Just a short one this time - I got halfway through my book on genome sequencing last night, and decided I needed a break. Looking outside, the clouds that were around on Friday night seemed to have dissapeared, so I grabbed the old bino's and walked out to the footy field.
Viewing was a little worse than last time - I couldn't make out much detail in the Milky Way, but the Magellanic Clouds stuck out. At a pinch, I'd say it was around mag 5 - the Great Square in Pegasus was under light pollution for me, so I was basing that on the stars near Orion's Belt.
I thought I'd try something new this time. Instead of working from map to sky, I'd scan the sky, look for something that was interesting, then try to dentify it on the map. This worked great until I realised that it was dark outside and I couldn't read the map...
Never-the-less I persisted, and one of the first things I noticed was a naked eye fuzzy patch below and to the right of Canopus. Binoculars gave it a little more detail, and I found it to be Eta Carinae. I was impressed at the level of detail that I could see with the naked eye - it was actually rivalling the two Cloud's in term of magnitude!
Further to the South, around the limit of my light pollution, I could make out another blur, but only under bino's. It was rather odd - in my whole field of view, I could only see this blur, and one other star, which leads me to believe it must be pretty bright. Cross reference with the map put it as Kappa Crucis, AKA NGC 4755, AKA "The Jewel Box". I Googled up some photos of it this morning, and it's definitely on my to do list for when I get my scope!
Around this point, I snuck another quick look at 47Tuc, just 'cause I could
I tried something different here, and lay on my back, and tried to stabilise the bino's as much as I could. I turned towards M42, and I was surprised how much detail I could make out, much more than last time. I could distinctly see the trapezium, and the nebulosity surrounding it was more or less the same shape as the photo's I've seen of the region.
While I was lying on my back, I saw another smudge over to the right of M42. he way I rememered its position was that it sort of made an equilateral triangle, with Rigel and Sirius forming the other two points. Looking at it, it seemed to be of a similar brightness to 47Tuc, so I thought it must have been something major. When I got back to my room though, the map I had showed that that area was totally empty! I'm rather confused by that - anybody got any idea what it was? I thought maybe it was a comet, but I couldn't percieve any movement at all from it, and on the S&T Sky Chart, I'm coming up with nothing....
Anyways, that was what I saw last night. In general, I was pretty impressed with the ammount of naked eye detail I could make out this time, especially considering it wasn't as dark as last week. I think I might add my mysterious object to a new catalogue, the Loopy catalogue. I'll call it L69....
I was out at about midnight last night. (crystal clear and beautiful) Machholz looked great in 10X50's. Its west and south of Rigel and west and north of Lepus. Almost just naked eye (in easy mag 5-6 skies) if you don't know where it is, and naked eye with averted vision if you know where to look.
The map should help. The area is roughly where it was last night (mybe slightly more west). Very easy to see in binocs
Paul
Last edited by [1ponders]; 12-12-2004 at 04:02 PM.
If you get into the area with binocs mike you can't miss it.
Good size coma and quite bright. If tonights good and clear, I might give it a whirl with a webcam. (just had 2 '' here in half an hour so hopefully its rained itself out for the day)
I have both so if the weathers fine for long enough and theres no party at the bowls club next door (they love to turn on the big lights when they get partying there) I'll try both. Might even wack the Canon eos on piggyback for a wider field.
Hmmm... I think Mick may be on to something, that's pretty much where it was... why isn't it marked on my Aus S&T map or on the S&T Sky Chart online? I'll try to get a look at the comet tonight
Forgot to add a little report on last nights session ..... although in most directions lp was a factor the general view to the N,NNE,E wasnt bad and the seeing ok , with patience even saturn yeilded to magnification {9mm @f/10} . M42 really stood out last night , sighted the 2 fainter components of the trapizium , the view through the 22mm nagler {f10} is a knockout everytime .....especially the neboulous extensions leading out to the edge of FOV from the main part that encircles the void of the trap and M43. Sighted a est mag3 satellite on a west-east path that nearly dissected Orions belt , checked heavens above for info but couldnt see anything for that time {930} . Had 2 iridium flares and took 12 piggyback pics of m45,m42, and widerfield constellation shots . Not hopeful theyll come out because of the conditions but kept exposure times below 5 min plus i had to use BW film , stuffed up installing a roll of colour film {ahhhh}. had planned to go plantery nebula hunting but in the end just explored Orion , Taurus and the open clusters around canis major. The powermate has some nice features , like the compression ring that prevents scratching on a eyepiece barrel and is parfocal , minamal focusing adjustments ...bonus ....and the petterson clutch upgrade seems well worth it , no worring about the tube suddleny slipping when taking accessories off.
Hey that sattelite you saw going past Orion at 930 - I saw that too! In fact, I saw two of them together, one coming from Orion, and the other from the opposite direction, on what looked like a collision course. I got both of them in the FOV of my bino's, and they missed by about a moon's width.
Had a look last night with 7x50 binos just before a storm moved in, It's tail is getting bigger and brighter. It's moving West, did you get a photo Paul?
I'm having trouble finding a dry spot to setup my telescope out of the glare of surrounding lights. We had about two inches of rain this afternoon and my usual spot is a just a bit soft. I've got my fingers crossed for tonight.
I live in a nicely treed suburb with tennis courts and a bowls club next door, with a lighthouse on the street out the front of the house, so its a bit of a challenge at times finding the right spot to set up. I've got a great spot out in the carpark of the bowls club, when they remember to turn out the fluro lights above their front door. Its part of the joy of living in the 'burbs I guess.
I've convinced my wife we need to take down a couple of palm trees and a big leopard tree. Once they're gone I'll be able to set up on some concrete, protected from most of the street lights and clear of trees, with a 150 degree n/s view covering an area approx just past zenith to about 40 degrees above the eastern horizon. Its a narrow window but at least the whole sky will roll through it as the year progresses. Thats the theory at least .
Better luck tonight. (I've still only had the new Meade out 6 times since the 11 Oct)
a 150 degree n/s view covering an area approx just past zenith to about 40 degrees above the eastern horizon. Its a narrow window but at least the whole sky will roll through it as the year progresses.
Sounds like my backyard Paul. I don't look at objects under 50deg with a telescope much except in the North so it's not a problem, the trees stop a lot of the LP from town.
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Machholz looked great in 10X50's. Its west and south of Rigel and west and north of Lepus. Almost just naked eye (in easy mag 5-6 skies) if you don't know where it is, and naked eye with averted vision if you know where to look.
Its part of the joy of living in the 'burbs I guess. 
