2024-11-24

Finally back at it. After a few rough weeks between clouds and exhaustion, I had an opportunity tonight and took it! We had below freezing temperatures tonight and I had to don my winter gear but these conditions made the sky very crisp tonight with a very low amount of turbulence (I almost forgot how crisp the sky can appear in winter).

Tonight was also my first time using the RA motor with DSOs. Finding NGC 1342 in RA without the help of the slow motion control was a little off-putting at first, but it didn't take long for me to get used to it. My main issue now is the bad habbit of wanting to rotate the scope by hand using the diagonal below the eye piece. This is easy to do without thinking simply because it is the closest part of the telescope to me, however every time I fall prey to the habbit my focus becomes distorted and I have to refocus.

07:58PM

In prepping for this target I remember seeing the name "Stingray Cluster" in one of my resources. This is a perfect description. The image of a stingray was very apparent through the eyepiece.

[1] NGC 1342 (ID)

[2] Open Cluster (ID)

[3] ../images/2024-11-24_NGC1342.jpg

08:18PM

Sitting just south of ο Persei but close enough to have both in the FoV. ο Persei easily shined brighter than any of the other stars in the cluster and at first the cluster seemed very poorly populated. AV helped bring a few more stars into view.

[1] IC 348 (ID)

[2] Open Cluster (ID)

[3] ../images/2024-11-24_IC348.jpg