Off To A Good Start!

[cloudsweeper]

First evening of 2019 - clearish sky, some thin cloud, worth having a go with the Bresser Dob!

In the south, Mars first.  Same 2 deg FOV, XZ Psc, pulsating variable, red giant.  Redness clearer at x 64 and increased contrast.

Over to the west - Sadr - then a hop to M29 the Cooling Tower OC - again, more detail at slightly higher mag.  Another hop to 34 Cyg, a luminous blue variable.  

With so many markers, hopping was quite easy, so on to the P Cyg Cluster (IC 4996, OC) - a lovely spectacle of mainly three very close stars at x42, forming an obtuse angle, with the outer two fainter.  At x64, another couple of close, faint stars popped up in AV.

Just an hour and a quarter before mealtime - nothing too thrilling, but a promising start to the new year!

Doug.

 

 

[John]

Nice one Doug ?

My 1st observing for quite a while here - ED120 refractor picking around the clouds. Comet 46P relatively easy to find in Lynx tonight.

We will have to see if the clear patches get bigger or smaller as the evening progresses !

[cloudsweeper]

3 minutes ago, John said:

Nice one Doug ?

We will have to see if the clear patches get bigger or smaller as the evening progresses !

Have fun John.  As for me, I'm enjoying a little post-prandial plonk, so maybe another session tomorrow!

Doug.

[Astro Imp]

Glad you manged to get out Doug. Wall to wall cloud here, as usual.
 

[MarsG76]

Nice one