Astro-Pot-Pourri An Old-New Column
by Walter Clayton
Jan 19, 1999
I drug out the 10inch tonight and did some
observing!!! It was a cool evening (and I didn't really want to
listen to Bill Clinton give his State of the Union speech) so I
setup in the back yard. The neighbor's dog immediately started
barking....and barked until I went in an hour later.
|
Thinking about the upcoming Messier Marathon, I started with something easy: the Orion Nebula, M42 and its companion M43. They were very bright and the air was clear enough to see the dark lanes. and I thought I could see some color in the arms. But as I scanned through the area toward Alnatak, I could tell that the sky wasn't very transparent. I could not see the Oak Tree Nebula that is just above Alnatak. Its usually very visible. |
| Next I tried for the Crab (M1) in Taurus. I could just see it, like a thickening in the background glow, a slight blob, and as it was almost straight overhead, I was not encouraged. |  |
 |
Then I moved on to M35 in Gemini. This is a very nice open cluster in the feet of the twins. No problems seeing here. This is large, bright, and easily found in the finder (I have a 9x60 finder) Look for the bright red star toward the center. |
eing brave, I moved on to M81 and M82 in Ursa Major. These are some of the best bright galaxies in the sky, and have some nice guide stars so you can find them. In my wide(er) angle lens, I can see both in one view.
| M81 is a very tight spiral with a fairly bright star in the forground (don't confuse it with a supernova) On a clear night you can see spiral arms with no problem. I couldn't. |  |
 |
M82 is an odd thing. Some think it is an exploding galaxy, some think its two galaxies colliding, some think that M81 is ripping it apart. You can tell that its not right...its lumpy. |
After this, I got cold, and was tired of fighting the mist But it
was a good night for condidtions. I am looking forward to the
Messier Marathon.
Walter