It was pretty warm and mostly cloudy. A few breaks in the clouds as they passed allowed some views of Venus and Saturn. Around 10:00 PM it cleared up a bit to allow me to look for a few Messier objects. I was able to view M3 and M94. I looked for M51 but was unable to find it.

Not really the best night for star gazing, but I just felt like getting outside and looking up for a bit. I did not have an observing plan, I just used the July Sky Map to locate a few objects.

Since the conditions were not really good for deep sky observing I am happy that I was able to find a few things. By 11:00 PM the clouds had pretty much taken over the sky so I called it a night.

From my observing notes:

Venus was low in the west. Very bright. The phase appears to be a little over half, approaching gibbous. It was easy to see the phase in the 22mm, 9mm, and 7mm.

Saturn was very nice in the 7mm. Shadow of rings across planet surface showing good contrast. Only one moon was visible – Titan. I was able to see the ring shadow and moon in all eye pieces but the views were the best in the 7mm Nagler.

Messier 3 (M3) – From the bright star Arcturus I slowly worked to the west with the 22mm Panoptic until I was able find the fuzzy globular cluster. I could not resolve any individual stars at 22mm, 9mm, or 7mm. Just a faint fuzzy object with a brighter core. Going to have to revisit on a night that is darker and more clear.

Messier 94 (M94) – I was very surprised to be able to find this. I scanned between the two stars that make up the constellation Canes Venatici with the 22mm Panoptic. Very faint, small, with a faint border around a bright core.

I spent a bit of time looking for M51 but was unable to find it.

Set up early in the day on Saturday, but the clouds moved in. It looked like it would probably clear after midnight, but I did not stay up and wait.

Last night was cool and clear, but not cold. The temperature was actually warm enough that it was comfortable with just a light jacket. I love spring. Was only out for a couple hours after dark – from about 8:00 PM till 10:30 PM. It was a work night and 5:30 AM comes quick when you are up half the night.  I hope to get out a couple more nights this week.

Checked out M81, M82, and a few other objects. I tried to locate the Crab Nebula, I think I found it but it appears a just a gray smudge. I am going to spend some more time on this another night.

Took some images of a couple of my favorites – The Orion Nebula and M3. I think they turned out pretty well.

Orion Nebula - 10 x 30 second ISO 1600

M3 - 4 x 30 seconds ISO 400

Looking forward to the next clear night.

M3 - Prime Focus - 11x1min ISO 800

M42 - Prime Focus - 11x1min ISO 800

M53 - Prime Focus - 10x1min ISO 800

I think I should have done longer exposures of M81 and M104. You can see them, but there is not really any detail. On M104 you can just make out the edge. They looked much better through the eye piece.

M81 - Prime Focus 10x1min ISO 800

M104 - Prime Focus - 11x1min ISO 800