Session - 16/10/2023 ; Location - Horsens
Note: The forecast showed clear weather, so I set up the mount before I could see any stars, ready to do polar alignment. I could see Polaris a bit later in the polar scope, so I attached the telescope. When I started the 3-SA I was very confused why it was so far off (going for Vega), but turns out it was due to the previous alignment (which was quite bad). So after making a huge adjustment for all three stars, the additional polar alignment was very smooth. Later I tried locating Caldwell 33 and 34 (wanted to test the OIII filter properly, but couldn't detect them), and the scope hit the mount resulting in a misalignment. A quick 2-SA fixed the problem.
| Object | Observation type | Eyepiece/camera | Magnification | Filter | Note | |
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| M15 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | Quite faint, as all the other objects too observed this night with this eyepiece |
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| M2 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | This globular cluster was actually quite impressive. I will definitely revisit this one another time |
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| M81 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | Didn't spend too much time here, as my SO had to go, so we rushed through some objects. But to see the pairing with M82 is just something that will never get old |
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| M82 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | Same as for M81 |
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| NGC869 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | The pairing with NGC884 is easily one of my favourites. It's so beautiful. As my SO said: "Wow". |
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| NGC884 | Naked eye | Same as for NGC869 |
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| M71 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X |
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| M92 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X |
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| M13 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Plössl + Celestron 2X (fov: 0.4°) | 250X | Skywatcher Light Pollution Filter | This was observed with some different settings, but ended up with my max zoom. Was able to see some individual stars, but does not even come close to what I saw back the 7/9/2023. However, this cluster is something spectacular indeed, and would love to photograph it one day. |
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| Jupiter | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | First time looking at it only two moons were visible (Callisto and Europa). Later on I saw the remaining two (Io and Ganymedes) very close to the disc of Jupiter. It was quite amazing. Was also able to see the bands well enough, however I almost oversaturated my vision, but was too lazy to mask out some light. |
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| Saturn | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | I will never get tired of looking at Saturn. Its rings are just so cool to see. Should have taken the opportunity to observe at higher magnification (also with Jupiter), but didn't this time. |
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| Uranus | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | This was my first definite observation of Uranus, and it was very underwhelming. It just looked like another star in the field to my eye. However, I hope to observe it later this month with the astronomy club with bigger telescopes and better eyepieces. |
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| Mirfak | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X | This is slowly becoming a new favourite. There is something special about seeing a bright star through a telescope. Especially in a crowded field. Absolutely beautiful. |
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| M45 | Explorer 150PDS (f5.0) | Kellner (fov: 0.8°) | 50X |
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