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NGC5139 (Globular Cluster, in Centaurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Vieques, Puerto Rico, United States
Light pollution: none Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Tue May 22 00:00:00 2007 UT Obs. no.: 1658
For that past week Steve Borer, his four adult children and one of their friends and I vacationed in Vieques Island off the east coast of Puerto Rico. While the others did their thing, Steve and I did plenty of observing of the southern skies of Vieques. The first thing we went for was the great globular cluster Omega Centauri in the constellation Centaurus. In my 10X50 binoculars Omega Centauri was about two thirds the size of the moon. We couldn't see individual stars in my binoculars but the view was as great as everyone says it is. We also observed Alpha Centauri. Our closest neighbor to the sun had a slight yellow tinge to it. To our great surprise below Centaurus was the Southern Cross. At that latitude, 18 degrees north, The Southern Cross was Lying on its side with only some of its stars showing. If we got to Vieques two or three weeks earlier we would have seen the entire Southern Cross. We also did some predawn observing. The first thing we discovered was the summer Milkyways' southern branch reaches right up to M7 the big open cluster of Scopius. We found the northern branch of the Milkyway was no match for the southern branch of the milkyway. We were able to enjoy the rifts of both branches of the Milkyway with the southern rift being more obvious. We then recieved our second great surprise. Further down the Milkyway was the Coal Sack Nebula. We were completely stunned. Another great constellation we viewed was the Southern Crown. The Southern Crown was slightly more impressive than the Northern Crown which was over our heads. M8 and M21 were beautiful because they were higher in the sky. We did many things in Vieques but astronmy in Vieques was #1.
NGC5139 (Globular Cluster, in Centaurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Apr 20 04:00:00 2006 UT Obs. no.: 1526
This evening, my friend Mike Dzubaty, his son Mike and I decided to go for the ultimate prize, Omega Centauri, the great southern sky globular cluster. Every spring, Omega Centauri pops three degrees above the horizon here in southern Connecticut. We started to scan the horizon with our 10X50 binoculars and ultimately found our target star Zeta Centauri. Omega Centauri was directly right of it and in our binos, it looked like a large defuse glow. We also saw many other stars in Centaurus including stars that were lower on the horizon than Omega Centauri. Omega Centauri will remain visable in the north for another four weeks or so. Also, this summer, another great southern sky object will be visable to us northerners. This is called the Southern Crown and it will be located below Sagittarius. I've observed the Southern Crown before and it is a lot easier to spot than Omega Centauri.
NGC5286 (Globular Cluster, in Centaurus)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in, web: http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name=sriram_gubbi)
Instrument: 6-inch other Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Dec 28 04:45:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1454
I did'nt want to aim for it but just gave it a try and I did see it. It was visible using averted vision, situated very close to a bright star.
NGC3918 (Planetary Nebula, in Centaurus)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in, web: http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name=sriram_gubbi)
Instrument: 6-inch other Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Dec 28 04:20:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1457
This one is a good planetary nebula situated in a star studded region. The view of it reminded me the view of Uranus, representing a greenish, circular disc. Great object!
NGC5139 (Globular Cluster, in Centaurus)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in)
Instrument: 150-mm other Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat May 7 22:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1230
The sight of omega centauri through my 6 inch telescope was much bright when compared to my small 2 inch refractor. Only the outermost stars were resolved as there was a little light pollution and a slight haze high above southern horizon.Along with a number of stars near it,it looked awesome.
Alpha Cen (Rigil Kentaurus) (Visual Binary, in Centaurus)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in, web: http://dino.lm.com/artists/display.php?name=sriram_gubbi)
Instrument: 6-inch other Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun Apr 17 08:30:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1256
It appeared as an extended star at 41x as the 2 component stars had smeared together due to almost equal brightness and proximity. They appeared as double at 60x.
NGC5139 (Globular Cluster, in Centaurus)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in)
Instrument: 50-mm refractor Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed May 5 22:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1192
A 50 mm telescope cant resolve any globular cluster's individual stars but atleast the globulars appear as a fuzzy patch.this was the second globular i saw through my telescope accidentally after M 22 in Sagittarius,when i was searching for the galaxy NGC 5128 in the same constellation (though this galaxy is hardly visible from my scope).looking at the brightest globular in the sky was really a fantastic experience.
Beta Cen (Agena) (Star, in Centaurus)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed May 5 05:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1202
it could be easily found as it is on of the pointer stars along with rigil kentaurus to the southern cross.
Alpha Cen (Rigil Kentaurus) (Visual Binary, in Centaurus)
Observer: Sriram.M.Gubbi (e-mail: sriram_gubbi@yahoo.co.in)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Feb 29 05:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1201
though i saw this star above the southern horizon for a few days of january and february,i came to know that it was our nearest and the third brightest star only after i saw it pointing towards crux,the southern cross.
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