Hydra the Serpent's Head and Neck

Object: Stars

Site: Front Yard

Seeing: 3

Transparency: Good

Type: Deep-Sky

Constellation: Hydra

Magnification: 10x

FOV: 4.8 Degrees

Observing Time: 7:45 – 7:55 pm

Notes: Some after-dinner observing.  Tonight I decided to find something new and eventually settled on Hydra, the Serpent.  After charting my path in Stellarium, I first located Sirius by projecting from Orion’s Belt, then moved West ~35 degrees until the sight in the image above was in my binoculars.  Shown above is the head of Hydra, made up of a rough pentagon of relatively faint stars.   Xi, Sigma, and Epsilon HYA appeared brighter and had a greenish tinge through my binoculars.  In Greek mythology, Hydra was a ferocious sea serpent with many heads, who was the terror of any man or village in close proximity to it; Hercules later defeated it with the help of his nephew Iolaus [http://bit.ly/eODV62]. Overall was an interesting find, but if I hadn’t been looking for it directly, this constellation would have been easy to miss due to its relatively dim stars.

You may have noticed that the Tips, Tricks and Tools Page has been removed. The reason for this is that I’m looking to add more material to the page, and I will render the page visible after further construction has completed.

Thanks in advance for your patience.

As always, Thanks for reading and Clear Skies!

Sincerely,

Windsor

Two Arrowhead Formations in Taurus

NB: The magnification of this image is different from custom this time, covering a FOV of ~7 Degrees, to capture both arrowheads at the same time.

Object: Stars

Site: Front Yard

Seeing: Good

Transparency: Great

Type: Deep-Sky

Constellation: Taurus

Magnification: 10x

FOV: 4.8 Degrees

Observing Time: 9:40-9:55 pm

Notes: With clouds bordering the horizon, it was slightly warmer tonight, so I decided to observe the northern areas of the Orion/Taurus constellation border.  Found a fascinating set of two ‘arrows’ of moderately faint stars, one about 1.5 times bigger than the other.  They coincidentally both point in the same direction, towards the waxing gibbous moon about 8 degrees to the right. A magnificent sight, a “fast forward” sign in the skies.  To be honest, my first impression was two flocks of geese migrating north/south as the seasons change.  A subtle reminder that spring (and warmer weather) is near!  What about your first impressions? Let’s hear about it in the comments!

Windsor

T-Shaped Formation of Stars in Taurus the Bull

Object: Stars

Site: Front Yard

Seeing: Bad

Transparency: Good

Type: Deep Sky

Constellation: Taurus

Magnification: 10x

FOV: 4.8 Degrees

Observing Time: 11.13 – 11:20pm

Notes: A cosmic T-shape formation a few degrees to the East of Taurus the Bull.  Made up primarily of six relatively bright stars, all were white.  Also had a chance to observe the Pleiades.  Compared to last year when I observed it, they seem to have lost their cloudy complexion, which was out of the ordinary and felt strange at first glance.  It might be effects of the atmosphere, or my binoculars being slightly out of focus– nevertheless they looked purely like a small clump of stars.  Very interesting.

UPDATE: Never mind, I never observed any nebulosity last year… click the link below to go back to my observing record last year, when I observed the Pleiades.

http://orionrising.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/january-22-2010-2/

'Question Mark' in NW Orion

Object: Stars

Site: Front Yard

Seeing: 2

Transparency: Poor

Type: Deep-Sky

Constellation: Orion

Magnification: 10x

FOV: 4.8 Degrees

Observing Time: 10:45pm – 11:00pm

Notes: Happy New Year!  Here’s to another great year of observing.  Shown above: An interesting “question-mark” arrangement of seven relatively bright stars, ~8 Degrees NW of Betelgeuse. v ORI and E ORI are magnitude 4.40 and 4.45 respectively, and make up Orion’s right elbow.  NGC 2169, which is an open cluster is nearby, but it was not readily visible through binoculars.  William Herschel discovered it in 1784 [http://bit.ly/gU6xwb].

Orion's Shield, Projecting from Bellatrix

Object: Stars

Site: Front Yard

Seeing: 3

Transparency: Average

Type: Deep-Sky

Constellation: Orion

Magnification: 10x

FOV: 4.8 Degrees

Observing Time: 10:52pm – 11:00pm

Notes: I haven’t been formally stargazing since Sep 20, a full three months…a  whole season’s worth of stargazing gone.  Sadly school and life has gotten beyond busy, and there is no sign of reprieve yet. Also passed the 1st Anniversary of the founding of this web log.  To celebrate, I observed Orion tonight, one of the most majestic constellations offered in the night sky, and my favourite.  Back after a year of travels, Orion is unchanged. Taking perspective, it’s stunning how human endeavours and concerns seem so long and drawn out sometimes, peppered heavily with daily frustrations and stressors– all contributing to a mad rush of constant change; while the heavens above stay perceptually constant.   Shown above are four bright stars in Orion’s Shield, projecting out from Bellatrix; pi 1-4 ORI, and a distinct pair of stars, HIP 22834 and HIP 22938 slightly to the left of the Shield.

One year ago I started this web log of my astronomical observations with binoculars, carving a little niche for myself in the big pond of the WordPress blogosphere. Within the past 365 days, I’ve seen amazing sights that were completely novel to me, from interesting asterisms, to glorious constellations, to amazing nebulas.  This was the next step from reading about these celestial objects in books; this was the real thing.  It was that sense of newfound awe at what the universe has to offer, which permitted me to observe in sub-freezing weather in the winter (!) and continues to pull me to observe today.  Even though personally life has changed remarkably, that passion for astronomy still exists.

Despite my current circumstances, being extremely busy with school and such, this blog isn’t dead yet. The next time I observe, I will enter it into this blog and share it with you.

Maybe this site was useful in setting targets for yourself, during your own observing sessions.  It is my hope that you’ve found this blog useful, at least slightly, in jumpstarting your passion for astronomy, or reigniting an old fire.

Thanks for your readership over the past year, I really appreciate it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,

Windsor

School and life in general has been really busy over the past few months, I’m sorry about the lack of posts going up.  Going into December I’ll try my best to observe whenever possible.  The weather is getting really chilly, it’s a La Nina year.

Sincerely,

Windsor

The summer constellations are definitely not as prominent as they were in the summer.  Cygnus, Aquila and Lyra are starting to set in the West, being replaced by Pegasus, Cassieopeia and Cepheus near the Zenith.  The Big Dipper hangs low in the Northern Horizon-I can barely see it, since I don’t have a clear view of the horizon from my vantage point. In the East, many of the constellations associated with late autumn / early winter, such as Perseus, Auriga, and Taurus are beginning to rise.

The prominent constellations now also provide new binocular/naked-eye targets, such as the Double Cluster in Perseus, the Andromeda Galaxy, the infamous temperamental Algol, and numerous other globular clusters and celestial objects (Jupiter is still prominent now, even though it has been a few weeks since its formal opposition; it is still brighter than many stars).  I’m looking forward to finding many of them, and sharing my experience for each.  There is much to look forward to as each new season approaches, and autumn is no exception.

The days are getting noticeably shorter now, along with much cooler temperatures.  The leaves on the canopies of the trees, as a backdrop to the night sky have turned golden yellow. Soon the weather will be frigid, and in return will be the bright beacons of the winter sky; the weather now however is optimal because there are no insects/mosquitoes, and the crisp temperatures are very comfortable. Shorter days also mean there will be earlier chances to stargaze, which will be great.

All in all, autumn is an excellent time to explore the night sky with binoculars (or even with the naked eye). There is much to discover.