Observations by abigmick@aol.com

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Observations by abigmick@aol.com:

M3 (Globular Cluster, in Canes Venatici)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Apr 5 00:10:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2242

On Easter Night, my brother Anthony, our friend Joe & I did some observing with our computerized MAK. We were able to enjoy 10 double stars which is one of our favorite things to look at. We also observed 7 galaxies including M51 & M81. The Asteroid Metis was at opposition & had a slight bluish tint to it. The globular cluster M3 was great. We were able to see a lot of speckling in the cluster. Finally, we were able to watch the ISS pass right over our heads. With our binoculars, we had no trouble seeing the solar panels on it. What a night of astronomy!

M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) (Galaxy, in Canes Venatici)
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: Mon Mar 29 01:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2240

A few evenings ago, my Brother Anthony & I did some binocular viewing after our computerized telescope malfunctioned. After viewing some binocular double stars we decided to try for The Whirlpool Galaxy. We were both stunned at how easily we were able to observe this galaxy. Soon we will have our telescope up & running again.

M41 (Open Cluster, in Canis Major)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1"-inch other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Mar 14 01:05:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2237

This evening, I observed a hyper giant red star known as Y V Canis Majoris while cruising around Canis Major with my 5.1" short tube Newtonian Telescope. I was really impressed how red this star was.

M76 (Barbell Nebula) (Planetary Nebula, in Perseus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Mar 10 00:30:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2236

This evening, my brother Anthony & I did some observing with our 5" computerized MAK. We were able to enjoy about 15 double stars as well as three galaxies. The two highlights were M1, The Crab Nebula & M76, The Little Dumbbell Nebula. It was another great night of astronomy!

M40 (Multiple Star, in Ursa Major)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Mar 8 00:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2235

Last evening, my brother Anthony & I observed several objects with our 5" computerized MAK. We were able to observe about six galaxies including M51. We were able to see its spiral affect coming out of its core. We also observed two planetary neubulas which looked blue. The two red stars, Hind's Crimson Star & The Garnet Star looked stunningly red. The grand finally was we were able to split Sirius & Sirius B. Right now, both stars are at their farthest separation so now is the time to look at this double.

M46 (Open Cluster, in Puppis)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Mar 3 00:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2234

Last evening, My brother Anthony & I observed many objects with our computerized 5" MAK. In Puppis we had the pleasure of viewing six open clusters. We also viewed many other clusters including M44 & M35. We also observed three asteroids, Vesta, Eunomia & Acmphtrite. We saw Galaxies M51, Ngc 5195, M81 & M82. In total, we observed 31 objects including the conjunction of The Pleiades & Mars. It was a great night of observing!

M45 (Pleiades) (Open Cluster, in Taurus)
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: Fri Feb 26 00:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2231

Tonight I observed the beginning of Mars' approach to The Pleiades which will continue until March 9th. The blue stars of The Pleiades contrasts nicely with the orange color of Mars. Just to the left, Was the orange star Aldebaran with the Hyades open cluster. One more note, was Mars looked slightly more orange than Aldebaran.

Sun (Sun, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm equatorial reflector   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Feb 25 17:05:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2230

Early this afternoon, I was able to observe growing Sunspot complex Sunspotter Solar Telescope. This spot is growing a lot however it's also going to exit the sun's face in a few days.

M42 (Orion Nebula) (Bright Nebula, in Orion)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Feb 5 01:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2228

This evening I observed objects in both the Orion & Canis Major. In Orion, I was able to see clusters of stars throughout Orion. I was also able to enjoy double stars & asterisms. M42 & 43 were nice to see also. In Canis Major, M41 did not show very well but there were plenty of asterisms & clusters of stars there too. Now that I'm recovered from Covid, I can now resume my astronomy.

M78 (Bright Nebula, in Orion)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Dec 9 00:00:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2222

Last evening, my brother Anthony & I Observed several objects with out 5" computerized MAK. For the first time, both of us finally observed M78 which is a small nebula in Orion. We also observed NGC178 which is a galaxy in Cetus. The other first timer that we saw was the Asteroid Psyche. We also saw M1, The Crab Nebula. We also saw several double stars & other objects. It was a fun night.

Sun (Sun, est. to be in Sagittarius)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Nov 29 16:45:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2220

Late this morning, I observed two sunspots with my solar telescope. Sunspot #AR2785 is still huge while nearby, sunspot#AR2784 is about half the size. The facula around the large spot was really nice to look at. Also, two nights ago, I studied Tycho Crater on the moon's south pole. The crater rays were really obvious. Looking at Tycho just before full moon makes a big difference on how much you can see.

Mars (Planet, est. mag -2, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Nov 23 23:45:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2219

Last evening, my brother Anthony & I observed several objects beginning with two planets. Even though Mars is now shrinking in size, we were still able to see several land features. The north polar hood is still very obvious. We also viewed so called Dwarf Planet Ceres which looked like a tiny blue orb. We managed to observe edge on galaxy NGC7331. It had a bright core with faint wings along side it. We also viewed globular cluster M15, several open clusters & eleven double stars. Finally, this morning, we observed the sun with our solar equipment. There were three sunspot groups on the sun & they were impressive. Both of us have pictures of the sun on our FB pages.

Sun (Sun)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Nov 23 17:30:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2218

This afternoon, I observed the sun with my Solar scope. Sunspot group AR2783 contains a big sunspot with several smaller ones trailing behind. My scope was only able to see the big spot because clouds were interfering.

NGC6826 (Planetary Nebula, in Cygnus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Nov 15 00:45:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2213

On Saturday evening, My brother Anthony & I observed several objects with his 5" MAK. We viewed globular clusters M2 & M15 along with several open clusters. The highlight of the night was observing the Blinking Nebula which is a blue planetary nebula. It was great in the scope. The night before, we were able to observe Comet Atlas which was sitting next to Bellatrix. It was a small round blob which was smaller in size than Bellatrix.

M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) (Galaxy, in Andromeda)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 127-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: good
Time: Mon Nov 9 23:00:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2212

Last evening, my brother Anthony & I observed many objects with his computerized 127mm MAK. Our first planetary target was Mars. With the ortho eyepiece, Mars' land features & north polar hood really stood out. This was our best view of Mars this fall. We then viewed Jupiter where we viewed its two belts & polar caps. One of Jupiter's moons was right next to the planet. We then slewed to Saturn where the Cassini division was easily seen in Saturn's rings. We then observed Uranus which looked like small a bright blue orb in the scope. Finally, we viewed Neptune who's tiny orb looked bluish grey. We then toured five galaxies beginning with M31, The Andromeda galaxy. We were able to see the satellite galaxies M32 & M110. M32 showed very well in the scope but M110 was difficult to see. We then went to M33, The Pinwheel Galaxy. One part of this face on galaxy was seen easily. this was the big star formation part of the galaxy. The last galaxy we observed was the edge on galaxy NGC891. This galaxy looks like a pencil line in our scope. We also viewed two globular clusters M30 & M56. both did not show up well in our scope. We did have great views of several open clusters but for us the beauty of the Double Cluster GREAT! We took over five minutes to examine this. We also viewed the famous double star Albereo. Finally, during the day, we observed sunspot group AR2781 to complete our day night astronomy double header.

Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.4)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: good
Time: Thu Nov 5 00:30:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2211

Last evening I observed Mars with my 5.1" Short Tube Newtonian Telescope. I had my best view of Mars for this entire apparition with Syrtis Major showing easily. I also saw other land features nicely as well as the Blue white north polar hood. I also made a naked eye color comparison between Mars, Jupiter & Saturn. Jupiter looked white to me while Saturn had a yellow look but Mars' orange color was really outstanding. I also did some observations of the moon & The Pleiades. This morning, I observed the sun's face with my solar scope. Sunspot group AR2781 showed a large sunspot group just entering the sun's face. I will be following this group in the coming days.

Sun (Sun)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Transparency: fair
Time: Sun Oct 18 16:15:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2209

This afternoon, I observed the Sun with mu 62mm solar telescope. I could see sunspot AR2776 is starting to grow. The facula around the sunspot is also getting easier to see.

Sun (Sun)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Transparency: fair
Time: Sun Oct 18 16:15:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2208

This afternoon, I observed the Sun with mu 62mm solar telescope. I could see sunspot AR2776 is starting to grow. The facula around the sunspot is also getting easier to see.

Mars (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Pisces)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 5.1-inch equatorial reflector   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Oct 15 01:15:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2207

For the last two evenings, I've been observing Mars with my 5.1" short tube Newtonian Reflector. The blue white North Polar Hood is still very obvious & I also saw some dark markings on Mars' surface again. Last Night, I also viewed the Pleiades & the Hyades open clusters with low power. There are many interesting double stars within each cluster & it will take me time to closely look at each double during the coming weeks.

Alpha Tau (Aldebaran) (Multiple Star, in Taurus)
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: Sat Oct 10 03:55:00 2020 UT   Obs. no.: 2206

Last evening I compared the colors of Aldebaran & Mars with my naked eyes & 10X50 Binoculars. To my surprise, Aldebaran looked red it its color while Mars looked orange. the difference was very obvious.

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