EAA Observing Session: 11, January12/01/2024
Astronomy

Session Data

  • Date:  11/1/2024
  • Time:  20:23 – 23:36 UT
  • Seeing: II. Good – Slight
  • Transparency: II. Clear with some cloud
  • Temp: 0.8 C,
  • Air Pressure: 1039mb, 
  • Humidity: 87%, 
  • Dew Point: -2.8C, 
  • Wind Speed: 6mph
  • Average FWHM: 3.5
  • Average SQM: 19.69 magn/arcsec^2

Scope: Altair 250mm RC f/5.3 Camera: ZWO ASI 183MM Pro, No Filter. Dark subtracted and Flat fielded.

Session Notes: 

All images are North up and East to the left. Click the image for full size versions.

NGC2034, HT34

I cannot believe that I have never observed the ‘Flame’ before, although with Alnitak so close, I probably thought it would have just been swamped with light and not worthy of even bothering to put eye to eyepiece.

This thing is huge and fills most of the height of my 23’ high frame. A large – almost tree trunk like – dust lane comes in from the South and then branches into three arms – the longest of which is to the East. The central arm then splits into two.

The longer easterly arm itself branches into two more arm as it heads north ad curls into a graceful arc towards the West. It really does look like a large Oak tree with its branches and twigs spreading out to form a huge canopy.

I guess this object must be quite opaque as apart from a sprinkling of a few faint 16th mag stars on the Western side, and few brighter 12 to 14th mag stars, there seems very few whose light makes it through.

This is such a stunning object

Total integration 540 sec

NGC2301, HT39

Starting to run out of objects above 1.5 airmass, so this open cluster is looking a little soft at 1.6.

Made up of mostly 10 and 11th mag brighter stars and the rest 12 to 13th mag this cluster has a North South line orientation. The concentration at the centre form lines and loops which look a little like a scorpion with its curved claws to the Northeast, a central body and a line of stars that form the poisonous tail.

Astroplanner shows only one Orange star HD50208 to the Eastern edge, but as I’m observing in Mono, is that cheating adding this to the notes.

Total integration 180 sec

APM 08279+5255

Wikipedia says this is 23.6 Gyr away, so I added this to my ‘Distant Dozen’ observing program, where I try and image the furthest objects visible from my location. In this instance the log reads ‘Not found’ This might be a tad too far for my setup, but it was starting to get a little windy, so anything really faint is just going to disappear into the noise.

Total integration 435 sec