Observation

Observation Log Entry:

Date: September 28, 2013

Time:  8:00 - 10:00 PM

Place: Pine View, led by Mr. Percival

Sky Conditions: Mostly clear skies. Waxing crescent moon. 

Instruments Used: binoculars (10X50), Meade 10” @100 and 200 power.

Planets: Venus, Saturn and its rings visible. 

Bright Stars noted: The Summer Triangle was visible in the northwestern parts of the sky. Polaris.

Constellations noted: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Hercules

Binary Stars:  with a turquoise color

Deep Sky Objects: M13 (globular cluster in Hercules), in the tel. @ 100 power, a fuzzy round patch with a few stars resolved

Other:

The Milky Way was visible through Scorpius, Sagittarius, Aquila, and Cygnus.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

This photo was taken in Strawberry, California where there were recently a lot of forest fires. The fine smoke particles suspended in the atmosphere dim the sun which scatters blue light and strongly colors the atmosphere.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

This interesting nebula, aptly named the Butterfly Nebula, is a result of two stars orbiting a gaseous disk of the dying star in the middle. It is a planetary nebula about 2100 lightyears away from Earth. This image was taken by the Hubble telescope.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

This picture really puts the universe in perspective for me. It shows how incomprehensively vast the universe really is. Our galaxy would be a mere miniscule point of light on this photo, and it only shows the field of view of the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field. The universe is probably larger than this. It's truly humbling to see a depiction of our small part in the humongous universe.