Vulpecula

This evening I wanted to focus on the tiny constellation of Vulpecula near Cygnus and Lyra. I started observing using the 80mm refractor around 20:30h EST. The seeing was fair (5/10).

M27 (Dumbbell Nebula): Bright planetary nebula. Elongated, but I didn't see a pinch, nor the m9 star near its west edge. Several nearby stars were visible at 32x, but significantly more at 86x. The Lumicon UHC filter improved contrast, but didn't show more details. M27 can easily be found by star hopping from 13 Vulpeculae. I didn't actually see the dim stars of Vulpecula in the Rigel Quickfinder, but 13 Vulpeculae itself can be found by mentally extending the line between Gamma Lyra and Albireo for 3/4 the distance between those two stars.

Stock 1: I didn't spend much time observing this open cluster, as I only encountered it while star hopping from M27 to the Struve binaries. I observed it at 32x, and should revisit it next time.

Struve 2455: I found it more difficult to resolve than Struve 2457, but both were readably separated even at 32x. Struve 2455 consists of a m7.4 and m8.5 star, separated 6.6", while Struve 2457 consists of m7.5 and m9.0 stars, separated 10.3".

Struve 2457: As with Struve 2455 I didn't detect the difference in color between the binary components, but the magnitude difference made them attractive anyway. Struve 2455 and 2457 easily fit in the FOV of the 7 mm Nagler (86x), being separated by just half a degree. The position angles of the two binaries differ by almost 180 degrees. Using the barlow only deteriorated the view, because of the seeing and because the faintness of the secondary, possibly made worse by the barlow itself.

Struve 2445: A triple, with a m7.2 and m8.9 star separated 12.6", and a third m8.9 separated 2.4'. Even more easy to observe than Struve 2457.

Stopped observing at 22:15h, because Struve 2445, 2455 and 2457 moved behind a tree in the west, and the clouds started rolling in.

Io's Shadow

I have just returned from a very quick observation session of planet Jupiter and its moons at 00:30 (August 16). After so many years, I had to see it. It had rained all day, is partially clouded and the seeing is poor. The telescope (80mm refractor) was still warm as I used it immediately after moving it from indoor to the 14 ℃ outdoor, so the quick guess of 4/10 isn't too accurate. I observed Jupiter and its moons at 32x and 86x. The seeing prevented the use of the barlow at 171x. The magnification of 86x provided the best balance between contrast, image size and stability.

Three of Jupiter's moons were visible. Europa & Callisto on one side and Ganymede on the other side. Also visible was the obvious shadow of a moon crossing Jupiter, Io's. I didn't see Io transit though. Jupiter's cloud bands NEB, SEB and STB were clearly visible as well.