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.
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