2023-07-22

- Condition: E6

- Location: Terry Peak, South Tower: 44.32, -103.83

10:34PM

- Target: M 6, Butterfly Cluster

- Const: Scorpius

- RaDec: 17h40m -32°14

- Type: Open Cluster

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 60x

Still beautiful as I remembered. 60x fills the eyepiece nicely.

10:41PM

- Target: M 7, Ptolemy Cluster

- Const: Scorpius

- RaDec: 17h53m -34°50

- Type: Open Cluster

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 30x

10:58PM

- Target: NGC 6520

- Const: Sagittarius

- RaDec: 18h03m -27°53

- Type: Open Cluster

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 100x

../images/2023-7-22_NGC6520.jpg

Neat little cluster, detect some background 'glow'.

11:06PM

- Target: M 8, Lagoon Nebula

- Const: Sagittarius

- RaDec: 18h03m -24°23

- Type: Diffuse Nebula

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 55x

11:11PM

- Target: M 20, Trifid Nebula

- Const: Sagittarius

- RaDec: 18h02m -22°58

- Type: Diffuse Nebula

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 50x

11:19PM

- Target: M 24, Milky Way Patch

- Const: Sagittarius

- RaDec: 18h16m -18°33

- Type: Star Cloud

- Scope: Finder-scope

The star-cloud was so large, I could not fit it in my 21mm (30x) eyepiece. The best view happened to be in the finder-scope.

11:28PM

- Target: M 17, Swan Nebula

- Const: Sagittarius

- RaDec: 18h20m -16°10

- Type: Diffuse Nebula

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 55x

Very clear and easy to see the shape. The neck was a little distorted, and just a little AV helped define it.

11:36PM

- Target: M 16, Eagle Nebula Cluster

- Const: Serpens

- RaDec: 18h18m -13°47

- Type: Nebula with Open Cluster

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 30x

11:48PM

- Target: NGC 6445, He 2-290

- Const: Sagittarius

- RaDec: 17h49m -20°00

- Type: Planetary Nebula

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 50x

../images/2023-7-22_NGC6445.jpg

Fainter small blue circle. AV isn't really required.

12:13PM

- Target: NGC 6369, Little Ghost Nebula

- Const: Ophiuchus

- RaDec: 17h29m -23°45

- Type: Planetary Nebula

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 50x, AV

../images/2023-7-22_NGC6369.jpg

Super faint, AV is nearly required.

12:25PM

- Scope: AT102ED

- Setting: 300x

Best view of Saturn to date. Was able to push magnification to 300x and began to see a sliver of a shadow on the rings behind Saturn. The planet and rings really 'popped' more than I've ever seen before.