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Meteor (Meteor, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Perseus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Aug 12 05:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1285
I was mostly clouded out for the Perseid meteor shower. However, the skies cleared from 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM EDT. In that period, I was seeing one meteor every five minutes or so. Unlike other years when the Perseids had a blue tinge, this years perseids all looked yellow. Since the sky was so hazy, I believe any blue light from the meteors was absorbed by the haziness. Two of the perseids that I saw were very bright. One was about -2.5 and the other about -1.
M34 (Open Cluster, in Perseus)
Observer: Emil Neata (e-mail: forvert2000@yahoo.com, web: http://www.astroclubul.org/emilneata)
Instrument: 60-mm refractor Location: Craiova, Romania
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Jan 25 00:00:00 2005 UT Obs. no.: 1159
M 34 - Fairly dense, composed of approximately 50 stars.
NGC884 (Open Cluster, in Perseus)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Horsham, Pa., USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Oct 4 02:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1067
Decided to use my Celestron 15x70 Skymaster Binos due to having company over and did not have the 6" reflector cooled down. The Double Cluster also was very obvious and the amount of stars in the FOV is always overwhelming to me. Last week while using the 6" reflector the number of starts was quadrupled. Definetly one of my favorite clusters.
M34 (Open Cluster, in Perseus)
Observer: Joe Caggiano (e-mail: jcaggiano@mindspring.com)
Instrument: 6-inch equatorial reflector Location: Horsham, Pa., USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Mon Oct 4 02:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1066
Decided to use my Celestron 15x70 Skymaster Binos due to having company over and did not have the 6" reflector cooled down. The Cluster was very obvious and the amount of stars in the FOV is always overwhelming to me. Even though the FOV in my telescope at my lowest power (30x) is about half of what it is in the binos, the number of stars is 4 times as much. I am certain this is one of my favorite clusters due to the high population of stars.
Meteor (Meteor, est. mag -1, est. to be in Perseus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Aug 14 02:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1050
Last night, my friends Steve Borer, Mike Dzubaty and I observed the Perseid meteor shower even though it was two days past peak. We observed from 10:30 PM EDT until 12:30 AM EDT. We were able to observe about 10 to 15 perseids during the three hour period. A few of them were as bright as -1 magnitude. At 12:30 AM EDT, our old friends, the clouds arrived and that was the end of the observing session.
Meteor (Meteor, est. mag -2, est. to be in Perseus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Colebrook, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Aug 12 03:15:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 1049
Last night, my friends, Mike Dzubaty, his son Mike Jr., Steve Borer and I went to the northwest hills of Connecticut to obseve the Persiad meteor shower even though it was overcast. Luckily for us, the clouds broke up for two hours from 11:00 PM EDT to 1:00 AM EDT. We observed several bright meteors during the period. Most of the brighter ones were very fast movers and they seemed to have a slight bluish tinge. With so many clouds around, we were only able to see 10-15 meteors during the two hours the sky partially cleared. The brighter meteors were anywere from 0 magnitude to -2 magnitude. As an added bonus, we were able to observe an irridiam flare which was about -6 mag.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 9th, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec 2h58m, +36d05')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Dec 3 06:45:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 919
On a very chilly Wednesday morning I observed C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) from 6:45 to 7:30 UT with magnifications ranging from 118x to 259x using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory. The comet had a bright stellar pseudonucleus surrounded by an inner condensation and an irregular outer coma. I also noted a short tail with averted vision. The comet's motion was readily apparent during that period.Comet LINEAR T7 was visible but just barely through the 5" /5 finder scope at 25x.Much earlier, a calendar day as a matter of fact, I tried to catch a final look at Comet 2P/Encke without success. After visiting a few bright deep-sky objects I observed the Moon through fleeting clouds and under somewhat turbulent skies. Rupes Recta and the area encompassing Eratosthenes, Montes Apenninus, and Archimedes captured my interest. Mars at 259x was distinctly gibbous and tiny compared to its days of glory last August.My views of Saturn at 118 to 202x were not as good as the night before when several pastel shades were displayed but they did have their moments. The C Ring wasn't particularly hard to see. Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, and Rhea bracketed the Ringed Planet while Titan kept its distance.Asteroid 1 Ceres was easily swept up at 162x as it headed north westward towards Pollux.I stayed in the French Dome long enough to watch Io be eclipsed by Jupiter at 9:28 UT.Other celestial objects that met my telescopically enhanced gaze through the course of the session included M38, M36, M37, Rigel, M42, M43, M78, W Orionis, M76, M103, M34, the Double Cluster, Stock 2 (which was quite nice through the 5" at 25x), NGC 957, M52 and nearby Czernik 43, and Eta Persei. I used 162x for most of these observations.
Comet (Comet, est. mag 7.1, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec 4h00m, +37d48m)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Nov 18 02:45:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 911
I observed Comet LINEAR T7 on Tuesday night from the ASH Naylor Observatory using a 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 162, 202, and 232x. Its coma was irregular in shape and consistency, with a fairly strong central condensation. Although the transparency was mediocre, the seventh magnitude comet was seen rather easily.
NGC1491 (Bright Nebula, in Perseus)
Observer: Paul (e-mail: paul_ohstbucks@msn.com)
Instrument: 12.5-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Lee's Summit, MO, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Wed Nov 13 01:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 718
Emission Nebula:A small irregular shaped faint glow with a star just bordering the eastern edgeof the glow. No detail noted other than the location of the nebula and the star on the eastern edge. Without the OIII, all that was noted was the star. Iwas happy to be able to simply make note of it with the moon in the sky.
M76 (Barbell Nebula) (Planetary Nebula, in Perseus)
Observer: Paul (e-mail: paul_ohstbucks@msn.com)
Instrument: 12.5-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Lee's Summit, MO, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Sep 29 02:00:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 708
The Little Dumbell was easily found in Perseus without any filters in my suburban backyard. All I could note was a small grey area roughly 3x2 archminutes in size standing on end. With the OIII filter, M76 stood out much more clearly. I was not able to observe the central star. I started at 59x and moved up to 118x with much improvement. M76 stood out well at 157x. I tried higher magnifications without much success tonight. I would have to say somewhere between 120x and 150x is ideal for this object on this night.
M34 (Open Cluster, in Perseus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 20-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Mar 17 00:45:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 628
M34 open cluster has many faint stars in it. with the 20' dob, i was able to see a few asterisms within the cluster.
Other (Other, est. mag ~9th, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec 4h12m, +47d09')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: poor
Time: Wed Nov 7 03:05:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 590
I spent a couple of hours at the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org) on Tuesday night. I didn't see any auroral activity but I did catch glimpses of a few interesting solar system denizens and some deep-sky fare as well. Using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain housed in the French Dome I warmed up by viewing two autumn Messier galaxies, M77 and M74 (widely considered to be the most difficult Messier object) at 162x. Then I tracked down asteroid 4 Vesta (162x), which was located to the southeast of Aldebaran (p.179, Uranometria 2000.0 Volume I). The minor planet formed a double triangle with what appeared to be eighth and ninth magnitude field stars. Another shallow-sky object came next, the so-called (and over-hyped) Christmas Comet, C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR). Like many comets this one may be a disappointment. It's brightness appears to be lagging behind predictions. (It certainly will not be a bright naked-eye comet in the northern hemisphere.) I estimated the comet at being ninth magnitude with a centrally condensed coma that was perhaps 3-4' in size. There was a hint of a fan-shaped tail. I used magnifications of 118, 144, 162, 202, and 259x to view Comet LINEAR WM1. At the time (~03:05 UT) it was located within a group of field stars southeast of 48 Persei at 4h12m, +47d09'. Another ASH member arrived with some friends soon thereafter. I showed them NGC 2169 (the 37 Cluster) and M37 at 162x, Saturn and four of its satellites at 162 and 202x, M42 at 162x, and M31 and M32 at 162x. Before leaving I returned to the French Dome and joined the others in looking at the moon and Jupiter.
NGC1499 (Bright Nebula, in Perseus, Est. RaDec 4h0m8s, +36d29'40")
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 101-mm refractor Location: Coudersport, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Sep 15 05:10:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 564
One of the more esoteric objects that I observed at the Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park, Potter County, PA, was the California Nebula (NGC 1499). With the aid of the very dark skies of CSSP and a borrowed H-beta filter my 101mm f/5.4 Tele Vue Genesis sdf refractor displayed this normally elusive emission nebula in fine fashion. In fact the views I had on Saturday and Monday mornings were the best that I've ever had of NGC 1499. The California Nebula somewhat resembles the state of California and appeared as a very large (40' x 145') and somewhat faint rectangular expanse of gray at 15x (35mm Panoptic).
NGC1023 (Galaxy, in Perseus, Est. RaDec 2h40m +39)
Observer: Thomas Godfrey (e-mail: choccy_bourbon@hotmail.com)
Instrument: 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector Location: Norwich, Norfolk, England
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Thu Jan 11 19:55:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 578
Very bright galaxy that is presented at a slight angle to Earth. NGC1023 has a fairly bright diffuse core. Must be visible in much smaller instruments. Look for the more difficult NGC1003 nearby.
M34 (Open Cluster, in Perseus)
Observer: Serge (e-mail: astroguy@onaustralia.com.au)
Instrument: 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector Location: Perth, WA, Australia
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Dec 21 15:10:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 540
Frame nicely in 26mm F/6.3 49X, rich and bright.
Comet (Comet, est. mag ~8, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec ~3h08m, +50d40')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 20-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jul 8 08:00:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 534
I spent this particular Friday night observing with some friends at a private observatory in south central Pennsylvania. My main goal was to make what would be my fourth observation of Comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR). (I first saw the comet on the morning of Saturday June 24 at the Mason-Dixon Star Party through an 8" SCT and 15 and 25" Dobsonians. There was also a excellent apparition of the Walter Sunset Lunar Ray that morning. My next sighting was on Sunday, July 2nd from the grounds of the LVAAS observatory at Pulpit Rock, where I was able to track down Comet LINEAR S4 with my 80mm Orion ShortTube refractor. I also viewed the object through a 12" Meade LX200 SCT, my 12.5" Starsplitter Dob, the LVAAS 12.5" Newtonian, a 15" Obsession Dob, and an 18" Starmaster Dob. My third observation took place on July 5th at the ASH Naylor Observatory near Lewisberry using 80 and 125mm finderscopes, a 12.5" Cave Newtonian, and a 17" classical Cassegrain.) After some obligatory lunar viewing and the setting of moon we got busy with summer deep sky objects. These included M17, M8, M20, NGC 6572, and M11 at magnifications of either 127x, 203x, or both. We also turned off the clock drive and watched a geosynchronous satellite remain stationary as the stars drifted by, a phenomenon that is always fascinating to see.Soon Comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) rose high enough to be seen. Through the 20" f/10 classical Cassegrain the comet (and its substantialtail) looked better than it did from through the smaller scopes(12.5" and 17") at the more light polluted Naylor Observatory on the previous Wednesday morning. The rapid motion of the comet through the head of Perseus was clearly evident. S4 was eadily visible through a pair of 20x80's and the 3" finderscope. After seeing the comet through the 20x80's I took a brief binocular tour of the sky, visiting the Double Cluster, Stock 2, M31, M32, M110, M22, M28, M20, M11, and the carbon star V Aquilae.We alternated between the comet and summer and fall DSO's (NGC 6992, M27, Palomar 8, NGC 6540, Djorgovski 3, NGC 6520, B86, NGC 6781, NGC 6804, NGC 6760, NGC 6772, NGC 6712, IC 1298, M27 again, and M71) until approximately 08:00 UT, using magnifications of 127, 159, 203, and 302x on Comet LINEAR S4. The sharp eyed owner of the 20" saw a spike-like ion tail and I thought that I detected a bright area (or maybe even two) in the pseudonucleus. The tail extended to perhaps 10'. The penultimate celestial object of the night was Saturn at 159x but at that time the ringed planet was still too close to the horizon to provide much visual excitement. I put NGC 891 into view but by then the eastern sky was rapidly brightening and this great edge-on galaxy was barely visible.Whether Comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) reaches naked eye visibility or not in the coming weeks, it certainly is quite a treat telescopically at present.
Beta Per (Algol) (Variable Star, in Perseus)
Observer: Mike Pierce (e-mail: xtozaj@webtv.net)
Instrument: 90-mm refractor Location: Malone, Florida, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Oct 31 05:30:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 413
Tonight, observed the Demon Star and looked for variabilty. Observed the star for 2 hours and did not see any recognizible difference in magnitude. I did not notice the eclipse, however, I will continue to search for same! Clear Skies, everyone!
Other (Other, est. to be in Perseus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Nov 26 02:50:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 256
It was a mediocre night for deep-sky observing at the ASH Naylor Observatory. So instead of hunting for faint galaxies in Aquarius I spent some time observing DSO's in Perseus (after first looking at M15, M2, Saturn and 3 of its satellites, asteroid 4 Vesta, M37, M36, and M38). All but one of the objects in Perseus were open clusters. I began with three Herschel 400 objects - the fine cluster NGC 1528 and two nearby sparse clusters NGC 1545 and 1513. After observing the 10th magnitude elliptical galaxy NGC 1023 I moved on to the Double Cluster and Stock 2 (the Muscle Man Cluster). Stock 2 was striking through the 5" f/5 finder scope at 25x (25mm Konig). Next came two sparse, 7th magnitude clusters near the Double Cluster, NGC 957 and 744. And finally I viewed Stock 4, a moderately rich, centrally concentrated cluster about 20' in size. Stock 4 was a surprisingly attractive stellar group at 118x (55mm Ploessl).
Comet (Comet, est. mag 0.4, est. to be in Perseus, Est. RaDec 4h18mn +30)
Observer: Haldun "Hal" I. Menali (e-mail: halme@kocbank.com.tr, web: http://www.kocbank.com.tr)
Instrument: 80-cm binoculars Location: near Kas, Antalya, Turkey
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Thu Apr 24 18:10:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 124
Together with my wife Gamze, we try to observe C/Hale-Bopp on each clear night from mostly light polluted skies of Istanbul. This year we could see the Comet from early March to end of April, for 21 days in total. Here we would like to share with you our best sighting of the Comet from a southern coastal town of Turkey at 36 deg latitude on April 24th. There was literally no light pollution, except headlights of passing cars nearby. It was a fantastic sight to remember. The comet hung down in the sky like a brilliant diamond! It was so huge and bright that, I am sure it should have cast some shadow. No words can describe the beautifully curved tail and its unthinkable length. It went maybe more than 6 deg visible in our 12x80 binocs. Eastern side of the tail was sharply defined, while western side was diffused and can not be seen clearly. Eastern side was brighter than the western side. The dust tail was spread between PA 355 deg and 60 deg. The dust tail was reaching at least 2 deg width at its widest part. With averted vision we could see the beginning of the gas tail as well to the east of the dust tail. The pseudo nucleus was really too bright and showed a disc-like structure, like planets. We spotted an antitail to our surprise just south of the coma, in triangular shape of 15' long from tip to base, at PA 240 deg.
NGC1528 (Open Cluster in Perseus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Mon Feb 3 05:30:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 41
A bright, medium-sized, irregular glow. Swept up in my Milky Way "bug hunt."
NGC884 (Open Cluster in Perseus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Mon Feb 3 05:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 37
See contemporaneous observation recorded under NGC869. This one the larger of the pair in my 7x50s.
NGC869 (Open Cluster in Perseus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Mon Feb 3 05:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 36
After straining after all those dim shadows, the Double Cluster was stunningly bright in 7x50s. Obvious to the naked eye as an extended fuzzy patch; in the binoculars a tight pair of compressed star clusters, with the upper one (NGC884) larger.
M34 (Open Cluster in Perseus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jan 6 05:20:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 9
Picked it up sweeping with 7x50s, then detected it fairly easily with the naked eye and averted vision as a dim, small patch that was distinctly non-stellar. In the binoculars it was a pretty little cluster, with a half dozen bright stars, especially 2 oriented roughly E-W toward the center with a bright fuzzy patch between them (presumably the unresolved core).
M76 (Barbell Nebula) (Planetary Nebula in Perseus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 50-mm binoculars Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jan 6 05:15:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 8
Detected, but only by referring carefully to its charted position. In 7x50s was indistinguishable from a very faint star, except perhaps by its refusal to become a real pinpoint even under patient averted vision.
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