A
weekend trip out with friends. The morning march of four
planets has been a topic for a while. The slogan should have been:
"Get a natural high. See stars and planets. (No
caffeine added.)"
Using
the WYO FluoroStar100 f/8 with KK Wide Scan Type II 30mm, a 2-inch
eyepiece with an 84-degrees field of view.
A
crystal view of the universe and I have
never been this up close and personal with the stars.
One look through the Wide Scan II and you'll fall in
love with the stars all over again.
Higher magnifications with a 2x
barlow and 5mm eyepiece. The rough observation report is:
Mars
Surface details were fuzzy at best with the barest smattering
of dark markings. A thick mass of rain
clouds sweeping in from the west side; It barely skimmed past
with lightning hints of what it could bring..
clouds,
Mars again,
clouds again,
distant lightning,
more clouds,
Mars,
Zzzzzzz......
ohh!! Stars!! |
Hyades,
Aldebaran in Taurus, and Saturn
Is it turning our way? because it looks as if we're gonna be
able to see the other side of the rings behind the planet..
bands striped across its surface.. Cassini divisions visible.. |
M45 Pleiades,
Taurus
Swell little cluster.. it never fails to look good.. :) stars
filled from edge to edge.. I don't see distortion, I don't see
coma and colour rendition with the Wide Scan II eyepiece is
just *so* fine! my gosh, the view is absolutely stunning.. you
get the whole view of the Pleiades cluster inside this babe. You
know how some people describe the Pleiades as a group of blue
fireflies.. I never knew what that meant till now. |
M31 Andromeda
galaxy, Andromeda
This is a real beauty.. central core brightness with the glow
of diffusing arms gently swirled around it. Dang.. I forgot to
take note of M32, M110.. |
M33 Pinwheel
galaxy, Triangulum
Somewhat fainter than M31, more round and the central core was
relatively bright.. it was only 2/3 the size of M31. |
Venus
Bright waxing gibbous phase.. slightly more than half. I don't
see any clouds on the atmosphere.. I hear about them, I don't
see them. Dang planet's just too bright. :) |
Jupiter
Major band lines across the body, no GRS visible.. 4
satellites as per usual serving.. :) |
Mercury
Ahh! Finally.. it was almost the same distance from Jupiter as
Venus is. It was nervy trying to figure if it was ever going
to rise before the sun did. The sky was lightening up
considerably. Finally, my friend's hawk eyes caught something
that had almost the same magnitude as Saturn just above the
distant trees. That was exciting. A look at Mercury showed
half phase.. wow indeed. |
Comet Linear
Tried to hunt for comet Linear, but gave up craning to see
through the finder. It was directly overhead. |
Binocular-wise,
I swept through the clusters of the Milky Way through Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia,
Cepheus. I caught sight of some familiar pieces like the Perseus double
cluster. As for the others I got too lazy to check in with an atlas.
It was just an appreciation session.
I
could recognize the square of Pegasus, the star of Alpheratz that
joined Andromeda to it. The Summer Triangle constellations of
Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila to the Northwest. Cassiopeia, Cepheus,
Perseus to the North. Taurus and Orion rising.
I
mused out loud my wonderings about what other constellations flew to
the South above us. I never was much of a Southern Sky-smart person
beyond Crux and Centaurus. Vincent threw me a mock look of shock and
horror, "You don't know?! How can you not know?!" *lol!*
I
figured that if I didn't memorize all the constellations or DSOs,
it'll be more fun searching it out on the field. Sure it makes for a
little work, but that's the fun part. To see half the known universe
as an astronomer would; To see the other unknown half as a new
initiate to the stars will. Somehow this balance strikes a perfect
chord with me. I don't mind not knowing everything in the universe.
:)
Vincent
sighed that I was undermining my full potential as an astronomer. I
think I'm just too laidback mentally. (Turns out to be Pisces,
Aquarius, Capricornus, Piscis Austrinus, Cetus, Grus.)
Orion
was rising with the sun, too late to see much. Now if I could have caught this planetary moment with a waning
moon, the scene would be perfect. Well, can't have everything in the
universe. (I got a new moon.)
By
Lin . 22nd July 2001, Sunday.
