After two weeks or so since buying a nice new toy (10:1 crayford focuser for the Skywatcher, thanks Eric it works a treat!) I got tired of nothing but clouds, rain and full moon to look at.
Tonight while checking the goodies on Starrynight I discovered that the crescent moon would be occulting M44 the Beehive Cluster for about 2 hrs. Yay!!
This was a great event to watch as the stars went out one by one until finally there were no more just black around the moon. By this time the first to disappear were reappearing on the bright side but could not be seen due to the glare.
This was observed using the 32mm 2" Saxon which allowed the moon and the entire M44 to be viewed together in the fov.
Then I set my sights on a few objects that I hadnt seen before even though they were very low in the sky.
- First M61 the Sunflower galaxy at about 10 degrees above the horizon. With the 13mm the core was clear and surrounded by a very faint outer disk.
- Next was M94 the Cats Eye Galaxy at only 1 degree above horizon. Naturally nothing visable but the very faint core. But a thrill just to find it.
- M104 the Sombrero Galaxy. Using the 13mm and 2.5 p/mate (192X) the galaxy was still faint but the dust lane could be seen with averted vision. The 13mm (76X) alone still showed the dust lane.
- Finally I finished with M5 Globular cluster. Through the 13mm this cluster reminded me of M13.
All this was achieved with some clear sky, then hazy cloud and to finish it off, some smoke from all the folks here that love to burn damp leaves and stuff. Just as well that they are all great neighbors. All in all good fun and now its off to sleep.
