Kerry Astronomy Club observation session.
On Thursday 13th October Kerry Astronomy Club held a lunar and Martian observing session. We all met on Shortt mountain outside Tralee at 9pm. There were a number of telescopes present along with a few pairs of binoculars. Among the scopes were a 8.75†and 10†dob, a meade etx 70 and a skylux 70mm. There was some low lying cloud and a bright moon that hampered conditions a little for the deep sky targets but did not dampen our spirits or the enjoyment of the night sky.
The first target was the moon and this proved particularly impressive, if a little bright. We had quite a few new members along to their first observing session and the moon never fails to please. Highlights included the Gassendi Crater, Mare Humorum, The Bay of Rainbows and the Jura Mountains. Gassendi was particularly prominent with the terminator running through the centre highlighting the central mountain. Its walls could also be seen extending into the darkness beyond the terminator.
Next up was a look at mars, but it was down too low and the atmosphere was too unsteady to warrant serious study. The next few hours were spent explaining the use of a planisphere and pointing out constellations to some of the newer members and how we use these to find interesting objects in the night sky. We looked at Ursa Major/Minor, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Auriga, The Summer Triangle and its stars/constellations and Hercules.
Following our tour of the constellations, it was time to have a look at some of the more notable objects on view. We used binoculars to look at, The Pleiades, The Double Cluster, The Perseus Cluster, The Andromeda galaxy, The Coathanger cluster, and Alcor and and Mizar. The scopes were then turned to some of the same objects to illustrate what can be seen with each scope and the differences between the scopes and binoculars. The scopes were also turned towards The Ring Nebula, M13, the E.T. Cluster and Albireo, Despite the fact that there was a particularly bright moon, most of the objects were very impressive and served to illustrate what is accessible with the naked eye or a modest pair of binoculars.
As the night wore on, the temperature dropped, the clouds cleared, the wind slackened and the atmosphere steadied allowing us at last to turn our attention to mars. All scopes were trained on mars and detail was visible even in the 70mm scopes. Particularly evident was a dark grey section with a lighter pinkish area below it. The dark grey section is known as Syrtis Major and the lighter pink region is made up of four regions called Moab,Eden, Arabia and Aeria.
A thoroughly enjoyable night and hopefully the first of many over the next few months
Cheers
Trevor
