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
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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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Time, as they say, waits for nobody and when I look back towards the beginning of the month I am left wondering where all the time has gone. March began (01.03.09 & 02.03.09) by bidding a fond farewell to comet Lulin as it started the long journey back out towards the distant reaches of the solar system. Around this time I also logged the open cluster M47 from the Binocular Messier Club list with the 10×50s, but with an elevation of around +18° M47 offered a rather sketchy observation as it drifted through the southern sky glow. I had also tried to catch two other open clusters in this part of the sky: M46 (which is very close to M47) and M50 in Monoceros. Both remained hidden from view, again due to the sky conditions, but I am going to make every effort to catch these two objects before they disappear into the summer evenings.
Besides my Lulin and Messier observations, the beginning of the month (05.03.09 & 06.03.09) also offered me the perfect opportunity to study the cratered surface of the waning gibbous Moon and score a number of objects from the Lunar 100 list. The most notable objects included the Vallis Alpes, the crater remnant Hipparchus as well as the mysterious Bessel Ray and the ancient crater of Clavius. Aside from viewing a good many Lunar 100 objects I also took the time to explore many features beyond the scope of the list and I made wonderful observations of prominent impact craters such as Reinhold, Herschel, Eudoxus, Aristoteles and many more.
Beyond this point bad weather conditions brought things to an abrupt end for almost two weeks, so it was nearer to the end of March (21.03.09) before I managed out, this time turning my gaze towards two faint galaxies in Canes Venatici: Messier 94 and Messier 63. However, the immediate interference of a neighbor’s extremely intrusive light combined with the neck breaking altitude of +41° put paid to a more in-depth observation. I dare say that I will return to these two deep sky objects in the next few months when they are both in a better position.
Following on from this I then spent some time a few mornings later (24.03.09) hunting down three more Messier objects: the open clusters M29 and M39 in Cygnus as well as the planetary nebula M27 in Vulpecula. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions and I easily tracked down the two open clusters but the urban terrain combined with a low position in the sky unfortunately prevented me from viewing M27. In addition to my deep sky observations I serendipitously caught two satellites through the 25×100s as they shot over the eastern sky. After some digging around on the web I whittled my options down to two possible designations: A0-27 and ITAMSAT 1. I’ve never been very good at catching iridium flares or tracking satellites, so I still have some niggling doubts over the identities of the two space craft, but it seems as though A0-27 and ITAMSAT 1 are my best bet.
To finally wrap things up I took in a short view of Saturn and the cloud enshrouded Titan as they sat serenely under the watchful eye of Leo. Upon making this observation I originally thought that I’d also seen the small Saturnian moon of Iapetus, but later investigation revealed that it was in fact HP 54954, a 9th magnitude G class star about 365 light years distant. So unfortunately, no cigar.
In retrospect March has definitely been a celestial smorgasbord, but as MoonWatch week is upon us UK amateur astronomers I plan to spend much of my time gazing at the checkered lunar surface. Hopefully the elements will cooperate and grant me some decent Moon watching weather.
Tags: A0-27, Aristoteles, Bessel Ray, Bresser 10x50, C/2007 N3 Lulin, Canes Venatici, Clavius, Cygnus, Eudoxus, Galaxies, Herschel, Hipparchus, HP 54954, ITAMSAT 1, M27, M29, M39, M46, M47, M50, M63, M94, Monoceros, Moon, Reinhold, Saturn, Strathspey 25x100, The Sunflower Galaxy, Titan, Vallis Alpes, Vulpecula
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Over the course of my previous observing sessions I have taken every opportunity to take in a view of the magnificent outer planet Saturn. A small telescope or a pair of high powered binoculars will reveal some of the moons as well as the majestic rings which are a fantastic sight to behold. Saturn can currently be found under the constellation of Leo just below the star Chertan (a simple finder chart can be downloaded from here), and at magnitude 0.93 it’s looking pretty bright. From 21:30 UT onwards Saturn is well placed for observation and is on show the whole night/morning through, not beginning to set until 06:19 UT. From my own experiences so far (using a pair of 25×100 binoculars) I have been able to observe the rings as well as two moons: Titan and Hyperion. However for a truly in-depth observation I would highly recommend a telescope with a long focal length - a 60mm refractor with a minimum focal length of 800mm will easily be up to the task.
Physically Saturn is very similar to Jupiter - composed mainly of hydrogen and helium with trace amounts of ethane, ammonia, methane, phosphine and acetylene. What differentiates Saturn from Jupiter is it’s stunning yet mysterious system of rings. Made from fragments of ice and rock, the rings extend 4,ooo miles above the cloud decks of Saturn out to 46,250 miles. The material in these rings is made up of 99.9 percent pure water ice and range in size from dust particels to objects a few meters across. There are various theories regarding the formation of the rings - the French scientist Édouard Roche promoted the idea that the rings were the detritus of a moon torn apart by tidal forces after it strayed too close to Saturn. Others suggest that the rings are the remains of the material from which Saturn was formed or the debris from a small moon that was obliterated by a comet/asteroid impact. The formation of the rings will probably forever remain a mystery, but either way they are one of the most awe inspiring marvels in our cosmic backyard. So the next time you are out observing, take a moment to turn your binoculars or telescope on to this wonderful planet and drink in the view.
[Image editied: 18.02.09]
Tags: Chertan, Dione, Hyperion, Jupiter, Leo, Saturn, Titan
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My failed observing session on January the 29th (save for a weak observation of Saturn and Titan) left me almost empty handed. However, Wednesday the 4th of February rewarded my patience and determination with a captivating view of Messier 13 (The Hercules Globular Cluster) and Messier 92, another smaller, but exquisite globular cluster also in the constellation of Hercules.
M13 presented me with a truly magnificent sight and left me in absolutely no doubt that it is the king of globular clusters. I spent a good 15 minutes scrutinizing the field of view using direct vision which showed the cluster as an almost spherical, slightly hazy smudge with an extremely dense core. The whole cluster (including the core) brightened considerably when using averted vision where upon it also revealed a delicate hint of some very fine granularity. While M13 had thoroughly impressed me, M92 proved to be more of a polished gem than a shining diamond, but this small and almost diffuse cluster really came to life when using averted vision showing a real increase in brightness but lacking the density or texture of M13. With hindsight this DSO is probably better observed in darker conditions, but even under my light polluted skies M92 is still a wonderful globular cluster to observe. It really does boggles the mind when you realise that you are observing objects that span over 100 light years and contain several hundred thousand stars or more! Two beautiful globulars that are easily attainable with binoculars of medium and high power even under impaired skies.
Before I ended my session I took the opportunity to turn the giant binoculars towards Saturn. As usual I could easily see Titan, the largest of Saturn’s moons’ but on this occasion I also managed a tenuous observation of the extremely faint outer moon Hyperion. At the time I wasn’t all that sure if I was looking at another of Saturn’s moons’ or a star, but after checking things out in Stellarium I was delighted to find that I had indeed been lucky enough to see Hyperion.
Tags: Hercules, Hyperion, M13, M92, Saturn, Strathspey 25x100, Titan
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