05/01/10 - what a clear night!

[george7378]

Hi all,

Although it was freezing, and I had to wrap up warm, I couldn't resist the clear sky on Tuesday night.

Sights

- M1

- M31

- M32

- M42

- Mars

First, I pointed my telescope at M42, and got the most amazing view I have seen yet. I could see the main area around the clear trapezium, and another long tendril extending from that. I could see the nebulosity around two other stars too.

M42 was visible with easily contrasting dark and light areas, and I could see some great textures which looked best with averted vision. I probably spent ages watching this object, because I lost track of the time and had to rush to see other objects after.

I turned to M31 which was great to revisit - M32 was easily visible, and I was able to make the shape of the large oval out very easily, and some more of the fainter areas were exposed tonight. The seeing was the best I have seen it.

Next, I noticed Mars rising in the North, and I couldn't wait to see it in the clear air. I used 130X magnification to observe, and I could get a sharp edge on it like never before. I could even see areas of darker and lighter red and orange on the large disc. This consumed a lot of my time too!

Later on, I decided to try and find the Crab Nebula for the first time with my telescope, and after about 10 minutes of searching the space around Aldebaran (my only waypoint to the nebula), I spotted it - the dark, oval smudge sitting among the stars. I spent ages watching it, and settled for low magnification to get the best view - I guess you need a very powerful telescope to see it clearly at high magnification. I'm so happy that I have found it, and that I can see such dark objects through my telescope.

There was a layer of ice on the 'scope when I finished, but at least it wasn't snowing. I have a feeling that I will have to wait a long time to get another night as clear as that.

[pvaz]

Seams you had a great night!

Reading your report made me remember the 1st time I sow M1. Keep the reports coming! At least they help me pass the time on this cloudy nights (I got 14 in a row and counting...).

[jarbi]

You definitely had a great time ! Hopefully you have a fairly dark site too, not like my garden..

By the way, I think you could easily find M36,37 and 38 in Auriga, they are now very high at this time of the year. M35 in Gemini is also in the neighbourhood and not a difficult target.

cheers,

Janos

[george7378]

Thanks for the comments - I will have a look for those, and any other new objects I find next time it's clear.