Observations made by 60mm refractors are shown below. There are many excellent reports detailing what can be seen with this telescope.

Observer:	Andrew Podmore
E-mail address:	andrwpodm@aol.com
Date and time of Observation:	25/06/2003 01:00UT
Observing Location:	Stoke on Trent, England
Object Observed:	M27
Viewing conditions:	7
Telescope	Tasco 60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	12.5mmH 56*
Observing notes:	Located object by star hopping from eta Sagitta approximately 3 degrees north. Object appeared about 5 mins arc diameter. Although very dim through a Department Store Telescope, I was amazed I could see it at all. Averted vision helped tremendously to see the hour glass shape of the Dumbell. (At least, that's how it appeared to me) This was my first planetary nebula I have every seen with this scope, and I have to say, I got goose bumps. Can't wait to view it through a bigger scope someday.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	7:45pm - 8:45pm CST March 20, 2001
Observing Location:	Iola, Kansas (Long: 95 30' W Lat: 37 55' N)
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Clear,  Stable
Telescope	60mm Focal Refractor, Simmons 10x50WA Binoculars
Eyepiece	20mm Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner
Observing notes:	Last week, I finally ordered an 8" dob from Discovery Telescopes. Trying to break the Astronomer's Curse, I ordered it on a day when it was pouring down rain. Hopefully, this would mean that the telescope would arrive on a clear day. While I'm still about a week away from receiving my telescope, today was one of those days that I wish I had it. The sky was cloudless all day today, and the temperature reached the upper 50s. Perfect weather to give a person Spring Fever. I didn't have many plans tonight, so I hoped the weather would hold until this evening. Much to my amazement, it did. After supper, I grabbed my gear and headed out to the backyard. Even better news: my neighbor's porch light was off. I didn't really have a set observing plan tonight, so I thought I'd just look at whatever caught my fancy. After unsuccessfully trying for a few galaxies and nebulae, I decided to concentrate on open clusters. M41 [Canis Major] - 7:50pm CST (Open Cluster) At 56x, several stars were visible. Overall, the shape appeared oval and was pretty loose. There were about a dozen fairly bright stars, with even more fainter ones visible throughout the cluster. Dropping the power down to 35x, you can still easily tell that this is an open cluster. There are several bright stars visible, along with some dimmer ones. Throughout the cluster, there is a mottling or slightly nebulous appearance. By moving the telescope slightly back and forth, the cluster is even more obvious than when staring directly at it. Through binoculars, about six bright stars are visible, with a lot of mottling or fuzziness surrounding them, forming a loosely circular shape. M48 [Hydra] - 8:00pm CST (Open Cluster) This is a large open cluster. At 35x, it appears roughly circular, with a triangle or wedge of compacting near the center. In the rest of the cluster, the bright and faint stars are fairly evenly distributed. Bumping up the magnification to 56x, the cluster takes up the entire field of view. In the center is a crooked string of stars. With direct vision, this line consists of about six stars, but with averted vision, several more are detected. This cluster appears to have the potential to be a lot prettier, if more stars were visible. The fact that it is fairly low in the sky and I have a lot of light pollution in the Southern portion of my sky didn't help matters, I'm sure. At this point, the neighbor turned her porch light on. So I decided to devote the rest of the evening to binocular viewing. I was wanting to bag a few more open clusters with them anyway. I recently purchased a lawn chair that has an adjustable back, and it makes it much easier to lay back and enjoy the view through binos. Even without a tripod, I could rest my arms against the chair and achieve fairly steady views. M47 [Puppis] - 8:15pm CST (Open Cluster) This is a fairly loose cluster, and a pretty easy target for binoculars. Several bright stars are visible. M46 [Puppis] - 8:20pm CST (Open Cluster) In the same field of view as M47, this cluster looks like a faint cloud. I could barely detect that anything was there. M35 [Gemini] - 8:20pm CST (Open Cluster) Even in binoculars, this is a nice open cluster. It appears as a definite fuzzy patch with a few stars resolved. Using averted vision, about six stars can be detected. M44 (Beehive) [Cancer] - 8:23pm CST (Open Cluster) A couple of dozen bright stars are visible. A few of the "beehive" stars are resolved into double stars, and another bright double is visible near the outer edge of the cluster. M45 (Pleiades) [Taurus] - 8:26pm CST (Open Cluster) Stunning! The cluster fits nicely into the field of view. The seven brightest stars are readily visible and the cluster is sprinkled with many fainter stars. Even at its relative low altitude, it is a magnificent sight. M36, M37, M38 [Auriga] - 8:35pm CST (Open Clusters) All three of these clusters lie pretty much in a straight line with each other. Through binoculars, all three objects are just fuzzy smudges against the night sky. M37 appears to be the largest of the three clusters, and M36 appears to be about the brightest and smallest. The faintest one is M38, but luckily, there are some bright stars in its general vicinity. By this time, the temperature was really starting to drop quickly, and I was having a hard time keeping my binoculars from dewing up. So I called it an evening. While I'm hoping for great views out of my new telescope, I hope I don't completely dismiss my small refractor. I've spent hundreds of hours with it, and want to spend hundreds of hours more.

Observer:	Tim LaDuca
E-mail address:	res02ki4@gte.net
Web site:	home1.gte.net/res02ki4/
Date and time of Observation:	March 3, 2001 10pm
Observing Location:	Tampa, FL
Object Observed:	Moon and planets
Viewing conditions:	Clear, light pollution
Telescope	Meade DS60 60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	25mm and 9mm stock
Observing notes:	My first night out since I was a little kid with a telescope. Wasn't really sure what I could see, if anything at all, with a cheap 60mm telescope in badly light polluted skies with a half moon high in the sky. The moon sure is spectacular at 28x. I was definitely amazed at the resolution and detail. 9mm was great but the field of view was annoyingly too small. The shadows near edge of the half moon were breathtaking. I then headed off to the Orion nebula but could see only the slightest hint of a nebula which merely seemed as a slight glare around two visible stars, testament to the horrible light pollution in my area, I assume. Off to Saturn. I try to get it perfectly focused. hmm disk seems stretched in the vertical, oh those are the rings! At 9mm on this scope I have 78x zoom, and Saturn is soooo tiny! Luckily the rings are at a great tilt, and I can just barely discern a break between the planet and its rings. Cool! But really too small to enjoy! much. I edge the scope upward to Jupiter. The moons seem so far away from the planet. Again the disk is very small, but cloud bands are visible. Cool! A 4th moon is visible just outside of Jupiter's disk. Comment: If anything I whet my appetite for higher magnification and darker skies! I'm thinking 120-140x would be nice, if the scope can do it.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	01/22/2001 - 10:30pm CST
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Clear and mostly stable
Telescope	60mm Focal refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 10mm Plossl, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	Last night, the sky was clear and transparent, but I was too tired to drag my telescope outside. I hate to miss opportunities such as this, but sometimes it just can't be helped. Luckily, my skies were blessed with two clear nights in a row. While not quite as many stars were visible as the previous night, I didn't want to push my luck, and grabbed my gear. Sigma Ori [Orion] - 10:30pm CST Located just below Orion's Belt, this multiple star system is quickly becoming a favorite. At 70x, The A component was bright white, with the slightly fainter E component having a wide separation. A third component, D, was also visible, about a third of the distance from A as the E component is. D is a little fainter than E, and was difficult to detect at 32x. Perhaps because of its faintness, D appeared to have a slightly bluish tint. Despite trying several different magnifications and eyepiece combinations, I was unable to make out the C component. Perhaps it is beyond the reach of my small telescope. Struve 761 [Orion] - 10:40pm CST This is another interesting multiple star system. Because of its proximity to Sigma Ori (in the same field of view at low powers), this system becomes even more beautiful. The A and B components were easily separated (approximately the same distance apart as the A and E components of Sigma Ori). At 70x, the B and C components can be split with averted vision into two faint stars. M44 (Beehive Cluster) [Cancer] - 10:50pm CST At 32x, most of the cluster fits into the field of view. There are literally dozens of stars visible of varying magnitudes. Near the center of the cluster is a house or home-plate shaped asterism of stars. I suppose it could be argued that this asterism is the actual beehive, with the other stars acting the part of bees swarming around it. One of the points of this pentagon-shaped asterism is a double star and two of the other points are triple stars. One of these triples, comprising the "roof" of the house shape, is a nearly equilateral triangle. All of the stars appeared to be white in color. Pushing up the magnification revealed even more stars, but the cluster would no longer fit within the field of view and lost some of its beauty. Gamma Leo [Leo] - 11:00pm CST The primary component of this double is bright and yellowish-gold in color. When looking at the star at low power, it makes a nice wide visual double with the bluish-colored 40 Leo. By bumping up the magnification to 70x, 40 Leo is moved out of the field of view, and the actual secondary component of the system is revealed. The B component is very close to the primary, and appears to be a faint yellow-white in color. It also appears that the second component is slightly dimmer. While the two stars are similar in color, those colors are so intense that it still makes for a pretty sight. One of the great charms of this double is that it is like getting a present. 40 Leo is a beautiful bow, and as you increase the magnification and peel away the wrappings, the double gift is revealed. By this time, the temperature was starting to drop quickly, and the finger I had broken a few weeks ago was starting to throb in pain with the cold weather. I took a quick peek at Jupiter, but didn't notice any real detail that I hadn't logged before. So I packed it in for the night.

Observer:	Keith Molkner
E-mail address:	kcmolkner@aol.com
Date and time of Observation:	1/12/2000 11:00 pm
Observing Location:	Potomac, Maryland (suburbs)
Object Observed:	Jupiter
Viewing conditions:	excellent
Telescope	Takahashi FC60 (60mm flourite apo)
Eyepiece	Vixen LV Zoom 8-24mm with Ultima Barlow lens
Observing notes:	Clearly saw seven bands on Jupiter and the Great Red Spot. Comment: Blew my mind that this recently acquired sixty millimeter scope could see that.

Observer:	Gary Gullikson
E-mail address:	garyg@oc-net.com
Date and time of Observation:	January 2001 8:30 PM
Observing Location:	Orange Co CA USA
Object Observed:	M31
Viewing conditions:	Unusually clear but light -polluted
Telescope	60 mm Bushnell Refractor
Eyepiece	16mm Plossl
Observing notes:	I finally found M31 four nights ago with my 8X42 binoculars. Have been casually observing moon, planets, etc. for around 2 years. Seeing conditions locally are atrocious in summer months due to smog and light pollution. After sighting Andromeda, I had another sighting, a long slender "chevron-shaped" UFO. It was a very large dark gray V-shaped with a few tiny white lights in the center of each "wing" apparently at a very high altitude. I watched it for about five seconds from overhead to half way to the western horizon where it suddenly disappeared. I have been interested in UFO's most of my 62 years but this is the first time I have seen anything hard to explain away. After that I got my department store refractor out and was able to capture M31 again. In the 16 mm eyepiece, M31 actually looked smaller than in the binoculars probably because of light loss. I was more excited about M31 than the "UFO". It was probably an experimental US craft ( perhaps made with the help of some little gray folks). Comment: Dim objects in a small refractor require very good seeing conditions. Jumping from star charts to binocular view to much narrower telescope field of view is confusing and much dimmer images take some getting used to. We are lucky to have access to pro telescope images on the internet but nothing beats seeing things for yourself. Regards, Gary Gullikson

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	11/21/2000 - 10:00pm - 10:50pm CST
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Great
Telescope	60mm Focal refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 10mm Plossl
Observing notes:	M38 This is a pretty faint (at least, for my telescope) open cluster. At 32x, M38 appears as a faint, mottled smudge. Increasing magnification to 70x, several individual stars can be resolved, but they are about at the limiting magnitude for the telescope. Even then, averted vision had to be used to resolve them. However, by using averted vision, about 20-30 stars could be detected at 70x. With this eyepiece, the cluster was framed nicely within the field of view. The cluster is irregular in shape; roughly circular with several extended appendages protruding at odd angles. M35 This is a fairly large open cluster, taking up most of the field of view at 70x. There are dozens of stars visible. Eight or nine of these are fairly bright, with a multitude of fainter ones. The overall shape reminded me of a delta wing or boomerang. I also detected a few apparent doubles within the cluster. Zeta Orionis (Multiple Star system) This is a fairly impressive star system, located right below the belt of Orion. One of the stars is fairly bright, and there are four other stars in the system that are about a magnitude fainter. One of those four stars forms a pair with the bright star, and two of the others form a second pair, slightly wider, and the fourth star is on the other side of the bright star. Together, these five stars form a long, narrow V shape. There is also a fifth star of similar magnitude in the field of view, but it is about twice as far away as the other stars, so I'm not sure if it is actually part of the system or not. By bumping up the magnification to 70x, I detected another companion star around the brightest star. This companion is another magnitude fainter than the other stars, and is pretty close to the primary. All of these stars appeared white. M42 (Great Orion Nebula) What more can I say? This is simply a magnificent nebula, and I nearly always stop and take a look at it when it's in the sky. At low power, the nebula shows up beautifully, with the dark "fish mouth" band separating M42 from nearby M43. The sky was pretty clear tonight, so I decided to kick the magnification up. I threw my barlow lens in front of my star diagonal and 10mm eyepiece to achieve about 210x. The combination of good seeing and my new Plossl eyepiece allowed me to actually see all four of the main stars in the Trapezium for the first time. Previous attempts only allowed me to see three of the stars. Kicking the magnification back down to 70x, only three stars were visible in the Trapezium. Putting the barlow in front of my diagonal and 22mm eyepiece yielded about 95x, and the fourth star could sometimes be detected with averted vision, but not consistently. NGC-2169 ("37" Cluster) I've seen pictures of this cluster in books, and it does indeed resemble the number 37 in those pictures. However, in my telescope, with the star diagonal attached and not being able to detect most of the fainter stars in the cluster, the shape appears much different. I could detect two distinct parts of the cluster at 70x. In the "7" half of the cluster, I could make out two stars with direct vision and three stars with averted vision. In the "3" half of the cluster, I could detect four or five stars, with a lot of nebulosity interspersed throughout. The brightest star of the cluster was also in this half. Overall, this cluster isn't very impressive at this aperture, but at least it's detectable and recognizable as an open cluster. Mel25 (Hyades) With my 22mm eyepiece, I can easily fit all six of the main central stars in my field of view. These stars are grouped into three bright pairs of stars and is located on one of the horns of The Bull. The pairs of stars seem to be facing each other, pointing to a central location.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	11/19/2000 - 10:18pm CST
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M36 + M37
Viewing conditions:	Great
Telescope	60mm Focal refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 10mm Plossl
Observing notes:	At 32x, M36 appears as a fairly circular smudge of light. About a dozen stars could be resolved, with hints of nebulosity between. At 70x, a lot of the nebulosity is resolved into fainter stars. There really isn't much of a discernable pattern to the stars. If anything, this open cluster reminds me of a loose globular, with its round shape and being denser toward the center. M37 is much fainter than M36, and appears to be much more condensed. At 32x, it appears as a mottled gray circle, with just a few stars being resolved. At 70x, the cluster becomes faint enough that it almost disappears. However, several individual stars can faintly be made out. These stars are obviously packed tightly together. This cluster comes even closer than M36 to being a globular. With a little more aperture to brighten the cluster, this would probably be fairly spectacular.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	09/29/2000 - 11:50pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Eta Cassiopeia (double star)
Viewing conditions:	Fair (Clear, but some haziness)
Telescope	60mm Focal refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 10mm Plossl
Observing notes:	This one presented a bit of a challenge in my small telescope. The second component of this star system is about four magnitudes fainter. Based on the apparent orbit of the secondary star (according to my Burnham's Celestial Handbook), these two stars are almost at maximum separation right now. If that is the case, then I would probably never be able to have detected the second member when they were at their minimum separation. The bright primary appeared slightly off-white (perhaps even gray), whereas the dim companion was a medium blue. I was able to barely catch a hint of the secondary star at 32x, so I switched to 70x (Plossl eyepiece) to verify that the second star was indeed there. After confirming, I went back to 32x and the secondary appeared a bit more obvious (since I knew right where to look). This pair does have a rather nice color contrast, and could easily be added to the "favorites" list of observers fortunate enough to own telescopes with a little more aperture.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	09/29/2000 - 11:20pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Psi Aquarii (multiple star system)
Viewing conditions:	Fair (Clear, but some haziness)
Telescope	60mm Focal refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 10mm Plossl
Observing notes:	This is a really nice and wide multiple star system, viewable with the naked eye as a small hazy patch. I had looked at this system before, but didn't have a star chart handy to tell me exactly what it was, so didn't log it. I rectified that problem tonight. At 32x, a triangular formation of stars is readily apparent, with the two end stars (Psi1 and Psi3) each showing a fairly close binary component. When viewing at 70x through my Plossl eyepiece, Psi1 actually becomes three stars, in a roughly equilateral triangle. The third component is a little fainter than the other two. y1 would normally be a worthy target in its own right, but when combined with Psi2 and especially Psi3 in the same field of view, this becomes a good object to show off at star parties.

Observer:	Hugh Clayton
E-mail address:	hugh_clayton@hotmail.com
Date and time of Observation:	Sept 26 2000 22.30GMT
Observing Location:	about 35km south of Oxford, England
Object Observed:	M31
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	Viking 60mm ED spotter (same as Bushnell Spacemaster)
Eyepiece	22X wideangle
Observing notes:	Light pollution from my garden is so intense that in my Vixen 102mm achromat only the nucleus of M31 in Andromeda is visible, making it look like a larger version of M32. If your sky is polluted, too, don't despair. Out in the countryside the little spotting scope (erect image) shows faintly but unmistakably the great oval stretching across half of the field of view - more confirmation for me that limited equipment plus a good sky makes a more potent combination than lavish equipment stuck in a light-polluted location. M39 in Cygnus was outstanding, too.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/9/00 - 1:00am CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M29 (Open Cluster in Cygnus)
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	At 32x, it appears as 5-6 stars with a little bit of nebulosity. At 56x, six stars are clearly visible, forming sort of a butterfly, with three stars making each wing. At 116x, a few more members are visible, one more on one of the two wings, another star near the front end of the "butterfly", and two more off to the side which may or may not be part of the cluster. This isn't much of a cluster for small telescopes, but the unique shape gives it a little bit of character. Please note that this cluster shouldn't be confused with the Butterfly Cluster (M6), which is in the constellation of Scorpius.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/9/00 - 12:40am CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Saturn
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	Now that Saturn was fairly high in the sky, I decided to give it a try. I decided to use the same magnification that I used on Jupiter (112x). The rings were at a pretty good angle, so that the near side of the rings barely obscured the bottom of Saturn, and the planet barely obscured the far side of the rings. At low power, it comes close to resembling the CBS logo. Right above Saturn was the faint Titan, Saturn's most easily-visible moon. Since it was above the planet, it must have been passing behind the planet, but was visible due to Saturn's large tilt. On Saturn itself, there was a little bit of evidence of banding, as some latitudes appeared more shadowy than others. The Cassini Division was just barely detectable at the sections of rings that were farthest away from the planet.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/9/00 - 12:15am CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Jupiter
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	By this time, Jupiter was just starting to clear the trees. In order to get a better view, I retracted the tripod legs of my telescope and set it on top of the trunk of my car. This had the added advantage of allowing me to remove my star diagonal, thereby reducing the number of surfaces that Jupiter's light had to travel to reach my eyes. At 56x, I could clearly make out the two main bands of Jupiter. The one closest to the equator was really prominent, but both had a medium brown color. Three of Jupiter's moons were lined up almost equidistant apart on one side of the planet and the other Galilean moon was alone on the other side of Jupiter. With my 6mm Ortho lens (producing 116x), Jupiter appeared larger, and was still well-focused. The two bands, although a little fainter, still stood out on the gas giant. At this magnification, The 80A Blue filter seems to perform the best (of the four filters I have), as it blocks out the glare, but still allows most of the banding details to shine through. At this magnification, the two main bands appear thicker, but no more bands are visible. Despite being so low in the sky, this is probably the best view of Jupiter I've had in a long time. The transparency and seeing must have been incredible. What I would've given for a true dark-sky site with no Moon... With this kind of sky conditions, I was able to push the magnification up on the planets. I found that my best view of Jupiter was with my 12.5mm Kellner eyepiece stacked on top of a 2x barlow (unfiltered), resulting in 112x. Although my 6mm Ortho produces 116x, the field of view is enough smaller that I spend more time moving my telescope to keep up with the planet than I do observing it. I don't think the Great Red Spot was on the near side of the planet at the time, or I'm pretty sure I would've been able to see it. After Jupiter had risen a little more in the sky (about 30 degrees above the horizon), I took another peek at it. I was now able to combine my star diagonal with the 12.5mm Ortho and barlow lens. By placing the barlow ahead of the diagonal, I could achieve an approximate magnification of 168x. The two main bands showed a variation of thickness and color along their lengths. Occasionally, hints of a third and fourth band would show through, but would quickly disappear again. Trying to push the magnification any higher resulted in a fairly blurry and wavy image, but the fact that I even considered pushing it up that high is a testament to how good the seeing was tonight.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/9/00 - 12:10am CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M45 (Pleiades)
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	Even though they were just above the treetops, I couldn't resist the urge to view one of the finest deep sky sights in the sky. With the naked eye, I could easily make out its six brightest members. With the low-power eyepiece, I could resolve dozens of stars (probably between 50-100), of varying magnitudes. They form interesting pairs and chains of stars. The early-morning eastern sky is really magnificent right now, with Jupiter and Saturn dancing between the Pleiades, the Hyades, and Aldebaran.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/8/00 - 11:36pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M2 (Globular cluster in Aquarius)
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	The Moon was in Capricornus tonight, so nearby Aquarius was kind of washed out with glare. Nevertheless, I thought I'd try to bag M2 tonight as well. To find it, I starhopped from about 1/3 the distance from b Aqr to e Peg (the nose of the flying horse). At low power, this is a pretty dim globular. Stepping up the resolution didn't reveal any real detail, but I was able to see a couple of nearby dim stars in the same field of view. At high power, its definitely larger and globular, but I was still unable to make out any individual stars. The contrast was enough at high power, however, that it is probably a pretty decent cluster. I've put it on my list of things to observe again when the Moon isn't interfering.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/8/00
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M15 (Globular cluster in Pegasus)
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	This cluster is nicely nestled along the borders of a triangle formed by three fairly bright stars in the same field of view, making it pretty easy to find. At low power, it appears to be smaller and brighter than M13, but without much structure or resolution. At 56x, its definitely round in shape. The center appears almost stellar, and then gently fades to nothing at the edges. This cluster is similar in size to M92, but is brighter and more impressive. At 116x, the cluster is larger and starts to appear a little mottled, but no real resolution of stars is evident, even at the edges.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/8/00
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M27 (Dumbbell Nebula)
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	This is the first time I had ever viewed this planetary nebula with my telescope. At low power, it is a dim smudge against the background stars. The shape couldn't really be discerned, except that it obviously wasn't spherical. At 56x, it was larger and dimmer, but I still couldn't make out the dumbbell shape. It seems to be a lot larger in size than M57 (the famous Ring Nebula). My overall impression with this nebula was that it was even better than M57 for low-power viewing. The lack of a lot of bright stars in the immediate vicinity of M27 makes it stand out a little more, I think.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	9/8/00
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M52
Viewing conditions:	Great, except for waxing gibbous Moon
Telescope	60mm Focus refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	I remembered that I hadn't yet logged M52, so thought I'd look it up. At low power (32x), I could detect one or two stars within a smudge of nebulosity. At this small level of magnification, its easy to see how Charles Messier may have at first mistaken this object for a comet. Increasing the magnification to 56x revealed a few more stars (maybe 5 or 6), and most of the nebulosity had disappeared. With my 60mm telescope, this is overall a pretty unimpressive little cluster, with few stars or structure visible.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	8/27/00 - 11:30pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	NGC-869/NGC-884 (Double Cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	This is another one of my favorite deep sky objects. These clusters appear best at low powers, when both can be seen in the same field of view. They appear as two loose balls of stars. One of the clusters appears slightly larger, and the other cluster appears slightly brighter. At higher powers, a lot more stars are visible in both clusters, but only a single cluster will appear in the field of view, which diminishes a lot of its uniqueness and beauty.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	8/27/00 - 11:25pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M34 (Open Cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	At low power, about a dozen stars are visible, in a roughly globular pattern. At 56x, the cluster takes up nearly the entire field of view, with a few dozen stars visible. The center of the cluster is more tightly packed than the outer edges, and consists of several pairs of stars.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	8/27/00 - 11:00pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	NGC-7243 (Open Cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	I was sweeping the Cygnus area, trying to remember exactly where M39 was, when I came across this fairly dim cluster. At low powers, its not a very impressive cluster, with only about a dozen or so stars visible. At higher powers, more stars become apparent. The shape is irregular, and one end seems to be marked by a fairly bright double star, of similar brightness.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	8/27/00 - 10:50pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	NGC-457 (Owl Cluster or ET Cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	This is one of my favorite objects in Cassiopeia. Its two "eyes" shine prominently and the basic shape made by the strings of stars can be seen at low power. I find it interesting to note that in my low-power views, it looks more like an owl, and at higher power, as more stars become visible, it comes closer to resembling a stick figure man.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	8/27/00 - 10:45pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M103
Viewing conditions:	Excellent
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	At low power, a bright star appears on each end of the cluster, with two slightly fainter close stars between them, at about a 45-degree angle to the others. Between these four stars is a lot of nebulosity. At around 116x, an additional two or three stars are visible. Overall, it's not a very impressive cluster, but its unique bar shape is distinctive.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 22, 2000 - 11:15pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	NGC-6633
Viewing conditions:	Fair-Good
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	Several stars are visible, just wider than the field of view on the low-power eyepiece. In the central concentration of the cluster, about a dozen stars are visible. With averted vision, more stars are visible.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 22, 2000 - 11:00pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	IC4665
Viewing conditions:	Fair-Good
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	Several stars are visible, just wider than the field of view on the low-power eyepiece. In the central concentration of the cluster, about a dozen stars are visible. With averted vision, more stars are visible.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 22, 2000 - 10:00pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Comet C/1999 S4 LINEAR
Viewing conditions:	Fair-Good
Telescope	60mm Focus Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	The sky finally got dark enough to see the necessary guide stars that would allow me to pinpoint Comet LINEAR's position. It was right where the Skyhound web site said it would be. Tonight was a good night to view it, since a fairly bright star was in the same field of view as the comet. This allowed me to focus on the star, then view the comet. The comet itself looked like a bright patch of nebulosity, with a faint fantail sweeping up toward the zenith. If the night was darker, I'm sure the comet would look better, but by that time, it would be too close to the horizon. At medium magnification (56x), the core was readily visible, but a lot of the tail structure was lost, due to its faintness and the narrower field of view. Due to the rarity of the event, I invited my family to come and take a look. My mother and my younger brother both took a look at it, but didn't see much more than a fuzzy star.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 7, 2000 - 1:05am CDT
Observing Location:	Humboldt, KS
Object Observed:	M103 (open cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Good-Excellent
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	At 56x, four stars are visible in the cluster, surrounded by a nebulous patch. This is an elongated, almost oval-shaped cluster, with the two brighest members being on each of the two long ends and another pair of bright stars sandwiched between them.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 7, 2000 - 11:55pm CDT
Observing Location:	Humboldt, KS
Object Observed:	M6 (Butterfly cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Good-Excellent
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	This cluster is definitely not as impressive as M7. At low power, I could only make out 10 stars. Four of the brightest stars form a parallelogram. By moving up to medium power, more stars are visible, but to me, the butterfly shape isn't at all apparent. This is a pretty loose and widespread cluster.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 7, 2000 - 11:35pm CDT
Observing Location:	Humboldt, KS
Object Observed:	M7 (Ptolemy's Cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Good-Excellent
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	This is a nice open cluster. With lower power (30-35x), the cluster fits nicely within the field of view, with a nice border of background stars all around it. I was able to count about 30 members with direct vision, with more fainter members detected as I looked longer. The shape of the cluster is pretty irregular and hard to describe. At the heart of the cluster, there appears to be a double star. At 56x, the double star is definitely there and even more cluster members are visible. At higher powers, this cluster sort of reminds me of a miniature Beehive cluster (M44), except not as rich.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 7, 2000 - 11:25pm CDT
Observing Location:	Humboldt, KS
Object Observed:	M28 (globular cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Good-Excellent
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	Really faint. As close as it is to l Sgr, It still took me 3-4 minutes to verify that I was actually looking at something. Its shape (round) couldn't even be determined, due to how close it blended with the background sky. Only by moving the eyepiece around and using averted vision was I even able to detect it.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 7, 2000 - 11:10pm CDT
Observing Location:	Humboldt, KS
Object Observed:	M22 (globular cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Good-Excellent
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	Pretty impressive globular. It is definitely in the same league as M13 in Hercules. M22 is somewhat larger than M13, its only disadvantage is being too close to the southern horizon to be able to see in all its glory. At 56x, I could detect portions of the hazy smudge that were brighter than other portions, but really couldn't resolve any individual stars.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 4, 2000 - 12:30am
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M10/M12
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22-25mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	M12 is a really faint globular, and is almost impossible for me to see with direct vision. I was only able to spot it for certain by moving my telescope around slightly and catching a bright spot out of the corner of my eye. At 56x, M12 nearly disappears completely. M10 seems to be slightly brighter than M12, but I am unable to resolve any stars. At 56x, M10 shows up pretty nicely, but is still unresolved. The increased contrast of the higher magnification has made the cluster really jump out at me. The constellation Ophiuchus is in a fairly light-polluted portion of the sky for me, so its not too surprising that I had a hard time seeing M12. Under a darker sky, I'm sure it would show up much better.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 4, 2000 - 12:15am
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	IC4665
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22-25mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	At low power, this cluster takes up most of the field of view, and it is hard to tell exactly which stars are members of the cluster at its edges. I counted about 20 stars of almost equal brightness, along with a large number of fainter stars interspersed between. The center section of the cluster has about 11 of the brighter stars, arranged in an unique shape that is difficult to describe. Overall, this is a nice cluster, and at medium to high powers, becomes pretty rich.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 4, 2000 - 12:00am
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M25
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22-25mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	About a dozen members are visible at low power. It appeared to have nebulosity toward the middle of the cluster. At 56x, most of the nebulosity was resolved into individual stars, about 30 members being visible. At this medium power, the cluster encompasses the entire field of view. Jumping up to 117x resolves many other members, but because only the center portion of the cluster is visible, it loses a lot of it's shape. With the left-right reversal through my eyepiece, the cluster reminds me of the main stars in the constellation Orion, with the "belt" stars being about twice as far apart proportionally as they are in the actual constellation.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	July 4, 2000 - 11:45pm
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M17 (Omega Nebula)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	22-25mm Homemade Kellner, 12.5mm Kellner, 6mm Ortho
Observing notes:	At low power (32x), a small, obvious nebular patch is visible below the star g Scu. Bumping the magnification up to 56x reveals a little more detail. In fact, it vaguely resembles a chevron or boomerang, with the point of the chevron pointing almost directly toward g Scu. Even though the higher magnification lessens the amount of light coming in, the increased contrast from the background sky makes it even more obvious than at low powers. At 117x, the nebula became too dim to see.

Observer:	John Davis
E-mail address:	JohnFromNebo@webtv.net
Date and time of Observation:	7-1-2000 2:15-2:30 pm EDT United States
Observing Location:	Nebo, NC, USA (Latitude 35.702658 Long. 81.913157)
Object Observed:	Sun/sunspots
Viewing conditions:	100% when not obscured by passing cloud; partly cloudy
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm
Observing notes:	I checked my email that day and received a report from the Sky & Telescope newsletter telling about the recent high number of sunspots due to the Sun's Solar Maxum Cycle. Since I had only been keeping up with the solar activity through online data, I thought that I would go out and see it myself. I set up my refractor with an attachment made specifically for solar observation which allowed the image of the sun to be projected onto a metal plate situated about 10 inches from the eyepiece. I took a sketching pad, as was the habit of all of my solar observing, and wondered how many groups of sunspots I would draw. After aligning the tube's shadow with the direction of the sunlight, I removed the cover from the end of the telescope and let the sun's image shine through. A few seconds of adjusting and there it was: a smooth yellowish ball silhouetted in black with small black specks here and there across the middle regions from east to west. I counted six groups altogether and two groups, in particular, that were pretty heavily populated. It was not the most that I had seen at one time (I counted eight groups on Halloween day last year and observed at least seven groups daily throughout that same month), but I figured that the bigger scopes could see a lot more small groups that I could see. I like it when the sunspot groups are big enough to see the feathery-looking billows around them. creating a surrounding outline. Comment: As may have noticed, I limit my solar observing time to just a few minutes. I learned the hard way that the plastic that cradles the lense can melt after too much observation. I almost melted a 12mm lense in about 40 seconds of exposure time. It was saved only by my immediate averting it from the sunlight when I noticed a burning smell... Needless to say, I never use my higher power lenses, such as 4mm, to observe the sun.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Date and time of Observation:	June 26, 2000 - 11:00pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Cr399 (Coathanger)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	Homemade K22mm, K12.5mm, Or6mm
Observing notes:	Magnificent looking, as usual. I don't have a long enough eyepiece to be able to get the entire coathanger into a single field of view, but at low magnification (32x), the stars were sharp and bright. At this time of night, the coathanger was oriented sideways. Lying west of Sagitta, Cr399 is pretty easy to spot with the naked eye. Like Cancer, this is one of those rare instances where you find the constellation (in this case, Vulpecula) by searching for the DSO (Deep Space Object) instead of the other way around.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	June 26, 2000 - 10:30pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	M11 (Wild Duck Cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	Homemade K22mm, K12.5mm, Or6mm
Observing notes:	This is the first time I've ever looked at this cluster. I couldn't really resolve the cluster at 56x, with the exception of a few stars. It appears like a fuzzy nebula surrounding a few fairly bright stars, kind of reminiscent of the Great Orion Nebula (M42). Also similar to M42, there appears to be two nebula split by a wide dark lane. There are probably fewer stars in this region of the cluster. At higher powers, this cluster became too faint to make out any detail with the 60mm telescope.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	June 26, 2000 - 10:00pm CDT
Observing Location:	Iola, KS
Object Observed:	Epsilon Lyrae (Double-Double)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	Homemade K22mm, K12.5mm, Or6mm
Observing notes:	At 112x, e2 Lyrae appeared to be slightly elongated in a direction perpendicular to e1 Lyrae. The fourth star isn't visible at all. After going inside, I confirmed the position angle for e2 Lyrae to confirm that I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. It's interesting to note that I was only able to separate the closer of the two pairs. I attribute this to the fact that the two components of e2 Lyrae are closer to each other in visual magnitude. This is the first time I've been able to detect an elongation of either component, so my observing skills seem to be improving a little.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	5/18/2000
Object Observed:	Kappa & Iota Bootes (two binary systems)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	12.5mm Kellner
Observing notes:	Kappa Boötes After viewing this binary for the first time the other night, I marked it as a favorite. While not as impressive as Albireo (Beta Cygni) or Gamma Leonis, it has a beauty all its own. I think the companion star is the first one I've viewed in my telescope that has a distinctly brownish tinge to it. At 35x, I can just barely make out the companion star through the glare of the primary. At higher powers, the companion becomes more obvious, but dims significantly. Iota Boötes At the lower powers, it's impossible to view Kappa Boötes without also getting at least one of the members of Iota Boötes in the same field of view. While the wide separation of Iota Boötes makes this a mediocre object by itself, seeing two completely separate binary star systems in the same field of view is something you don't soon forget.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	5/21/2000 - 11:45pm CDT
Object Observed:	Albireo (Beta Cygni)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Kellner
Observing notes:	As the Swan started climbing into the sky, I decided to take a quick peek at Albireo (I wonder which of these two stars has the official designation of Albireo?) before packing it in for the night. This was the first double star I ever viewed, so it holds a special place in my heart. The yellow-gold and bright blue pair makes for an exceptional color contrast. While the stars look nice at about any resolution, low powers seem best. The wide double is easily split and even in this rich region of stars and nebulae, they have no problem standing out from the crowd.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	5/21/2000 - 11:30pm CDT
Object Observed:	M57 (Ring Nebula)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	12.5mm Kellner
Observing notes:	By around 11:30pm, Lyra had finally cleared the treetops, and made for a tempting target. Last summer, I had tried unsuccessfully several times to make out M57. Because of its unique location, I know I had the object in my field of view, but just couldn't see it. I decided that I didn't have anything more pressing to do tonight, so I'd take another crack at it. Even though Lyra was still fairly low in the sky, I was able to positively ID it tonight for the first time in my telescope! It was a lot fainter than I had imagined it to be, based on observation reports by others. In fact, I had to point the scope back and forth between a nearby star several times just to verify that it wasn't simply an out-of-focus star. Since the other stars seemed to be in focus, it must be M57. Absolutely no detail was available at any magnification. At 28x, M57 was indistinguishable. At 56x, it appeared as a dim out-of-focus star. At 116x, it was just barely detectable due to the dimness.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	5/14/2000
Object Observed:	M13 (Great Hercules Cluster)
Viewing conditions:	Fair
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Kellner
Observing notes:	At this point, M13 was just starting to climb above the glow from the highway streetlights to the East. Not really expecting much, I decided to give it a try, anyway. After all, its a hard object to pass up. I tried several different magnifications on it, including 35x, 56x, and 116x, but the best view was at 35x. It was definitely nebular in appearance, reminding me of Charles Messier's description (bright nebula with no stars visible) of the object. Knowing that it was a globular cluster, I felt like I was right on the verge of being able to resolve a few stars, but it could have been my overanxious imagination.

Observer:	Tom Campbell
E-mail address:	softech@iolaks.com
Web site:	http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.htm
Date and time of Observation:	1/21/2000
Object Observed:	Moon (Lunar Eclipse)
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	60mm Refractor
Eyepiece	20mm Kellner
Observing notes:	Tonight's observing session was mainly to be the moon, in anticipation of the total lunar eclipse. The sky was mostly overcast all day, with the sun peeking out occasionally during the afternoon hours. About 6:00p, I observed the moon rising over the housetops, veiled in a thin layer of clouds. The bright moon combined with the haze and clouds resulted in a small "ring" around the moon. I was getting disappointed in how the day was turning out. But I consoled myself in the fact that at least I'd be able to watch Earth's shadow transit the moon, if not see the reddish hue. I took another look outside about 8:00p. T minus 1 hour before the eclipse. Was it my imagination, or did the moon look brighter? Quickly scanning the rest of the sky, I noted that I could see some stars beginning to show through! The sky was clearing off! Maybe this would be a good night after all! Shortly after 9:00p now. Looking out my bedroom window, I noticed that the lower-left corner of the moon was just beginning to look like it was slightly mishapen. I have to give Chris Marriott credit, his SkyMap program was within a couple of minutes of being right on target for the start of the eclipse. At this point, I was still debating whether or not to take my telescope outside and brave the cooling temperatures. At about 9:45p, the moon is about 2/3 covered in shadow and is definitely taking on an orange-brown hue. The good news is that now the sky is almost completely clear. The bad news is that this means the temperatures will start dropping steadily now. I decide that the opportunity is too great to let it slip, and begin packing up my telescope for transport outside. After all, this will be the last total lunar eclipse of the millenium from my location. So I quickly grab my scope, bundle up, grab a thermos of hot chocolate, and head outside, where I set up in my 2-man dome tent that I have rigged up as a portable observatory (see http://www.iolaks.com/softech/observe.htm for more info about that). The moon is now at about 90% totality and darkening fast. Wow, the vivid color transition from the lower-left corner (dark brown-red) to the upper-right corner (still shining white) is incredible! I think this is the best lunar eclipse I have ever witnessed. I view the last few minutes before totality with my refractor at low power (35x), which gives a good complete view of the moon in the eyepiece and allows the color contrasts to be better seen than with the naked eye. Around 10:00p (I keep forgetting to look at my watch), the last of the bright white glow of the moon has disappeared, leaving a dark brown moon. It's amazing how much smaller the moon appears when it isn't shining like a searchlight in the sky. What's this at the edge of my eyepiece? It looks like...yes...it's a star! In the same field of view as the moon! And now more are appearing! One of them, which I later identified as SAO 97665, is listed as a mag. 8.4 star and is only about a moon's radius away. The seeing must be pretty good by now, for my cheap department-store scope to pick up such a faint star so easily. I'm not even having to use averted vision on it. After trying to see how many features I can still make out on the darkened moon for a few more minutes, I turn my scope toward nearby M44 (The Beehive Cluster), which easily resolves into several doubles and triples. I'm still in awe of the fact that an hour earlier, the moon was so bright that I couldn't even spot Castor and Pollux in this part of the sky, and now I was able to see stars as dim as mag. 9. For the next hour or so, I jumped back and forth between viewing the moon and slowly sweeping the telescope across this region of the sky. Then I wandered back over to the moon for good and tried to watch the moment when I could glimpse the first piece of unshadowed lunar surface. The lower-left edge of the moon began to get brighter, which caused the top edge of the moon to be even less noticeable than it was during totality. Finally, a small white sliver appeared. Due to the darkness of the rest of the moon, it was almost blindingly bright. As the minutes ticked away, I was able to make out more and more details of the moon. I continued watching until the moon was about 1/3 out of eclipse, then decided that I really didn't want to catch cold, so packed it in for the night and watched the rest of the eclipse from my bedroom window. All in all, it made for an excellent night of observing, and it's not often that you can see the Beehive when a full moon is in Cancer.

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