Observing report - Friday, September 7

Out to the local park around 9.30pm, with coyotes and teenagers to keep me company. I'm not recording the housekeeping/easy/medium/challenge parts, 'cos a lot of it went out the window.

Observing

Eta Cassiopeia: unlike previous times I actually noticed a difference in colour (white and gold)...that was nice. I decided to spend some time comparing my eyepieces and doing a semi-half-assed (quarter-assed?) star test. The star test came out the two sides unequal, so I guess I should've taken the time to collimate. And as for comparison, the 25mm anonymous silver Plossl seemed better than the 25mm Celestrom X-Cel. This surprised me.

M13: Fainter than previous times. I'm guessing that's because it's lower now than before (45 deg or so compared to nearly zenith the last tie I looked). Still pretty.

M15: Found it the first time I looked for it! Easy in binos, obvious at 30X, shimmering at 160X. Almost seems to be trailing to the NW, like it was leaving behind a trail. Ver' nice.

M2: Less bright, less obvious, but still straightforward. Maybe a hint of resolution at 320X.

M31: Actually, this is here because I found M32! Woot me! I didn't know which companion it was at the time; I sketched it, then found it matched this one. Could not find M110, but I don't think I was looking far enough.

Eta Persei: Very pretty, very eye-catching. Like Delta Cephei, yellow and blue-green...like the Earth around the Sun.

M34: Stumbled across this while looking through binoculars. Very loose strings of stars, very pretty. Also tried for NGC 956, but no luck...maybe a broken L of stars? Looking at these sketches, I think I probably got the right one, and probably missed a lot.

Uranus: Sought but not found.

NGC 1275 (aka Caldwell 24): Sought but not found. Starhopped, as far as I can tell, to the middle of the Perseus Cluster, but did not see a blessed thing.

Jupiter: Aw, first time through the scope in a long time. Low in the sky, messy as hell, but heart-warming to see.

Moon: Gorgeous, doubly so since I so rarely view it at 3/4 phase. Saw Lunar X, but also another one maybe 1/3 from rim. Sort of.

Pleiades and Hyades: Man, I almost forgot these were up. Awesome.