27th June 2010

[george7378]

Sights

- M13

- M92

- M57

- M27

- Some Milky Way open clusters in Cygnus

- Albireo and Mizar

- Saturn

- ISS (Twice)

The clouds were lining the sky from around 22:00, but they had cleared by around 22:30, when I started observing. The first observations I made were of double stars in Ursa Major and Cygnus. I started with a simple but interesting double - Mizar. It was easily split, and I had a go at photographing it. I also observed the colourful double Albireo. I could see the beautiful contrast between the blue and yellow stars in the system, and I can see why it is described as the best double in the sky. I also took a photograph of this one (see below).

As the night darkened, the first pass of the ISS came around. I saw Saturn low on the horizon, and calibrated the focus ready for the ISS by getting the rings and yellow orb into focus. Saturn is far from what it was earlier in the year, but it's still worth a look, as it is now moving away from us after its March opposition, so it may not look as good next year. I filmed the pass, and, although the film is a little noisy, it shows the station crossing the sky very nicely. Here is the film:

YouTube - ISS pass - 27th June 2010, 23:24GMT

I observed the pass through my telescope and now that I am getting used to tracking, I could see the four individual solar arrays, and the structure of the complex in the middle. The colours contrasted nicely, and I also caught a glimpse of the texture of the solar panels near the highest part of the pass.

After the ISS passed at 23:24, I decided to go deep-sky observing. I picked out my favourite Summer deep-sky object - M57, to start. Despite the low, red Moon on the horizon, I was able to observe the circular structure of the ring, and, as the night moved on, I got my best views yet, with an evident change in brightness towards the centre, making very ring-like. I spent most time with this object tonight.

Another deep-sky object I saw (for the first time) this evening was the Dumbbell Nebula - M27. Although it is slightly brighter in magnitude than M57, it has a much larger surface area, so its brightness is lower. I observed it during the early hours of midnight, and was able to see the dumbbell/apple core shape with averted vision.

After M27, and before the next ISS pass at 01:00, I went hunting for globular clusters as the Moon rose higher. I found M13 easily enough, and observed the almost incongruous glowing ball of stars set against the black sky - it is magical to know what, and where, it is. After contemplating the 100-light-year-diameter M13, I went looking for other globulars, and found M92 almost instantly. It is harder to find as there are few close pointers and it is dimmer and has a smaller angular size, but it was just as impressive - a dense sphere of glowing starlight in empty space.

As time ticked on, I went for some easy observing and explored the rich Milky-way regions of Cygnus. There are a number of open clusters to observe here, and they are not hard to find. Exploring the regions, I saw stars of all different magnitudes, colours and arities, finding some lovely doubles to split along the way. This filled up time until the next ISS pass.

The final sight of the evening was the ISS in its brightest pass yet - -3.6. I noticed it when it was right on the horizon, and I watched it get bigger and brighter through the telescope as it rose above my head. Once again, the details of structure and colour were visible. Nothing makes me feel closer to space.

Finally, since this was the darkest sky I have seen in months, I spent a little while just laying back and observing the stars and star fields look down at me - nothing is more relaxing than that, and I recommend it as an end to all observing sessions.

Photos:

Mizar:

Albireo: