Checklist : Messier Objects (2 of 110)

M31: Andromeda Galaxy

Viewing Timeframe: 7:30 - 8:45
Conditions: Cloudless skies with some moderate light pollution
Viewing apparatus: ETX-80AT-TC w/ 9.6mm and 4mm lenses w/ Moon Filter.
Location: Backyard of home

Last night, December 30, 2008, I took my scope home for the first time to see if it was darker than at my parents' house. I was greatly surprised to see more stars in my backyard than I could in theirs. Hopefully, they will not build too much more and this will continue to be the norm. I found Cassiopeia in it's M shape from my field of view and followed it upwards until I found Andromeda. There I walked down from the middle star, Mirach and found a nice little "smudge" on the sky, aka the Andromeda Galaxy or M31. I was not able to see M32 or M110 due to light pollution. I was quite proud of the fact that I still am not using the 'GoTo' feature on my scope. I also believe I saw a gray cloud-like ribbon near Cassiopeia.

I also was able to see Venus to the NW of the moon, which is waxing crescent. It was beautiful to see the two hovering in the black sky. I did go back to looking at my favorite constellation, Orion. I found it quite easy to locate the Orion Nebula, M42, with a 4mm lens. I noticed the quadruple stars.

Checklist: Messier Objects (1 of 110)

M42: Orion Nebula

Friday night, December 12, 2008, I was able to go outside and find the Orion Nebula to the right of Orion's belt. From my ETX-80, it looked like a cluster of stars (4 to 6) with a cloudy backdrop. I was greatly surprised to see a pretty good few (according to other amateur astronomers) due to the extremely bright full moon (which was also quite spectacular with a 4mm with 2x Barlow. Just so you know, I'm learning how to navigate and properly image things with the scope. Fun times!

Observation Journal Entry 1

Time: 11:30pm - 12:00am (Dec 5, 2008)
Viewing conditions: Fair. Some cloud coverage, especially over Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. Due to artificial light and the Quarter Moon, viewing was difficult for higher magnitude stars.
Viewing apparatus: Naked eye
Location: Parents' house

I spotted Orion in the E/SE sky. The seven stars that make up the majority of the body (Belt, Betelgeuse, Rigel, and the other shoulder and foot) were easy to make out with the naked eye. Unfortunately, it was not dark enough around me to have a good view of the stars that make up Orion's Bow. Also, around 25° south of the bottom belt star I spotted Sirius. This was definitely the brightest star in the sky. I don't know if it was my eyes, but it had a very, very light purplish hue to it. Either that or it was an extremely bright white.

Pleiades was quite faint. I was able to locate it by following up from Betelgeuse, finding Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus and continuing upward. As I stated previously, it was faint. It took my eyes a few minutes to see it. I am looking forward to seeing it with a telescope sometime soon.

Cassiopeia was also quite easy to find. It's two points were directing my eyes towards the Quarter Moon.

A Step Into The Unknown

I remember being a little boy, desiring to have one of those telescopes (Tasco if I recall) that I saw in the Sears/Service Merchandise catalogs. The thought of looking up into the night sky and seeing the heavens and the celestial bodies in them intrigued me. However, I was never given a telescope due to other things grabbing my interest. However, the time has finally come for me to give it a go. As of last night, I have ordered my first telescope of any kind: a Meade ETX-80AT-TC. Now, I understand that Hubble-like images are out of the question, but that doesn't matter to me. Last night, I grabbed a star map and headed outside to see what I could make out with my naked eyes. After about 20 minutes, I realized that I have my work cut out for me. So to all you who have taken the step into amateur astronomy, I'm here to join the club.