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Moon (Moon)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Tue Jan 9 05:00:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 540
Observed the full moon, naked-eye, after watching my Christmas-present DVD of From the Earth to the Moon.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Sat Mar 4 05:05:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 540
I observed the waning crescent moon this morning while fetching the morning paper. Who says being tagged with the first-parent-out-of-bed-when-the-kids-wake-up duty is without its compensations?
Other (Other)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Sat Mar 4 05:05:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 519
Rain, rain, go away. I'd really like to observe today...
Alpha Aur (Capella) (Star, in Auriga)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Sun Feb 27 04:45:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 512
Pressed by my friends and family, lazing in the jacuzzi, to identify "that yellowish star, over there," I was gratified to be able to say, "Um, I think it's Capella, in Auriga," and turn out (after consulting my planisphere) to have been right.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Sat Jan 22 04:45:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 511
On the night after the total lunar eclipse, I went outside with Linda and saw a beautiful halo surrounding the one-day-past-full moon; a great circle in the thin layer of high clouds.
Moon (Moon)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: poor Seeing: poor
Time: Fri Jan 21 03:40:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 508
Even through complete cloud cover, I just took a look and saw the moon with a big chunk taken out of it by the Earth's shadow. Way cool. (By the way, somebody should have bugged me about the Y2K bug in the form. Sorry about that.)
NGC2022 (Planetary Nebula, in Orion)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Dec 5 07:00:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 501
For comparison purposes, I tried locating this 12th mag. planetary (after having a tough time with NGC 1535 in Eridanus). Since I was able to use my Northern Hemisphere Uranometria, this was a much easier, quicker star hop, even though this planetary was much fainter. Never underestimate the value of a good chart when you're trying to find your way around. :-)
NGC1535 (Planetary Nebula, in Eridanus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Dec 5 06:20:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 500
After a fruitless attempt to star hop to this bright planetary by working my way south, I switched to an eastbound approach, and found it fairly quickly. As I've noticed in the past with other planetaries, it wasn't seeing it that was the challenge, but detecting its non-stellar nature at the low power I use for star-hopping. Also making things tough was that it is in a fairly star-poor region of the sky, at least for the Tirion atlas I need to use south of Dec. -6 (the limit of the single Uranometria volume I own). Anyway, once I found it it was easy at higher power: a big, fuzzy ball.
Omicron Eri (Beid) (Star, in Eridanus)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Dec 5 06:00:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 499
After reading the description in Burnham's I tried to spot the white dwarf that is the brighter component of the fairly close pair (Omicron 2 Eridani B-C) that is in turn the distant companion of Omicron 2 Eridani A. Burnham's describes it as "the only white dwarf star which can honestly be called an easy object for the small telescope." I could certainly detect it as a dim companion of the primary star, but couldn't spot the C star.
Saturn (Planet)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Dec 5 03:10:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 498
Julia (age 8) found Saturn for me, sighting in with the Telrad after I asked her to try looking at "that other bright object, a little below and to the left of Jupiter." I got a definite kick out of it when she shouted "Hey! It's Saturn! I can see the rings!" Linda, reading her book by flashlight in the jacuzzi a few yards away, liked it, too. Big smiles all around. :-)
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Dec 5 03:00:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 497
I hadn't been out observing in many months, but my first view through the eyepiece on this clear, cold evening definitely rewarded me: Jupiter, with two of the Galilean moons perched just off the disk like Mickey Mouse ears, and the Great Red Spot (I assume; a dramatic dimming of the SEB, at least) approaching meridian transit. A few hours later, after dinner, I looked again, and now Mickey's ears were both next to each other, and the SEB was a solid band. Some fairly dramatic detail was visible in the NEB during this later observation.
Mars (Planet)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 3 07:15:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 452
Inspired by Mike Pierce's efforts, I've been meaning to stay up late (or get up early) to check out Mars. Tonight I was coming out of a movie with my wife ("The Matrix"; not bad for a Keanu Reeves film), when I saw the waning gibbous moon rising with a really bright object a few degrees away. I knew it had to be a planet, but I was disoriented for a minute; I thought I was facing south, and couldn't think what planet it could be. Of course, I was actually facing in a more easterly direction, and the planet was Mars, which was obvious to me in a few moments by a process of elimination. I just hadn't seen it in the evening yet, and hadn't realized how bright it had become since I last saw it in the predawn twilight about a month ago. Anyway, after getting home I observed it for about 30 minutes. The seeing was nice and steady, but the planet was relatively low (about 30-40 degrees altitude), and I probably didn't give the reflector enough time to really stabilize thermally. Observing at 122x and 244x I was able to detect the planet's phase (that is, the sliver taken out of its W limb), and *thought* I'd seen the N polar cap a few times, though in comparing my drawing to the observing guide in the April S&T it looks like I was placing the cap in the wrong spot (I had it a bit W of S, while it should have been a bit E of S). A few times I thought I was seeing some dark smudges on the disk, but nothing I could draw reliably.
M44 (Praesepe) (Open Cluster, in Cancer)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 07:00:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 326
After losing my way in the treacherous reefs of the Virgo Cluster (and stetching my neck uncomfortably to reach the eyepiece with the telescope pointing near the zenith; I've got to get a proper observing chair, or at least a taller stool for those times), I looked about 45 degrees up in the West and saw the glow of Praesepe, like the loom of a lighthouse that leads to a safe harbor at journey's end. I swung the telescope down to it, and enjoyed the familiar beauty of the cluster's many sparkling doubles and triples.
Other (Other, est. to be in Virgo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:55:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 325
Just for kicks I swung my telescope a lion's-tail length E of Denebola into the heart of the Virgo cluster, and swept around with the 38X eyepiece. I didn't bother to keep track of where I was or identify the many fuzzy patches I saw; after the previous careful hunting in Leo it was exciting, and a little disorienting, to have multiple galaxies in every field as I swept back and forth. I felt like an Age of Discovery explorer who had sailed off the edge of his charts and suddenly found himself amid the dangerous reefs of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Maybe I'll come back another night and have a no-charts Reef Hunt, drawing my own map and plotting fuzzies as I go.
NGC3628 (Galaxy, in Leo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:45:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 324
A long, uniform faint patch, easy with averted vision, larger than M65 and M66 (which were visible in the same field), but much more subtle, making for a lovely contrast.
M66 (Galaxy, in Leo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:45:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 323
M66 was a brighter, thicker, less-lengthy smudge than M65, with a similar orientation.
M65 (Galaxy, in Leo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:45:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 322
All three galaxies (M65, M66 and NGC 3628) fit in the same 38X field; a very dramatic sight. M65 was an obvious, elongated smudge extending N-S.
NGC3593 (Galaxy, in Leo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:40:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 321
NGC 3593 was a fairly easy smudge in averted vision at 38X, medium-sized, elongated E-W with a condensed core.
NGC3596 (Galaxy, in Leo)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:10:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 320
Shifting to the region of the lion's tail, NGC 3596 was a medium-sized, circular, difficult glow with averted vision at 38X.
NGC3115 (Galaxy, in Sextans)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 06:10:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 319
Inspired by a navigational discussion with my wife Linda, I set out to explore Sextans. The only object in the constellation to get a detailed Burnham's description was NGC 3115, the "Spindle Galaxy." It's described there as being an odd cross between an elongated elliptical and an edge-on spiral, having an extended axis that goes beyond the elliptical part, but lacking the central dust lane that would be expected in an edge-on spiral. In keeping with the night's navigational theme, it took a neat bit of piloting to reach the galaxy, star hopping with my 38X Plossl eyepiece through a star-poor region with only the Tirion Sky Atlas to guide me. The galaxy itself was a bright, obvious smudge, elongated NE-SW, with a central core apparent when I switched to high power (244X).
V Hya (Variable Star, in Hydra)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 18 05:48:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 318
I've wanted to see a carbon star for some time, but never had before. The May S&T listed a number of them, so I took advantage of the high pressure and resulting clear skies to look at V Hydrae, the reddest in the article's list of spring carbon stars (B-V 5.5). As with my efforts to observe star color before (with color-contrasting multiples) I was at first disappointed when I saw it: my habitual averted vision reduced it to a dull gray. When I stared right at it, though, and as I observed it over time, I came to appreciate how red it really was, and ended up being very impressed. I wouldn't call it a deep ruby red, but it was certainly a brick red-orange.
M33 (Pinwheel Galaxy) (Galaxy, in Triangulum)
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: good
Time: Wed Dec 31 07:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 291
With clouds moving through, I lay back in my lawn chair with the 7x50 binoculars and had fun looking for objects in the clear patches. After the recent discussion of M33 in sci.astro.amateur, I thought I'd give that a try, and found it easily by sweeping N from Aries. In retrospect, it is easy to locate with binoculars, lying slightly less than one 7-degree field W of Alpha Trianguli. Easy to LOCATE, but difficult to see; my sky is nice and dark in the W (where it was) thanks to the enlightened approach to light pollution in Santa Barbara, so I could detect it as a very big, very dim, circular glow with averted vision. I could make it much more obvious by jiggling the binoculars slightly, causing the movement of the glow to register clearly. I doubt I would be able to detect it if it had been at a similar altitude in the E, where the glow of the Ventura Auto Mall gives me a big patch of well-lit sky reminiscent of my old observing grounds in suburban Los Angeles. What is it about automobile sales that requires such spectacularly wasteful lighting? If they directed all that light downward they could probably make the things look even shinier without wasting so much electricity.
M97 (Owl Nebula) (Planetary Nebula, in Ursa Major)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Dec 31 06:15:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 290
A large, pale, ghostly circle, easily detected with averted vision at 38x. No "eyes" seen in the quick look I had before clouds moved over it.
M108 (Galaxy, in Ursa Major)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Dec 31 06:10:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 289
Swept up after noting its location in the Audubon Field Guide to the Night Sky map for UMa. A subliminally dim glow with averted vision at 38x, elongated E-W.
M82 (Galaxy, in Ursa Major)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Wed Dec 31 05:55:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 288
Swept up along with M81. A very thin, elongated fuzzy streak running E-W. Obvious at 38x; no central condensation noticed in the quick look I got before clouds moved over it.
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