"Quickie" observing session 8-23-09 (Pat Craig)

Last night's WSUAC public stargaze was a bust due to clouds. And, of course, as luck would have it, tonight was clear. We've gotten into the habit of checking out the club telescope on Friday and bringing it back to the university on Monday, so I decided to make some impromptu use of it. I contacted a WSUAC member, who invited me to her apartment in East Dayton to do some observing. We set up in the darkest spot we could find between her building and another to the east. First target, of course, was Jupiter. I am happy to report that, in addition to the words you read here, we got some shots from my point-n-shoot digital camera (lens to eyepiece). Here they are:






We found the Great Red Spot at the planet's eastern limb, and we made a moderately successful attempt to discern which of the Galilean moons were which.

Wanting to make the evening's observing a bit more productive, I suggested that we go on a whirlwind tour of a currently visible constellation. I made WSUAC member pick. :) She picked Lyra (the Harp), and I made use of a small guide I have owned for several years entitled The Night Sky: Collins Gem Guide (Ridpath & Tirion, ©1985, Collins) to guide us on the tour. We observed doubles Beta (β) Lyrae, Delta (δ), Epsilon (ε; the individual doubles were still a bit difficult to split at 120x), and Zeta (ζ). We then turned to M57, the Ring Nebula, and observed it at both low and higher powers. Tammy remarked that it looked like someone had made an impression in the center of the nebula with their thumb.

After taking quick peeks at Albireo (β Cygni) and M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy), we packed up and ended the session. My deepest regret is that the rest of the members couldn't be with us on such short notice.