14/02/11

[george7378]

Sights:

- Saturn

- M3 (Globular)

- M81/M82 (Galaxies)

- M42

- M51

- ISS

- Double Cluster

- NGC 2655 (No Supernova any more)

The evening started with some satellites. I tried to see NanoSail-D first, but I don't think I did. Instead, I saw an erratic flashing satellite, which I think was Iridium 17. See here.

The ISS came over at about 19:20, and I tried to take some video through the scope. My efforts did not yield much - just a few frames which show some reasonable detail. Here they are - I think it was out of focus though:

Slightly blurred ISS | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Turning to NGC 2655, I could see the same star patterns as before, and I also saw the faint, round galaxy sitting in exactly the same place, but the SN was gone from my field of view. I am guessing that it has either completely disappeared, or has left the limiting magnitude of my scope. It was quite interesting to return, and see that the heavens aren't that constant after all!

The Double Cluster hasn't been viewed by me in a long time, but it was very nice to return and view it at low magnification see the different colours of the stars. There was a layer of high-altitude cloud which blocked it out slightly.

After observing some of my favourite galaxies, I waited for the cloud to clear for Saturn to come out. When I finally saw it for the first time with my new scope - I couldn't believe my eyes! I could get the magnification up to 240X and see amazing details such as banding on the clouds, and even the area where the planet cast its shadow on the rings! The rings themselves were unreal - so sharp and thin at the edges, and yet so vast when you look at how they curve perfectly round the planet. I was amazed at the improvemet over my old scope, and I just couldn't stop looking at the fabulous perfection , and the real 3D feel that the rings give to the planet. The area where the rings crossed in front of the planet was really well contrasted against the disk, and there were some moons visible too. It was about 01:00 when I finally went to bed, but I can't wait to get another look at the planet.

I was also able to get a good look at M51 at the time, and I saw the best view I have ever had of it. It was very high up when I looked, and I could easily see the two spiral arms with averted vision, even at 120X. When I didn't use averted vision, I could see a glowing haze with some noticeable structure surrounding the brighter core. I will spend a lot more time studying this galaxy when it is more favourably placed.

Finally, I looked at my first globular cluster with the 10" scope - M3. I couldn't believe the improvement over the SW130 - it was just beyond description! I started at 48X, and could see a very bright glowing haze with lots of tiny little pinpoints of light hanging around it - like little pin-sharp diamonds in a pool of light. I immediately went up to 120X, and could then see even more of these magically distant points of light, right into the core. I was amazed that I could resolve individual stars in this tiny little mini-galaxy, even though it was probably tens of thousands of lightyears away. The stars in the cluster looked a lot 'smaller' than the foreground milky way stars - I could immediately see that they were a lot more distant (they just looked tiny) - is this just an illusion? I suppose it is, as we see all stars as points of light. I think globulars are my new favourite DSOs - I have never seen individual stars in them before!

In short, there are a lot more things I want to see with my 10" scope, after getting this taster tonight.

[russ]

That's an excellent report and really nice list of objects seen. Excellent descriptions of what you saw, i could almost imagine seeing it myself in the eyepiece.

[m_j_lyons]

Kudos on the report and good job with the ISS capture...maybe you'll get lucky and grab the ISS/shuttle together soon.