Observing Log for Mike Durkin5/4/2003 8:00PM-12:00AM Oyster Bay, about 40-50 degrees Transparency: 10/10, seeing: 6/10 Ultima C8 Rushed out to see Saturn and the Moon. After I got the 8" set up, I tried to look at Saturn, however the air seemed very turbulent, even at low power, so I gave up on Saturn for the night. Next Tried the moon. It was a crescent moon, about 10-20% illuminated. I was able to see some features on the dark part of the moon due to earthshine. I also tried a few shots using the 35mm at prime focus and various exposure lengths. I have the pictures developed, and the original pictures seem a bit out of focus. The longer exposures look better, particularly the one that is overexposed to show the earthshine. A copy of one of the pictures can be found here M105 and NGC 3371: Two galaxies observed in the same field of view. M105 appeared as a faint small smudge. NGC 3371 appears as an elongated smudge. Both observed at 17mm(118x). Also in the same area is supposed to be NGC 3373, which I wasn't able to detect. M96: Best seen at 17mm(118x) and 7.4mm(270x). Appeared as an oval patch. I was able to see a bit further out from the core with the 7.4mm eyepiece. M95: Best seen at 17mm(118x) and 7.4mm(270x). Very difficult to see at 30mm. Seems like a small dim globular cluster, which would make sense if it was an elliptical, but this is really a spiral galaxy. M53: I also tried taking some pictures of the globular cluster M53, however it is too dim to pick up by the camera. Using PSC for the Zaurus was very usefull in finding the galaxies <-- 2002 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2004 --> |