Observation 1:

Sunspots

Location: Home
Date: 2017-09-08
Time: 4:05 PM - 4:13 PM ADT
Instrument: Binoculars (10x30 IS) with solar filters
Temperature: 23º C

Clear skies with occasional clouds, light wind. Three areas of activity were seen.

1- Near the equator had what appeared to be two spots - one circular and the other oblong with a slight curve.
2- At about 5 o'clock to this and appeared to have 3 segments - two near circular whereas the third was oblong and curved.
3- This area was very small and circular in the upper left quadrant.

NOTE: A photo in spaceweeather.com showed AR2677 and AR 2678. Not sure which of these two was seen.

   

Observation 2:

Constellations: Boötes
Planet: Uranus
Stars: Alkalurops (μ1 & μ2), HD135631, HR5673
Messier Objects: M23 (NGC 6494), M45 (Pleiades)
Moon: Waning Gibbous (92.1%)
Located, Not Observed: M8, M20, M21

Location: Wharf Road in East Noel, NS
Date: 2017-09-08
Time: 9:40 PM - 11:00 PM ADT
Instrument: Visual + Binoculars (10x30 IS)
Transparency: Good (3)
Seeing: Good (3)
Temperature: 16º C - 14º C
Very light breeze. Clear skies. Light pollution in the low horizon across the bay. The Moon also washed out some of the stars. There were clouds travelling over the Moon that did provide some "darkness" and allowed for viewing.

Uranus
Time: not recorded
Instrument: Visual + Binoculars (10x30 IS)
Noticed a bright spot at about 10 o'clock to the Moon and a good distance away from it. Binoculars showed a blue, non-blinking object. SkySafariPro confirmed it was Uranus in Pisces.
   

M23 / NGC 6494
Time: 9:46 PM ADT
Instrument: Visual + Binoculars (10x30 IS)
S&T Chart Reference: 67, I

For details, refer to Messier Catalogue - M023 (NGC 6494) - September 8, 2017

   

Boötes
Time: 10:38 PM ADT
Instrument: Visual + Binoculars (10x30 IS)
S&T Chart Reference: 42, 44, 53, 55

Boötes was in the opposite side of the sky from the Moon. I found Arcturus then located δ Boötes and Neckar (β). Thought I visually could see the bright location of the double, but turned out it was actually HD135631 and HR5673 very close together in a vertical line.

I then adjusted where I should be looking - a little further away from the imaginary line between α and β and closer to the δ end of the line. Success!

   

M45 (Pleiades)
Time: 10:38 PM ADT
Instrument: Visual + Binoculars (10x30 IS)
S&T Chart Reference: 14, 15, A

Even though the Moon was quite bright, the main stars could still be seen - Asterope, Sterope, Tyageta, Electra, Maia, Merope, Alcyone, Pleione and Atlas. The star field and nebulosity behind and around them was not visible with the binoculars.

 

Similar Items