Report as of 7.10.2008

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Tuesday 07.10.2008

Meade 16" lightbridge

Moon 54% Illuminated.

Had 90 minutes tonight before clouds rolled in.

Spent the first 30 minutes on the Moon. In my 21mm EP at x87 it looked fantastic studied Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel in some detail.

All three have very large steep walls and terraces. Swap to my 8mm EP and could clearly see the mountains in Alphonsus and Arzachel.

Even with the moon still up but ever decreasing in height I thought I would try a few DSO's. Using my trusty 21 mm hyperion I checked out M15. Lying about 5 degrees of Epsilon Peg it is quite easy to find. Appears as a medium size white blob in the 21mm, clearly a globular cluster. The 8mm bought out a few more stars but no way did it resolve all the stars.

Next target in Andromeda was the Bluebell Nebula ( NGC 7662) this makes up the tip of a triangle between Lambda and Omicron Andromeda. At about Mag 8 it was very easy to find and in the 21mm EP at x87 looked like a small blue disc. It kept fading in and out of view.

Next over to NGC 7331 to find this I made it the tip of the triangle between Eta and Pi2 Pegasus. At about mag 9 it was quite hard to find and could be easily missed but after a few minutes I found it. At x87 you can make out the elongated spiral shape very similar to M31 but smaller. I could not see the surrounding galaxies.

I tried hunting for Stephen's Quintet which is not very far away, but considering the moon was up I could not see them.

The clouds rolled in then and a few spots off rain fell so I packed it in for the night.