1537e 2013/08/16–17

1537e 2013/08/16–17 20:30–22:40 Foxmead POD 8 28cmsc 10x50b

Aligned CPC1100 first on the Moon, then on Saturn, then slewed over to Venus, all at 70x. Mosquitoes were voracious, so I decided to go indoors to let them disperse.

Back out around 22:00, looking for Nova Delphinus 2013. I aligned the CPC more carefully on Altair and M27, which was very nice despite the bright Moon. Then I slewed to NGC 6905, a small planetary nebula, which was just visible in the moonlight. I observed it last 11 years ago. From there I starhopped to the Nova, which was shining brilliantly at around magnitude 5.4, as I later estimated using 10x50 binoculars. To confirm this, I had the scope go to the coordinates of the nova, and there it was again. This is the brightest novae in many years.

By then I was getting cold, so I parked the scope and closed up the observatory. The bright Moon and a slight haze in the sky made any further observation impossible.

Temperature: 14°C–9° C

1536m 2013/08/05

1536m 2013/08/05 05:10–05:50 E-facing window 9 ne

A wonderfully clear bright morning! I rose at 05:10 and immediately spotted Jupiter. Mars was more difficult against the brightening dawn sky. Then bright Mercury cleared the trees at 05:12. When I looked again at 05:50, the slender crescent Moon was well above the trees, and I could just make out Mercury above it. Jupiter was still visible, but Mars was lost in the sky's brightness. Starry Night makes a nice composite of all these events as of 05:50:

 
Temperature: 9°C