SATURN MOON CONJUNCTION

Location:  Front Yard Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  September 18, 2015 1930-2200hrs

Weather:  Breezy, clear but hazy, lots of dew and mosquitoes 15-12C.  Cool enough to be Jacket weather.

Attendance:  Madison C, Jessica K, David M

Equipment:  8" Meade LX 200, telerad finder, piggyback camera attachment, Ioptron cellphone camera adapter, 2" 32mm eyepiece, 1.25" 25mm eyepiece with green light Moon filter, Canon Rebel Xsi and Samsung Nexus 4 cellphone camera.

Objective:  To view and image Saturn Moon Conjunction.

Highlights:

• All three of us viewed the Moon with telescope and 25mm eyepiece with Moon filter.
• I viewed Saturn with 32mm eyepiece.  Two Moons were seen and nice detail in Saturn itself. Imaged with cellphone camera attached to telescope.
• Viewed M28 through 32mm eyepiece, kind of faint due to dew on mirror and hazy conditions.  According to Burnham's Celestial Handbook, "Globular star cluster, easily found in the low-power field of Lambda Sagittarii, about 0.8 degrees to the NW.  It was first noted by Messier in July 1764, and described briefly as a 'nebula containing no star....round, seen with difficulty in 3.5 ft. telescope; Diam 2 arc minuites'"
• M45 starting to rise after 2200hrs in the East.
• No Shooting stars or satellites were seen, many airplanes.
• At 0500hrs pea soup fog washed out an early morning observing attempt.

Note:  Inspiration for referencing Burnhams Celestial Hanbook comes from observing pod casts by Astronomy Magazines' Michael E. Bakich.

Images:  

Saturn with Cellphone camera.

Moon through cellphone camera.

Zoomed in Moon through cellphone camera.