Brief Xmas Session (No. 100 in 2019)

[cloudsweeper]

OK - nothing outstanding, but as usual, a few things of interest.  Before late Christmas dinner, it was still, mild, and quite cloudless at 5.00pm, so I ventured out with the ST120 on the AZ4.  What a treat!  Much as I like the Dob and the Cat on GoTo, this setup is so easy to use, with lovely wide views.

Yes, this is my 100th outing this year - not a bad run.

First off, I caught a brilliant Venus, low, SW, just hiding behind trees.

Vega - bright, high, west - in a nice region with widefield.  Sadr region even richer.

M45 - similarly a fine spectacle, one to dwell on for a while.

But what I've been aiming for lately is the Aquarius double Zeta 1, 2.  I started with Sadalmelik, then to Sadachbia, finally the target (AKA Sadaltager).  Great.  About to split it (2.3"), but clouds thwarted me.

45 minutes of pleasure, then in for for the pleasure of a Christmas meal with Mrs. Sweeper.

Merry Christmas to my friends on SGL!

Doug.

 

[RobertI]

Well done on getting to 100th session, I’ll see if I can attempt the same feat myself in 2020. I find it odd to still be able to see the ‘summer’ triangle at this time of year, it hangs around for ages. 

[domstar]

Sounds like a lovely Christmas. I love that double too. Close but splittable and easy to find directly. 100 sessions is something to be proud of. My best year is two thirds of that and this year considerably less.