The weather over the last few days has actually been quite decent and Sunday morning (19.04.09) delivered the clearest skies that I have seen in a while. In fact the weather conditions were so excellent that I can’t actually remember the last time they were this good. Despite the fact that an afternoon of hard play with my one year old son had left me running on empty I still managed to muster up the energy to rig up the telescope for a short session.
I wanted to take the opportunity to have a look at Albireo with the scope, but thought I’d save that for later, and instead opted to start things off by taking in another view of Saturn. The seeing was excellent, and sky transparency was spot on, but because the planet was only +18° above the western horizon there was zero detail to be had. However the three moons: Titan, Rhea and Iapetus were again all visible, but just like the previous observation I was unable to pin down any of the other moons. With this in mind I think that I’ll drop down to the 12mm plössl, and see if the reduced power makes any difference in resolving the other satellites the next time around.
With the time hitting 02:34 UT (03:34 BST) I decided to leave Saturn behind, and head out into galactic space to track down the double star Albireo. The last time I looked at this celestial gem was way back in November with the 25×100 binoculars, but this time around I was visually knocked off my feet. The view was absolutely gorgeous through the 12mm eyepiece, and the colours of both stars were unbelievably vivid. My only regret is that I didn’t produce a sketch, but I’ll definitely be returning to Albireo very soon to do just that!
I clung to this beautiful double star for almost an hour, but I finally gave in to the cold, and my tiredness at 03:24 UT (04:24 BST) just as nautical twilight was arcing across the eastern skyline. As I spent the next half hour breaking down the gear I was captivated by the ghostly light, and found myself in awe of the firey red glow burning along the horizon. Certainly a great way to end a good observing session — I remember thinking that I would have to stay up this late more often when out star gazing. I’ll just make sure that I have the coffee brewing in future to stop me from keeling over.
Tags: Albireo, Celestron Omni XLT 120, Cygnus, Iapetus, Rhea, Saturn, Titan