Last night on November 26th, 2008 I enjoyed very clear sky's here in Port Barrington, IL. The wind was calm but it was cold - The temperature that night dropped to 15 degrees. My Telescope was covered with frost and I had some difficulty keeping my view finder and eye pieces from frosting up even during short viewing instances. Last nights theme was Open Clusters, and there are plenty on a late November night.
I enjoyed M34, an open cluster near Perseus. I was able to map out several stars afterwards including a twin pair: TYC2853-22-1 and TYC2853-69-1. Undetermined if they are considered a true binary system, yet both in relation to my view through a 25mm eye piece, they seemed to be twin companions. Using a 25mm eye piece I enjoyed the grouping of M36, a cluster in Auriga that is 4100 light years away, M37, a dim massive star cluster, 4600 light years away. I also enjoyed M38, a nice open cluster that at times resembled a cross of sorts in the light polluted sky ( all grouped in Auriga), 4200 light years away.
M39 was found near Lacerta, a very loose cluster of stars. Another open cluster was found in Cassiopeia: M52, a nice looking cluster of stars. I used the stars bordering this messier object for reference: HIP115218 and HIP115691. I also visited M35 near Gemini, a large open cluster 2800 light years away. I found star 5 Gerindrum as a good reference point for M35. I found that most open clusters are best viewed with a 25mm eye piece which allows one to view a brighter reference star for hopping to the intended object.
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