The Illusive Comet ISON

I've waited almost a full year to see Comet ISON, and it looks like it may not happen this year.   It is pretty much lost to the sun now, but I may get a chance to see it if it makes it around without breaking apart.   The picture you see here on the left is NOT MINE.






I just assumed that I would be able to go out at night, sometime during the night, and see the great comet ISON.  I couldn't be more wrong.  The only time it was visible in my area (Vandalia, Ohio, Eastern USA) was right before dawn.  I went out twice right before the sun would wash out the sky, and could not find the illusive iceball. My visible sky starts about 30 degrees up, which is where trees and houses stop.  I had to get to work and get the kids off to school, so I could only scan for ten minutes or so.

  With any luck I might get a glimpse if ISON makes it way back around the sun.

Early Winter Sky

This post is from November 9th, 2013 (last weekend).

It wasn't a perfect sky, but I was able to see many objects, a few of them new.

The first target was the planet Uranus.  It was almost at the meridian and the first quarter moon sliver was deep in the west.  My friend Doug was along and he had never seen the blue-green planet before.

I first found it in my 8" reflector.  A light blue color and pretty small and a little fuzzy.  This was my third viewing of the planet and it looked about the same as the two times before.  It's slightly bigger than a star would be and has a distinct look to it.

Next we located it in Doug's 10 Dobsonian using a 11mm Explorer Scientific eyepiece.  There wasn't much of a difference between the 8" and the 12".

I had no idea the constellation Auriga held some many open clusters.  I always just admired the star Capella that makes up part of the constellation and shines so brightly.  Check out the many clusters peppering Auriga the "Charioteer".  Just have a look inside the 'helmet' with a 20mm eyepiece of more and you are bound to see one.

I must mention Jupiter also.  Jupiter was coming up with the constellation Auriga and it was glowing brightly as usual.  Viewing Jupe in my friend's 10" dob using the ES eyepiece was truly amazing.  We had to deal with atmospherics, but when it 'cleared' for a brief moment, the view was amazing! It the first time I've seen The Great Red Spot definitively.  And swirls could be seen in the belts.  Can't wait to try again with that equipment with better skies.



Just a brief description of other objects viewed this night:

M1 - The Crab Nebula  -  Even in the 10" dob, it was merely a black smudge.

The Spiral Cluster - Looks kind of like a spiral :).

October 18th, 2013 "Penumbral" lunar eclipse

First off, I have to say that this image is from Facebook user "astronomy".  They get full credit and I get none :)
I had plans to take this picture myself, but it happened so early where I am located that I missed it.  This is what user "astronomy" had to say:

"This evening (Oct. 18), the moon will undergo a partial eclipse, known as a "penumbral" lunar eclipse."

Basically the Earth blocked a super small part of the light coming from the Sun, heading towards the moon, and we (Earth) got in the way.

Setting up a newtonian reflector and EQ5 mount

This video was just for fun and was not intended to be a thorough tutorial on setting up a reflector and mount.  But if you are a complete newbie then you might get something out of it.

Uranus - Take two

I set out a few nights ago to see the planet Uranus for the second time.  It's been a few years since my first viewing, I have failed at least 4 times since the first.
What helped me this time was using Pegasus as a guide.  I waited until Pegasus got to the meridian, and then used the "trailing' two stars of the box as a pointer.  Usually Uranus just seems to be out there with nothing for me to judge its position.
Uranus is somewhat tricky to find.  All the other planets inward from Uranus (except Pluto and Earth) are really easy to find with the naked eyeball.  It appears bigger than most stars you see through a telescope, but not by much.  The best giveaway is the color:  blue.  I always imagined it would have a greenish tint, but in my 8" reflector, it just appears blue.
Uranus does not 'flicker' like normal stars do.  It stays steady as a pale blue dot.  Though there is virtually no detail when using my equipment, I still find it fascinating to look at.
Uranus is just past opposition as of a couple weeks ago I believe, so it should still be one of the better times to view it.