Above~ Photo showing location of Corvus in the southern sky about 10:50 pm on April 14, 2023. A short meteor was falling.
Friday, April 14, 2023~ 8:45 – 11:25 pm.
Location~ Moosehorn Creek, NB
Sky Conditions~ Clear, beautiful.
Transparency~ Fair to good.
Temp~ 7° 42%H
Sunset~ 8:07 pm
Blue Hour~ 8:26 pm
Nautical Twilight~ 8:38 pm
Astronomical Twilight~ 9:16 pm
Night Time~ 9:56 pm
Moonrise~ 4:22 am
Looking dead ahead~
Came out 8:45, opened up the Ob and turned everything on.
Solved a problem regarding prime focus with only the bullnose on the camera–achieved back focus by removing two rings. Had to do it early while I could use Venus to confirm. I had forgotten that routine since I normally use a 2x or a 4x Powermate barlow for doing Lunar.
Went and let horses in barn, when I came out about 10 minutes later about 9:30 I was blown away by the sky. Clear, everything popping.
Photography and vertigo~
Instead of observing, wound up spending most of the remaining time trying to sort out some photography equipment and pushing how far I could go with my vertigo problem. It was a shame of a waste of a good sky but it had to be done.
However, I stopped and looked at two of my favourite bino targets– the Beehive and the Coma Star Cluster or Melotte 111 with 8×56 binos. The sky was so good you could easily spot them unaided, overhead to the south a bit. Pure gold through binos. Astounding!
Turned my attention back to Corvus. Went for some camera/tripod shots just to have a record. Could make out the four main stars of Corvus easily, and could see the “cup” of Crater a little visually. Moisture getting a bit heavier now, and forgot to go for M104 or the Sombrero Galaxy while seeing was optimal.
Above~ Photo showing location of Corvus the Crow and Crater the Cup in the southern sky about 10:50 pm on April 14, 2023.
Shut it down about 11:25. Temp had dropped to 2° and 64% humidity.
I hope to tackle Sextans and Hydra in a future session, skies permitting.
Note: Later in the month Curt Nason wrote about Corvus and the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) in the April 22 Weekly Sky. See link below.
Summary~
Beehive (M44) Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111) at 8x magnification, 8×56 Binos
Corvus, Crater, Sextans and Hydra at 8x magnification
Scope– ES Comet Hunter – 152mm f/4.8 731mm Maksutov-Newtonian
Mount– Celestron AVX
Binoculars used~ Celestron 8×56
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 2023 about M104 is relevant to Corvus.
Saint John Astronomy Club~ Wealth of information including links.
