Ever since @RevAaron over at Caffeinated Astronomy published a great post about observing the dwarf planet Ceres I have promised myself that I would spend some time tracking it down. Unfortunately up until now I have just never taken the opportunity to actually get around to doing it, but all of that changed at the beginning of last week.
Monday (11.05.09) brought with it the first of what would become four days of good weather; so before Ceres disappears below the western horizon in the next few months I thought I’d finally make the effort, and take in a view of this unique planetary object.
Visually Ceres resembles nothing more than a star even in the biggest of amateur instruments so it is worth doing your homework before you embark on an observation of it. Thankfully I had the help of some good twitter friends: @TaviGreiner @craiggold, and @LouisS who provided links to The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and Heavens Above (which I have to admit I’d completely forgotten about) to aid me in my hunt.
Locating Ceres actually proved easier than I thought it would be, and for the next 45 minutes I found myself glued to the 25×100 binoculars as I followed this bantam planet across the sky. This really was an enjoyable observation, and my thoughts began to run riot as I visualized how this diminutive world must look. It’s amazing to think that despite the exceptional efforts of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Keck Telescope only 11 surface features have been identified; presumably some are craters, but the characteristics of most of them are still unknown. NASA’s Dawn Mission will shed more light on this mysterious world when it arrives there in 2015, but until then we will have to settle for an Earth based view, and a little imagination.
If you have not done so yet; then I encourage you to spend an evening in the company of Ceres. It may not be the most dazzling planetary object you’ll ever see, but once you’ve observed it you will be able to say that you have seen the smallest known dwarf planet in the solar system.
Tags: 1 Ceres, Dwarf Planet, Strathspey 25x100
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Wednesday morning (22.04.09) offered me the perfect opportunity to return to the beautiful double star Albireo in the constellation of Cygnus. I kicked things off at 02:30 BST, and spent a fair amount of time just observing the system with the 12mm plössl which easily revealed the rich amber/yellow of Albireo A and, the vivid blue/green of the smaller Albireo B.
After about twenty minutes I decided to push the magnification up, but just as I was getting ready to insert the 6mm plössl something sped across the field of view. It all happened so fast that I just didn’t really get a chance to identify exactly what it was I saw, but if I were to guess I’d say it was a meteor — perhaps a Lyrid?
Although the higher magnification of the 6mm eyepiece compromised the seeing the view was wonderful nonetheless, and at times both stars resolved clearly in the eyepiece. While Albireo A retained most of it’s yellow hue the smaller B companion suffered some colour reduction, but it’s blueish/green glow was still vaguely evident.
Despite the alluring quality of this double star system I was beginning to succumb to the cold, but I didn’t feel ready to just pack up so I turned my attention to Messier 27 in Vulpecula. I’d spent some time with this deep sky object just over a week ago with the 25×100 binoculars, and I was curious to see just what the Celestron Omni XLT could pull from it. With astronomical twilight already well on it’s way I knew it wouldn’t be the best of observation to be had, but I persevered regardless.
After swapping the 6mm plössl around for the 25mm, and fifteen minutes of careful searching I finally landed on the diaphonous planetary nebula. My previous observation through the 25×100s revealed the nebula as “an opaque almost spherical white smudge”, but the view through the refractor exposed the subtle graduations as well as the “double headed shot” that the 19th century astronomer John Herschel had described. This really was a beautiful sight, but if it wasn’t for the fact that I was frozen to the core and, extremely tired I would have liked to have spent more time observing M27. Had I stayed out observing any longer the next door neighbors may have found me clinging to my telescope in a delirious stupor — hopefully things won’t ever come to that!
I’m glad I took advantage of the clear skies that morning because the weather since then has offered up nothing, but perpetual cloud along with periodic rain. Providing things clear up over the weekend I’m planning on spending some time working on the Binocular Messier Club list by hunting down a group of globular clusters in Ophiuchus. Hopefully I’ll have some new observations to report quite soon!
Tags: Albireo, Celestron Omni XLT 120, Cygnus, Lyrids, M27, Strathspey 25x100, The Dumbbell Nebula, Vulpecula
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I was eleven years old when I was given my first telescope back in 1988: a 60mm red tube Tasco refractor on an alt-azimuth mount. It opened up a larger window to the heavens for me, and granted me some very memorable observations of the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus. For nearly ten years that telescope was a constant companion as I observed the night sky, but then it slowly found it’s way into the attic, and began gathering dust while I started to pursue a career as a musician, and a sound engineer.
As the time passed — I still don’t know why? — I began to feel the pull of the night sky again. It is hard to explain, but perhaps it’s the feeling of oneness that astronomy gives me — the knowledge that we are part of something uniquely special, and wholly inexplicable. Whatever the reason all I knew was that I wanted to be back out there drinking in the wonders of the universe.
To reacquaint myself with the night sky I bought myself a pair of Bresser 10×50 binoculars. Every amateur astronomer worth their salt should own a pair of binoculars — big or small they are an indispensable tool. I always looked at the glossy adverts for the large telescopes in the monthly astronomy magazines, but never felt it was the right time to be splashing out a sizable sum of money for such a serious instrument. Instead I stepped up the binocular ladder, and purchased a pair of Strathspey 25×100 binoculars — a sound astronomical investment, and one that I would advise any budding astronomer to make.
Since then I have traversed my way across the solar system; through the galaxy, and beyond into the vast gulf of interstellar space. However like all astronomers I can’t help wanting to get just that little bit closer to the cosmos; in my case the Moon and the planets as well as some of the brighter deep sky objects. I’ve always had a love of refractors, and when I saw that David Hinds had an Easter special on a Celestron Omni XLT 120mm refractor mounted on a solid GEM, I couldn’t resist jumping at the chance to own one.
I have to confess that I was quite daunted by the task of setting up a telescope on an equatorial mount, but after a few practice runs I soon got the hang of it. The scope’s first light came early on Friday morning, (17.04.09) and polar aligning it proved to be easier than what I thought it would be thanks to some handy advice I received on Twitter from @craiggold who runs the excellent new blog Starmunchers . My target for the session was Saturn which gave me an excuse to use the new 6mm Celestron Omni Plössl — one of two eyepieces — that I had purchased along with the scope. The conditions were not great, and in atypical fashion the clouds rolled in just after I had set everything up. This left me wondering if my session had bought it there and then; I decided to wait the clouds out which eventually cleared partially thanks to an easterly breeze.
With some clear sky above I set about locating Saturn using the finder, and the included 25mm eyepiece which I have to say really impressed me. The view across the whole field was tack sharp, and quite contrasty with zero chromatic aberration. Even at 40x magnification Saturn’s edge on rings were clearly visible as were some of the brighter Moons, but when I popped the 6mm Plössl into the diagonal I was presented with a wonderfully crisp planetary display.
Although there was some mild chromatic aberration, and the seeing wasn’t all that great I did manage to observe a slight opening between Saturn’s rings as well as two vague ochre bands in the northern, and southern hemispheres. In orbit around the giant planet I could easily see the three moons Titan, Rhea and Iapetus, but for some reason Dione eluded me. The view was utterly hypnotic, and I spent just over an hour tracking it across the sky, but it wasn’t long before my fun was brought to an abrupt end by an armada of cumulus cloud that quickly overtook the starry sky. I can honestly say that this was the most exhilrating observing session that I’ve had in a long time. Saturn was a mesmerizing sight, and I’ll certainly be returning to this distant planet as often as I can before it fades into the summer sky. As far as the new scope is concerned I am absolutely delighted with it, and would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of upgrading to a larger instrument.
Tags: Bresser 10x50, Celestron Omni XLT 120, Iapetus, Rhea, Saturn, Strathspey 25x100, Tasco 60mm, Titan
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Lying 1200 light years away in the same arm of the Milky Way as our own yellow Sun sits the Dumbbell Nebula. Discovered in 1764 and catalogued as M27 by the French astronomer Charles Messier this deep sky object is actually a planetary nebula — the stellar debris ejected from a dying star.
It was here early on Sunday morning (12.04.09) that I turned the giant binoculars as I attempted to eke out a glimpse of this distant cosmic fatality. The atmospheric conditions were reasonably good, but due to Vulpecula’s +16° elevation the light pollution from the nearby town of Grangemouth overwhelmed the view slightly. Despite this the nebula was still visible against the hazy sky glow as an opaque almost spherical white smudge that brightened subtly when using averted vision.
The realisation that you are actually gazing upon a vast expulsion of superheated gas, and plasma spanning perhaps 1 light year is very compelling to say the least. During the 35 minutes that I spent observing M27 I began to wonder what it would be like to see this spectacle from within the nebula itself. Inspired by that thought I produced the digital render above which shows the view from the desolate surface of a fictitious dwarf planet in orbit around the hot central star. Science fact or science fiction? I’m not really sure to be honest, but it certainly would be an awe inspiring sight to see the Dumbbell Nebula in this way.
Tags: Charles Messier, M27, Milky Way, Planetary Nebula, Strathspey 25x100, The Dumbbell Nebula, Vulpecula
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Up till now the weather conditions over Central Scotland during MoonWatch week have been reasonably decent. Sunday and Monday night were lost to partial cloud cover while I reluctantly let Tuesday night slip by so I could fulfill a minor, but pressing task. However, all was not lost as Wednesday served up another slice of sunshine and clear skies that brought the stars out to play later that evening.
With the Moon almost at it’s quarter phase, the view in and around the terminator was wonderful. There was also still a hint of some Earthshine, but it was less obvious than my last observation. Looking northwards the high crater walls of Eudoxus and Aristoteles looked imposing against the bright lunar surface while the rugged edges of the Mare Serenitatis and the diffuse Bessel ray just to the south were outstanding. Looking north east from here I could also easily pick out the prominent, almost circular outlines of Hercules and Atlas as they sat beyond the northern shore of the Mare.
Allowing my gaze to fall southwards I could just discern the Promontorium Agarum (a high mountainous cape) as it nestled against the east coast of the Mare Crisium whilst the Palus Somni (a large area of level, uneven terrain) could also be seen standing out against the dark grey basalt of the eastern Mare Tranquillitatis. As my eye’s wandered westwards I also observed the dark silhouettes of Plinius, Ross and Arago — a string of three isolated, minor craters — before I landed on the south west fringes of the Mare and the impact crater Delambre.
As I continued my descent ever southwards, the outline of the crater trio Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina was fairly obvious as they huddled together along the edge of the Mare Nectaris. Just west from Cyrillus I could see the smaller crater Abulfeda skirting quite close to the shadowy terminator.
Drifting across the hodgepodge craters of the southern highlands I could clearly see the impressive Maurolycus and the smaller Gemma Frisius just to the north, etched into the lunar surface like black jet. Barocius and Clairaut were visible just below as were the smaller craters: Breislak, Baco B and the slightly more prominent Baco. South east from here I could also see the contours of Pitiscus, Hommel, Vlacq and the smaller Rosenberger C as they clung to the lunar limb.
Besides observing the more evident lunar features, I also spent the time producing another rough drawing that I could use to help create a digital sketch of this marvelous scene. Here’s hoping the weather holds out so I can produce a few more.
Tags: Abulfeda, Arago, Aristoteles, Atlas, Baco, Baco B, Barocius, Bessel Ray, Breislak, Catharina, Clairaut, Cyrillus, Delambre, Earthshine, Eudoxus, Gemma Frisius, Hercules, Hommel, Mare Crisium, Mare Nectaris, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquilliatis, Maurolycus, Moon, MoonWatch, Palus Somni, Pitiscus, Plinius, Promontorium Agarum, Rosenberger C, Ross, Strathspey 25x100, Theophilus, Vlacq
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