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M45 (Pleiades) (Open Cluster, in Taurus)
Observer: BCT (e-mail: torchbct@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector Location: Trinidad, TX, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Dec 10 13:30:00 2001 UT Obs. no.: 600
My first observation tonight, I observed all main stars and many smaller stars. Very pretty!!! Could not see any of the nebulosity....
M1 (Crab Nebula) (Bright Nebula, in Taurus)
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 16:57:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 540
Easy to spot, no visible structure, visible as a great patch of smoke, somehow brighter at the center.
Mars (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Vedran vrhovac (e-mail: vedran_vrhovac@yahoo.com)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Velika Gorica, Croatia
Light pollution: severe Transparency: poor Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Oct 13 22:00:00 2000 UT Obs. no.: 1349
It was "the night". Transparency was poor (fog) and first quater Moon but seeing was almost perfect.From my terrace I looked at Mars through 8"F6 GSO dobson. Sinus Sabea was easily visible, and Oxia Palus apperad as straight gray line near eastern limb. Deucalions Regio was bright "land" between Sabaea and Pandorae Fretum. At souht near limb was bright orange patch - Argyre. SPC was small, maybe 1/15 of disk diameter. At north-west were Syrtis Major and Iapygia Viridis. Hellas was little more to the south. Arabia was bright and oragne. NPH was white.
NGC1514 (Planetary Nebula, in Taurus, Est. RaDec 04h09.2m, +30d47')
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 10 05:25:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 490
NGC 1514 is a large, type 3+2 planetary nebula which spans 120"x90" and shines at magnitude 10.9p. It has an unusually bright central star of magnitude 9.4 and is located between two ninth magnitude field stars, the southern one being noticeably red in color. The nebulosity was subtle and is described in _The Night Sky Observer's Guide_ as having a dumbbell shape similar to M27 but to me it appeared roughly annular. Said nebulosity was visible with averted vision at 118, 144, and 202x without a nebula filter but I felt the best view was at 118x using an Orion UltraBlock filter. The view was too dark with a Lumicon O-III filter at 202x and unfiltered at 259x.
M1 (Crab Nebula) (Bright Nebula, in Taurus, Est. RaDec -)
Observer: Eero Holmstrm (e-mail: holmerkki@altavista.net, web: http://www.fda.iwarp.com)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Pernajan kirkonkyl, Pernaja, Finland
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Sun Jan 31 21:30:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 504
Pretty nice at 38x, the small glow had a prominent S - shape to it.
Other (Other, est. mag 0.8, est. to be in Taurus, Est. RaDec 04h35m55s, +16d30')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Wed Jan 27 07:52:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 442
On this fine January night I observed the occultations of 3 stars of the Hyades and Aldebaran, the lucida of Taurus, from both my residence and the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.msd.org/obs.htm). Using my 114mm f/7.9 C4.5 at 134x I watched as the 76% illuminated moon covered the 5.0 magnitude binary star 75 Tauri at ~04:30 1/27/99 UT. I then drove to the observatory and witnessed the occultation of 4.8 magnitude ZC 0677 at 05:44 UT (according to the WWV time signal). (75 Tauri reappeared sometime around 05:34 UT.) As the moon neared 6.6 magnitude ZC 0685 haze and the brightness of the moon prevented me from seeing this occultation. It appeared that low clouds would spoil the occultation of Aldebaran but this proved not to be the case. After doing some lunar sightseeing at 202x and some double star observing in Orion at 118, 202, and 259x I took some eyepiece projection photos of the moon and Aldebaran through the 5" f/5 finderscope some 5 minutes before the occultation. At exactly 07:52 UT Aldebaran disappeared from view as the moon hovered about 5 degrees above the hills to the west. (The occultations were all observed at 118x.)
Asteroid (Asteroid, est. mag 7.0, est. to be in Taurus, Est. RaDec 4h21m, 17d25')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Nov 29 09:55:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 425
Before closing the dome at the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.msd.org/obs.htm) I had a final look at the largest minor planet, asteroid 1 Ceres. I have been following the progress of this 1000 km sized celestial body as it approached Aldebaran and then ventured "into" the Hyades. Ceres, which reached opposition on 11/28 and was thus at a maximum brightness of 7.0 magnitude, was located to the west of delta 1 Tauri.
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star, in Taurus, Est. RaDec 04h35m55s, +16d30')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 4.5-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Nov 6 01:57:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 415
Using my C4.5 at 36, 60, and 134x I watched Aldebaran reappear from occultation at nearly the center of the eastern (dark) lunar limb. After the event occurred I observed the moon, the Hyades, Jupiter, Saturn, Epsilon Lyrae, Albireo, M39, the Double Cluster, Stock 2, and NGC 457.
M45 (Pleiades) (Open Cluster, in Taurus)
Observer: Mike Pierce (e-mail: xtozaj@webtv.net)
Instrument: 03-inch refractor Location: Malone, Florida, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sun Oct 25 05:30:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 411
The Pleiades and all the accompaning asterisms within Taurus were great. The luminosity of the "Seven Sisters" was awesome. Especially noteworthy was Eta Tauri. It outshone the other sisters by a least 1/2 magnitude (through binos). The Hyades was also beautiful. Although Taurus is most known for the Pleiades, observers who enjoy open clusters, may like the Hyades for their perfect position as the "horns of the bull!"
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star, in Taurus, Est. RaDec 04h36s, 16d31')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 8x56-mm binoculars Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Sep 12 07:24:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 396
I witnessed the occultation of Aldebaran through a pair of 8x56 Ultimas while my friend Sandy Goodstein videotaped the event afocally through a 20" classical Cassegrain. The red giant star disappeared near the north pole of the moon at 07:24 UT and reappeared at 07:41 UT. After Aldebaran reappeared I took prime focus astrophotos through the 20" and its finder scope. Seeing Aldebaran pop back into view on the dark side of the terminator was quite a sight.
M45 (Pleiades) (Open Cluster, in Taurus)
Observer: Joe Muse (e-mail: jmuse@bigfoot.com, web: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/3185)
Instrument: 16-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Roswell, NM, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Oct 29 14:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 246
Great
M45 (Pleiades) (Open Cluster, in Taurus)
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: Thu Sep 11 09:20:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 226
The Pleiades were an almost painfully bright swarm of blue-white stars at 49x, spilling out of the field. I look forward to viewing them with a wider-angle eyepiece to get the full effect of seeing them framed by the relatively dark background.
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star, in Taurus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 114-mm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, Pa, U.S.A.
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Jul 29 09:24:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 218
I observed the occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon early Tuesday morning. At approximately 09:24 UT (I forgot to put my watch on) Aldebaran winked out as it was covered by the Moon's western limb. After a longer time span than I expected (about an hour and 12 minutes) the Eye of the Bull reappeared out of "thin air". I used a Tele Vue 9mm Nagler, a Tele Vue 26mm Ploessl, and a 30mm Celestron Ultima along with a Celestron C4.5 to view this event. (Sorry about the garbled initial report.)
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star, in Taurus)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 114-mm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, Pa, U.S.A.
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Jul 29 09:24:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 217
I observed the occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon early Tuesday morning from my balcony. At approximately 09:24 UT Aldebaran winked out (I forgot After a longer time span that Bull reappeared out of "thin air."
M1 (Crab Nebula) (Bright Nebula in Taurus)
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 06:00:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 15
Picked up almost immediately in the 7x50s as a very small, faint patch, definitely non-stellar in averted vision. Felt the need for more than 7x to see any detail of its shape, though, given how small it was.
NGC1746 (Open Cluster in Taurus)
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 05:54:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 14
After noting it on the chart, I scanned for and located NGC1746 in the 7x50s; a large (1.5-degree), sparse cluster with a dozen or so dim stars, and a very faint background glow in the S half.
NGC1647 (Open Cluster in Taurus)
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 05:50:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 13
Picked up by sweeping with 7x50's. A large, irregular cluster, fairly sparse. Several (5? 6?) bright stars resolved immediately, with another 9 or 10, dimmer, emerging near the center with averted vision.
Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star in Taurus)
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 05:50:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 12
Viewing the Hyades in 7x50s, and knowing that Aldebaran is a foreground star not actually part of the cluster, I felt I could see a distinct 3D effect, the bright golden-yellow star seeming to thrust out in front of the beautiful field of bluish-white background stars. I realize it's only an illusion, but it's a pretty (and accurate) one for all that.
M45 (Pleiades) (Open Cluster in Taurus)
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 05:40:00 1997 UT Obs. no.: 11
On my way to looking for M1 I was snared by the binocular view of M45. Such a beautiful field of bright, blue-white jewels, especialy after poring over dim, gray NGC clusters.
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