some more city stargazing

[Ags]

Last night looked good, clear, no wind and not too cold. I was just about to go out, when SaN come on TV. Watched that for a few minutes and then headed out.

I aligned on Betelguese and Rigel just to get tracking (I knew it wouldn't be accurate) and then slewed to M43. Hooray! A goto hit!

M42/43 looked promising in the Hyperion so I upped the magnification to 220x, which got the sky nice and dark. I could see very interesting dark regions butting against the Trapezium, with perhaps some more nebulosity on the other side. Seeing was perfect but I could not see Trapezium E or F - I guess it is beyond my scope.

Spent ages watching the Orion Nebula, it was fascinating and the TS Planetary is very relaxing to use. I didn't have the courage to attempt a sketch though... Next time, maybe.

Then I slewed to Alnitak to try and see the Flame Nebula. My scope couldn't find it under a relatively dark sky, so no surprise I couldn't find it. While I was in the vicinity I upped the mag on Alitak itself and split the double at 220x - the stars are separated by 3 seconds. Quite a nice pair of stars - perhaps Alnitak is the most photographed double in the sky?

The NexStar goto told me that Alnilam is a double - if it is, it is a wide, unequal boring one. I couldn't find mention of it being a double on the internet.

On the subject of doubles I had to have a closer look at Rigel and its faint companion. Somehow the faint companion makes Rigel seem brighter and fiercer - unequal doubles are not usually so pretty.

I slewed to Almach for a really pretty double - the goto was horribly off, as expected from the alignment stars being so close together. It was hard to find manually with the glare from my upstairs neighbor's open windows, but eventually I got Almach in my sights and admired the pumpkin-electric blue pair.

I dumped Rigel as an alignment star in favor of Almach, and slewed to the Double Cluster. Yippee! Another goto hit. Admittedly the Double Cluster looks much grander under dark skies, but still pretty. I have my eye on an eyepiece purchase that might make the Double Cluster look better... ;-)

I sent my scope over to M35 and M34 - goto was spot on both times. M35 is the prettier of the two, and I think it would improve a lot with aperture.

It was a perfect evening - I found everything I wanted too, the eyepieces were all comfortable to use, and somehow the light pollution was not too intrusive.

[RikM]

Smashing write-up. Sounds like you had a great night.

[Ags]

Followed it up with a binocular session last night. It's a nice challenge trying memorize where the brighter DSOs are and then trying to spot them with the bins. I got M44, M35 and M34, although the last two were faint in 8x42s under urban skies with a moon.

[Nexus 6]

Nice report Ags,

its funny how these posts can slip you buy, I really enjoy reading them!

I also agree with your binocular testing method. I have been trying the same thing with some success, does make me realize I am now able to find my way around much more than I could a year or so ago