10 August 2023 Observation Log

 

First target was the Wild Duck cluster, M11, using the 32mm eyepiece. The main cluster has an almost square shape with a brighter star to the right center of the square. There were many stars visible, and the longer I looked the more became visible. There were several that were so faint they were only visible with averted vision.


 Where I set up, the large (birch?) trees were a significant factor. Next target was M8, the Lagoon Nebula at about 23:25MDT. Found it in the 32mm, switched to the 25mm. Before I could start sketching it it started to dim as it went behind the tree limbs.

Saturn had come up, so I moved over to it. Saturn with the rings almost edge on and two of its moons were easily visible. Tried different eyepieces and a couple of filters to see if that would let more detail come through, but all the filters did was dim the view. Adding a 2x Barlow only made the image very unsteady. Only had about 15 minutes before it too went behind the trees.

Next target was the Andromeda Galaxy. Used the 32 then 25mm eyepieces. Especially with averted vision the brighter central core region was discernible. 

Last target was Albireo. No sketch. There were definitely very pale tints of Orange on the primary and very pale hints of blue on the secondary.

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