General Session - September 29, 2019

Stars: Mirach
HD Stars: 965 (double), 983, 1050 (double)
Messier Objects: M13, M31
Planets: Jupiter (+ 4 Galilean Moons), Saturn (Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan)

Identified, not Observed & Not entered into Logbook or database: Pisces

Location: Home
Date: 2022-09-29
Time: 10:00 PM - 11:58 PM ADT
Equipment: Visual, Evostar 80ED, x2 Barlow, x3 Barlow 
Eyepiece: Tele Vue 40mm Plössl, Antares 15mm, 2" Explore Scientific 12mm with 92° FOV, Meade Super Plössl 9.7mm
Temperature: 11° C - 10° C 
SQM: 19.51 - 19.54
Transparency: not recorded
Seeing: not recorded

Jupiter (in Pisces) (4 observations)
I decided to try different eyepieces and my two Barlows to see what the difference was in the view and in focusing.

Observation 1:
Time: 10:16 PM
Equipment: Evostar 80ED
Eyepiece: Antares 15mm
Magnification: x40
Jupiter and all 4 of its moons were visible. Callisto appeared closest in alignment to the planet and was located at approximately 11 o'clock. 

Observation 2: Time: 10:27 PM Equipment: Evostar 80ED, x2 Barlow Eyepiece: Antares 15mm Magnification: x80 Jupiter and all 4 of its moons were visible. Jupiter's dark stripes appeared as 3 dark bands that were horizontal in the eyepiece.

Observation 3:
Time: 10:35 PM
Equipment: Evostar 80ED + x3 Barlow
Eyepiece: Antares 15mm
Magnification: x120
This was difficult to focus. With the narrower FOV, only 3 of its closest moons were visible. The bands seemed slightly titled towards the horizon. 

Observation 4: Time: 10:41 PM Equipment: Evostar 80ED Eyepiece: 9.7mm Magnification: x62 As part of the eyepiece experiment with Jupiter, I put in the 9.7mm eyepiece. In doing so, the planet could be seen but the moons were not visible. There were also three bright stars in the same FOV. With SkySafariPro, I was able to identify and learn a bit about them. I was quite excited to discover the two set of double stars! HD 965 - Double star, magnitude +8.56 & +12.30. 1476 ly from our solar system. Secondary appears 0.2 arcseconds/90 AU away from its primary. HD 1050 - Double star, magnitude +8.14 & +11.81. 621 ly from our solar system. Secondary appears 6.9 arcseconds/1314 AU away from its primary. HD 983 - Magnitude +8.96 star. 1125 ly from our solar system. This was very faint compared to the other two.

Saturn Time: 10:48 PM Equipment: Evostar 80ED Eyepiece: Meade 9.7mm Magnification: x62 The upper part of Saturn was tilted towards us. The South Pole just peaked out from below the rings. Five of its moons were seen and identified - Dione, Enceladus, Dione, Tethys, and Rhea.

M31 / Andromeda Galaxy

Time: 11:17 PM
S&T Chart Reference: 3, 72
Equipment: Evostar 80ED
Eyepiece: 40mm, 25mm, 15mm with x2 Barlow
Magnification: x15, x24, x80
I attempted to use the go-to to get to Andromeda but that didn't work so well. Consequently, I went to Mirach instead then slewed upwards - found! The 25mm eyepiece gave the galaxy a bit more form, i.e., you could discern the bright/dense core and its elliptical shape. When I used the 15mm with x2 Barlow, the galaxy became a larger grey fuzzy and the elliptical shape could not be seen.

Jupiter & Double Stars in Pisces Time: 11:25 PM Equipment: Evostar 80ED Eyepiece: 2" 12mm with 92° FOV Magnification: x50 Another part of the eyepiece experiment while viewing Jupiter. In doing so, the planet and is quite small but four bright-ish moons appeared. The three bright stars appeared again in the same FOV - HD 983, HD 1050 and HD 965. The bands on Jupiter were much clearer than in previous eyepieces.

M13
Time: 11:40 PM
Equipment: Evostar 80ED
Eyepiece: 2" 12mm with 92° FOV, 9.7
Magnification: x50, x62
I decided to have a quick view of M13 with two of the eyepieces. NOTE: unfortunately, my observing notes did not provide explanations as to how it looked.