October 9, 2010 – Messier Objects in Auriga

Cold, clear night. Dark. Waited until after 10pm to start observing so that Auriga was well above the horizon.

Started with M36, then M38, then M37. These were all super easy to find.

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  Image via Wikipedia

   

  M36 – Fairly nice open cluster. M36 is aligned with Alnath (Beta Tau) and Menkalinan (Beta Aur). M36 is between these two stars, and only about  6 degrees away from Alnath. I found Alnath in the finder, and panned towards Menkalinan…M36 was a fuzzy patch in the finder so very easy to find. Looks nice in the 25mm EP.

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  Image via Wikipedia

   

  M38 – Another fairly nice open cluster. M38 is 2.5 degrees from M37. They are aligned with Epsilon Aur, so if you know the general direction of Epsilon Aur you can pan to M38. M38 appears as a small fuzzy in the finder, so it’s easy to find as well. Nice in the 25mm EP.

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  Image via Wkipedia

   

  M37 – Spectacular open cluster – my favorite open cluster so far. Many stars, and it seems very distant. M37 is about 4 degrees away from M36, and 5 degrees from Theta Aur. It  makes a shallow almost isosceles  triangle with Theta Aur and Alnath. I started at Theta Aur and panned in the direction of M37. Again, easy to find because it appears as a small fuzzy in the finder. When I looked through the 25mm EP it took my breath away. Beautiful. Near the center is a red giant which appears as the brightest star in the cluster.

I viewed these clusters a few times. M37 is gorgeous. I’d like to see it higher in the sky some time.

Jupiter was very good last night, seeing was excellent. Galaxy in Andromeda was great too, as was M13.