Here are my observations of the objects listed in the Astronomical League's Urban Observing Club. All of the observations were made with my telescope, an Orion Dob 8". Most of the links contained here point to pages maintained by SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space).
The purpose of this table is to make it easy for me to see what objects I've observed. The list was taken from Astronomical League's list of objects to observe under urban conditions in order to get the AL Urban Observing Club certificate.
Also if you would like a template of this page for your own logging usage, here's the template file. This will open the file in a new browser. Just save the file using "Save As..." or whatever save command you use to save new files. Then you can edit it with your favorite editor and put it on your web site. Be sure to let me know if you're using the template.
There are 2 lists here, one for deep sky objects and one for double and variable stars.
| Object | Messier # | Const | Mag | Type | Date | Time | Location | Seeing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 129 | Cas | 6.5 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 221 | M32 | And | 9.0 | G | |||||
| NGC 224 | M21 | And | 4.4 | G | |||||
| NGC 457 | Cas | 6.4 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 663 | Cas | 7.1 | OC | ||||||
| Cr 463 | Cas | 5.7 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 752 | And | 5.7 | OC | ||||||
| Stock 2 | Cas | 4.4 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 869 | Per | 5.3 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 884 | Per | 6.1 | OC | ||||||
| Tr 2 | Per | 5.9 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 1068 | M77 | Cet | 8.8 | G | |||||
| Tr 3 | Cas | 7.0 | OC | ||||||
| Stock 23 | Cam | 6.2 | OC | ||||||
| Mel 20 | Per | 1.2 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 1342 | Per | 6.7 | OC | ||||||
| M45 | M45 | Tau | 1.2 | OC | |||||
| Hyades | Tau | 0.5 | OC | 2002-12-31 | 22:35 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear with temperature about 50 degrees. | Beautiful sight at 48x, all bluish white in color. | |
| NGC 1647 | Tau | 6.4 | OC | 2002-12-31 | 22:50 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear with temperature about 50 degrees. | A lovely OC, all bluish. It has a spiral look, due to the layout of the stars. At higher power (133x), I could make out few faint stars in the cluster. | |
| NGC 1807 | Tau | 7.0 | OC | 2002-12-31 | 23:15 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear with temperature about 50 degrees. | Found this object and NGC 1817 after some careful star-hopping. This object appears to be bigger than NGC 1817 despite charts showing otherwise. It might be due to the larger disperal of stars in this one. This object is more attractive than 1817. It appears to have 3 prongs. | |
| NGC 1817 | Tau | 7.7 | OC | 2002-12-31 | 23:15 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear with temperature about 50 degrees. | Found this object and NGC 1807 after some careful star-hopping. This object appears to be smaller than NGC 1807 despite what charts said otherwise. This could be due to larger disperal of 1807's stars. I can make out the west side clearly and a bit of central brightness. | |
| NGC 1912 | M38 | Aur | 6.4 | OC | |||||
| NGC 1960 | M36 | Aur | 6.0 | OC | |||||
| NGC 1976 | M42 | Ori | 3.7 | N | 2002-02-14 | 20:45 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear, a bit windy, not too cold (~55 deg) | With 48x, the Trapezium stars were barely visible, but the nebula a beautiful green color. I could make out a dark channel leading up to the Trapezium stars. The nebula indeed looks like 2 wings outspread. Switching to 133x, I had no problem seeing the 4 Trapezium stars, with 3 other stars in a line leading eastward. The nebula still has the lovely greenish color and I could make out more detail, such as some more wispiness. |
| NGC 1981 | Ori | 4.2 | OC | 2002-02-14 | 21:10 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear, a bit windy, not too cold (~55 deg) | A nice open cluster, all stars bluish, with 1 star being a bit orangish with both eyepieces (25mm & 9mm). | |
| NGC 2099 | M37 | Aur | 5.6 | OC | |||||
| NGC 2168 | M35 | Gem | 5.1 | OC | |||||
| NGC 2169 | Ori | 5.9 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 2232 | Mon | 3.9 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 2244 | Mon | 4.8 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 2264 | Mon | 3.9 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 2281 | Aur | 5.4 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 2287 | M41 | CMa | 4.5 | OC | 2003-03-30 | 20:30 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear but hazy. Around 60 degrees. | A nice OC. Can see 1 redish star in center while all other stars are bluish. |
| NGC 2301 | Mon | 6.0 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 2323 | M50 | Mon | 5.9 | OC | |||||
| NGC 2392 | Gem | 9.2 | PN | ||||||
| NGC 2539 | Pup | 6.5 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 2548 | M48 | Hya | 5.8 | OC | |||||
| NGC 2632 | M44 | Cnc | 3.1 | OC | 2003-03-30 | 20:30 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear but hazy. Around 60 degrees. | I didn't find this directly (i.e., star hopping). I just merely took advantage of the fact that Jupiter just happen to be in the neighborhood--in fact right next to it! So a little nudge of the telescope and I was there. Anyway it's a lovely OC as always and has no apparent center. |
| NGC 2682 | M67 | Cnc | 6.9 | OC | |||||
| NGC 3031 | M81 | UMa | 6.8 | G | 2003-03-30 | 20:30 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear but hazy. Around 60 degrees. | At 48x, it was a very oval fuzziness. But I could make out 1 core of brightness. At 133x, I could see its center better. |
| NGC 3034 | M82 | UMa | 8.4 | G | 2003-03-30 | 20:30 CST | At home in urban Austin, TX | Clear but hazy. Around 60 degrees. | A bit brighter than M81 above since its edge was pointing more directly at Earth. I see it as a streak of nebula, at both powers. |
| NGC 3242 | Hya | 7.8 | PN | ||||||
| Mel 111 | Com | 1.8 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 4374 | M84 | Vir | 10.1 | G | |||||
| NGC 4406 | M86 | Vir | 9.8 | G | |||||
| NGC 4486 | M87 | Vir | 8.6 | G | |||||
| NGC 4594 | M104 | Vir | 8.3 | G | |||||
| NGC 4736 | M94 | CVn | 8.1 | G | |||||
| NGC 4826 | M64 | Com | 8.5 | G | |||||
| NGC 5272 | M3 | CVn | 5.9 | GC | |||||
| NGC 5904 | M5 | Ser | 5.7 | GC | |||||
| NGC 6121 | M4 | Sco | 5.8 | GC | |||||
| NGC 6205 | M13 | Her | 5.7 | GC | |||||
| NGC 6210 | Her | 8.8 | PN | ||||||
| NGC 6218 | M12 | Oph | 6.8 | GC | |||||
| NGC 6254 | M10 | Oph | 6.6 | GC | |||||
| NGC 6266 | M62 | Oph | 6.7 | GC | |||||
| NGC 6341 | M92 | Her | 6.4 | GC | |||||
| NGC 6405 | M6 | Sco | 4.2 | OC | |||||
| IC 4665 | Oph | 4.2 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 6475 | M7 | Sco | 3.3 | OC | |||||
| NGC 6520 | Sgr | 7.6 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 6523 | M8 | Sgr | 5.0 | N | |||||
| NGC 6618 | M17 | Sgr | 6.0 | OC | |||||
| NGC 6633 | Oph | 4.6 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 6656 | M22 | Sgr | 5.1 | GC | |||||
| IC 4756 | Ser | 4.6 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 6705 | M11 | Ser | 5.8 | OC | |||||
| NGC 6709 | Aqi | 6.7 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 6720 | M57 | Lyr | 8.8 | PN | 2002-10-05 | 21:10 CDT | At home in urban Austin, TX | Pleasant and warm evening with temperature around 80 degrees, low humidity, patchy clouds. | A nice greenish fuzzy doughnut at 48x. |
| Cr 399 | Vul | 3.6 | OC | 2002-10-06 | 21:40 CDT | At home in urban Austin, TX | Mostly clear with temperature about 82 degrees. | Had quite a bit of trouble navigating to this object from Beta Cyg. But it was worthwhile as it was a lovely sight. Although it was hard to make out the coathanger star pattern, even through it can be easily visible through the finder. | |
| NGC 6818 | Sgr | 9.3 | PN | ||||||
| NGC 6826 | Cyg | 8.8 | PN | ||||||
| NGC 6853 | M27 | Vul | 7.3 | PN | |||||
| NGC 6910 | Cyg | 7.4 | OC | 2002-10-05 | 21:00 CDT | At home in urban Austin, TX | Pleasant and warm evening with temperature around 80 degrees, low humidity, patchy clouds. | Could make out a nice string of stars in the cluster with both powers. | |
| NGC 6934 | Del | 8.7 | GC | ||||||
| NGC 6940 | Vul | 6.3 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 7009 | Aqr | 8.0 | PN | ||||||
| NGC 7078 | M15 | Peg | 6.0 | GC | |||||
| NGC 7089 | M2 | Aqr | 6.4 | GC | |||||
| NGC 7092 | M39 | Cyg | 4.6 | OC | |||||
| NGC 7160 | Cep | 6.1 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 7209 | Lac | 7.7 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 7243 | Lac | 6.4 | OC | ||||||
| NGC 7662 | And | 8.3 | PN | ||||||
| NGC 7789 | Cas | 6.7 | OC |
Object Type Legend:
| Stars | Mags | Date | Time | Location | Seeing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| η Cassiopeia | 3.4, 7.5 | |||||
| γ Aries | 4.8, 4.8 | |||||
| γ Andromeda | 2.3, 5.5 | |||||
| β Perseus | 2.1-3.4 | Variable (2.9 days). Known as Algol. | ||||
| Trapezium | 5.1, 6.7, 6.7, 7.9 | In Orion | ||||
| β Monoceros | 4.7, 5.2 | |||||
| γ Leo | 2.2, 3.5 | |||||
| ζ Ursa Major | 2.3, 4.0, 4.0 | |||||
| β Scorpius | 2.6, 4.9 | 2003-07-21 | 21:35 CDT | At home in urban Austin, TX | Very warm evening (87°) with high thin clouds, so poor transparency but steady sky | Secondary was so close to the primary that I couldn't see it at first. But after going up to 133x, I was able to see it clearly. Then I went back down to 48x and this time could see it. I suspect the primary was so bright it glared out the secondary. Buth were ice-blue in color. Also I just realized the mirror might be a bit off, as I noticed some diffraction problems when racking in and out the focus. |
| ε Lyra | 2.6, 4.9 | 2003-07-19 | 22:10 CDT | At home in urban Austin, TX | Very warm evening, around 85 degrees, murky and poor transparency. | A pretty pair with slightly different color in each star. One of them was a bit more yellow than the other (which was ice-blue). However it appears the color kept switch back and forth, probably due to color perception or something. Later (around 23:00), I tried again and was able to barely split the doubles, could be because my Dob might not be well collimated. |
| β Cygnus | 3.1, 5.1 | 2003-07-19 | 23:00 CDT | At home in urban Austin, TX | Very warm evening, around 85 degrees, murky and poor transparency. | A gorgeous double star, because of the color constrast. Primary star is red while the secondary star is ice blue. It even look better at higher powers (133x & 266x) |
| γ Delphinus | 4.5, 5.5 | |||||
| δ Cepheus | 3.9, 6.3 |
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