Observing

4/26/08, 10:00 pm -12:00 am New Carlisle, IN Meade 7-in Maksutov, Sky Commander

The Sky Commander makes this scope so easy to use. Lots of fun. Used 24mm and 19mm Panoptics, very nice.

NGC 2903-a favorite! M65, M66, other Leo NGC galaxies M3 Sextans Galaxy Ghost of Jupiter Saturn M101 M51

4/24/08, 8:30-9:30 pm New Carlisle, IN Meade 7-inch Maksutov, Sky Commander

Set up Sky Commander on Mak for the first time. Practiced finding objects. Binoviewed Saturn.

4/09/08, 9:00-10:20 pm New Carlisle, IN TV-85 Observed crescent moon, Sirius, and Saturn. Moon beautiful sight, high up in sky.

4/08/08, 9:00 pm MST Tempe, AZ 2.3x40 binoculars

Observed moon just past occultation with Pleiades. Partly cloudy. Brought binos on vacation.

4/02/08, 9:00-10:15 pm New Carlisle, IN TV-85mm refracting telescope, CG5 mount I attempted to resolve Sirius with the TV-85, but without success. I made a diffraction pattern from black pinstripe. The air was fairly turbulent with Sirius visibly twinkling.

Saturn was absolutely stunning, as always, in the refractor. Using the 3-6mm Zoom and a 2.5x TV Barlow, the image held up even at 250x. I used the Barlow and zoom on Sirius also. With the zoom at 3mm, I could resolve the Casini division in the ring cusps as well as seeing the shadow of the disk on the rings. I could also slightly discern the edge of the rings shadow above the rings on the planet's disk.

3/29/08, 9:30-10:00 am New Carlisle, IN Coronado PST, doublestacked (SM40)

Observed new active regions 987-989, suspended in a line across the sun. It's nice to have some solar activity for a change**!**

3/28/08, 9:30-11:00 pm New Carlisle, IN TV-85mm refracting telescope SkyCommander

Beautiful, clear night. Not terribly cold.

Mars M41-pretty, could discern colored stars Tau Cluster-neat, one of the most interesting clusters M93-stunning in wide field M46-7 M50 M48 NGC 2903 M101-faint mottled, glowing patch M3-partially resolved fuzzball Saturn

3/23/2008, 8:20-9:05 pm New Carlisle, IN Meade 7-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope

I saw the Pup (companion of Sirius) tonight for the first time. I have tried many times to see it in the past.

Usually, in the 7-inch Sirius resembles a spiky, pulsating blob due to seeing. Tonight I opened the scope up during twilight when Sirius was near the meridian. The air was much steadier than usual. I also affixed a cross of masking tape over the front of the scope. This caused Sirius to appear as a 4-veined star. The Pup was nestled in one of the quadrants. This worked very well, and I watched for a few minutes to confirm the sighting. A small, steady point of light remained nestled in the SE quadrant. Removing the tape obliterated the view of the Pup.

Next I want to try a hexagonal mask instead of masking tape.

Seeing the Pup is a very difficult observation, and I am happy that the scope was up to it.

3/16/2008, 9:00-10:07 pm New Carlisle, IN TV-85mm refracting telescope

Clear all day, became hazy after dark. Rigel not an easy split due to scope being warm.

Observed waxing gibbous moon at low power using a 19mm Panoptic. Very sharp and beautiful. Noticed libration near Mare Crisium, lots of limb detail such as mare patches noticeable. Used Nagler 3-6 Zoom to examine Plato and Alpine Valley. TV-85 holds up nicely to 200x, only drawback is floaters and eye gunk are apparent.

I have been observing Sirius as often as I am able. My goal to to split Sirius in the TV-85 and see the Pup. At 200x and above, Sirius is a prismatic bullseye. Sometimes I imagine the Pup at roughly 160-degrees, but it is very fleeting. So far I haven't had any concrete views. I think that the 6-inch Orion Dobsonian would fare better, at least for now until Sirius opens up more.

Split Theta Auriga, primary appeared yellow and the secondary a faint orange presence. Neat. Theta was an easy split with the Nagler Zoom. I also tried the Zoom in a 2.5x Barlow lens. At 500x, the view still held up at times despite the seeing. I did this because I remembered the S&T review of the TV-85 and how Dennis DiCicco had employed a 5x Powermate to yield obscenely high powers, and he claimed the the TV-85 was able to handle it.

3/10/2008, 9:20-10:30 pm New Carlisle, IN TV-85mm refracting telescope

Started with Orion Nebula (M42), visible as greenish cloud. Struck by appearance of "fishes mouth" dark nebula, surely the most striking example in the sky.

Waxing crescent: Beautiful, as always. Very high in the sky due to ecliptic angle in spring. Sirius: Attempted to see Pup, no luck. Rigel: Easy split Delta Orionis: 2", easy split Trapezium: Definetely saw star "E", couldn't see "F".