Complete! IAS Novice/Urban Observing List for October 2013

After failing to observe 6 out of 11 objects last month, this month I wanted to redeem myself. I got 4 right off the bat, and added the last two just in time before the end of the month. These Indiana Astronomical Society observing lists are a great way to learn about new objects, and stay motivated to get the gear outside.

Acquisition details are located on the individual blog posts (linked at the bottom).

• Xi Cephei, Double Star in Cepheus
• NGC 7243 (Caldwell 16), Open Cluster in Lacerta ✔
• Zeta Aquarii, Double Star in Aquarius
• Delta Cephei, Variable/Double Star in Cepheus ✔
• 94 Aquarii, Double Star in Aquarius
• NGC 7662, “The Blue Snowball” Nebula, Planetary Nebula in Andromeda
• NGC 7789, “The White Rose” Cluster, Open Cluster in Cassiopeia ✔
• Sigma Cassiopeiae, Double Star in Cassiopeia
• Mare Undarum, first quarter Moon ✔
• Gassendi, third quarter Moon ✔
• Challenge Object: 8 Lacertae, Double (Quadruple) Star in Lacerta ✔

Tackling the October List

So far this month we've had some incredibly clear skies, and as many as 4-5 in a row. I've been getting out as often as I can, and started chipping away at the October observing list. I've got 4 down, 2 to go for a certificate, total of 11 objects, and 4 that are probably beyond my gear (so realistically 7 I could get this month). Here's what I've got so far...

Mare Undarum, first quarter moon, iPhone through Meade MH9mm eyepiece

Ok so it's not the best photo of the moon ever. I took it with my iPhone looking through the eyepiece of my Meade 285 refractor. I wanted to demonstrate that I know what sea I was looking at, instead of just taking a photo of the whole moon and pointing it out later in Photoshop.

I also took a video of the moon that night with my iPhone, but I've been having some difficulty converting the .mov file into an .avi that Registax can read. It's very picky, and I guess any .avi over a certain size forces the program to switch into a different setting. Yeah, I'll have to keep tinkering.

I also found out that the iPhone camera burst mode will not activate with the Apple headphones as a remote shutter release. I guess I could take rapid shots with something like Night Cap, but there's still the problem of holding the phone up to the eyepiece (or mounting on a tripod that is pointed down looking through the eyepiece, which takes forever to adjust).

NGC 7789, 73 subs, 54 darks, 67 bias, 300mm, f/5.6, 1.3 sec, ISO 1600

For having such a cool name, I was a little underwhelmed by the White Rose Cluster. It probably looks a lot better with faster glass and a higher resolution camera. It was easy to find right off of Casseopia Cassiopea Cassiopeia (ugh I can never spell that).

I'm not as excited about Delta Cephei (δ) as I am about 1) my new preparation of the final image, and 2) my new knowledge of separation in arcseconds.

First, to get double stars with just my camera and a lens (the easiest and therefore most likely way I'll shoot them) I just take a single shot and don't stack the images. When I stack them, I lose resolution and color, so the stars look like little white cotton balls instead of points of light. Ok, they look MORE like cotton balls, they're not very pointy as it is. In this image, I stacked the background but then cropped out the double stars from a single frame, so it's the best of both worlds: Context background stars and higher resolution double stars.

Second, after shooting and failing to resolve some double stars last month, I looked up which ones I managed to get and which ones didn't turn out. I figured out my gear's limit to resolving double stars, so now I know ahead of time which ones I should even attempt.

The separation limit for my camera with 300mm lens is about 28" (arcseconds) and the limit for my 900mm scope is 14.4" (arcseconds) at prime focus - presumably even less visually.

Here's C16 again for posterity, already described in a previous post

October 2013 Indiana Astronomical Society Novice/Urban Observing List

Philip Dimpelfeld from the Indiana Astronomical Society creates a Novice/Urban Observing List each month for newbies like myself with not-so-dark skies and not-so-powerful equipment. The September 2013 list was very challenging, but now that I've got my prime focus figured out, and the sun is setting earlier each day, I can't wait to tackle October 2013!

Xi Cephei, Double Star in Cepheus, 22h 03.8m, +64° 38', mag = 4.4, 6.5, sep = 7.7"

NGC 7243 (Caldwell 16), Open Cluster in Cassiopeia, 22h 15.3m, +49° 53', mag = 6.4, size = 21.0'

Zeta Aquarii, Double Star in Aquarius, 22h 28.8m, -00° 01', mag = 4.3, 4.5, sep = 1.8"

Delta Cephei, Variable/Double Star in Cepheus, 22h 29.2m, +58° 25', mag = (v3.5 – 4.4), 6.3, sep = 41". Primary is the prototype of famed Cepheid variables – period 5.4 days.

94 Aquarii, Double Star in Aquarius, 23h 19.1m, -13° 28', mag = 5.3, 7.3, sep = 12.7"

NGC 7662, “The Blue Snowball” Nebula, Planetary Nebula in Andromeda, 23h 25.9m, +42° 33', mag = 8.3, size = 32" x 28"

NGC 7789, “The White Rose” Cluster, Open Cluster in Cassiopeia, 23h 57.0m, +56° 44', mag = 6.7, size = 15.0'

Sigma Cassiopeiae, Double Star in Cassiopeia, 23h 59.0m, +55° 45', mag = 5.0, 7.1, sep = 3"

Mare Undarum, first quarter Moon

Gassendi, third quarter Moon

Challenge Object: 8 Lacertae, Double (Quadruple) Star in Lacerta, 22h 35.9m, +39° 38', mag = 5.7, 6.5/10.5, 9.1, sep = 22.4"/49”, 82”. Nice blue-white pair. The two fainter companions form a delicate quadruple system with bright pair.