January 2005 Archives

Canis Major Constellation

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Observation Notes: I think this constellation is awesome. So many bright stars in a small area, with Sirius piercing boldly at the top. Wezen showed an orange color. I apparently even picked out M41 naked eye. Not knowing the boundaries well, I picked up some stars from Columbia and...

Lepus Constellation

Observation Notes: From my vantage point at home, even though Lepus was at culmination, it was still hurting from haze and light pollution. The two middle stars in the "funnel" were the brightest. The rump of the rabbit was difficult to see. I wasn't able to pick out color...

Auriga Constellation

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Observation Notes: Once some high cirrus clouds cleared out, Auriga materialized in detail as a pentagon shape. The northwest star, Capella, was the brightest, colored yellow-orange. El Nath, in the south, appeared cyan, while Menkalinan looked blue. The Milky Way's soft light flowed west-northwest to east-southeast along the southwestern...

Billy Crater and Mons Hansteen

Observation Notes: After spending time on Shickard, I moved Northward to Billy Crater. It showed a nice intact rim with a dark flooded floor. There were two white splashes on the south-southwest and south-southeast ends of the crater floor. Immediately north of the crater was a bright white spray...

Schickard and Lehmann Craters

Observation Notes: It's hard to get used to the fact that the moon plays misery on DSO observations two weeks out of every month. I can see that my biggest interest leans toward those dim patchy things, but given a little time exploring the moon, it still turns out...

Gamma Leporis (Herschel 40)

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October 18, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: This is a beautiful trio. The middle star is a deep orange. The stars look best with the 32 mm eyepiece--very brilliant,...

Struve 747

October 18, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: These 2 stars appear blue and are the brightest in the field. SubjectStruve 747 (ADS 4182) ClassificationDouble Star PositionOrion [RA: 05 35...

Iota Orionis (Struve 752)

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October 18, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: Main component is quite bright and blue. The other two members are to the southeast and east. The closest one is much...

Theta 2 Orionis (Struve 16)

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October 18, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: These 3 stars near the trapezium are widely spaced, and appear as bright or brighter than the trapezium's C star. SubjectTheta 2...
October 18, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: Even in poor seeing, the trapezium is spectacular. The A-D stars were simple to spot, with the C star being the brightest....

Sigma Orionis (Struve 762)

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October 12, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: A neat multiple star area. There was a triple star at center with a blue component on the west side. The northeast...

Zeta Orionis (Struve 774)

October 12, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: My first impression was of a wide double with a blue southern component that was much brighter than its southern counterpart. I...

Delta Orionis (Struve 14)

October 12, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: This is a wide double with a bright, blue, southern component. SubjectDelta Orionis (Mintaka / 34 Ori / Struve 14) ClassificationMultiple Star...

Lambda Orionis (Struve 738)

October 12, 2006: To help provide a consistent style for my double star sketches, the above sketch is a digital update to the original sketch. Observation Notes: While finding in the 32 mm EP, the double didn't show up. Meissa sits at the north end of a trio of...

Messier 67

Observation Notes: M67 is a nice, subtle open cluster, particularly in comparison to M41 which I viewed earlier in the evening. There is one bright yellow-orange star on the east side of the cluster. There are a few more orange stars scattered around. The main body of the cluster...

Messier 41

Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up, reduce fainter star weights, and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: This open cluster is speckled with a variety of star brightness and color. A number of orange stars...

Messier 65 and Messier 66

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Observation Notes: This is my first go at the galaxy clusters in Leo and Virgo. M65 and M66 were pretty easy to find in the rear leg of Leo. Both fit easily within the 1.3° FOV of the 32 mm eyepiece. M65 was the dimmer of the two. Its...

Orion Constellation Addition

I've added an older observation of Orion from January 1, 2005....
I went to town on the light pollution in the image, and finally got something that would let me pop the tails out some more. It made a huge difference. The coma is still obviously green. But now the ion tail appears blue, while the short dust tail is a...

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) - JAN 6, 2005

Comet this. Comet that. Sorry. This thing is just too cool. It's right up on the Pleiades now, and the clouds had mercy enough for some pictures tonight. Light pollution was pretty noticeable in the shots, and processing it out is killing the tails. But here's where I'm at so...

Sketch Lighting

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Since it's been so cloudy lately, I've been working on a solution to my DSO sketch lighting. Up to this point, I've been laying the red light on the clipboard and trying to slide it around and keep it from falling off at the same time. It is a pain....

Orion Constellation

| 13 Comments
Observation Notes: This is my first naked eye constellation sketch. I had some trouble getting the angles on Orion's left arm correct. Clouds were brushing across, so I had to skip around while sketching. Betelgeuse was the one obvious bit of color--orange-red. The M42/M43 nebula region glowed softly in...

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) - JAN 1, 2005

Observation Notes: Tonight, in my 10 X 50 binoculars, Machholz was starting to show a longer dust tail. I took some pictures during breaks in the passing clouds. This is a stack of 11 images ranging in exposure from 2 to 6 minutes. Exposures are with the Canon Digital Rebel...

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