Conditions: Waxing crescent moon, set at around 6.45pm.
Observed from around 11pm to 2.30am.
Great Orion Nebula (M42)
First observation of Great Orion Nebula. @x40 magnification the Trapezium (Theta Orionis) at the centre of Orion’s sword appears as 3 stars. @x100 this resolves to 4 stars, with a nearby grouping of 3 stars resolving to add a fourth, making a ‘V’ shape. @x40 It is possible that there is a smaller, fainter area of nebulosity around a star to the north (M43?), although photographically this is not clear, as M42 swamps the area. This is less visible @x100. I will re-visit the whole area for further observation.
The Beehive Cluster (M44)
Open cluster in the constellation of Cancer. There are no obvious stars visible with the naked eye in Cancer under the light pollution to the east. A scan of the area with binoculars reveals the M44 open cluster. @x40 power, the cluster doesn’t quite fit into the field of view. There are a good 40 bright stars in the cluster, and many more less bright. The cluster is fairly well dispersed with quite large areas of open space.
Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris)
Dazzlingly bright in the constellation of Canis Major, causing a blue/white luminescence to appear around it in the eyepiece. Flickering luminosity, with flashes of red as it twinkles to the south at about 20 degrees elevation.
M81 and M82 galaxies in Ursa Major
Awkward location, with telescope pointing almost overhead. Conducted a sweep with binoculars in order to first help locate nearby stars. Not at all sure if M81 and M82 are visible in binoculars or not. M81 possibly shows as a faint smudge in the finderscope, although this may just be a nearby star.
Located M81 @x40 power. Shows as a circular smudge of light with some fainter light more nebulous in nature surrounding. I then panned around for M82. Wow! M82 shows as a very pronounced streak of light (this is an ‘irregular’ galaxy), much more prominent than imagined. Both galaxies fit nicely into the same field of view @x40 power.
@x100 power, I estimate M82 to be about 1/6th of the field of view, which would make it about 5′ across. This compares with the star atlas width of 11.2′. This is probably down to a combination of bad estimation and the telescope not picking up the fainter light towards the edges – particularly as the sky is not that dark from my site. At this power, does M82 appear to be slightly brighter in the middle? It is harder to estimate the size of M81, it being less well defined. I get the impression a lot of the galaxy is hidden by light pollution.
@x159 I estimate the width of M82 to be approx 7′. At this power there is a loss of overall brightness.
The most attactive view by far of this pair is with a wide field of vision (x40), showing the pair together.
Could not locate M109 in Ursa Major.
Mars
Not ideal for viewing as there is too much wind moving the telescope around at high magnifications. Polar cap is just visible to the north, and the planet is still displaying a gibbous phase (the planet is in shadow to the far east).
M51 and NGC 5195 galaxies in Canes Venatici
Located this pair with some difficulty, but @x40 both can be seen faintly, with M51 next to the smaller NGC 5195. Unfortunately cloud ended the session, so these will need to be revisited to see what detail can be observed.