2012-03-10 Sight Report–First night out
Last night was our first warm (38ºF) night with clear skies that I have been able to get my telescope out. Our yard is still full of snow, so I was limited to what I could see from the deck. I think I’m going to start an astronomy blog to share my astronomy experiences, but for now I am posting it here.
Equipment
- Meade 60mm refractor 25mm and 9mm EPs (Not the best scope, will be upgrading soon)
- 10×50 Celestron binoculars
What I saw
- Jupiter
- Venus
- Mars
- M42 (Orion Nebula)
- M45 (Pleiades)
- Mizar and Alcor (double star in the Big Dipper)
Venus
The first think I observed was Venus. Venus is small, and has a thick atmosphere, so you can’t see much detail. Because Venus is an interior planet, it goes through phases like the Moon does. I was hoping to make out what phase it’s in, but I couldn’t.
Jupiter
I spent most of my night viewing Jupiter. I was able to make out one band and I think one of the Moons. I could only find one Moon, so I couldn’t tell you which one it was. With more experience, and a better telescope, I’m sure I’ll be getting better views of Jupiter in the future.
Mars
I was hoping to see it’s icecap, but I was unable to see much detail in Mars. Again, with more experience, and another night, maybe I will be able to see Mars’ icecap.
M42 (Orion Nebula)
I’m really not sure what kind of view of the Orion Nebula my telescope will give me. I wasn’t able to reach it with my telescope from my deck. I viewed it through my 10×50 binoculars. It’s just a fussy little blip through binoculars, but still fun to look at.
M45 (Pleiades)
Pleiades is probably my favorite binocular object so far. To the naked eye it’s just a faint fussy blip, but through binoculars, you can see the seven or so bright blue stars. I have tried to view it in the past with my telescope, but I couldn’t find it through my crappy finder scope. I didn’t even try last night.
Mizar and Alcor (double star in the Big Dipper)
My northern sky is pretty light polluted. About all I could see in that direction was the Big Dipper. Double stars are always fun to look at through binoculars because what looks like one star, becomes two. In actuality, Mizar is a quadruple star system and Alcor is a binary system, but all you see through binoculars is Mizar and Alcor.
Conclusion
I spent about an hour outside viewing, and had a great time. I can’t wait until I can get out it my yard to get better views. I was hoping to stay up later and see the Moon and Saturn, but I was just too tired and have a cold. My telescope gets really good views on the Moon. The Moon is pretty close to full now though, which isn’t the best time to view it anyway. I can’t wait until Saturn starts rising earlier. Everybody says that’s the one that gets them hooked on this hobby. I think I’m already hooked.