Dark, Clear Night 11/15/2017

[Hayduke27]

After a rough start to the week, I made it out to my preferred dark site by 20:00.  The moon was already set, and the temp was a chilly -7° C.  The stars were bright, and I was excited.  My star list this night included primarily double stars, something I had not yet invested any time into observing. I got set up, including my brand new adjustable observing chair.  Oh what a difference the chair made!  I knew it would, but it really is so much easier to sit and observe an object than to stoop from a standing position.  It really allowed me to spend longer periods at the eyepiece and try to tease out fainter objects and finer details.

I began the night with Albireo, Cygnus' head.  This past Autumn, as I first started my journey into astronomy, Cygnus was high overhead just as it was getting dark, and it was the first new constellation I learned (previously I only knew Orion and the Asterism "The Big Dipper").  All this time, I was always checking out the swan's rear as it was buried so deep in the milky way and so near to so many stars and nebulas.  I guess I just never took the time to look at the head.  I did so this night, and was rewarded with one of my first binaries.  The contrast of the bluer star with the more orange of the other was a wonderful sight, and I spend a long while taking in these two.

I next panned over to the "Double Double", as I am also very familiar with Vega, and this was an easy find.  I will admit, however, that I was unaware at the time that this was the Double Double, and so I saw 2 stars, observed for a few minutes and moved along.  It wasn't until the next day I learned that leach of those stars could be further resolved into 2 more.  A very interesting mission for a future trip out.

I next turned my scope to Polaris, another familiar object that is a double.  I also managed to get Epsilon Pegasi and Gamma Delphini.  

Having bagged some doubles, I decided to take in a few nebulas.  I got a nice view of the Blinking Planetary, Blue Snowball, and Cat's Eye nebulas, switching back and forth between filtered and unfiltered.  Right now I have only a UHC filter.  As I get more use out of it I have been realizing that there are a few objects that look as good or better without the filter.  However, most object do reveal a bit more subtle detail with the filter when you take a longer time to really pick out the faint details.

It was now about 23:00 and I was shivering to the depths of my bones despite my heavy layering of clothing.  I jumped into the truck and got the motor going to warm myself up.  As I sat in the warm air, I pulled up Sky Safari on my laptop and picked a few more targets.  Long story short, after warming up I returned to the scope and missed IC 1613, NGC 147, NGC 185, and NGC 777.  I did, however, manage a first light of the Deer Lick Galaxies, starting as I observed NGC 7331.  I didn't know this was the Deer Lick cluster at the time, but I knew there were fainter objects to pick out.  Using averted vision I was able to see the brighter 2 of the 4 fainter galaxies next to NGC 7331.  I learned after I got home that this was very close to Stephan's Quintet, which quickly was added to my list for next time out.  I spend a really long time admiring the Deer Lick.  Not only was the new chair every bit as useful as I'd hoped, but there was also some great music on our local radio station and I soon found myself shivering again having passed more time than I realized.

I took one more warm up break and returned to the scope to end the night checking out the M15 cluster followed by M42 and the Trapezium.  I had never really zoomed in on these stars before, and as I took the time to do so I was able to make out the "e" star.  No "f" on this night, but again this left a nice target as a future mission.

Oh, and I almost forgot!  Between objects with the telescope I decided to get the binos out for a few quick looks around the sky.  It's always just so easy and fun to cover some larger pieces of the sky with the binos, and this night proved to be the same.  I looked at M31 and M42, both great targets for the binos.  I had also been reading about the Double Cluster, and knew it was possible to see it with the naked eye, and that it was between Cassiopeia and Perseus.  I looked skyward, and after taking a couple stabs at likely spots I finally managed to view these clusters for my first time.  Another great sight and something to add to my list of things to return to often. 

Having had a couple of beautiful final views, I packed up for the evening and headed home to try and rest up for a big day of work ahead.  As always, it was all well worth it.  I hope to get out at least once more before the moon brightens again.  Between work, life, and clouds it's been tough lately.  Thanks for reading, and clear skies to you all!

[cloudsweeper]

Nice report Alex!  The Double Cluster is certainly something to keep going back to - I like to just stare into it, mainly at low enough mag to see it all in the FOV.

Doug.

[alan potts]

Great report there Alex, I feel that the one filter to have is the UHC, it is best on plenty of targets and at least gives you a decent chanes on many of the targets where the others excell. Seeing Minus 7 I looked where you were, thought for a moment the UK had had a cold snap.

Alan

[Astro Imp]

Nicely written report.

Albireo is a great favourite of mine and I usually give it a look when it's available.

You will enjoy the double cluster in your scope if you can fit it all in the FOV, use your lowest power eyepiece.

The trapezium is a great object, the "e" star I occasionally see but am yet to bag "f".

Clear skies and keep the reports coming in.