June 1, 2016 Started around 10:30 pm and finished around 11:45 pm. Transparency 3/5, Seeing 4/5. Light breeze, about 75% humidity.
Orion XT8i used manually. 38 & 25 mm 2" 70 AFOV, 9.7 mm Plossl, 6.7 mm 82 degree and 4.5 mm 60 degree. GSO 2" 2X barlow. No filters used.
It has been about a year since I came back to astronomy after a 45 year gap. Note that I am in NY so you southern astronomers will likely see different things in your sky.
Tonight was about going back to where I started a year ago when I was using my first binoculars and that was centered around Vega.
I surveyed the sky to find Vega, Deneb and Altair, the summer triangle. Then identified the Northern cross, extending to Albireo. Then, using my 10X50s I found the Coat Hanger.
This was my start-up routine for months when I first started.
Inserted the 38 mm then I lined up on Albireo in the 9X50 RACI finder. At 31X this double star was split into beautiful yellow and blue stars. The first time I accomplished this was using my ETX 80 with the 9.7 mm/41X eyepiece. I was so excited. I think I have split this double 100 times. And it is one of my favorites for introducing people to the wonders of astronomy.
I then used binoculars and then the finder to Locate the coat hanger. This is a cluster of 10 stars, about 7 degrees from Albireo angled slightly toward Altair. I took some time to sketch it. While I could see it clearly in the 2.2 degree FOV of the 38 mm eyepiece it just barely fit in the field of view. It looks much better in the 10X50s or 15X70 binoculars. If you have not seen it I highly recommend it. Another great one to show newbies.
http://earthsky.org/favorite-star-pa...-hop-adventure
I then went over to Epsilon Lyrae, the double double. This is the pair that helps me confirm I am looking at Vega in my binoculars. I see Vega and then see Epsilon Lyra and I know I have my correct star.
http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/...le-double-star
Using a series of eyepieces I split both the double stars into two beads each. At 180X I could see the beads but they were not separated. At 266 they were separated but the high humidity in the air caused them to be a bit fuzzy so I did not have the crisp split pair that I usually get. But it was fun doing the split again. The 9.7 and 4.5 mm eyepieces I used were not in my kit the last time I did this.
I had used SkEye, a free app available for android phones, to confirm Albireo. While doing that it showed that M57 was also near the constellation of Lyra where Vega resides. Cool, let's go looking for that.
I keep a link on my phone that points to a resource that has the Messier objects grouped by constellation. I highly recommend you make it an icon on your phone along with your other astronomy apps.
Messier Objects by constellation
http://messier.seds.org/CONindex2.html
It contains links to information about each Messier object. Well, I did not recall what M57 was so I looked it up. Oh, the ring Nebula. Cool. Let's go looking for that.
This took a while. In my light polluted sky M57 is just a faint white puff. It is barely visible with the 38 mm and even the 25 mm showed no ring, just a puff. I tried my 9.7, 6.7 and 4.5. But the best view was with my 2" 25 mm 70 degree in a 2" 2X barlow. The puff was there but faint. With averted vision I could see the ring nature. Got it!
That was it for the evening. I packed it up and was in by midnight so I could write this report before going to bed.
It was nice to go back to where I started a year ago when all I had was binoculars and a planisphere and the wonder of a child. Then I added the ETX 80 and later the XT8i. I am still a child, looking up in wonder.
Clear skies to you all.