ryals.us Astronomy Links

LAT = 32.740440 (32°44'25.58"N)      LONG = -97.666575 (97°39'59.67"W)      ELV = 929ft (283m)

ryals.us Astronomy Almanac
ryals.us Astronomy Ephemeris

At a Glance
Weekly Tips

ISS





Links

Personal Astronomy Challenges / Todo List:

  • Uranus *(Seen it! 10/21/2007)

  • Neptune *(Seen it! 08/07/2007, 10/21/2007)

  • Pluto *(08/07/2007 Maybe? How do you actually know you've seen it?)
    All the planets except Pluto are resolved into a disk by a typical amateur scope, so there is little doubt that you are seeing the planet you think you are seeing. Pluto however is on average a 14th magnitude object which is around the limit of what a typical amateur scope can expose, and appears like a star (only the Hubble Space Telescope has resolved Pluto into a disk). If you want to confirm that you have seen Pluto you will need sky chart software to be sure you haven’t confused it with a star.

  • Quasar 3C273:
    In Virgo, Quasar 3C273 is a 13th magnitude galaxy that is 2 billion light years away and is the most distant object visible in typical amateur telescopes. When the light you see in your scope from 3C273 left that galaxy two billion years ago, the primary form of life on Earth was bacteria (the Proterozoic part of the Precambrian era). At 2 billion light years away, the only reason you can see Quasar 3C273 at all is because it has a luminosity 2 trillion times that of the Sun or 100 times that of the entire Milky Way galaxy. It is moving away from us at 1/6 the speed of light; this object is not something you will see in your every-day experience, and is worth looking for.

    Observation data
    Epoch J2000
    Constellation Virgo

    Right ascension 12h 29m 06.7s
    Declination +02° 03' 09"
    Redshift 47,469 ± 20 km/s
    Distance 2.44 Gly (749 Mpc)
    Type Blazar; Sy1
    Apparent dimensions (V)
    Apparent magnitude (V) 12.9[1]


  • Lalande 21185:
    Red dwarf stars are a common type of star in the overall palette of the universe, but because they are dim very few (only those close to Earth) are visible from Earth. Lalande 21185 (in Ursa Major) is, at magnitude 7.5, the brightest red dwarf visible in the northern sky and the fourth closest star to the Earth.

    Observation data
    Epoch J2000
    Constellation Ursa Major

    Right ascension 11h 03m 20.2s
    Declination +35° 58' 11"
    Apparent magnitude (V) 7.47


  • Luyten's Star:
    Luyten's Star is another red dwarf and is the 22nd closest star to the Earth. Located in Canis Minor, it is a magnitude 9.8 star and because it is so close to us it has a very high proper motion.

    Observation data
    Epoch J2000
    Constellation Canis Minor

    Right ascension 07h 27m 24.5s
    Declination +05° 13' 32"
    Apparent magnitude (V) 9.85


  • 40 Eridani (Keid) - AKA Vulcan Homeworld - For the Trekker in all of us...

    Observation data
    Epoch J2000
    Constellation Eridanus

    Right ascension A: 04h 15m 16.320s
    Declination A: -07° 39' 10.34"
    Apparent magnitude A(V): 4.43

    Right ascension B: 04h 15m 21.786s
    Declination B: -07° 39' 29.22"
    Apparent magnitude B(V): 9.52

    Right ascension C: 04h 15m 21.50s
    Declination C: -07° 39' 22.3"
    Apparent magnitude C(V): 11.17


  • The Butterfly cluster is cool!
  • The Wild Duck cluster is cool!

    First light with the new LX90: 05/29/2007
  • Venus
  • Saturn
  • Moon
  • M5
  • M44
  • M51
  • Sombrero Galaxy

  • 10" f/10 SCT has a focal length of 2500mm.
  • 10" f/10 SCT has an aperature of 254mm.
  • Scope Focal Ratio = (focal length of scope) ÷ (aperture of scope)
  • Magnification = Scope Focal Length ÷ Eyepiece Focal Length
  • Actual Field of View = Apparent FOV ÷ Magnification