Austin

AstroChallenge contributor

Points: 5562

Observations: 74

Kudos: 48

NameAustin Riba
LocationSanta Barbara, California
TimezoneAmerica/Los_Angeles
Latitude34.4058592738
Longitude-119.696321208
Altitude10m

Beginner astronomer, constant neck-ache, Admin of Astrochallenge.com

Clear
M9

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

Small almost imperceptible globular in the SW of Ophiuchus. I put in the high power eyepiece to see if I could tease out any more detail without any luck. Curiously, I've located what appears to be a companion globular nearby, but it is not listed in my atlas. I will have to consult stellarium when I get home to see if I can tell what it is.

M14

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

This was the hardest globular to find thus far. I had to star hop along the faint stars of Ophiuchus until I finally got lucky and landed on M14. It is very small in angular size and doesn't have many eye catching characteristics.

M5

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
0 points

While in the area, I couldn't help but take another look at mighty M5. This is one of the most beautiful globular clusters I have ever seen. It's bright enough to accept the small 9mm eyepiece which brings out a plethora of stars without losing much to the FOV.

M12

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

By now things have started to get dewey. It's still warm out and the skies are still clear, so observation will continue on.

This is a very large globular cluster just north of M10. It doesn't have many surrounding resolvable stars as it's companion, but it makes up for that in sheer angular size. Nice bright spot in the sky.

M10

Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian
20 points

Now I'm getting the hang of it. M10 is a nice medium sized globular cluster with a very nice scattering of stars around the main cluster. They could be foreground or background stars, but they do look very nice. It lies just due south of M12, it's equally pretty companion.

InstrumentObservations
Naked eye 7
Orion 10'' SkyQuest dobsonian 53
Orion Scenix 10x50 Binoculars 2
Mead LX200 (Cabrillo Observatory) 4
LCOGT 1Meter Scope - Sinistro 8