Observations by abigmick@aol.com

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Observations by abigmick@aol.com:

M35 (Open Cluster, in Gemini)
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: Thu Feb 10 00:30:00 2022 UT   Obs. no.: 2332

Last evening, my brother Anthony & I did some nice observing despite interference from the moon. Some very nice open clusters that we saw were M35, M44, M46, M47. Also, in Orion we observed NGC 1980 which was a nice open cluster bathe in nebulosity. We did split the double stars Castor & Rigel & because Sirius & Sirius B are so far apart now, we were also able to split them. At high power, we studied both M42 & M43 in Orion. It was a great night of viewing!

Venus (Planet, est. mag -4.9, est. to be in Aquarius)
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: Wed Feb 9 11:00:00 2022 UT   Obs. no.: 2331

Early this morning, I observed Venus with my 10X50 binoculars. Even with binoculars, I was able to see Venus' crescent was starting to get fatter. It was a nice view.

Sun (Sun, est. to be in Aquarius)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Feb 6 17:30:00 2022 UT   Obs. no.: 2328

I just observed the sun with my solar scope. There is another big sunspot, #2039, on the center of the sun's face & right above it is another big spot #2040 which is part of a group of sunspots. The sun is really active this year so far.

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 Jan 31 17:15:00 2022 UT   Obs. no.: 2326

This morning, I observed the sun with my solar scope. There are two giant sunspots #AR2936 which to me are two of the biggest & darkest spots I've ever seen. Also, another dark spot is just emerging onto the sun's face & it's #AR2939. There is a lot of action going on in the sun.

NGC1980 (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: Wed Jan 26 02:30:00 2022 UT   Obs. no.: 2325

Last evening, I observed the open cluster NGC 1980 below The Orion Nebula. It was a nice group of stars forming a nice open cluster. I also observed NGC 1999 which is a small but bright cluster just below M42 & M43. I also viewed the bright nebulosity around The star Rigel. It was really impressive.

Sun (Sun, est. to be in Capricornus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Jan 10 16:30:00 2022 UT   Obs. no.: 2322

This morning I observed the sun with my solar telescope. Two dark sunspots #2924 are huge & dark. They do not look like they belong to the same group to me because they are not that close to each other. Sunspot # 1925 is not quite as large as the other two spots, but it is impressive & dark in in its own right.

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: Thu Dec 23 04:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2321

This evening, I observed three different star clusters in Orion. I first observed the group of stars which is part of Orion's head. I then observed the huge cluster of stars that swarm around the three belt stars of Orion. I then viewed a cluster of stars just below Bellatrix which also was impressive. Just above Betelgeuse, were stars that formed Orion's club while the group of stars above Bellatrix formed Orion's arrow. Finally, I viewed the famous Orion Nebula. What a great night of observing.

This morning, I observed a parade of sunspots #AR 2907, 08 & 09 across the sun's face. It was quite an impressive group of spots. The sun is very active now.

Venus (Planet, est. mag -4.3)
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 Dec 16 22:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2318

This evening, my brother Anthony & I viewed the crescent of Venus through our binoculars. Our main target, Comet Leonard, was behind a cloud of course.

Sun (Sun)
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 Dec 16 18:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2317

I just finished observing the sun with my solar telescope. There are now three sunspot groups #s AR2907,08 & 09 with each group having multiple sunspots in them. They seem to be growing also.

Other (Other, est. mag 3, est. to be 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: Tue Dec 14 04:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2316

Last evening, I observed CR69 which is the open cluster that makes up Orion's head. In my rich field telescope, I was able to see many of the stars in the cluster. I also counted 8 meteors from the Geminid Meteor Shower.

Satellite (Satellite, est. mag 3)
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: Sun Dec 5 22:47:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2314

This evening, my brother Anthony & I were able to observe a string of Starlink Satellites with our naked eyes & 10X50 binoculars. They were faint & fading in & out of our view. Another astronomy first for us.

NGC1499 (Bright 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: Sat Dec 4 00:30:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2313

This evening, my brother Anthony & I observed the California Nebula with our 5" MAK. The nebula covered the entire eyepiece 7 our filter allowed us to see some areas to be brighter within the nebula. We also explored nebula in the Pleaides Open Cluster & all the brighter stars had nebulosity around them. We then went to Orion where we viewed the nebula around the belt stars of Orion. Just below the Orion Nebula, was an open cluster that was embedded in more nebulosity. The grand finale was M1 & M42.

Satellite (Satellite, est. mag .97, est. to be in Taurus)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 10X50-inch binoculars   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Nov 19 09:03:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2312

Early this morning, my brother Anthony & I observed the almost total lunar eclipse. 97% of the moon was covered & it took on a deep red color. On the Danjon Scale the eclipse brightness was L=2, using my binoculars. It was a great eclipse.

Other (Other)
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 Nov 11 02:45:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2310

Last evening, I observed the Hyades Open Cluster with my 5.1" Short Tube Newtonian Reflector. When I scanned the Hyades with my scope, It seemed to me like this one cluster is in the process of splitting into five or six separate open clusters. I really believe the cluster is in the process of breaking up as we watch it.

M45 (Pleiades) (Open Cluster, in Taurus)
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: Tue Nov 9 00:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2309

On Monday evening, my brother Anthony & I did some observing with our 5" MAK. For our first time, we observed IC 405, the Flaming Star Nebula. It was quite an impressive sight. After viewing the nebula around the Pleaides, we viewed several tight double stars in the Hyades Open Cluster. They were difficult to split but they were worth the effort. The big highlight for us was observing some star forming regions in both M31 & M33. That was some sight. Finally, we enjoyed Venus, The Moon, Saturn & Jupiter strung out across the sky.

Sun (Sun, est. to be in Scorpius)
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 8 17:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2308

A short while ago, I observed the sun with my solar telescope. There are two big sunspots, AR2893 & AR2894 on the sun's face. Both are easy to see & there is plenty of facula around both spots.

NGC884 (Open Cluster, 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: Tue Nov 2 00:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2307

This evening, my brother Anthony & I used our computerized 127mm MAK for our observing session. The Double Cluster was beyond great & it is my absolute favorite open clusters. We also observed other open clusters along with some nice double stars. We then inspected The Pleiades open cluster for nebulosity around its stars with a nebula filter. The star Merope's nebulosity was so good, we were able to see its actual shape. The star Maia also had a lot of nebulosity around it also. In the Hyades, we were able to observe open cluster NGC 1647 which turned out to be a really nice open cluster. There was a fine double star right in the middle of the cluster. We completed the evening by observing Jupiter, Saturn Ceres, Uranus & Neptune. What an evening!

NGC1435 (Bright Nebula, in Taurus)
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 Oct 29 01:30:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2306

This evening, I observed The Pleiades with my short tube reflector. Around The star Merope is nebula NGC 1435 which was very easy to see. Around the star Maia, was the nebula NGC 1432 which is also very easy to see. It was a good night to view the nebula in the Pleiades.

Sun (Sun)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 62-mm other   Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate   Transparency: fair   Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Oct 21 17:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2305

I just finished observing sunspot # 2886 with my solar telescope. The spot appears to be growing & it is surrounded by facula.

Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.5)
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 Oct 15 00:15:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2304

I just got through viewing The Jupiter, Moon, Saturn triple gathering. The moon is both between & below Jupiter on the left & Saturn on the right. It's a nice sight.

M33 (Pinwheel Galaxy) (Galaxy, in Triangulum)
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: Fri Oct 8 00:00:00 2021 UT   Obs. no.: 2303

Last evening, my brother Anthony & I viewed the one day old crescent moon. It was so thin but we still were able to see some craters. We then put the scope on the waning crescent of Venus. There were dark spots embedded into Venus' cloud bank. We also noticed the terminator was wavy looking. That's because the terminator was over a mountain range was directly below. We also observed five galaxies including M31, M32, M33, M110 & NGC 891. In M33, we saw the huge star formation region in one of its spiral arms. That was something to see. We also saw one open cluster & nine double stars. The icing on the cake was seeing the ISS fly overhead.

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