Constellations: Corona Borealis, Corvus, Crater, Libra, Scorpius, Sextans
Stars: Antares, Brachium, α Crt, β Crt, α Alchiba, δ Algorab, γ Gienah, β Kraz, Alpheca, ε Minkarα, Sextans, β Sextans, γ Sextans, Zubenelgenubi, Zubeneschamali
Location: Home
Date: 2021-06-09
Time: 10:00 PM - 11:25 PM ADT
Equipment: 10x42 IS Binoculars
Temperature: 17° C - 15° C
Transparency: Excellent (5) but deteriorated to 2
Seeing: Excellent (5) but deteriorated to 3
No wind. High cloud in the west eventually drifted to our horizon. Could not view Ophiuchus as it was hidden by the trees over our beach area. I had brought along my newly acquired 2.1 x 42 Binoculars to try out.
| Corvus Equipment: Visual, 10x42 binoculars S&T Chart: 47 Corvus was easily located. The 5 main stars (α Alchiba, β Kraz, δ Algorab, γ Gienah, ε Minkar) and two smaller one (η near Algorab, ζ that formed a triangle with Minkar and Kraz). η appeared to be very close to Algorab, making it appear as a double star. |
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Crater
Equipment: Visual, 10x42 binoculars
S&T Chart: 36
Being adjacent to Corvus made this constellation easy to find. α Crt and β Crt were below the treeline on the other side of the pond so could not be seen. The stars in this constellation were not as bright as those in Corvus.
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Sextans Equipment: Visual, 10x42 binoculars S&T Chart: 36, 37 I saw a triangle shape of stars low on the horizon, adjacent to Crater above the trees. Α Sex, β Sex and γ Sex were identified as the three stars observed. I always confuse this constellation with Triangulum which is further north near Aries and Andromeda. |
Corona Borealis / Northern Crown
Equipment: Visual, 10x42 binoculars
S&T Chart: 53, 55
This semi-circle of stars is one of my favourites to locate. It's next to Boötes (and Arcturus), and I use it to locate the Keystone of Hercules and M13. Did not look for M13 this particular evening. The 7 stars stood out, especially Alpheca. On this particular night, the crown looked more like a cup, with its opening pointing straight up.
Libra
Equipment: Visual
S&T Chart: 46, 57
This large triangle-shaped constellation never disappoints, especially when one has such fun pronouncing its α and β star names. I was able to locate Zubenelgenubi, Zubeneschamali and Brachiium. Did not search for the other 3 main stars.
Scorpius, M4
Equipment: Visual, 10x42 binoculars
S&T Chart: 56, 58
The claws and most of the body of Scorpius were identified; however, the tail stars were not visible above the horizon. Antares was very red this evening. σ Scorpii was easily seen and with the binoculars could easily find the faint fuzzy M4. I did not look for M80 which was at the same declination as δ Scorpii.