M77

On Thanksgiving Evening (11/27/08) I observed the night sky for several hours into midnight. The wind was mostly calm with clear sky's and temperatures ranged in the mid to upper 20s. It was a dryer night which means the moisture from my frozen breath was not caking onto the telescope like the night before.

The highlight of the evening was M77, a Seyfert galaxy which means bright nucleus. At 10.50 magnitude, this object was difficult to find at first due to suburban light pollution. Once found, I made out the round dim sphere and the brighter nucleus in the center. I look forward to viewing this object again on a darker night.

I also viewed M46, a dim but massive open cluster. M47 and M48 were less spectacular but visible open clusters near Monoceros. M50 was another loose, open cluster near Monceros. Monoceros is a lesser known constellation near Orion just above Canis Major in the southeastern night sky.

I also viewed NGC 1647 and NGC 1817 in Taurus. Then NGC 2129 in Gemini and NGC 1907 in Auriga - all open clusters in the Fall night sky.