Autumn Observing

I think autumn is my favorite season.  The weather cools off just enough so that you don't have to sweat outside.  The air temp is just right so that you can shut off the AC and open all the windows in the house, and the leaves on the trees begin to turn beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow.  But the nights; the nights get a chill in the air, the humidity lifts, the sun sets earlier and the sky gets darker as the sun dips ever further beyond the horizon. 
It seems the entire past week has been nothing but clouds and rain, so it goes without saying that there's pretty much been no observing.  The exception would be just a few minutes of observing some variable stars for reporting to the AAVSO.  If you have clear skies, take advantage and get out there.  Jupiter is up over the horizon around 7:30 PM  nowadays, so no excuses; and be sure to see Uranus nearby.  You'll at least need binoculars to see Uranus.  With an 8" mirror you can easily resolve the blue planet - pretty cool (I've seen all 8 of our planets in the scope this year).  Don't forget to look for Comet Hartley 2 while you're out there.

With Cassiopeia high in the sky after dark, this season is a good one to see such objects as the Double Cluster in Casseiopsia (a naked eye object if your skies are dark enough) and the Andromeda Galaxy (also a naked eye object, how cool!).  Check out Cygnus, in which you can find open clusters M29 and M39. The Milky Way is also right overhead after dark, and once you let your eyes dark adapt, lay down and just stare upward, it's such an amazing sight - you'll probably spot a few meteors while you're at it. 
Speaking of meteors, late in October we'll have the Orionids meteor shower (as well as the Hunter's Moon); not as spectacular as the Perseids, but we had clouds on the Perseids maximum night, so I'm really looking forward to this next shower.  I'll post more details about this shower at a later date.
Enjoy these Autumn nights (hopefully without the rain).

Comet Hartley 2 Returns

If you missed Comet McNaught this year, you'll have another chance (and a better one at that) to see a comet as Hartley 2 will come within 11 million miles of Earth on October 20.  This comet was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 and has an orbital period of 6.46 years.  Hartley 2 should be viewable by unaided eye in most moderately dark locations, estimated to reach around magnitude 5.  This should be an easy find in binoculars.  Tonight the comet is just above M31 in Andromeda, and will move northward below alpha Cassiopei by October 1.  Go out and find it!

Path of Comet Hartley 2 through late October (Sky and Telescope)