AstroChallenge is a social network for amateur astronomers.

Took me most of the session to find the Virgo Cluster. My widest lens was a 25mm,still not large enough to see all of the galaxies in this bit of sky. Slight changes in DEC and RA would show more galaxies. They are nothing more than light smudges against the black background that is space. Its quite incredible to see millions of stars,planets,galaxies that are 60 million+ light years away. Light traveled that distance just to be focused in by your telescope and put into your eye.

Other Galaxi...

For my final view of the night I decided to look at Saturn. It was quite low on the horizon,just barely over the tree tops. Wasn't able to make out much detail due to the atmosphere being soupy and causing it to blur. I was able to see a few moons,Titan stood out the most. I was able to make out Rhea too but it was very faint compared to Titan.

I glimpsed the sun on my way home from my classes. It looked very nice. I made sure not to stare at it.

The brightest star in the sky, how could you miss it? I usually look for Sirius first as dusk approaches, to get my "celestial bearings"

Super bright, near the zenith. Perfect for a telescope (which is out of my reach for today!)

Very bright tonight.

the view isn't spectacular through a 5" reflector but it is still amazing being able to see what the naked eye cannot. moon was really bright but low on the horizon yet.