Observing Log for Mike Durkin2/28/2004 about 6:00PM-12:30AM Oyster Bay, about 50-35 degrees Transparency: 8/10, Seeing: 8/10 Ultima C8 PEC Originally planned to go out to Custer, but instead decided to go to Oyster Bay. Got a lot of observing done tonight. Observed quite a few new Messier objects depite the fact that the moon as about 50% illuminated. Venus: It was also about 50% illuminated and the phase was easy to see. I was able to observe with a 7.4mm(270x) eyepiece. I also took a few pictures with the digital camera which you can see here. Mars: Unfortunately even with the 5mm(400x) eyepiece the disk was too small and I wasn't able to see any details. Then I collimated the telescope. The seeing wasn't perfect and I can only say that the collimation was rough. Saturn: Excellent view tonight. Viewed with the 5mm(400x) eyepiece. Easily able to see the Cassini division. I don't think I saw the C ring though. Most notable was the shadow of the globe on the ring, which enhanced the 3D effect. Not quite as much color as the last time I observed Saturn. I also took some digital pictures which i still need to process. After that decided to take a break and have something to eat. When I went out after that I occasionally had problems with light from the house or the neighbors back yard. M42 and M43: Took a quick look at these. M78: Appeared as 2 stars with very faint nebulosity. A nebula filter didn't help bring out the nebula. NGC 2239: Observed with 30mm(67x). About 20 stars loosely packed in a roughly rectangular shape. M50: Observed with 30mm(67x) eyepiece. About 20-30 stars that covered about 15' M47: Observed with 30mm(67x) eyepiece. About 20-30 stars about 30-40' M46: Observed with 30mm(67x) eyepiece. About 30-40 stars, dimmer than the other clusters I've seen so far. Almost globular in appearance. About 20-30' in size. Also observed NGC2438 with the cluster. NGC 2438: Planetary nebula in M46, although it is a foreground object. Observed best with a 17mm(117x) eyepiece. I could just barely detect the nebula without a filter. Swaping a nebula filter back and forth in front of the eyepiece helped. The size of the nebula was about 2'. M48: Observed with 30mm(67x) eyepiece. About 40-50 stars, covered about 45-50'. Slightly more concentrated in the middle. M44: Very bright and large. With 30mm(67x) eyepiece, it was much larger than the field of view. Better to view with binoculars or a wide angle telescope. M67: Observed with 17mm(117x) eyepiece. About 40-50 stars, very compact, dim stars. Oblong shape to the cluster, I'd estimate 16'x12'. Jupiter: Observed mostly with 5mm(400x) eyepiece. Tried various color filters. Red was useless. Blue seemed to bring out features the best. Coupls easily make out shading in the polar regions and 2 belts. The northern belt was slightly smaller and had a more reddish-brown color to it. Also took some digital pictures I still have to process. M96: Small, slightly oval shaped galaxy. Observed with 30mm(67x) and 17mm(117x). The part of the galaxy I could see was about 5' in size. M105: Observerd with 17mm(117x) eyepiece. Small circular fuzzy patch. Right next to NGC 3374. NGC 3374: Right next to M105 in the same field of view. Smaller and dimmer than M105. Nearly circular. M95: Observed with 17mm(117x). Very faint, I had to use averted vision or nudge the eyepiece to see it. Nearly circular in shape. Estimated size 2-3'.
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