2023-07-22

• Condition: E6
• Location: Terry Peak, South Tower: 44.32, -103.83

Jesse is still with us, and the forecast looks great. Decided to take him and Soren up to Terry Peak. The conditions were perfect, no dew, temperature was just right, and a very gentle breeze to keep the bugs away. The Milky Way strip was very evident and Soren was excited though a little scared of the dark.

10:34PM

• Target: M 6, Butterfly Cluster
• Const: Scorpius
• RaDec: 17h40m -32.13
• Type: Open Cluster
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 60x

Still beautiful as I remembered. 60x fills the eyepiece nicely.

10:41PM

• Target: M 7, Ptolemy Cluster
• Const: Scorpius
• RaDec: 17h53m -34.49
• Type: Open Cluster
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 30x

10:58PM

• Target: NGC 6520
• Const: Sagittarius
• RaDec: 18h03m -27.53
• Type: Open Cluster
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 100x

Neat little cluster, detect some background ‘glow’.

11:06PM

• Target: M 8, Lagoon Nebula
• Const: Sagittarius
• RaDec: 18h03m -24.23
• Type: Diffuse Nebula
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 55x

11:11PM

• Target: M 20, Trifid Nebula
• Const: Sagittarius
• RaDec: 18h02m -23.2
• Type: Diffuse Nebula
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 50x

11:19PM

• Target: M 24, Milky Way Patch
• Const: Sagittarius
• RaDec: 18h18m -18.25
• Type: Star Cloud
• Scope: Finder-scope

The star-cloud was so large, I could not fit it in my 21mm (30x) eyepiece. The best view happened to be in the finder-scope.

11:28PM

• Target: M 17, Swan Nebula
• Const: Sagittarius
• RaDec: 18h20m -16.11
• Type: Diffuse Nebula
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 55x

Very clear and easy to see the shape. The neck was a little distorted, and just a little AV helped define it.

11:36PM

• Target: M 16, Eagle Nebula Cluster
• Const: Serpens
• RaDec: 18h18m -13.47
• Type: Nebula with Open Cluster
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 30x

11:48PM

• Target: NGC 6445, He 2-290
• Const: Sagittarius
• RaDec: 17h49m -20
• Type: Planetary Nebula
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 50x

Fainter small blue circle. AV isn’t really required.

12:13PM

• Target: NGC 6369, Little Ghost Nebula
• Const: Ophiuchus
• RaDec: 17h29m -23.45
• Type: Planetary Nebula
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 50x, AV

Super faint, AV is nearly required.

12:25PM

• Target: Saturn
• Scope: AT102ED
• Setting: 300x

Best view of Saturn to date. Was able to push magnification to 300x and began to see a sliver of a shadow on the rings behind Saturn. The planet and rings really ‘popped’ more than I’ve ever seen before.