WAXING GIBBOUS MOON

Location:  Front Deck, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  January 26, 2018 1900-2030hrs

Weather:  Clear, very light wind, bitterly cold -11C showing on thermometer with reported windchill of -16C.

Attendance:  Madison, McKenzie, and David McCashion.

Equipment:  Meade LX 200 8" telescope with x0.6 focal reducer and without.  One 32mm eyepiece.  Canon Rebel Xsi using telescope at prime focus.

Objective:  To view and image a Gibbous Moon, which was in Taurus on this evening, between Aldebaran and M45.

Report:

• Before observing time, at 1830hrs, was in the backyard and noticed the International Space Station fly across the low southern sky, from west to east.  Confirmed this on Heaven-above.com.  It also flew over at 2006hrs, but I didn't see notice.
• Madison and McKenzie were amazed at the small 'circles'(craters) and large 'grey areas' (Mare, or Seas) on the brightwaxing gibbous moon.  Copernicus crater stood out nice, close to the terminator.  Many small craters stood out noticeably in the big gray seas.
• The girls asked to look at a star, and asked why is that star blinking?  It was Sirius, which was twinkling as it was rising from low in the SE sky.
• We looked at the double star Alnitak in Orion.  They were impressed by all the stars they could see in the field of view.
• Attempted to view Sirius, but it was partially blocked by a tree.
• Viewed Betelgeuse and Pleiades.  Explained to Madison that this is called the Seven Sisters because, at one time many hundreds of years ago, people could see seven stars there.  Now we can only see six that form a dipper like asterism to the unaided eye.  Through the eyepiece, Madison counted twenty-five stars.
• No shooting stars, and only one satellite was seen which was the ISS.

Images:

Without focal reducer, ISO 100, 1:400th Second.

With focal reducer, ISO 200, 1:250 second.