Observations 18th June 2021

Hello everyone,

It was great to see Aubrey, Michael, and Paul at the Sugar Loaf last night. I arrived at the meet-up at approximately 21:30 UT+1. At that time the only object worth viewing was the Moon. I was encouraged to take a look at 'Rupes Recta' on Michael's live stream. In addition, Aubrey mentioned that Clavius looked particularly interesting. It was interesting because only two of its craters were visible. Because of this Aubrey described what he saw as two eyes staring back at him, and I have to agree him - they did. 

By 22:22UT+1 I had observed my first DSO. It was M53 in Coma Berenices. Even with my 250mm Newtonian Reflector on a Dobsonian base, it was difficult tor resolve many stars in th globular cluster due to the light.

Following M53, Paul suggested I take a look at M4. We laughed because it took me an hour to locate it. To ensure I would remember how to find it again I took note of several interesting looking star arrangements close by. These included a triangular-shaped asterism made-up of the following stars: 'Rho Ophiuchi', HIP 80461, and Hip 80474. There was also a more elongated triangular-shaped asterism closer to Antares. The stars in this asterism inlcuded: 22 Scorpii, HIP 80804, and HIP 80799. At this stage some of you are probably scratching your heads wondering how these stars will help me locate M4 again as they are bringing me away from Messier 4. And you'd be right - they are! That's because I was not observing M4 last night, but M80   -good man Darren! Three years into the hobby and I'm still struggling with the 'easy' finds 

Anyway, M80 looked very small at 50X, so I pushed it to 100X. Like M53, it was difficult to resolve any stars. What's more it took on the appearance of a 'faint fuzzy. While I had two Globular clusters under the belt, I decided to finish up with M13, and M92. At this point it was close to 00:00UT+1. So, both clusters looked particularly good against a much darker sky. Many stars in each glob could be resolved, and M13 displayed its outstretch starry arms. 

As Aubrey and I were packing up for the night, we noticed Saturn rising in the East. So, before putting the scope back in the car I got my first viewing of the ringed planet this year. Oh, I should add that Jupiter had risen by the time we were leaving. Tempting as it was to take a look I was shattered, so headed home leaving something for next time. As I left the carpark I thought to myself how much I'm looking forward to locating these easier targets over the coming months 

That's all folks. Many thanks for reading and clear skies to all.

Darren.



 

Brilliant report, Darren. 
And clearly very good as you had no maps with you! Wow!

Thank you for giving us your observational details of these globular star clusters. 

We can try out the planets next time for sure. 

Clear skies from Aubrey.  

Hi Aubrey,

Many thanks for your kind words. While I did not have any maps out with me on Friday, I did use the smartphone app 'DSO Planner.' I found it pretty good. In saying that, I prefer working from paper maps, so next time I will be going back to my planisphere. 

Clear skies, 
Darren.