Hodges Gardens Star Party 2012 – Day 3

Day 3: March 23, 2012

This was my last day at the star party and after the previous night, I had no idea what I wanted to see and I was worried about dew. I sat around all day in my tent thinking about what I wanted to see before 2am, but then I began my frantic search for something I could use as a makeshift dew shield. I had two shoe strings packed away just in case I would need something to tie down anything related to the tent. I had my 7’x2′ camping mat I had been sleeping on under my sleeping bag. I rolled up the mat and tied it down. It fit the end of my telescope just fine and it was snug enough to hold. I only had to worry about weight and any interference with my visual experience.

I viewed the night sky in my XT8 until 4:30 in the morning, so the makeshift dew shield worked perfectly. As I said in my recap of Day 2, I ended up seeing two more shooting stars with my telescope and probably six or seven others with my naked eyes over the course of this night.

So about night #3…

My other camping buddy from Mississippi told me about someone who had Shreveport star club experience and that guy just happened to roll in that afternoon. I introduced myself and found out a bit about the SBAS, as well as his nifty self made 12″ telescope. If I remember his story correctly, this telescope was someone else’s project and that man passed away, so Joey took up the task of finishing the job.

I had a new neighbor come in that night as well. I came to find out his name was Dave out of New Orleans. Fantastic fellow. Great setup. The only thing was. It took him about three hours to calibrate his telescope. Like he said to us, he earned it. After all these years of doing the hard work of searching, he deserves equipment that takes the work out of the equation.

The stargazing started the same way as previous nights with the arrival of Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter came up shortly after Venus, so I viewed it for a while until I got bored. I tried looking at Venus while the new neighbor was setting up his elaborate telescope on a heavy duty tripod. The guy with the Z10 had the same Zhumell filter set, so I let him know the variable polarizer was helping smooth out Venus. From there, I waited for things to get dark. I tried finding Comet Garradd, but the sky was still a tad too blue for looking at fuzzies like that. I went back to looking at Jupiter and then glanced at Jupiter through the custom 12″ scope Joey brought down. I spent some time going between an 80A filter and a variable polarizer on Jupiter, but the image was really not all that different from what I see here in Shreveport.

Mars & minor calibration
I swung my scope around to Mars and tried picking out some surface features. I could see the polar cap and one of the mares, but everything was still a little too bright for me to really get anything out of the view. I ended up using Mars to help fine tune the nut on the base of my telescope for controlling my side to side movement. Mars was great because it’s a smaller planet in my telescope and its time inside my viewing field is often very short.

Bode & Cigar
The sky was still not dark enough in my opinion to give M95/M96 a go, so I went in search of other galaxies. By then, things were darker near Ursa Major. I spent a little bit of time finding the comet again and from there, hopped on over to M81 and M82, Bode & Cigar. I fit them into one view and had a look at them in Joey’s scope as well. I thought I could fit them both in my 17″ eyepiece (Didn’t I do that before?), but that was entirely too much power for the task, so I backed off to my 25mm and sat there to enjoy the view.

M95, M96, & a supernova
I went back to look for M95 and M96 after that. I really wanted to see the supernova in M95, but I was worried 95 would be dim just like here in Shreveport. From Mars, I bounced around and found 95 and 96 within seconds. I found 96 first, actually. I remembered that the last time I found these two, M95 was above 96, so I shimmied a short distance and saw it right away. I stared at it with my 32mm eyepiece and dropped down to my 17mm, as I often do. I saw a dot and so I walked down to ask Steve if I was on it. From what he said, it sounded like I was looking on the correct side of M95’s core, so consider SN2012aw found. I went back to M96 for a short while and then went looking for the other nearby pair of galaxies, M105 and NGC 3384. Found both of them right away. For some reason, I really enjoy finding those two more than 95 and 96.

M13, The Great Cluster in Hercules
I walked around for a while after that, checking out views in Joey’s 12″ scope and talking shop with a few others. I watched Dave work on his calibration and shot the breeze with him at the same time. While I was at the 12″ telescope, I mentioned looking for where Hercules was in the sky. I couldn’t make out the top two stars amidst all the extra clutter. Once Joey pointed it out, we actually decided to chase after M13 and while we were at it, we looked at a small galaxy below M13. I had no idea a galaxy was even there. When I climbed up the ladder to look through the eyepiece of that 12″, I had to ask where the galaxy was, but as soon as he said it, I saw NGC 6207 underneath two stars. It was a very small galaxy that wasn’t very bright at all, but no averted vision was required to find it.

Sharing M3, M13, & M51
Also while I was walking around, newcomers and students were roaming around, looking through telescopes. I had no idea people would be doing that on Friday night, but since I realized I had left my own telescope unattended, I decided to hurry back to make sure all of my eyepieces were still there. I also ran into two of these visitors checking out open clusters in the 12″ scope, so globular clusters were brought up and I offered to pull up M53 since I was just getting ready to roam around Coma Berenices. I backpedaled and said I could find M3 for them.

Once I put my scope on M3, I walked back over to find this pair of enthusiastic onlookers and mentioned I had found M3. I loosely explained what a globular cluster looked like to them and how I tended to use averted vision to help see the detail in the center. I also happened to briefly mention Omega Centauri, but when they both looked through my XT8 at M13, I realized I was more than happy to have been the one to help show them something they had never seen before. I then asked if they had seen any galaxies yet and since their answers were No, I went after M51 with its companion and wowed them again. As an afterthought, I probably should’ve put them on M81 and M82. I also think I showed them Comet Garradd. While I was showing them these things, I explained how I had only recently returned to astronomy and that the XT8 was a great beginner telescope.

M104: The Sombrero Galaxy
I hadn’t chased after M104 yet and because it wasn’t one I had seen before, I took the time to glance at a chart to locate this particular fuzzy object. I turned around and looked up to find those four stars in Corvus and drew a diagonal line up to where the Sombrero galaxy should be. It took me a little while, but I finally hovered over it. At low power, the dark line did not show up, but from 17mm on down, it was apparent. There was a line of stars near M104 that formed a right angle with another line of stars and I found this particular arrangement interesting to the point where I assumed it had a name or a catalog number, but from what I can tell, it does not. I’m not even sure if it is considered an asterism.

(Image taken from SkySafari 3.1.1 Pro for iPhone)

The Cat’s Eye Nebula
The next object I chased after was one I have tried looking for at home, the Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543 ). If you’re not familiar with this object, it is located in Draco and sits between two of the bends in the constellation. Over the past month or so, Draco has been getting higher and higher in the sky, allowing objects like this to escape any sort of low horizon glow. I mentioned the object to Dave and then went about finding it on my own. I used low power first, scanning for something that didn’t look like a star anywhere near other stars. I ended up finding something bright and took it down to 6mm. It seemed to have tapered edges, much like how an outline of the eye might have. Unfortunately, it did not have the nice halo I was accustomed to viewing on the Eskimo Nebula and pictures of the Cat’s Eye on the internet.

The inner portion of the object was very bright and I could just barely make out a much brighter center, ultimately forming the overall picture of what might resemble an eye. I was still unsure about whether or not I had found the object, so I consulted Leon and Joey. We located it on a star map and then put the 12″ on it. They were able to find something, so I had a look and agreed that the object they had in the 12″ was in fact the object I had just seen. Eventually, Dave put his calibrated scope on this one and when I came over, he said that he didn’t see anything that looked like anything at all. I climbed up the ladder to have a look and immediately saw the planetary nebula at almost dead center in his 40 something millimeter eyepiece. He had noticed the bright spot and wondered if that was it. He later looked it up on the internet with his mobile connection and agreed that it was a very cool object.

I noticed the seat on my observing stool was getting damp, so I pulled out my makeshift dew shield I made out of my camping mat, put it on my telescope and went back to viewing the night sky.

Saturn
Saturn was high in the sky and I heard Joey yell out that Saturn looked amazing, so I put my telescope right on it and had a look. Yes, it was absolutely amazing. It was also turned on end and the rings were straight up and down, although not on plane. I pulled out my #12 yellow and had a look. It had contrast, but I couldn’t see Cassini. I pulled out a #58A and had the same impression. My theory was that if I stacked the two, I could reproduce the effects of a #11 yellow-green. Once I stacked them, I could easily make out the Cassini Division at the two ends of the rings. Very neat. Honestly, Saturn was crisp and a real treat over the entire course of the star party.

Clusters in the East
I spent a fair amount of time wandering around in the eastern sky, meandering through open clusters I didn’t feel like identifying. I backed off and went for some globular clusters in the southeast because Antares had risen above the tree line. I knew I could find M4 and M80 right away. I then looked for M107 higher up. Then I went looking for M10 and M12, but I never found either one. I had trouble finding both of those when I was here in Shreveport, but oddly enough, I’ve stumbled onto both in party cloudy skies, so figure that out. I have no idea why those two are such problems for me. Anyway, I ended up finding M14 and two other globs that had a very blue hue to them low in the sky. I’m not sure if those were M19 and M62, but I think the two I found were further to the north than that. Looking at a star map, they could have easily been M69 and M70. I’ll have to revisit this area to really know for sure.

2am was fast approaching and I was still dew-free with my handy dandy shield. I was waiting for two things to happen. I wanted Centaurus to show up so I could see Omega Centauri. I wanted Sagittarius to rise above the trees so I could find all those nebulae and clusters down in there.

Centaurus, Omega Centauri, & Centaurus A galaxy
Centaurus was indeed rising above the trees, so I let a few people know it was there and started looking for Omega Centauri. I had seen it the previous night in two other telescopes, but since mine had a dewed-over secondary mirror, I couldn’t give it a go. Luckily, I hadn’t been hit by dew yet, so I went for it. I thought I could barely see it low in the sky, so I went looking and found it just above the tree line. I also noticed a funny alignment of stars that zig zagged back and forth next to each other. Like the group of stars near M104, I assumed these weren’t named or numbered either. I went back to looking at Omega Centauri for a while longer. Leon came over to have a look since he missed it the night before and after that, asked about a galaxy over in that area. I ended up finding Centaurus A, the Hamburger Galaxy. At first, I couldn’t see the black line running down the middle, but once it rose higher in the sky, I could just barely make out the division. Neat, but not fantastic.

Roaming Sagittarius
Once Sagittarius came up, I swung my telescope over and because the Milky Way fluff was also lurking in that area low on the horizon, I could just barely see nebulosity in Trifid and Lagoon. I had to wait some more.

Trifid looked nice, but not spectacular. Lagoon looked nice as well. I went looking for the Omega (Swan) Nebula and the Eagle Nebula. For me, the Swan looks more like a backwards lowercase h, but I still love finding it. The Eagle was less impressive in my scope and I was certain my filters were a tad dewy, so I looked at that one with Steve’s scope along with a narrowband filter. It had some great nebulosity with that filter, but without it, was unimpressive.

I bounced around some more and found M22, so I shared that with Steve and an outstanding helpful guy named Will. M22 had some really great central stars for a globular cluster. Great cluster.

I found the Butterfly Cluster and Ptolemy’s Cluster, but I couldn’t see the galaxy that was on the edge of Ptolemy. Not sure why. It must come and go.

By then, the Milky Way was just outstanding, spanning across the sky. Of course, I’m sure in even darker skies, it would’ve been even more impressive, but for me, it was just awesome to be able to see it for a change.

I also ventured into a large spread of stars, a large open cluster of some kind, that had a round area of nebulosity inside of it. At first, I wondered if it was just a distant open cluster like what I had found near M35. After looking on the internet just now, the open cluster was the Sagittarius Cluster, M24, and the nebulosity inside of it must have been NGC 6603.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_Star_Cloud

The dew never touched me that morning and I hopped into my tent around 4:30am after shooting the breeze with a couple of guys on the other end who were working through Messier binoc and double star challenges.

New finds:
NGC 6207
SN2012aw
M104
NGC 6543 – Cat’s Eye Nebula
Cassini Division in Saturn’s rings
NGC 5128 – Centaurus A
Milky Way arched across the eastern sky
M24
NGC 6603

3/3/2012 – Globs, globs, globs

Earlier in the night, I wanted to go out because I knew Saturn would be lurking about, but I also knew that if I waited longer, I could get in on some serious deep space object action in addition to Saturn. I waited until about 4am and headed outside. To my dismay, the skies had started to cloud over, but there were large clear patches of sky between the clouds. For the hard core amateur astronomers, any clear sky is good sky, right?

It was also a balmy 52 degrees when things began, I think, but by 5am, it was a lot colder. I won’t say too much, but I’m typing with numb hands right now. Let me just say that in addition to finding several globular clusters, I found the cold front. That wind got me good. I wasn’t going to wait for gaps in clouds while my body was telling me to go inside.

Anyway, as for stargazing, I started out looking for Saturn. It was behind some clouds and the clearest patch of sky was to the north. I could easily see Vega, so I figured I might as well test out the sky. I put my scope right on top of the Ring Nebula. Found ‘er. Of course, I’ve already found that gem, so it was just a chance to check it out again. I put the UHC filter on my 6mm eyepiece and had a look. I could see a better ring than my previous attempt and for whatever reason, it seemed a little larger than what I remembered.

Anyway, the point was, if I could see the Ring Nebula, most objects would be good to me tonight.

I went on to Saturn and tried out the combo 58A/12 green/yellow filter to test my stacked theory. To remind you of what that is, just know that a #11 yellow green is supposed to be helpful on Saturn, especially with the Cassini Division. I figured I could make my own yellow green mix and get a similar outcome. I have yet to make that work, but I’ll keep trying. If it doesn’t happen, I suppose I will have to break down and buy a #11.

My next target was M5, a globular cluster just beyond Virgo and coincidentally, near where Saturn was sitting in the sky. After waiting a while for the clouds to cooperate, I located two of the stars at one end of Virgo, picked out Unukalhai in Serpens, and lined up the scope. Within seconds, I had M5 pegged. It was a very prominent cluster compared to, say, M3. It looked broader and was quite bright in my 32mm eyepiece. I zoomed in using the 6mm and attempted to view stars closer to the center of the cluster with great success, even with the clouds rolling by. It was an enjoyable cluster to view and appreciate.

M4 was next, but for that, I had to wait for clouds to give me room to work around Antares. I didn’t see M4 at first and as I moved the scope around, I stumbled across another globular cluster, M80. It was not very impressive. It lacked distinct detail and was small in size, but I could tell it was a globular cluster. Even with the help of my Zhumell Skyglow filter, it was faint. I waited for the clouds to open up again around Antares so I could pinpoint M4 and once the opportunity presented itself, I was on M4 within seconds. Done. M4 struck me as a less dense globular cluster, but in terms of visibility, it was more prominent than M80, but less impressive than M5.

That’s when my night took a turn. I had to find something else to look at and because the clouds were getting worse, my visible sky was becoming severely limited. To my surprise, the eastern sky was loaded with globular clusters. Loaded. Holy…

I am seriously going to have to dedicate an entire late night to viewing this part of the sky. I was not at all prepared to handle all that borders Scorpio.

I wanted to find M10 and M12 since two stars in Ophiuchus were easily visible to the naked eye, both were doable. Unfortunately, the clouds were moving through that area, but much of the sky underneath that spot was clearing up. I ended up finding a cluster of stars with a faint fuzzy below it (reversed image, so technically above it). After consulting my apps, I had to assume this was the Ptolemy cluster, M7, and NGC6453. That faint fuzzy next to the cluster looked more like a galaxy than a globular cluster, but since my charts put M7 close to a faint fuzzy, I had to stick with my assumption.

After that, luck shined down on me and a nice wide open stretch of black sky allowed me to find M12 and then from there, M10. I probably could have zoomed in to find M107, but as I said earlier, it got cold fast. My hands just weren’t fit to go bouncing around after clusters at that point. I packed up and called it quits.

So let’s recap. I revisited the Ring Nebula. I found M4 and M5. I found M80. I found M7 and NGC6453 together. Then I found M10 and M12. Not bad for a mostly cloudy late night. Not bad at all. This section of space is going to be a very generous area to scan over the coming weeks.

And just because you read this post to the very end, I’ll reward you with a link to photos of the moon from earlier in the evening. I took pictures at around 7:30 to 8pm and had lots of fun. You can view them here.

Stargazing 2/21 pm & 2/22 am

Tuesday night, I did some heavy duty stargazing until about 3am when dew started building up on my filters and clouds started interfering with my views of Saturn. The goal was to check out Jupiter with various filters, Venus with various filters, and then spend some time getting to know the sky in and around Cassiopeia.

I hit Venus first because it was an easy target and my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the night yet. Might as well view the brightest thing in the sky first, right? This planet was not an easy one for me in previous viewings, so I knew what I was up against. I tried out the two green filters I had, a #58A and a #56, and I even tried my #12 yellow on Venus. I stacked the filters with a variable polarizer as well as my Zhumell Urban Sky filter in hopes of reducing the glare. The variable polarizer was enough to clean the edges out to the point where I could essentially see a round planet. Of course, because the Sun sat below Venus in the sky, the image resembled the waning moon. I could not make out much detail, but I did see a little bit of wide banding. I’m not sure if I was looking at clouds on Venus or if the glare was just playing tricks on me.

I then went on to view Jupiter and was amazed at the view. The surface features were the best I’ve ever been able to observe. I believe it was Io floating close to Jupiter, possibly casting a shadow down upon the edge of Jupiter. At first, I thought I was looking at the GRS, but after reading posts online about others viewing Jupiter, it made sense that the darker spot could be Io’s shadow, but it could’ve just as well been the GRS. Feel free to enlighten me.

While I was messing with Jupiter, I knew M74 was nearby in Pisces. I set my scope on Eta Piscium in Pisces and poked around a bit, using obvious stars as landmarks according to what my iPhone apps showed me. Before I gave up, I saw a satellite zip by almost parallel to the line of stars in Pisces. I could not see M74 to save my life, even with my trusty Urban Sky filter, so I went on to take a peek at M31. Even M31 was fainter than what I’ve seen in the past, but I could barely see M110. Strange that M31 was 1/2 the size I’m accustomed to, yet the sky was clear enough for me to see 110 and not 74.

Yes, I let my eyes adjust to the night sky before moving on. It was pretty dark by the time I hit up M74 and I moved my telescope further out in the yard away from several interfering lights that are always on along the property lines and near neighbor’s houses. I tested my vision against other objects and M51 was faint, as was its companion. The Owl Nebula was also faint, even with the OIII filter. M108 was barely visible, but there and difficult to pin down.

Clear Sky said I had poor seeing and average to below average transparency. Is this because of the warmer air? Does the atmosphere become unstable when air temperatures are in the 60’s? Am I doomed from here on out until next winter?

I moved the telescope to a different spot to get a full view of Cassiopeia. I started from the bottom, up, looking for clusters since galaxies were not being telescope-friendly. SkySafari on my iPhone showed a nebula named the Pacman Nebula, aka NGC281. I couldn’t find it. I probably saw the stars, but I couldn’t see any nebulosity. I guess this is one more nebula to add to my dark sky list. When I was bouncing back and forth looking for that thing, I saw a cluster of stars that looked like a stick man. I glanced in my apps and sure enough, it had a name. That was the Owl Cluster, NGC457. The next cluster I found was M103, but I’ve found it before. It was more of a confirmatory visit than anything else. Next up was another cluster, NGC663, easily found.

Then things got interesting. A lot of objects live above Cassiopeia and below Perseus. There are a few awesome clusters, but there are also two nebulae. Of course, I could not see either the Heart or the Soul nebulae, but the clusters were worth staring at for a few minutes. First up was Stock 2, a cluster the internet tells me people call the Muscleman cluster. I don’t see it. I just see a group of stars spread wide apart. Next to Stock 2 was a more interesting find, a double cluster. The two clusters are NGC884 and NGC869. Although technically not in Cassiopeia, but rather, clusters designated in Perseus, they are both interesting to visualize in a 32mm eyepiece and perhaps more enjoyable at wider views.

I took a break and came inside, killing my night vision.

Later on, I stepped back outside into the back yard, looking for things in the northern sky. I waited for my eyes to adjust and went about searching for the Cat Eye Nebula. I could not see it. I spent a fair amount of time lining things up with stars in Draco to no avail. I drove myself nuts. Looks like this is another dark sky-only candidate.

In a previous sitting, I had trouble finding M3, so I swung my scope up to find it again and within seconds, I had it. I must remember that it’s further east than what my apps show.

I then recalled that I had some trouble finding the pair of stars that is M40, aka Winnecke 4. I think I found it, but then again, the object I saw appeared to have some “nebulosity” about it. Perhaps I instead wandered over NGC4290. I doubt it, so I think I found M40. I’m going to add it to my list because it lined up with where my star maps said it should.

I next swung the telescope back over near M3 to look for M53, a globular cluster near Coma Berenices. I’ve already seen M53, but there is a second cluster near it called NGC5053. I spent an inordinate amount of time bouncing back and forth between M53 and the pair HIP64762/HIP64775 looking for any sort of cluster. I couldn’t see it. I looked online for images. Nothing came close to a cluster in my view of that area. Next!

I knew Saturn was up high in the sky, so I changed locations and looked at it for a while using various filters and magnifications. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was mad at me and made my filters fog up and brought high clouds in to interfere with Saturn. I packed up and went in around 3am. I wanted to stack my #12 and #58A to make a yellow green that might show the Cassini Division. I will say that a couple of Saturn’s moons were easily visible, even at low mags. Nice.

Stargazing 2/6/2012

I awoke early this morning to a clear sky, something I had not expected to encounter because most of the US has been clouded over and this area has endured some unseasonably unwelcome thunderstorms. My hopes were essentially dashed at the notion of witnessing Comet Garradd near M92 because of its late arrival in the sky and the unrelenting cloud cover. That all changed this morning.

I started out looking for Hercules, noticing that a bright star had already entered the northern sky, a star I had not been awake long enough to observe. That star ended up being Vega. From there, I found Hercules and the area where M92 should be. I set my laser finder on the spot and sure enough, I found a fuzzy spot. I browsed around for a second fuzzy spot, just above that area, but after much effort, nothing was there.

I cleared my head, realigned the scope, and searched again from a new spot. I found the M92 cluster with a very bright center. It dawned on me that perhaps I had not seen M92 earlier, but rather, I had landed on the comet first. That would make sense because I did not scan south of the comet to search for anything that might resemble a cluster. I stared at the comet for a while, allowing my eyes to adjust accordingly, noticing that the Moon behind me was also beginning to fade below the horizon allowing for better viewing conditions. Still, I could not see any wispy tails like I was promised, but I found the comet, nonetheless. Filters did not help clean things up. In fact, they made Garradd dimmer and harder to see.

After staring at that for a while, I turned my scope around to the southern sky and found Saturn. I wanted to check it out after my recent collimation attempt. I had hoped a planetary view would be cleaner and more crisp than before. Perhaps my end result was almost negligible, but I did see some moons around Saturn this time. I counted four, but I could have been wrong. I know some stars are around there in close proximity.

I tested views using the variable polarizer filter, noticing the moons with much more clarity, but also to attempt to see the Cassini Division in the rings. I went down to 13mm with a 3x Meade Barlow and still could not make out the black line in the rings. I pulled out a #12 color filter and applied it to my 13mm eyepiece, the Barlow still in my focuser. The #12 filter is a 74% deep yellow filter. With this filter, I was able to see a much cleaner view of Saturn, including some surface definition and finally, the Cassini Division.

I shot some video of it through my iPhone. I think I’m going to have to invest in one of those iPhone clamps.

Cropped version:

I then set my sights back on the northern sky because I haven’t spent much time exploring what’s out there after 4am. I first chased after the Ring Nebula. It didn’t take me long to find it, but I was left somewhat unimpressed. It was smaller than I had expected and the clarity was not what I expected, either. It looked like an out of focus oval, but I could make out the general ring-ish appearance. I found that the UHC filter made the Ring Nebula brighter and the OIII didn’t really make much of a difference. So for the Ring Nebula, I’m going with the UHC filter as the best option.

I meandered around in my iPhone apps for a bit, trying to decide what to look at next. I was bored with clusters at that point, so I wanted to check out some of the supposed nebulae lurking around out there near Vega, Deneb, and Sadr. Gamma Sygni was on the list, but I could not make out any nebulosity, so I didn’t find that. Same with the Pelican Nebula and the North America Nebula. Then I tried to find the Elephant Trunk. Same problem. Just stars. No nebulosity.

What I’ve seen so far

The ownership of a telescope of this size is a major undertaking for most people. Granted, I’m terrified at the thought of having to clean my mirror, but until that day comes, hopefully my XT8 will yield some fantastic views. I’ve had the telescope for almost a month and I’ve found a number of objects worth mentioning. I’ll just run down a list of what I’ve been able to see and then I’ll briefly talk about what I can’t see…yet.

Obviously, I’ve looked at the Moon under various magnifications. I plan on revisiting the moon so that I learn the names of certain landmarks. Navigation is fairly straight forward, but since we’re all moving objects in space, I can only spend so much time looking at one thing before I have to readjust the scope.

Planets have been interesting undertakings. I’ve looked at Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and Venus. I’ve tried to find Uranus and Neptune. I believe I was able to pick out the dot that was supposed to be Neptune, but I cannot be sure. Venus is just too bright to even begin to consider examining. Mars is just too small right now, but I believe I’ve seen the polar cap. Jupiter has been a joy to view. Using a moon filter, I’ve been able to increase the contrast on Jupiter so that it’s not a glaring object in my view. I’ve seen the four massive moons, Io, Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa. I have yet to really see the Great Red Spot, but I can make out the lines across the planet. Saturn has been the most amazing of the bunch to view, but it requires staying awake until the wee hours of the night, on into morning. I haven’t been able to see the Cassini Division yet, but I’ve seen Saturn tilted at different angles. I believe I’ve even seen at least one of its moons.

Deep space objects are a little more difficult. Of course, the Orion Nebula (M42) is easy to find. I can see the great nebula, but cannot make out any nebulosity in its next door neighbor. I’ve found numerous clusters and galaxies, but most galaxies only show up as grey blobs, even Andromeda.

Here’s the list:

M81, M82, M44, M67, M48, M47, M46, M42, M43, M35, M37, M38, M36, M33, M74, M31, M110, M76, M34, M1, M45, M50, and M103. I’ve also found NGC 1907 and NGC 1528.

The clusters 36, 37, and 38 are fun objects to find if you want to improve your navigational skills. M110 only showed up once or twice for me while I was checking out Andromeda. Andromeda (M31) lacks any sort of detail, but on the day of the new moon, I was able to see a brighter center.

The Bode (M81) and Cigar (M82) galaxies are not easy to find because they seem to be changing position more than other objects in relation to Ursa Major.

Of course, we can see the Pleiades with the naked eye, but looking at the group of sisters through the telescope is worth it.

One problem I’ve had is finding other nebulae. I can put the scope right on top of where something should be, but no nebulosity appears. I only see stars. Now, the Crab Nebula (M1) was not visible at first, but I eventually found a grey blur that lined up with where M1 should be. It was not impressive. I’m hoping some filters will help kick things up a notch. I have the same complaint about M 33, M74, M76, and M43. They are faint grey blobs or smudges. Nothing more. In my current viewing site, I’m limited to seeing objects of magnitude 7 or less, or thereabouts.

In addition to all the usual objects, I’ve seen random satellites cross my field of view. Some move faster than others, so it has been fun trying to zig zag my way ahead of one so that another person can watch it dart by.

So as you can see, I’m already jumping around and finding numerous objects with my XT8.