Stars: Betelgeuse, Capella, θ Capricornus, ν Capricornus, ζ Capricornus, 41 Capricornus, Deneb Algiedi
HD Stars: 18885, 205707, 205927, 206178, 206680
Planets: Jupiter, Mars, Uranus
Messier Objects: M30, M72
Identified, not Observed: Auriga, Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, Cetus, Little Dipper, Pegasus, Perseus, Pleiades, Taurus, Triangulum
Attempted to find without Success: M9, M32, M73, M110
Location: St. Croix Observatory (SCO)
Date: 2024-09-28/29
Time: 7:30 PM – 12:40 AM ADT
Equipment: 10" Meade SCT
Eyepieces: SvBony 10-30mm Zoom eyepiece
Magnification: x60 - x20
Transparency: Good (3)
Seeing: Excellent (1)
| Time | SQM | Temp |
| 9:47 PM | 21.07 | 9° C |
| 11:01 PM | 21.09 | 9° C |
It was a great night at SCO. No wind was evidenced in the mirror-like water in the south and east and it was cloudless throughout the session. When we first arrived, an owl was hooting quite close by. FLIES! And we didn't bring repellent so it was an interesting evening to determine who won out - us or the flies. At 10:05 a flock of geese could be heard to the south but they didn't surprise us by landing in the southbound as they did on the 14th.
Jerry assisted me in getting the scope set up and aligned but unfortunately it hadn't been polar aligned so it did create challenges throughout the observing session. Bob and Blair joined us shortly after our arrival.
M31, M32
Time: 9:00 PM ADT
Eyepiece: 30mm
My first objects were in Andromeda which was quite high and visible from the centre observing pad. However, I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was in fact M32. Blair found it in his Dobsonian with a 20mm eyepiece; M31, M32, and M110 were all in the eyepiece - which confirmed that what I thought was a star in M31 was actually M32. I determined I would let this one pass for now.
M9
Time: 9:18 PM ADT
I made a few attempts at finding this object. I sent the scope to Sabik then tried several times to slew to find it. Unfortunately, it went into the trees before I could identify it.
M30
Time: 9:48 PM ADT
Success! But only after a couple of failed attempts t locate it. M30 was located east of ζ Capricornus, almost due south from Deneb Algiedi. It had a dense core with at least 3 lines of stars emanating outward from its bright and dense core. For more details refer to Messier Catalogue - M030 / NGC 7099 / Jellyfish Cluster.
M72, M73
Time: 10:31 - 10:46 PM ADT
Given Capricornus was still high in the sky, I attempted to find this pair of objects north of θ Capricornus. M72 was found after a couple of attempts. It was fairly faint and diffuse but I could make out 2 stars in the cluster. For more details refer to Messier Catalogue - M072 / NGC 6981. M73 was a bust. For some reason I could not find it east of M72.
|
Jupiter The planet and its 4 Galilean moons were quote clear. Could not discern the Great Red Spot (GRS) at this magnification but could see the striping that almost aligned with the line of moons |
 |
Uranus
Time: 12:09 AM ADT
I knew this planet was close to the Pleaides, so used the go-to feature to slew to it. A glorious little blue dot was centred in the FOV.
Time: 12:15 AM ADT
I was chilled at this point and my hands were beyond cold so had a hot chocolate and snacks in the Warm Room and relaxed a bit before we packed equipment and headed home.
Time: 1:20 AM ADT
Orion was in front of us on the drive home, lying on his side and about 10°-15° above the horizon. His red Betelgeuse was easily identified.
Time 2:10 AM ADT
The skies were still beautifully clear when we arrived home. When we stepped out fo the car and looked at the skies across the street, a red org was above the tree line - Mars - and further up was Capella bright as could be. A wonderful evening had come to an end. Light out at 2:38 AM.