Although we didn’t have many clear nights this December I did manage to get in a little observing time. All of Decembers observations were made with the new Orion astroView 90mm refractor which replaces the Meade DS 90 that was the observatory staple for the past 7 years. We’ll miss the old DS 90 as it showed us that even with the light polluted skies here in southeastern Pennsylviana, many deep sky objects can be viewed. But I have to tell you that the Orion AstroView 90 is a good telescope and we would recommend it anyone looking for a small scope with one exception, buy a better mount. The one it comes with is just not sturdy enough.

That said, I’ll move on the the observations. M35 (NGC2168) is the first target. This open cluster is conspicuous in the eyepiece. M35 is an extremly nice star cluster and the slightest optical instrument will resolve the brighter stars and give a splendid view at low magnifications. The first thing you’ll notice is the two rows of brighter stars arching out from center. some observers see M35 as a nearly circular cluster with rather uniform stellar distribution. However you see it, one thing is for sure, low powers and wide-field eye pieces show M35 at its best.

Next target is NGC2392, planetary nebula due of its double-shell morphology, exhibits a particular appearance the Eskimo or Clown Face Nebula. This object was viewable with direct vision due to its 9.1 magnitude. At 65x the planetary appears round with a bright core surrounded by a fainter halo. The “Eskimo” features are not visible but I suspect with a larger telescope the features would be easier it see.

For the other four objects I observed this December I’ll let you explore my notes for yourself. You can find them at December Observations. I’d like to here from readers about their observation during December so be sure send them along.

Happy New Year everyone and clear skies!

Dan

Tweet this!