Observations 30th October 2022

Hello everyone, and Happy Halloween!

With the daylight saving ending yesterday and it being a nice clear night, I had my f/5 250mm Newtonian Reflector on a Dobsonian base setup very early yesterday evening. For instance, I collimated the primary mirror (the seconadry was fine), and aligned my 10 X 50 scope by 19:00UT.  So shortly after 19:00UT, I settled in for a good 2-hour session.

Some of you might recall that I observed some Stock and King objects recently. I promised that I would return to them and try to sketch them. Armed with a 2B pencil, some paper, and a red light I began to sketch what I thought was 'King 14' - I've since discovered I actually sketched kappa Cas - I think - someone more knowledgeable than me might be able to clarify it for me.

King 14 is an open cluster and is close to kappa Cas. It's said to '...form an apparent triplet...' of open clusters (Netopil, et al., 2006:181). Those other open clusters that make up the triplet are NGC 146 and NGC 133. 

Using my 2-inch 30mm eyepiece, which provides a 70°, I saw an array of beautiful stars. One such grouping reminded me of Orion's Belt. To provide you with some idea of what it looked like last night, I've attached a small sketch of what i think is kappa Cas. By the time I finsihed the sketch, I noticed that Jupiter was positioned nicely in the South. So I decided to give that a go too!

Earlier in the evening Aubrey had mentioned that Io and Ganymede would look like a double star through a telescope. And true to his word they did. As you can see from the sketch both of these Moons were east of the Gas Giant - Ganymede is further North than Io. The other moon in the sketch is Europa - Callisto was further out west.

Over the course of about 40-minutes I used several coloured filters to help bring out additional details on Jupiter. I found, the blue, and orange filters worked particularly well. For example, the blue filter showed me that the NEB was larger and darker towards the Eastern limb, whereas the Orange filter brought out more of Jupiter's Barges in the Equatorial Zones. The South Equatorial Belt looked wider on the Eastern limb, and I felt it wasn't as dark as the NEB, and there was some of South Temperate Belt (STB) visible too. As for the Polar regions: The Southern Polar Region was darker that its Northern counterpart.

In addition to the above, I observed, the Double-Cluster, M31, and the Muscleman Cluster,a dn even managed a quick sketch of the 'Seven Sisters! 

Taken together, it was a most enjoyable night under the stars.

Many thanks for reading, and as always comments and feedback are welcomed.

Clear skies to all,

Darren.

BTW, I noticed two meteros last nightthe first one at approximately, 20:11UT. It flew from Andromeda through Perseus. The other one was later in the night - I didn't mark down the time - D'oh! That one flew from Triangulum making its way out west.


 


 

Hello Darren. 

Please can you email me as an attachment your extraordinary sketch of Jupiter. 
Whilst I am delighted you successfully observed the "double star" arrangement of Io and Ganymede, I am particularly pleased with all your cloud belts on the planet itself. 
Your North Equatorial Belt is wonderfully sketched and is clearly darker than the SEB.
You also have the South Temperate and the South South Temperate Belt also. 
I have observed both of these recently.
Both Polar Regions  are well drawn too. 
But your South Polar region is split. 
And I haven't been successful achieving that at all. 

Great job on finding those open clusters in Cassiopeia near Kappa Cassiopeiae. 
You have brought back great memories to me personally when I observed them in the Sugarloaf car park during 2019. 

Clear skies from Aubrey.   

That's a wonderful sketch of Jupiter Darren, your best yet I feel. Many thanks and continued clear skies.

Finbarr.

Hello Aubrey and Finbarr,

Very many thanks for your kind words. I am deligthed you like them, particulary the Jupiter one.

There were lots of details to see on Jupiter last Sunday night. It being that bit higher in the sky this year helps for sure, but I have learned that one needs to be patient. For example over the course of the observation, Jupiter revealed lovely details on several occasions, but those moments were few and far between. So, I had sit patiently and work quickly to record each detail.

In terms of the South Polar Region (SPR), I thought it looked somewhat striated in appearance - like muscular tissue. It was rather difficult to focus in on this area as it had a somewhat blurred appearance against the dark night sky. That being said, the filters definitly helped bring down the glare. And while I tend to find coloured filters not particulalry helpful, I believe I'll use them again over the coming sessions as Jupiter is still shining brightly in the night sky.

Thanks again gents, and clear skies to you!

Darren.