Stargazing for 9/9/07
- By Jason Donahue
- Published 09/10/2007
For the first time in months, I actually did a little stargazing. Very little.
Seriously, though, I just got home from a work trip to Upland, CA that took a little longer than expected. I'm tired as heck, and have to be up at a reasonable hour, but, dang it, the sky was just so clear for once, that I had to take a look, if even for a moment.
So, I didn't take the time to carry out my telescope. Instead, I took a brief look through a 10x 25mm monocular. Orion had just crested the hilltop, so I also got a great view of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, the three stars that make up Orion's belt. Even better, the little monocular was able to gather up just enough light for me to be able to see M42, the Orion Nebula. Mars was up, and at a good viewing angle, as was M45, the Pleiades star cluster. My little monocular wasn't quite up to the task here, as I could barely make out that Mars wasn't a mere point source, but a disk, and could only vaguely see the bluish nebulosity of the Pleiades.
Still, it was definitely worth the ten minutes or so I spent doing it, if only because it served as a reminder of how much I actually enjoy stargazing, and, just as important, that even if you don't have a few hours to spend driving out and observing at a dark site, or even a half-hour to an hour to break out the telescope to see what you can see off your front porch, it's still worth it to spend a few minutes looking up.
Seriously, though, I just got home from a work trip to Upland, CA that took a little longer than expected. I'm tired as heck, and have to be up at a reasonable hour, but, dang it, the sky was just so clear for once, that I had to take a look, if even for a moment.
So, I didn't take the time to carry out my telescope. Instead, I took a brief look through a 10x 25mm monocular. Orion had just crested the hilltop, so I also got a great view of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, the three stars that make up Orion's belt. Even better, the little monocular was able to gather up just enough light for me to be able to see M42, the Orion Nebula. Mars was up, and at a good viewing angle, as was M45, the Pleiades star cluster. My little monocular wasn't quite up to the task here, as I could barely make out that Mars wasn't a mere point source, but a disk, and could only vaguely see the bluish nebulosity of the Pleiades.
Still, it was definitely worth the ten minutes or so I spent doing it, if only because it served as a reminder of how much I actually enjoy stargazing, and, just as important, that even if you don't have a few hours to spend driving out and observing at a dark site, or even a half-hour to an hour to break out the telescope to see what you can see off your front porch, it's still worth it to spend a few minutes looking up.