Sunday, January 23, 2011

1. 21-01-2011, Friday, 21:30 to 01:30hrs

Aim:
1. To observe the moon.
2. Observe Jupiter and its moons.
3. See some star clusters.


This was my first proper observing session,the day being a Friday, i had ample time to observe and stay awake late nights. This session turned out to be very good, i saw the Orion Nebula for the first time, and it was unintentional, it came in my FOV when i was trying to find another star cluster in the Orion. It felt thrilling, I guess thats what astronomers used to do long back, discover new things in the night sky when trying to search something else. This thought gave me a surreal feeling. So thats what astronomical pleasure is about.


The nebula had three stars almost in the center arranged like a 'therefore' symbol with apex pointing in somewhat eastward direction at about 23:45 hrs. These three stars if surrounded by a circle, had a sector of about 40 degree angle in the lower part which appeared dark, the other parts of the surroundings were dimly lighted and appeared to emit diffused light. There were 3-4 bright stars in the scope view.


I tried some astro sketching for the first time, forgive the bad handwriting :( and ugly sketch but that was the best i could do, considering it was very dark, and my first time, i plan to learn Astronomical sketching and hope to improve. I will write a section on how to astro sketch, when i have learnt it myself.


Here's the Orion Nebula sketch,
1. Orion Nebula M42  amateur sketch
Eyepiece: 10mm
Scope: Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ
21-01-2011, 23:45, Bangalore, India


Other sketches made:
2. Some star cluster near M42.

Eyepiece: 10mm
Scope: Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ
21-01-2011, 23:20, Bangalore, India

3. Another star cluster in Orion.

Eyepiece: 10mm
Scope: Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ
21-01-2011, 23:14, Bangalore, India


Conclusion:
1. First time view of Orion Nebula.
2. Need to learn Astro sketching.
3. Have to make a Astronomical Log sheet(form). <>
4. Saw jupiter and its moons.
5. Saw Moon with Crater copernicus, one day short of full moon.

1 comment:

  1. I am turned into a sort of machine for observing facts and grinding out conclusions. See the link below for more info.


    #observing
    www.ufgop.org

    ReplyDelete