2nd Observing Session (M31 & M33)

After a week of clouds we finally got one clear night yesterday so I set up the scope and focused on M31 (the Andromeda galaxy) and M33 (the Triangulum galaxy which I photographed previously). Learning from my first photography session, these two images turned out much better - with sharp focus, 16-bit color processing, better detail and dark frame subtraction.

M31 (aka "Andromedia galaxy") is the closest galaxy to our own (at 2.5 million light-years away) and consists of over a trillion stars (greatly exceeding the amount of stars in our own galaxy). M31 is one of the only galaxies which can be seen with the naked eye in a dark location as it is very bright (magnitude 4.4). M31 and our own Milky Way galaxy are set to collide in 2.5 billion years...




M33 (aka the "Triangulum galaxy") is a galaxy about 3 million light-years away, and is so close to the Andromeda galaxy that both are gravitationally bound to each other. M33 is also on a impact course to the Milky Way, but will take billions of years to reach us.

Green Lake Star Party, Cheap Scopes & Shuttle Update

The weather was pretty much perfect for the monthly Green Lake Star Party near the north shore parking lot on the 6th. It was my first time going to a star party and though there were only a few scopes set up due to other star parties going on in the area, I had my Orion 20x80 binoculars set up looking at Jupiter and had a lot of fun talking with observers about my limited knowledge of space. This was also the first time looking through some bigger scopes such as one 6" Dobsonian and a Orion 5" Cassegrain (I believe it was a Cassegrain) which we saw great views of Jupiter (easily seeing cloud detail), the Ring Nebula (M57), Dumbbell Nebula (M27), the Double Cluster of Perseus (NGC 869 & NGC 884), Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and of course the Moon and even a few satellites. It was really cool to see kids and many adults get excited about seeing deep space objects and learn a little bit more about the universe we live in.

Inspired by the star party, I picked up a cheap scope at Fry's to see what I could see before my big 8" scope purchase in the next month or so. I picked up the Galileo FS-80S (about a 3" reflector) and messed around with it that evening. I tried my hardest to get a good shot with the DSI II camera but the scope was so cheap that I couldn't achieve good focus even with the eyepiece.

I've decided to promptly return the scope as it's not worth owning - it's slightly better than my Orion 20x80, but useless for any kind of photo taking....sorry will have to wait a bit longer to see some good shots!

Lastly, STS-125 (last Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission) has been pushed a few days to Oct. 10. This launch will be pretty interesting because STS-126 will be on the pad as well for backup just in case something goes wrong with STS-125. I don't remember if this has ever been done before (at least I don't remember the last time we had two shuttles on the pad at the same time).

Space shuttle Atlantis stands poised on the launch pad after its trek from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Image credit: NASA

Tonight's Stargazing

FINALLY it was a 90% clear night tonight and was able to take the new Orion binoculars for a spin. What I love about the Orion 20x80's is that you see SO many more stars than you can see with the naked eye it's really like looking at an entirely different night sky.

I really wanted to see if I could locate a nebula tonight but was unsuccessful...what I did see was as follows:

Andromeda Galaxy (M31, 4.8mag)
Easy to find once you know where to look, Andromeda is viewable with a 15x50, and of course even that much brighter with the 20x80. I still couldn't make out any detail however and looked like a dim blur.

M15 (Globular Cluster, 6.2mag)
I thought this was a galaxy, but turned out it was a globular cluster. I was never able to find this with the 15x50 binoculars, but was easily resolved using the 20x80 (but still looked like a faint blur).

NGC457 (Galactic Cluster, 6.4mag)
An interesting formation of stars which is easily seen with 20x80 binoculars.

M45 (Galactic Cluster, 1.5mag)
Always a cool formation of stars which is easily seen with 20x80 binoculars.

Jupiter & Moons
All 4 moons were very easily visible and I think I saw a hint of cloud detail on Jupiter. Very sharp using the 20x80 binoculars.

Well that's about it...going to he sack now...