DSOs On A Clear Spring Evening

I managed to step outside for a while the Saturday night - which happened to be one of the clearest nights we've had this spring. Although the warmer nights are more enjoyable, the clouds that have been forming in the evening are less than desirable.

I've kinda been on a cluster streak lately and I was in the mood to see a new galaxy or nebula. I began with M3. This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, oldest and is made up of around 500,000 stars. I can tell that this would be a beautiful dense cluster in a larger scope, but with my 8" and my skies it was mostly dim and washed out. I could make out the texture and individual stars - it just wasn't very sharp.

Next up was M63, the Sunflower Galaxy, then M51. M63 was just a gray smudge with a bright core, and M51 had eluded me in the past (poor seeing) so I was happy to finally catch it on this clear night. As faint as it was, I was actually able to tell it was spiraled. Darker skies and more aperture will bring out the spiral structure and core in this galaxy. I then spotted M101 and M109 - M101 being the absolute faintest object of the night. I was only able to detect it after about a minute of staring and using averted vision - it was like trying to see a ghost. M108 was actually more distinguishable than M63, but still very faint.

After moving away from M108, I changed my mind and decided to go back for another look. I'm really starting to dislike my [6x30 no cross-hair] finder scope, and finding my way back just wasn't as easy as it could be. While searching for 108 again, I found another object which surprised and thrilled me. It wasn't on the map I had with me, so I had no idea what I was looking at, but it was a very large round cloud. I eventually realized that I could put this object and M108 in the same FOV, which was beautiful and exciting. After I got back inside and had a chance to look it up, I found out I had spotted the Owl Nebula (Messier 97). How very cool! All in all, very satisfying for me. The best find though was M81 and 82 (Bode's Nebula/Galaxy) side by side. These were the most distinct objects I found, and were a great pleasure to see. Everything I saw was best viewed at 48x with my 25mm Plossl. I have a Barlow coming in this week, and am looking forward to using it. 150x was just too much for the galaxies except for M51 and 63.

Earth Hour

Tomorrow, March 27th from 8:30PM to 9:30PM, the World Wildlife Fund hopes you'll participate in Earth Hour. The object is to have people and cities all over the world turn off all non-essential lighting and electronics to demonstrate concern over global climate change. I hope you'll participate and find that turning off non-essential lighting is easy to do, and will save you money and help the environment at the same time. I've been able to noticeably reduce my electric bill recently by turning off any lights and electronics that I don't need active. And bonus, if your sky is clear tomorrow night, it may be a good time to whip out the binoculars or telescope.

Making The Most Of Your Time

With the cloudy weather we've been having, It got me thinking about how I don't always get as much time to spend under the stars as I'd like. So, when I do get a chance I've learned to be more efficient with my time.  Here's what tips I can offer from experience:

• Set up your equipment at least 30 minutes before you begin your session. Your scope and EPs need to reach thermal equilibrium in order for them to perform optimally. My equipment is now stored in a shed, so I've pretty much managed to remove this step from my night.
  
• Reduce local light glare/trespass as much as possible. Turn off any outdoor lights, and even indoor ones if they are in view from your location - you want your area to be as dark as possible. Your eyes may dilate up to 7 mm in the dark, but it takes around 30 minutes for this to happen. Any stray light reaching your eyes reduces your night-vision.
  
• Use a reference. It helps to know what you're looking for before you go out there. Get yourself an atlas, like Sky & Telescope's Pocket Atlas, look up what objects you can see at Tonight's Sky, or buy a program like Starry Night or Stellarium(free).
  

Saturn Opposition

On January 29, 2010, we saw Mars come into opposition.  This means that Mars was completely opposite the Sun in reference to Earth, and thus roughly at its closest point in orbit to us. While Mars is now moving away from us (still within the constellation Cancer), we have Saturn coming into opposition.  Sunday evening will be a great time to view Saturn as she'll be at her approximate closest point to Earth in orbit. 
As the Sun sets in the West, Saturn will rise in the East, appearing as a bright yellow star, and climbing to her highest by midnight.  Saturn provides spectacular view in even a small telescope.  Any power over 30x will begin to provide views of her rings.  If conditions are right and your gear allows it, you may be able to see the moons, the shadow that the rings cast on the planet's surface, and even the Cassini Division.  The image below is about how I saw Saturn last night with pretty bad seeing conditions at 150x.

The Evening Star

As I was driving home last night around 7:30 PM, I was admiring how clear the sky was. Looking west, I immediately spotted Venus, the brightest object in the sky. When Venus is visible at night (now through early summer), it's called the Evening Star. Just look west after the Sun sets and you can't miss her - beautiful. Venus has phases like the moon, and with a telescope you can view this. Currently, Venus is at full phase, so you'll just see a bright disk. By late July Venus will still be high in the sky around 9 PM, and she'll be at about half phase - something to check out if you can.

ISS Flyby

Did you know you can see the International Space Station from the ground?  It will be viewable for the next week here in southeast PA, but the best days will be March 18th and 20th since it will be highest in the sky, and the weather should be nice.  However, the ISS will be brightest on the 19th and 20th.  On Thursday, the ISS will come into view at 8:58:48 PM at 10° above the horizon (approximately the width of your fist at arms length) and fade into shadow at 9:01:01 PM at 44° (about 4 fists).

The next best day to see the ISS will be Saturday, the 20th. It will rise in the same area, but will fade away just above Orion's shoulder.  On any day, the ISS should be easy to spot, as it will be one of the brightest objects in the sky (almost as bright as Sirius).  You can check out the ISS flyby schedule for your home town by visiting Heavens-Above. Oh, and if you have a telescope or good binoculars, you might be able to resolve the ISS so that it looks less like a star and more like a space station!