Clear, Cold Skies

It's Day 4 with the new telescope, and I decided to take a look at a few double and variable stars from the Astronomical League's Urban Observing Club while waiting for the moon to rise. The club is an observing program designed for amateur astronomers who battle heavy light pollution. Tonight I saw three double stars: Eta Cassiopeia, Gamma Aries, and Gamma Andromeda (Almach), and the variable star Beta Pegasus (Algol). The club includes a number of deep sky objects, many of which are too big for my f/15 scope. I suppose I'd better switch to the Double Star Club and stick to the more compact objects.

By the time the moon was visible from our backyard, it was getting cold. I logged observations of some objects along the lunar terminator, including the craters Julius Caesar and Sacrabosco, and a rille called Rima Ariadaeus. I had planned to make a sketch of the crater Byrgius A which is currently at lunar midday--we call it that even though each "day" lasts for one of our months. Anyway, I couldn't get excited about sketching and shivering at a cool 28 degrees F, so I decided to pack up around 10:30.