During the day today I got another sketch of the sun finished for comparison to yesterdays.

As you can clearly see the spots have changed position, they are heading towards the upper left of the sun(in the sketches). Some have seemed to intensify over the 24 hour period. Some new spots have emerged onto the surface while others seem to have dissolved away.

When the sky darkened I got the scope out to do some huning. I decide to go for M41, M50, and M93. These are all located in the trees, so for me to find them I had to observe them when they were inbetween the trees!

First up was M50, as it is the highest of the three clusters. I didn't have too much trouble finding it, and when it enetered the field of view? You know your are on course! It is dense and stands out from the surrounding stars very clearly! Next on the list for tonight was M41, located a little ways from Sirius. This in my opinion is the most impressive of the three! It is large in size and dense! Extremely easy to pick out from the surrounding star field! The stars get quite compressed toward the center of this open cluster! Then we have M93! This cluster is also dense!! Smaller than M41, but easily distinguished form the surround star field! This is a compact cluster! It is a fairly small cluster, but is really bright! All three of these clusters are wondeful sights in the telescope and I will have to view them all again!

Other Objects were up and ready for me to explore! What session in the winter is complete without atleast a glance at the M42 and M43? I aim the scope toward that center star of orions sword, and then I look into the eyepiece. The view of this nebula always makes my jaw drop. The structre in it! Just look at the trapezium! The 20mm gives you a great view of M42 and M43 in the same field of view! Then I insert the 6.3mm and we enjoy the view! Wow! Just look at M42! You can see dark lumps in the nebula... in fact when the 6.3mm is used the whole nebula appears to have lumps in it. Dark spots here and there... A truely wondeful object. I also completed a sketch of M42 while I was out!

Aww, but now lets swing by Taurus for a quick look at the M1. Ahah! There it is the faint oval shape in the center of the eyepiece. M1 to me resembles A very faint comet, with hardly any brightening toward the core. It looks like a faint oval patch of light in the telescope! It is among the M27, on my standards. And is quite easy to find, just above the tip of the bulls lower horn.

Well, since Saturn is close by, lets hop over and say "hi"! Ahh, Saturn this planet is beyond description. I always get a kick out of viewing it... it seems so far away... exotic really. The Cassini Divison, Titan, Rhea and others. Just looking at it and its creamy white equatorial band is good enough to have its own session! Zoom in and you can easily see the Cassini Division, Pole darkening, the equatorial band and of course its moons! If Saturn is in the sky, I will most likely stop by!

Now for a quick peek at the Andromeda galaxy! Ooooh! Its getting low in the sky! Ah! There it is! Its core shines so bright and then we have the fainter outer parts eventually turning to the the black of the sky. I have not been able to see the dark dust bands yet, and I didn't tonight either. But I will keep trying!!

I decided to go for the Eskimo Nebula in Gemini, I have not seen it untill tonight. When I ran into it looked like a "blob" star with maybe a little blue/green tint to it. I inserted the 6.3mm and bam! Now we have a bigger blob! I was quite happy to finally see this, as I have read so much about it. Its best feature would have to be its color. There was fairly bright star located next to the Eskimo Nebula, which can be used to help see the nebulas color!

And then to finish off the session I decided to view Jupiter. All the moons appeared to the east of the planet. I put in the 6.3mm and started looking for the Great Red Spot. I didn't see it, although it might not have been visible at the time of viewing! Jupiter is a very impressive object in the telescope. You get the bands, the pole regions seem darker than the rest of the planet. And of course, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto! Jupiters Moons! You can watch these moons as they circle the planet and cast shadows onto its surface! I have only seen one shadow transit previously.

Tonight was a great session, although there were a few clouds here and there I got a good amount of observing done as well as a few new objects I've never seen before. M50, M41, M93 and NGC 2392! Clear Skies...

January 26, 2003
Objects observed: The Sun

Today was partly cloudy with a few clouds passing in front of the sun while I was observing. I always liked the effect the clouds make when they pass in front of the sun. You can still see the sun behind them, the clouds mostly look like smoke. I could see about twelve spots total. Insert the 6.3mm and it gives you a nice close up view of the sun's sunspots. The dark umbra and the crinckley and lighter penumbra. I managed to get a sketch done while observing.

Tomorrow I will continue with the solar observations and make a new sketch so you can see the changes the sun goes through in one day.