MOON VENUS CONJUNCTION

Location:  Front yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 28, 2019 1900-1910hrs

Weather:  Clear, cool -2C, no wind, partly cloudy.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel T3 with 75-300mm lens, tripod.  Images processed with PhotoShop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To view and image a close conjunction of a thin, young crescent Moon and Venus, after getting a call from someone who said the Moon was looking amazing.

Report:

• Heard from someone that there was an amazing Moon in the sky and that I should take a look.  Went out in the front yard and a very thin, red, crescent Moon was low in the west with a very bright Venus over it.

2.5 second, ISO 6400, f/5.4, focal length 220mm.  Image taken at 1907hrs ADT.

2.5 second, ISO 6400, f/5.4, focal length 220mm.  Image taken at 1908hrs ADT.

CHRISTMAS COMET AND A FADING STAR

Location:  Front porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 26, 2019 1830-2200hrs

Weather:  No wind, to slight breeze, bitter cold, -12.5C, 64% humidity, mostly clear to clear, no dew.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel t3 connected to telescope at prime focus and with an 18-55mm lens.  Images stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed with PhotoShop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To image Comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs and to view and image Orions alpha star, Betelgeuse as it has been reported to be diminishing in brightness since October of this year.

Report:

• Aligned telescope on four stars, Altair low in the west, Fomalhaut low in the south south west, Aldebaran low in the East, and Capella high in the north east.
• Also aligned scope on Venus, which was low in the south west at about 1835hrs.  While setting up to image Venus, clouds covered that part of the sky.
• Located and imaged Comet C/2017 T2 for two hours.  Comet is still too faint to see without the aid of a medium sized telescope.  Images showed significant movement of the comet, north eastward, towards the w of Cassiopeia. Comet's placement in the sky is about halfway up in the north east, in northern Perseus, after first dark.  As the evening goes on, it quickly moves high overhead, making it difficult to image.

15x120 second, ISO 1600, f/6.25, cropped. Total of 35 minutes of processed imaging. Shows comet moving north over two hours of imaging.

• Imaged the comet from about 7-9pm.  At 715pm a satellite crossed through the image field of view.

This is the only comet image that hasn't been cropped.

• Wanted to show how the comet moved over two hours in a different way.  Tried making a video of the 15x 120 second images, but it didn't turn out well.

•  Processed these three images that were taken at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm, also to show how far it moved over the 2 hour period.  Notice how it moves away from the star it almost covers at 7pm.

7pm

8pm

9pm

• There has been much chatter on the internet, by amateur and professional astronomers and even the main stream media, about the dimming of Orion's alpha star, Betelgeuse.  It is noticeable to the unaided eye, and it was reported, officially, in October of this year.
• In Robert Burnham, Jr.'s Burnham's Celestial Handbook, he describes Betelgeuse's variability like this, "The main period appears to be about 5.7 years, but there are shorter superimposed periods which vary between 150 and 300 days.  When at maximum the star sometimes rises to  magnitude 0.4 when it appears not greatly inferior to Rigel;  in 1839 and again in 1852 it was thought by some observers to be nearly the equal of Capella.  Observations by the AAVSO indicate that Betelgeuse probably reached magnitude 0.2 in 1933 and again in 1942."  From this and other observations regarding Betelgeuse, it's magnitude is a confusing subject.
• Took two twenty second images of Orion.  The second image of Orion was purposely out of focus to show how bright Betelgeuse is compared to the other stars in it's constellation.

Betelgeuse's magnitude has dimmed from a normal of about 0.4 to 1.12.  The lowest measurement of magnitude 1.12 was taken by scientists on December 7, 2019 and is the lowest it's been in 25 years of continuous observing.

Out of focus to more easily view the magnitude difference of Orion's brighter stars.  Sirius in the lower left is in another constellation and is the brightest star that can be seen from New Brunswick, Canada.

• Many satellites were seen, with one imaged, and one shooting star, passing under the field of view of camera, as imaging.  It was a slow mover coming from the direction of Polaris heading toward Orion.

COMET C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS

Location:  Front Porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 20, 2019 1800-2130hrs

Weather:  Cool, at time breezy, winds dying off after 2100hrs, -5C.  Partly cloudy until clouds covered sky at 1900hrs till about 2100hrs.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel T3 attached to 80mm ED/APO at prime focus.  Eyepieces:  12mm, 19mm and 32mm.  Images processed on Photoshop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To image and view comet C/2017 Panstarrs T2 in Perseus.

Report:

• Sky darkened by 1800hrs, aligned scope on 4 stars and Venus.
• Located the comet approximately halfway between Capella and Perseus's brightest star, Mirfak(Arabian for elbow).  Took ten images of about 80 seconds each, totaling approx. 14 minutes of exposure time to create a stacked image.  Also took one single shot, highly exposed to show more of the comet.  Comet was too faint to see through any of my eyepieces when I searched visually.
• The stacked image shows a 14 minute path of the comet nucleus in relation to the background stars.  This comet is a slow mover compared with other comets I've imagined.  Actually, it's the slowest.

Stacked image shows a movement of the comet nucleus over 14 minutes.  10x80second, ISO 800.  Not cropped.

Single shot, over-exposed to better show the nucleus, coma and tail.  ISO 1600, 1x80 second.  Not cropped.

• Seen several satellites, but no shooting stars.

COMET SEARCH

Location:  Front porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 18, 2019 1700-midnight.

Weather:  Very cool, no wind, -8C to -10C, no dew, mostly cloudy, with an approximately 30 minutes of clear sky from 2200 to 2230hrs , to mostly cloudy.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canadian telescopes 80ED/APO on a tracking mount with Canon Rebel t3 attached at prime focus.  Images processed with Photoshop.

Objective:  To search for comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs which was reported to be in the constellation Perseus by heavens-above.com.

Report:

• Sky clouded over shortly after dark, around 1700hrs, and didn't clear until around 2200hrs.  
• Aligned scope on four stars, and then began a search in the area to the north of  Perseus brightest stars, where the comet was thought to be.  At this time, around 2220hrs, Perseus was almost straight up, slightly to the north, which made it exceedingly difficult to image.
• Imaged five different field of views in the area, where I thought comet should be, but during the last two, clouds started to move in.  Last image, which turned out terribly, I think captured the comet, but not sure.  Was clouded out for till midnight, when I decided to pack it in.  Here is the image that I think has the comet in it.  In the upper right.

Possibly captured comet in upper right of image.  Single shot, 47 second, ISO 6400, imaged at 2234hrs, as clouds were moving in to cover sky.

•  In the second image, captured open star cluster NGC  1528.  According to Burnham's Celestial Handbook, by Robert Burnham, Jr. this open cluster contains "about 80 stars mags 8...1 degree NNW from b1 Persei".

NGC 1528 next to b1 Persei taken at 2225hrs. Single shot, raw  ISO 6400, 66 second, and focal length of 50mm.

•  No satellites, one bright shooting star, high, to the south west of Orion, heading NNE.

PURPLE SKY AFTER SUNSET

Location:  Front yard, from driveway, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada.

Date Time:  December 7, 2019 1645-1655hrs.

Weather:  Mostly clear, light breeze, -4C, sky seemed purplish around the western and eastern horizons.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canon Rebel t3 on tripod with 18-55mm lens.  Image processed on PhotoShop.

Objective:  To capture the purplish hue to the twilight sky.

Report:

Noticed a purplish hue to the evening sky and made an attempt to image it. 

On Spaceweather.com recently seen images from other places around the world that show a  purplish twilight sky.  Apparently it's related to volcanic activity.

I'm not sure which volcano is responsible for the purple, but there is volcanic activity being reported in New Zealand. 

1/200 second, f/5.6, ISO 100, focal length 55mm.  Only processed to add text, besides that image is raw.

ALGOL MINIMUM (Updated)

Location:  Front deck, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  November 17, 2019 1900-2330hrs

Weather:  Cool, -5C, no wind to breezy later on with an easterly wind, cloudy at times, hazy, with some partly clear periods.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canadian Telescopes 80 mm ED/APO on tracking mount.  Meade LX200.  Canon Rebel t3i using telescopes at prime focus. Deep Sky Tracker and PhotoShop used for processing.

Objective:   RASC NB posted a notice that the Algol minimum was at 1928hrs, I decided to make an observation attempt where I could show the difference in magnitudes for the variable star.

Report:

• Went out at 1920hrs to visually observe Algol, and it was noticeably fainter than normal, but wasn't able to start imaging till 2135.  By the time I started imaging, the star seemed much brighter.  The star drops from +2.1 mag to +3.4, for about 9 hrs once every 2 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes due to another star that passes in front of and behind it.

13 images stacked for about 8 minutes of elapsed time.  ISO 800, approximately 40 seconds each.

• Richard Hinckley Allen, in his book, Star Names Their Lore and Meaning describes Algol thus, "Beta Persei, Spectroscopic binary and variable, 2.3 to 3.5, white.  Algol, the Demon, the Demon Star, and the Blinking Demon, from the Arabians Ras al Ghul, the Demon's Head..."  He describes the variability as thus, "...and it has certainly been one of the best observed, as the most noteworthy variable in the Northern Sky.  It" continues sensibly constant at 2.3 magnitude during 2 1/2 days, then decreases, at first gradually, and afterward with increasing rapidity, to 3.5 magnitude";  ITS LIGHT OSCILLATIONS OCCUPYING ABOUT NINE HOURS;  its total period being stated as 2 day 20 hour 48 minute 55 second."
•  By 2230hrs the waning gibbous moon started to rise in the NE, which was odd, because normally I notice the moon rise in the SE.  Clouds were in that part of the sky for the first hour of its rise, but the brightness cut right through clouds.

Single shot 1/50 second, ISO 200 using Meade LX 200 at prime focus.

• Wind started picking up after 2320hrs, from the east.
• No satellites or shooting stars were seen, even though the Leonid meteor shower was due to peak at 0200hs. 

NOTE:  I intend to do follow up observations to better understand how this stars variability works, including images that I hope will capture it at its normal magnitude and also an image that shows it at its diminished magnitude.  I expect this might take a while, with the weather like it is, so, watch for updates!

OBSERVING REPORT FOR OCTOBER 5, 2019

Location:  Front Porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  October 5, 2019 2100-0130hrs

Weather:  Clear, no wind, very cool, -1C, 72% humidity.

Equipment:  Canadian Telescopes 80 ED/APO f/6.25 telescope on tracking mount, 32mm eyepiece.  Canon Rebel T3 with 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens and attached to telescope at prime focus.  Images stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed on PhotoShop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To locate, view and image two comets high in the southern sky, after the first quarter moon drops out of sight over the horizon, after 2300hrs.

Report:

• Nice Conjunction of the first quarter Moon and Saturn tonight.  Very close together.  By 2330hrs, the conjunction was very low and Moon was turning red.

Single shot, 1/40 second, ISO 200.  Camera using telescope at prime focus.

• Moon didnt get low enough to start searching for comets till after 2330hrs.  At this point I started with imaging M2 in Aquarius.  A very bright globular cluster in the same constellation as one of my target comets, Africano.
  
  

  

  8-45 second images stacked.  ISO 6400

• At around midnight, started searching for Comet Africano, which was supposed to be in Aquarius.  This constellation is a faint one, and even with very dark skies, it was challenging matching heavens above star chart with what's visible in the sky.  After imaging all over the patch of sky where comet was reported to be, could not locate Comet.  One image had what could be a comet, but was so faint as to not be confirmable.  Comet may have faded drastically, or I simply was misreading the heavens-above star chart.
  
  
   
• At approximately 0130hrs, decided to try to image the western Veil Nebula or NGC 6960, in Cygnus.  Could see the long, stringy nebula though camera viewfinder.  Very long, but faint, cloud like.  Found processing this image to be very difficult.  Nebula just didn't seem to want to pop out.

17-45second images stacked.  ISO 6400

•  Seen multiple shooting stars with one leaving a smoke trail.  No satellites observed

COMET IN PISCES

Location:  Back yard and Front deck, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  September 30, 2019 from 2015-2330hrs

Weather:  Clear, cool, no wind to slight breeze, 9c down to 1C, frost warning, 70% humidity.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canadian Telescopes 80mm ED/APO with 32mm and 19mm eyepieces, 20x80 binoculars, Canon Rebel T3 with 18-55mm lens and using telescope at prime focus.  Processed images with DeepSkyStacker and Photoshop.

Objective:  To view and image Comet C/2018 W2 Africano, which was reported to be in Pisces by Heavens-above.com.

Report:

• Thanks to a message from fellow amateur astronomer, Ed O'Reilly, in Saint John, I was alerted to an International Space Station flyover at 2015hrs.  Went outside at this time, in the backyard,as the station was flying out of Ursa Major, heading east.  Very bright, Jupiter brightness, flying low for several minutes across the northern sky.  Most of the bright stars were out by now.  Impressive flyover, which Ed observed also from Saint John.  Ed though the station looked jewel-like.
• Comet was supposed to be in Pisces, and the constellation wasn't high enough to view and image until after 2100hrs.  By then it was nicely placed in an easy viewing area of the eastern sky, slightly to the south.
•  Set up scope on the front deck, around 2130hrs, and aligned it on Jupiter, Saturn, Altair and Iota Piscium
• Viewed Jupiter, Saturn, M11 and M15 with scope and 32mm eyepiece.  
• M11 or The Wild Duck Cluster was a very bright cloud in the eyepiece.  Couldn't  resolve any stars in it, and thought it looked more like a galaxy, or nebula.
• M15 was a much fainter cluster which also looked more like a galaxy, at this low power.
• Located the comet almost exactly where heaven-above.com predicted it to be.  Took 30 images of 30 second exposures.  The stacked image shows a 20 minute path of the comet.  Once again this Comet is moving quickly across the sky.  Took one two minute exposure to reveal more of the coma.  Seems to have a big, wide tail.  Looked for comet, visually, with 32mm eyepiece and couldn't see it.  Tried higher magnification with a much better quality eyepiece in the 19mm.  Confirmed a sighting of the faint comet.  It was a dark patch that really stood out better with averted vision.  Dark, brightening towards the center, large by not huge.

Thirty 30 second images stacked.  ISO 6400, camera using telescope at prime focus.  Streak is showing a 20 minute path of the comet.

Single, 2 minute image which shows the coma better and shows a big tail moving up and to the left, away form the comet nucleus.

•  After viewing and imaging Comet Africano, I tried looking for comet with 20x80 binoculars, mounted on a tripod, but couldn't find it.  Did locate it visually in telescope with 19mm eyepiece.

• Tried imaging the area of sky around the comet, to show where it was in the sky, with a larger field of view, but found that that area of sky so full of stars, was hard to tell one from the other.  I find Cassiopeia hard to image for this reason as well.  The tell-tale asterism stars blend in with all the background stars, which seem to be of almost equal brightness.
• Located and viewed M31, M110 and M32, which were high overhead at approximately 2315hrs.  The massive, bright Andromeda Galaxy was huge in the 19mm eyepiece, with it's lesser companions crowding the field of view.  Very impressive sight at low power.
•  Located and viewed M34, in Perseus.  A bright, open cluster of random shape.  My first time observing this Messier object.
• Viewed two shooting stars directly, and many others out of the corner of my eye.  Extremely fast and faint.  Didn't see many satellites, but some did show up in images.

COMET AFRICANO

Location:  Front deck, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  September 19, 2019 2130-2315 hrs

Weather:  Cool, mostly clear to partly cloudy, no wind to slight breeze, no bugs, no dew, 6C, and 75% humidity.  One of the nicest nights of the year, temperature wise, for observing.

Equipment: Canadian Telescopes 80 ED/APO on motorized, tracking mount, 19mm eyepiece, Canon Rebel T3 with 18-55mm lens and attached to telescope at prime focus, 8" Meade telescope with 19mm and 32 mm eyepieces.  Images stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed with Photoshop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To view and image Comet C/2018 W2 Africano, which was reported to be just above, and to the right of Mirach, in Andromeda.

Report:

• Set up scopes on deck, around 2145hrs, and aligned small scope on Jupiter, Saturn, in the South west, and on Mirach, high in the East.
• Was able to find Comet Africano by imaging the area around Mirach.  Took 13 minutes worth of images of the comet, and the comet moved during those 13 mins, which showed up in the images.  the comet moved in relation to the background stars, as the telescope tracked the stars, not the comet.

Single, 10 second image.  6400 ISO, focal length 40mm, f/5.6

Single, 2 minute exposure, ISO 6400.  Heavily processed to bring out more comet detail.

14 images stacked, 45 Second, ISO 6400.  Shows 13 minute path of comet.

• Searched for the comet with the bigger 8" telescope with the 19mm and 32mm eyepieces, but couldn't confirm a sighting.  Moonlight and haze were factors.
• After 2230hrs, the moon started to rise, and some hazy conditions started, including some clouds.  

Single, 4 second image, 6400 ISO, f/5.6, focal length 40mm.  Showing brightness of the waning gibbous moon.

• No shooting stars and a few satellites were seen.
• By 2300hrs, Moon, which was in the waning gibbous phase, was so bright, it washed out any chance of observing the very faint, diffuse comet.

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER 2019

Location:  Front yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  August 11, 2019 0300-0500hrs

Weather:  No breeze, to slight breeze, partly cloudy, hazy, cool 8C 91% humidity.  Lots of dew, no bugs.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Reclining lawn chair, Canon Rebel T3 with 18-55mm on tripod.

Objective:  To view and image the 2019 Perseid meteor shower, which has been mostly washed out by the moon phase this year.  Moon was down by 3am, which is why this time was selected.

Report:

• Faced mostly towards the Summer triangle, which was very high to the west and also observed to the south.
• From 0306-0406 viewed 17 Perseids, mostly yellowish, about Aldebaran bright.  Fast moving, many were very faint.  Also viewed 5 faint sporadics and one very bright Bolide coming straight down to the west.
• Clouds moved in from the North around 0330 and covered the northern half of the sky for 20 mins.
• Imaged from 0415-0500hrs.  Observed 4 more Perseids while imaging, but they flew everywhere but through the camera field of view.  Had much trouble with lens fogging up.
• Orion rising at 4am.

Twelve second image of Orion rising just before 1st light.  Facing East.

• First light just before 5am.
• Seen many satellites with one doing an iridium flare.

OBSERVING REPORT FOR AUGUST 4, 2019 (Updated)

Location:  Front yard and front deck, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  August 4, 2019 2245-0300hrs

Weather:  No wind, clear, 11C/79% humidity @ 2300hrs, 7C/82% humidity @ 0300hrs.  Needed sweater, jacket and hat.  Some moths at first, then no bugs.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canadian Telescopes 80 ED/APO with 19 mm eyepiece.  Canon Rebel T3 with 18-55mm eyepiece and using telescope at prime focus.   Images processed with DeepSkyStacker and Photoshop.

Objective:  To view and image deep sky objects along the Milkyway.

Report:

Viewed and imaged Jupiter, Saturn, M22, M16, The Coathanger, M71, M31 and the Perseus Double Cluster.  Also did a quick search for faint Comet C/2018 W2 Africano which is in Camelopardalis.  After reviewing processed image of that area of sky, could not confirm a sighting.

Twelve images stacked, 40 second, ISO 6400.

Ten images stacked, 40 second, ISO 6400.

Single shot, 20 second, ISO 6400

Observed many satellites, six Perseids and 3 sporadic, with two Perseids being very bright, one leaving a smoke trail.  Most meteors were seen coming straight down from high over-head, to the south, and were fast movers. Some were very faint.  A few more fast moving very faint meteors were not confirm-able.

Looked for Auroras, which were reported to be possible on this night, but didn't observe any.

Taurus rising in the early morning.

A space station flyover image from Aug 2, 2019

Single shot, 8 second, ISO 400.

 

GLOBULAR CLUSTERS IN SOUTHERN SKY (Updated)

Location:  Front yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  July 7, 2019 2330-0220hrs

Weather:  Clear, No wind, very cool 11C @ 2330hrs and 8C at 0200hrs.  Only a few bugs.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canadian Telescopes 80 ED/APO on motorized mount, 19mm eyepiece.  Canon Rebel T3 with 18-55mm lens and attached to telescope at prime focus.  Images stacked with Deepsky Stacker and processed on Photoshop.

Objective:  To view and image the Southwestern sky, Jupiter and Saturn and as many messier objects in that area as possible.

Report:

• Set up late, when Jupiter moved far enough to the west to see it past the tree in my front yard.  Aligned scope on Arcturus, Alkaid(Ursa Major) and Jupiter.
• Viewed M5.  Bright globular near a bright star..
• Viewed and imaged Jupiter.

• Imaged faint, small globulars M19 and M9.  M9 sits very close to a fairly bright star.

• Imaged nebulae M8, M20 & M21.  Very bright nebulae showing color in the eyepiece...blues and greens.
• Imaged the huge, bright globular M4, next to the brightest star in Scorpius, Antares.

Ten images stacked, 10 second, 6400 ISO, camera attached to telescope at prime focus.

•  Viewed M22.  A huge, bright globular.  Also viewed M28, a very small, faint globular.
• Viewed and imaged Saturn.

• No shooting stars or satellites were seen.

YOUNG MOON

Location:  Front yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  July 4, 2019  2130-2430

Weather:  High hazy, thin clouds early on, giving way to mostly clear, dark skies.  Light breeze to no wind, 72% humidity, and 16C at Sundown, 12C at 2430hrs.  Many mosquitoes all throughout.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Meade LX200 with 15mm eyepiece.  Canon Rebel T3 with 75-300mm lens and attached to telescope at prime focus.  Images processed with Photoshop.

Objective:  To view and image a conjunction of Mars-Mercury-Moon which was due to happen around sunset.  Also, to view and image Io's shadow, which was supposed to cross the face of Jupiter from approximately 2330hrs-0230hrs.

Report:

• Went out about a half hour before dark to see the conjunction, but hazy clouds covered most of the sky, including the western sky.  Shortly later the clouds broke up revealing the very thin, young moon.  Could not confirm a sighting of the two planets.  They were lower in the sky than the Moon and may have been below the tree line.

• Once Jupiter moved into the south-western part of the sky, around 2330hrs, went back out and viewed and imaged it.  Three of it moons were visible with Io in the midst of a transit.  Thought I could see a shadow on the lower right face of Jupiter, but it didnt show up in the 15mm eyepiece, but just slightly in the image. Belts showed up nicely.

•  Jupiter was just East, and higher up than Antares.  M4 is located 2 degrees to the west of Antares, so I used the telescope to locate and view it.  A faint globular cluster, with more stars to one side.
• Many satellites were seen going in all directions and very many planes were flying East and West.  No shooting stars were seen.

OBSERVING REPORT FOR JUNE 8, 2019

Location:  Front Deck and side yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  June 8, 2019 2130-0000hrs

Weather:  No wind, mostly clear at  2130 hrs, shortly after that, most of the southern half of the sky was covered in light, wispy clouds.  Cooled off from 14C and 42% humidity to 6C and 59% humidity.  Just after dark, after 2200 hrs, the June bugs started to swarm for almost an hour.  First time I've seen them this year.  Some mosquitoes.  All bugs stopped after 2330 hrs.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  8" Meade LX 200 with 32mm eyepiece and .6x focal reducer, Canon T3 with 18-55 lens, and attached to telescope at prime focus.  Images processed with PhotoShop.

Objective:  To observe the Southern sky, Jupiter and the Moon.

Report:

• Moon, in Leo, was up high in the south western sky long before dark.  Viewed and imaged, with may craters visible through eyepiece.  Terminator was especially impressive.

• Jupiter's four moons were evenly spaced out, with one on one side and three on the other.  One belt was much thicker and easier to see, while the other thinner, fainter belt, just barely visible at times.  The Earths upper atmosphere made the gas giant shimmer as if under water.

• From the side yard, facing northward, Cassiopeia was low in the North East, just over the tree line.  Ursa Major was high, overhead, in the North West.
• No shooting stars were observed and only one satellite seen.  
• No interference from the dozens of satellites that were recently launched for the StarLink satellite internet system.
  
   

SPACESTATION FLYOVER

Location:  Front yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  May 18, 2019 2225-2240

Weather:  Sky mostly covered with light, broken clouds, very light breeze, 9C.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel T3 with 18-55mm lens and tripod.  Images processed with PhotoShop.

Attendance:  Ed O in Saint John, David McCashion

Objective:  To observe and image the International Space Station(ISS) as it was reported to fly over our area at 2229 hrs, according to Heavens-above.com

Report:

• Thanks to Ed for letting me know about the flyover!  He noticed on Heavens-above.com that there were going to be 5 flyovers of our area on this night.  Ed observed all five!
• It was mostly clear earlier, just before dark, but as it got closer to the flyover time of 2229 hrs, the sky covered up with light, elongated,broken clouds, that were partially see-through.
• A full Moon, in the South East was very bright, and made the 10 second exposure images look like they were taken in the afternoon.
• The space station looks like a moving, very bright star/planet when it passes over-head.

Images: 

MESSIER SEARCH 2019

Location:  Front yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time: April 1, 2019 from 2115-2315hr, April 2nd 0400-0530hrs

Weather:  Strong gusty winds, subsiding just before dawn, -2C through the evening, -5C at dawn.  Clear, with a reddish haze circling the horizon at during morning session.  Haze greatly affected viewing.

Attendance:  Ed O, David McCashion

Equipment:  Telescope 80 ED/APO with 30mm eyepiece and goto mount.

Objective:  To view as many messier objects as possible.

Report:

• Very gusty winds cooled things off drastically.
• Observed 30 messier objects through the whole session.  Details in the images below. 
• I worked the goto and we both observed, with Ed writing down our observations.
• Many were too low, below the tree line to see.  Many others, especially galaxies in Virgo were too faint to see, partially because of a reddish haze that circled then entire horizon in the morning.
• We both viewed three moons to one side of Jupiter, just before sunup, after first light.
• A few satellites were seen and about 6 shooting stars were seen.  Some very fast, but faint.

                  

Orion with M43 and M42 setting in the west at 2230hrs.

Taurus and M45 setting at 2232hrs.