Observations

Date: 10/18/09

Time: 8:00-10:00

Location: Pine View School

Sky Conditions: Very clear, very little light pollution, could see up to fifth magnitude stars

Observations:

Planets:

Jupiter: Could see one weather band through schmidt cassegrain telescope. Could see 4 Galilean Satellites. Could not see Great Red Spot.

M objects and Clusters:

Coat Hanger Cluster: could see very well through binoculars, too many stars to count in field of view.

M11-Wild Duck Cluster: Viewed through Schmidt Cassegrain telescope, could see hundreds to thousands of stars. Whole field of view was filled with stars; the center of the field of view had the most stars.

M57-Ring Nebula-in Lyra: surrounded by a few stars, appeared as a circle with no center (indeed, like a ring) through the Schmidt Cassegrain telescope.

M13-Globular Cluster- in Hercules: a giant ball of light formed by thousands of stars. Stars appear very close together and very few stars surround the outside of the cluster.

M31- Andromeda Galaxy- in the constellation Andromeda-very faint with naked eye, used the Great Square of Pegasus to help locate Andromeda. With telescope, m31 appeared as a bright bulge that was larger than the surrounding stars.

Pleiades: in the East, could clearly see the main 7 stars with the naked eye, could see about 25 more with the aid of binoculars.

Stars:

Epsilon Lyrae: double double star. Could easily see the two biggest stars. Of the two fainter stars, the one that appeared to be on top of the left star was visible with a telescope, but I could not see two, distinct stars on the right. Could only see 1, blurry star.

Alberio- double star, could see both stars easily with Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. The left star appeared blue; the right star appeared reddish-yellow to white.

Fomalhaut: in the Southeast, first magnitude, in the constellation Pisces, one of the few stars visible in Pisces.

Polaris: North/ Pole Star, could see Polaris' binary star through telescope. relatively bright, very few stars around it.

Constellations and Asterisms:

Summer Triangle: high over head, could see all three stars with no issue. Altair to the south.

Sagittarius: could see low in the south, about to set.

Teapot: part of Sagittarius, was tipped on its side, "pouring out" onto the stars below.

Northern Cross: Part of Cygnus, could see all 6 stars that form the asterism. Two of the stars were faint, but were still visible. Northern Cross was high overhead.

Keystone Asterism: part of Hercules, visible low in the West.

Job's Coffin: Part of Delphinus; was visible in the South. forms a small rhombus.

Cassiopeia: in the Northeast, could see all the main stars of "the queen". next to Cepheus, "the King"

Pegasus: Very large constellation, Great Square of Pegasus was easily visible

Little Dipper: Could see the three brightest stars with ease (Polaris and the two stars of the square). Could occasionally see the two top stars of the square, depending on the amount of lights on in the surrounding area. Polaris was the only visible star of "the handle".

Sagitta: could see the arrow-like formation. Small and in the South. Above the Archer, Sagittarius.

Miscellaneous Objects:

Flock of Birds: migrating birds flew overhead in a loose V formation.

Iridium Flair: appeared in the North around 8:30, reached first magnitude before fading.

Meteors: Saw two meteors during the observation, streaking across the sky

Milky Way: Could see traversing the sky from the South to the North. Passed through Sagittarius, Aquila, and the summer Triangle. Much easier to see in the South than the North due to light pollution.