since the mercury had dipped to -20 ºC or -4 ºF. Granted that this is not very cold but after awhile, it seemed to inch down my back. Besides, this had been a perfect night,...