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Skydome Observers' Group Meeting Report - 13 May 2008
7:30 to 9:30pm
We had hoped to have an intense night of galaxy hunting this month, but
with the FCN being delayed by week, the skies were affected by the 8 day
old moon. However, we did finish the night off with a view of M104 - the
Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo.
Scopes Used:
8" Celestron, 8" Meade & 15" Newtonian
Weather conditions:
After a spectacular 'not a cloud in the sky day' we were looking forward
to a pristine evening. However, the clouds rolled in out of nowhere for
the first 45 minutes, and during this time we were only able to sight the
major stars for aligning our scopes. We used the time to our advantage
looking at the moon (without needing moon filters), Saturn and Mars. We
were able to identify 3 moons of saturn and continued views of the rings
through all 3 telescopes.
As the weather cleared we looked at the following objects:
Rigel Kentaurus (Double star)
Eta Carinae (Nebula)
Omega Centauri C80 (Globular Cluster)
M2 - Globular Cluster in Scorpious
We also took in a couple of 'Asterisms' which we had not previously come
across. We checked them out on the internet and were pleased to see the
identical formation in the eyepiece.
An asterism is a formation of stars that does not have an official
astronomy designation. For example, "the pot" (formed by Orion's belt and
dagger), "the False Cross" and "The Southern Cross" are all asterisms - eg
common names for recognisable yet not classified groups of stars.
"Stargate" & "Jaws"
While both of these formations of stars were less populous than a galactic
(open) star cluster, we enjoyed the artistic shapes, and I'm sure those
that observed could draw them for you without a moment's thought tonight!
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