💾 Archived View for koyu.space › mrael2_obsv › sessions › 2015 › 2015-03-25.gmi captured on 2023-09-28 at 16:16:38. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2022-06-03)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Date: 2015-03-25
Seeing: II (Antoniadi)
Transparency: 7 (AAAA)
Telescope: 254 mm f/4.92 Newtonian
Object: M101
Eyepiece: 30mm (42x)
I spent about 30 minutes trying to find this galaxy using my newly acquired Sky Atlas 2000.0. The process of star hopping was very easy, but the 38% waxing crescent moon high overhead made the sky too bright. In the end, I did locate M101, but its appearance was extraordinarily dim. I saw only a faint patch of fuzziness that became apparent initially only via averted vision. I will have to try again on a moonless night.
Object: M42/M43
Eyepiece: 30 mm w/2x Barlow (84x)
Using the Barlow lens, I was able to resolve the four stars of the Trapezium! What an astonishing sight!
Moonlight gave a slightly degraded contrast to the vibrance of the nebula, but the stars within M42 remained as bright and sharp as the last time.
In my 8x50 finderscope, I viewed M45 briefly. I will sketch this later as a catalyst for a detailed description.
Oh, I also resolved the double stars Alcor and Mizar in Ursa Major as part of my star hop to M101. I used my 30 mm eyepiece for that.
Location: east of Antonito, behind my house.
Temperature: -2 degrees C