Tuesday, April 18, 2023~ 8:25 – 10:10 pm.
Location~ Moosehorn Creek, NB
Sky Conditions~ Clear with clouds to the southern and eastern horizons. Very windy.
Transparency~ Good to the north and west.
Temp~ 7° 72%H
Moonset~ 6:34 pm
Evening Twilight Cycle~
Sunset~ 8:12 pm
Blue Hour~ 8:31 pm
Nautical Twilight~ 8:44 pm
Astronomical Twilight~ 9:22 pm
Night Time~ 10:04 pm
Mixed Bag of Observing~
After the overnight and morning rain I wasn’t expecting anything. There had been strong winds with the overnight rain. Mid afternoon the skies cleared up a bit, so it was an unexpected opportunity. By 8 pm the sky was clear with clouds moving in to the south.
Venus was high in the sky with good observing conditions. Went in for a first look at 8:40 with the AVX/ES Comet Hunter and a 10mm eyepiece. Nice! A fair amount of shimmering colour.
Since Curt Nason’s Weekly Sky about Corona Borealis was on tap, went for the brightest star Alphecca. Had to use the goto as the whole constellation was not really revealing itself yet and it wasn’t dark enough for binos.
Clouds move in~
Went and brought horses in the Barn, killing some time for more darkness. By the time I came out of the Barn less than 15 minutes later, clouds had moved in covering the entire south and east. Sky was deteriorating rapidly, but west and north still clear. High moisture, temp now 6° and 84% humidity.
Viewed Mars in Gemini with 8×56 binos. Nice and orange/reddish, distinct. Moved along the whole line of the western objects again with binos, noticed Sirius still putting on a bit of a show with the shimmering. Settled in viewing Capella in Auriga. Had given up reviewing Corvus to the south or Corona Borealis to the east.
About 9:40 I settled in gazing at the Perseus Cluster with binos over the Ob roof to the north. Figured that would be it for the night. It filled the entire FOV. Switched back to Orion and checked out Betelgeuse–nice bright fire orange colour.
All sudden noticed Corvus was there. Made out the four main stars nicely, could not really spot M104. Saw most of the stars of Crater just visually, but not crystal clear.
Corona Borealis~
Noticed the sky had cleared in the east and spotted Corona Borealis. As noted in the post, it is about 1/3 way between Arcturus and Vega (which was just above our eastern horizon about 9:55). It really is a beautiful constellation, a nice little semi-circle of stars. Will visit it again sometime when it is a little bit clearer. A worthwhile trip, not that difficult to find and pleasing to look at visually.
I had put on a YoYo Ma playlist at the beginning, which I hadn’t listened to in ages. It suited all this perfectly.
Shut it down 10:10 or so. Temp had dropped to 5°, still 84% humidity. Lots of moisture. Overall, a good observing session since it was so unexpected.
Summary~
• Venus at 73 magnification (10mm)
• Mars, Sirius and Capella at 8 magnification (8×56 binos)
• Perseus Cluster at 8 magnification
• Orion and Betelgeuse at 8 magnification
• Corvus and Crater constellations at 8 magnification
• Corona Borealis at 8 magnification
Scope– ES Comet Hunter – 152mm f/4.8 731mm Maksutov-Newtonian
Mount– Celestron AVX
Eyepiece used– 10mm Ethos
Binoculars used– 8×56 Celestron
Music~
Yo-Yo Ma~ My iTunes playlist of some music by Yo-Yo Ma.
Sources~
The PhotoPills App~ Exact time and age of the Lunar Cycle, sunset, twilight phases, etc. Great app.
Stellarium~ Great night sky app. Free, works without internet connection.
Field Guide to the Night Sky~ An excellent field book by the National Audubon Society.
Curt Nason’s Weekly Sky at a Glance~ Curt’s post from April 15, 2023 about Corona Borealis.
