15 November 2004

Observing Location	TotL
Atmospheric Conditions	NOAA was saying that there would be about 38% cloud cover for the rest of the week. Walking into the park I was seeing stars through the gaps in the trees and thought it was going to be a clear night. On arriving at the Great Lawn it was obvious that there was a layer of thin cloud between me and the stars. Seeing came and went during the night as thicker parches of clouds blew through. At various times I was able to see the False Kids in Auriga at Mag 3.99-4.76 and the Mag 4.82 star δ Tau. As we were leaving at 0100 EST dense stratus clouds were starting to move in from the west. It was a mild night with the temperature not dropping below 45 and the wind light and occasionally gusting as high as 9 MPH.
Instruments	Golden Gate 7x35 binoculars – Charlie 10” Teleport - Peter
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway Peter Tagatac Ben Cacace

Target	M31, Andromeda Galazy; M32, and M110
Constellation	And
Category	Deep Space Objects
Time	15Nov04; EST
Comments	M31 looked like a big snowball. It was whiter and the center and feathered out from thee until it disappeared in the surrounding sky. M32 was smaller and to the upper right of M31. It was more of a smudge. M110 was not seen.

Target	M45, The Pleiades
Constellation	Tau
Category	Deep Space Objects
Time	15Nov04; 2250 EST
Comments	I looked at M45 briefly in Peter’s scope at low power and it didn’t look like anything. It fills the entire field. The view was so tight that it was just a field of bright stars. This is definitely a better binocular object.

Target	NGC1535
Constellation	Eri
Category	Deep Space Objects
Time	15Nov04; 2315 EDT
Comments	A large planetary nebula. It appeared as a smudge with a brighter central core.

Target	Meteor
Constellation	Lyn
Category
Time	16Nov04; 0022 EST
Comments	A meteor flashed briefly across the sky beneath Auriga. I thought it was coming out of the south but an now thinking that it was probably a Leonid that was moving away from us at an angle.

Target	M42, The Orion Nebula and M43, the Running Man Nebula
Constellation	Ori
Category	Deep Space Objects
Time	16Nov04; 0035 EST
Comments	It was a lot easier to tell what I was looking at after I figured out that what I was seeing in the eyepiece was upside down and left-right reversed from what was in Peter’s book. The nebulosity around the Trapezium appeared to have more depth to it tonight like you were seeing through a layer of it to a layer behind. The nebulosity around the Trapezium totally enclosed it tonight. On the molar side, the left side, there is a dark dust lane that comes vertically down through the nebula giving the molar its flat biting surface, then it doglegs to the right into the molar at about a 45 degree angle. Image of M42. Image of M42/M43. A beautiful image of M42/M43. Another great image of M42/M43 and NGC1977, the Running Man Nebula and the open cluster NGC1981. At the bottom of this page is a photographic guide to Orion’s sword.