This was my first opportunity to get out and observe for a month. Weather has not been very cooperative! The sky started out with some high, thin clouds. It seems like there was a lot of haze/humidity in the air, lights in the area showing definite halos. For some reason there wasn't any dew yet though. I started setting up at dusk, and made my first observation about 21:00 MDT. I did a solar system alignment using Jupiter, then observed that using 17mm Plossl (119.5x) and 13mm Plossl (156.3x) eyepieces.Seeing was much better than last time out, but at 156x it was hard to maintain focus. I would estimate seeing as Antoniadi 3. The North and South Equatorial Bands were easily visible as distinct very light brownish bands. There were occasional hints of the South polar Band. Since seeing was decent, I wanted to make another try at Mars. It is rapidly diminishing after opposition, which was not a real great one. Again used the 17 and 13 mm eyepieces. the view through the 17mm w...
Set up to observe Jupiter. The blocks on the stool are to increase it's height while observing at low angles. A head lamp is hanging on the side of the eyepiece case so I can reference "Turn Left At Orion", a reference notebook, and my journal. I was holding my Celestron red light to take the picture. I wasn't planning on observing tonight because the forecast cloud cover was too much. However, at about 20:30 the sky was almost completely clear, with a few high cirrus far to the west. Started at 21:30, but had to realign because I accidentally pulled the power jack out of the mount. At 21:45 I was on Saturn again. Was picking bright targets because sky was bright, even though the Moon wasn't up yet.The seeing was similar to last time I observed Saturn. About 22:17 a band of high thin cirrus passed in front of Saturn, causing it to be more unsteady and fuzzy, as though out of focus. At 22:20 the 92% waning moon came up the Sapphires. I took time to go in ...
I have been working on my third AAVSO CHOICE class, "Developing a Visual Observing Program". The course ran from August 5 to August 31, but they gave us an extension for a week because a lot of the participants were experiencing bad weather and or smoke from wildfires. I took this course hoping to learn more and improve my visual observing skills. The coursework involved using charts created using the AAVSO's VSP (Variable Star Plotter) program. This is accessible from the AAVSO home page and you don't have to be a member to use it. There was also a set of practical exercises that typically involved using charts and atlases to locate a target by starhopping, and at least identifying the star field where the target star was located. I found these exercises to be great practice when I had a night that I could actually practice. Most of the month we had bad smoke fro wildfires in California, Idaho, and others within 20 miles of us. This was...
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