Aeromoe's Astonomy Stuff



Orion Telescopes AstroView 120ST / Sky View Pro 120EQ Observations Log


"First Light" / significant observations beginning 12 July 2011

Primary Instrument: AstroView 120ST 120mm Refractor; Focal Length / Aperture: 600mm / f5

Secondary Instrument: SkyView Pro 120mm Refractor; Focal Length / Aperture: 1000mm / f8.3

(Note: I typically mount the 120ST on the SkyView Pro mount with the GoTo computerized tracking)

DN=Diffuse Nebula; PL=Planetary Nebula; GL=Globular Cluster; OC=Open Cluster; EG=Galaxy; SC=Star Cloud; DS=Double Star; AS=Artificial Satellite


Date / Time Object
Name		 Object
Type		 Cat #(s) Apparent
Magnitude		 Inst. / Power Naked Eye? Binos? Notes Notes 2
12 Jul 11 / 18:00 MST Sol Star . -26.74 120ST / 24x No No 1st Sun Observation - ever! 2 small sunspot groups;
12 Jul 11 / 19:30 MST The Moon Natural Satellite . -11.9 120ST / 24x Yes No Waxing Gibbous - 93% illum. Nice view in early twilight
12 Jul 11 / 19:30 MST Saturn Planet . 0.9 120ST / Various Yes No Nice view at various powers Always a fave to observe
12 Jul 11 / 20:23 MST Vega Star . 0.03 120ST / 24x . . Cosmos 1802 sat zipped by .
12 Jul 11 / 20:52 MST Coathanger Asterism . 3.6 120ST / 24x . . Couple more sats zipped by within a 90secs .
12 Jul 11 / 21:01 MST Ring Nebula PL M57 / NGC 6720 8.8 120ST / 24x . . Easily located - very dim in bright moonlight Viewed with 6" DSE for comparison - dimmer
12 Jul 11 / 21:01 MST Epsilon Lyrae DS . 5.1 120ST / 90x . . "The Double Double" Very nice to view both doubles
12 Jul 11 / 22:00 hr Mizar / Alcor DS + . 2.23 120ST / __x . . . .
13 Jul 11 / 21:00 - 23:00 Various . . . 120ST / Various . . . .
14 Jul 11 / 21:47 MST Izar DS . 2.7 / 5.2 120ST / 80x . . 1st time splitting this double Apparent 1st at 10mm, then sure 1t 7.5mm
14 Jul 11 / 22:07 MST Porrima DS . 2.74 120ST / 80x . . 1st time splitting this double Very tight
14 Jul 11 / 22:30 MST Hercules Cluster GC M13 5.8 120ST / 24x . . Wasn't sure was M13 - crude sketch; high near Zenith Confirmed later it was M13
15 Jul 11 / 02:30 MST Mars Planet . 1.4 120ST / Various . . Unimpressive; fairly low in the east .
15 Jul 11 / 02:45 MST Pleiades OC M45 1.6 120ST / 16x Yes Yes Very nice - nicely fills the view .
15 Jul 11 / 03:00 MST Andromeda Galaxy EG M31 3.44 120ST / 16x . . Fairly dim given circumstances Nicely fills out view of 38mm eyepiece
15 Jul 11 / 03:45 MST Hyades OC . 0.5 120ST / 16x . . Quite nice .
15 Jul 11 / 19:00 hr Sol Star . -26.74 120ST / Various . . With C&B; low in the west Couple of sunspots visible
15 Jul 11 / 21:00 - 22:00 hr Various . . . 120ST / Various . . With C&B; Saturn, Epsilon Lyrae, Coathanger Mizor / Alcor, Moon
07 Oct 11 / 1700 hrs Sol . . . 120EQ / 40x . First Light with the new SVP 120EQ Nice groups of sunspots .
08 OCt 11 / 02:30 MST Double Cluster . . . 120ST / __x . . . .
08 OCt 11 / 02:30 MST NGC 2264 . . . 120ST / __x . . . .
08 OCt 11 / 03:09 MST Almach - Double Star . . . 120ST / __x . . . .
09 Oct 11 / 06:24 MST Io eclipsed by Jupiter's shadow . . . 120ST / 9mm+Barlow . . . .
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A table of my Iridium satellite photographs


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