DAS Observatory - First magnitude estimate of Chi Cygni
Friday 21st August: A very clear night so went to the Society's observatory with Sandra. Surprisingly when we got to Austerfield at 11:30pm only Brian and Phil were there. Usually on a Friday night when the sky is clear, a host of members are observing the night sky. After looking at Jupiter, Phil retired for the night leaving just us three.
We began by looking at Jupiter using the Super wide angle 40mm lens in the 14" SCT. We then took a tour of the sky. M27, in the constellation Vulpecula, the Dumbell nebula was very easy to see, the object is very apparent in the fov. It looks very similar to an apple core but grayish in colour. still in that area we turned the scope to Lyra and M57, the Ring nebula. Again easy to view and grayish in colour as well, though averted vision was needed. Swinging up to Hercules, we dropped onto the Globular Cluster M13. This is a splendid sight in any scope. but low powers are needed. In the 40mm wide angle lens, it was breathtakingly 3-dimensional! A companion globular cluster M92 is not far away from M13 and though not as large as M13 in the fov, it still is something to see. M103, Sandra swung the scope over to the constellation Andromeda to view the picturesque double star Gamma And. M31, M52
At 01:45 BST (00:45 UT) I observed the LPV Chi Cygni with the 14" SCT. Chi is located in the neck of the constellation of Cygnus. At first I used the Super Wide-Angle 40mm lens which gave a very clear and crisp view of the stars. With the variable still being near minima, it was not too easy to see. But after several minutes of staring at the field-of-view and checking with my AAVSO star chart, I eventually identified the faint star with a hint of red to its colour. Using a couple of comparison stars of visual magnitude +12.0 and +12.6 from the chart, I made my magnitude estimate at +12.3. This agrees wonderfully with observations reported to the AAVSO for the same date! I am "chuffed to bits" at this estimate! Using my own 8" SCT, I think I would struggle to see it. I even called Sandra into the Dome to witness the observation and get her to view it to confirm my sighting. This she did after a few minutes of staring into the eye-piece. Below is a photo taken with a CDD camera by Observatory Manager Brian Joynes using the 14" SCT on 24th Aug, at Austerfield Observatory. The star is the object at the center of the image with the two pointers. Even without the markers, this star dominates the star-field. This is a wonderful image, showing a multitude of stars in such a small patch of sky! My thanks to Brian for providing the image.
We began by looking at Jupiter using the Super wide angle 40mm lens in the 14" SCT. We then took a tour of the sky. M27, in the constellation Vulpecula, the Dumbell nebula was very easy to see, the object is very apparent in the fov. It looks very similar to an apple core but grayish in colour. still in that area we turned the scope to Lyra and M57, the Ring nebula. Again easy to view and grayish in colour as well, though averted vision was needed. Swinging up to Hercules, we dropped onto the Globular Cluster M13. This is a splendid sight in any scope. but low powers are needed. In the 40mm wide angle lens, it was breathtakingly 3-dimensional! A companion globular cluster M92 is not far away from M13 and though not as large as M13 in the fov, it still is something to see. M103, Sandra swung the scope over to the constellation Andromeda to view the picturesque double star Gamma And. M31, M52
At 01:45 BST (00:45 UT) I observed the LPV Chi Cygni with the 14" SCT. Chi is located in the neck of the constellation of Cygnus. At first I used the Super Wide-Angle 40mm lens which gave a very clear and crisp view of the stars. With the variable still being near minima, it was not too easy to see. But after several minutes of staring at the field-of-view and checking with my AAVSO star chart, I eventually identified the faint star with a hint of red to its colour. Using a couple of comparison stars of visual magnitude +12.0 and +12.6 from the chart, I made my magnitude estimate at +12.3. This agrees wonderfully with observations reported to the AAVSO for the same date! I am "chuffed to bits" at this estimate! Using my own 8" SCT, I think I would struggle to see it. I even called Sandra into the Dome to witness the observation and get her to view it to confirm my sighting. This she did after a few minutes of staring into the eye-piece. Below is a photo taken with a CDD camera by Observatory Manager Brian Joynes using the 14" SCT on 24th Aug, at Austerfield Observatory. The star is the object at the center of the image with the two pointers. Even without the markers, this star dominates the star-field. This is a wonderful image, showing a multitude of stars in such a small patch of sky! My thanks to Brian for providing the image.
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