Last night, I together with a friend from Macclesfield Astronomical Society, went out onto the Derbyshire moors, with the intention to view C/2009 P1 Garradd.
Our observing site was a high plateau above the village of Pott Shrigley, which is on the Cheshire, Derbyshire border.
The skies last night were dark. And very transparent T=6 with the Milky Way clearly visible through Cygnus. I estimated the NLM at m+ 5.9.
Our observing tools were 10x50 binoculars. I still believe these minature telescope's, are still an invaluable tool in observational astronomy, and shouldn't be disregarded by beginners, who are thinking about taking up this hobby.
Here is my report.
M15, m6.3. Dim fuzz ball, but very easy none the less.
C/2009 P1 Garradd. Located the comet quite easily. Estimated magnitude is about m+8.6. The comet is visible towards the right of a pair of faint stars. HD 203699 m6.7, and the fainter HD 204215 m+7.2.
The comet is an elongated fuzzy patch, elongated North-South. It was easier to see with averted vision.
M11, m+5.8. Through the binoculars, M11 looked almost globular in appearance. It is bright and unmistakable.
M16, m+6.0. Very easy, and very bright. M16 is visible, with in, a very rich star field.
M17, m+6.0 Another very bright and easy nebula, which is visible in the same field as M16.
M24, m+4.6. The small Sagittarius star cloud, is one of those objects, that we seldom get to see from where I live in East Cheshire. Because I was high UP last night, It was unmistakable as a small fuzzy haze.
We also observed the Scutum star cloud with the un-aided eye.
M22, m+5.2. This is another seldom seen object. Tonight however, we were both treated to some excellent, wide field views, of this bright globular star cluster. M22 is round and looks slightly granular.
M8, m+4.6. Bright nebula, visible with in a small cluster of stars.
M20, m+6.3. Fainter than M8, but still visible through my 10x50 glasses. M20 is visible as a faint glow against the brighter milky way.
High up, above our heads Cygnus was flying over head. With binoculars and the naked eye. I was able to see NGC7000 and through binoculars. The brighter part's of the Gamma Cygnus nebulosity.
We were observing from 21:35 hrs until cloud rolled in at approx 22:30hrs UT.
One other observation that I made, which, I have yet to identifi. Were two satellites moving through the lower portion of Pegasus. These object's were moving at the same speed. And I think probably, in a synchronous orbit.
They were both seen to transit M15, and they were bright through the glasses. My estimation was m+7.0. I didn't record the time which is annoying. But I would guess it was about 21:45UT.
