Saturday Session

[Epick Crom]

Hi my fellow stargazers! With the young waxing crescent moon out of the way it was time for some deep sky diving. I read a report posted by @John about two double stars in one of the feet of Ursa Major. To my surprise they are visible from my southerly location and I set about observing them. Allula Australis is a fine white double, while Allula Borealis is orange with a fainter green companion. Lovely! The rest of Ursa Major is out of view so no big dipper for me😭.

From there it was on to Lupus to find the planetary nebula NGC 5882. After a few minutes of searching I found it among the starfields of Lupus. Tiny planetary, not as colourful as my previous discoveries but beautiful non the less. NGC 6025 was viewed next, an interesting open cluster in Triangulum Australae with stars forming a circle in the centre. I visited neighbouring constellation Norma next to observe NGC 6087 and NGC 6067, two rich open clusters. 

The highlight of the night came once Scorpius had risen high enough for me to get my first look at Antares through my 10" dob. Even though still a bit low I was able to split Antares and catch a glimpse of its tiny green companion star. Wow, incredible contrast, a red supergiant with a tiny emerald speck almost touching it. Breathtaking. 

A happy and successful night with my beloved dob. Thanks for reading and clear skies to you all!

Edited April 18, 2021 by Epick Crom

[Jiggy 67]

Keep the reports coming Joe, I take it it’s your winter down under. As the skies get lighter all night here in the UK, for many of us, the only stargazing we’ll do will be via your reports!! 😀

[Kon]

It sounds you had a very nice session.

[John]

Nice report !

I've only managed to split Antares once - it's a very low target from here

 

[Epick Crom]

Thanks guys. Yes it's approaching winter over here so nights are getting longer🙏. Unfortunately a lot of backburning in Perth Hills has meant smokey skies so no observing for the next few days😵

[Voyager 3]

 A good tip I would like to share here - While trying to split Antares , try a UHC . I've read numerous reports saying it helps .