Astronomy

I love amateur astronomy! I have two telescopes that I use whenever I get the chance - which is not enough in my country sadly.

The two telescopes I have:
An 8" f/6 (F=1200) SkyWatcher Dobsonian
A 5" f/5 (F=650) Bresser Tabletop Dobsonian

Eyepieces:

10 / 25mm Skywatcher and Bresser (pack-in)
Skywatcher SWA 38mm
Explore Scientific 4.5mm
TMB Planetary II 7mm

I also have a pair of Bresser 7x50 binoculars that are particularly nice for wide-field astronomy.

Observing log

Below a table with my observations, and a note or two.

Date	Object(s)	Notes
18-03-2025	M36, 37, 38	Beautiful through binoculars. Easy to find and in an extremely rich field of background stars.
,,	M46, 47	Easy to find but in light dome, interesting contrast between the two clusters. Planetary nebula in M46 bigger and fainter than expected; needed UHC filter to see it.
,,	M81, 82	High in the sky and visible through binos, very nice pair as always in 8".
,,	M1, Σ742	The Crab Nebula wasn't that impressive due to the bright sky, but Σ742 is a very nice little double star.
29-03-2025	Sun & Moon	Partial solar eclipse! There were a few small clusters of sunspots visible, as well as a larger sunspot on the limb. The moon creeping across the sun was great to see, and the difference between the jagged moon edge and the perfectly smooth edge of the sun was a great contrast.
22-04-2025	T CrB	Just checked with my binos, no extra star to be seen
30-07-2025	M24 Sagittarius Star Cloud	Way too large for telescopes. Best enjoyed through a pair of binoculars - any type should work. Fantastic region to just wander around. So much to see!!
,,	M22 Great Sagittarius Star Cluster	This globular cluster immediately jumps out to you, even through binoculars. Worth checking out again in the future with the 8" scope. Quite awesome
,,	M28	Another neat globular cluster, but this one is much fainter and I only found it after looking at a chart. Nice comparison with M22; M28 is a good 50% farther away (11 vs 18kly)
,,	M8 Lagoon Nebula	A very bright patch of light through binoculars, very enjoyable.
,,	M20 Trifid nebula	Noticeable grouping of stars, quite a nice cluster in the 5" telescope, no nebulosity apparent.
,,	M17 Swan Nebula	AKA Omega but I prefer Swan... Bright nebula with a distinctive inverted, elongated '2' shape, very fun to look at. Visible through binoculars as a patch of light.
,,	M16 Eagle Nebula	Visible through binoculars but challenging through a 5" even with dark skies. Nebulosity nearly absent, just a cluster of stars
,,	M101	Dark skies really do help: Located quite quickly with binoculars. Forms a nearly equilateral triangle with Mizar and Alkaid. Tried to observe spirality and thought I saw some through the 5" but it's most likely imagination.
,,	Eastern Veil Nebula	Picked up with just binoculars! Visible as a curved patch of light in a wing of Cygnus. Need to cross reference a lot with your star chart, but it's definitely there! I tried to mess with an UHC filter in front of one of my binocular ocular, and it does seem to help, but the faffing was quite distracting.
31-07-2025	M17 Swan Nebula	Just as nice as yesterday but today at a darker location. UHC filter reveals quite extensive nebulosity around the core of the nebula.
,,	M18 Eagle Nebula	Finally with a UHC filter nebulosity is visible! After a while you can see irregularities in the light and you can try to begin to imagine why named this blobby nebula after an eagle. In honesty, I don't really see it.
,,	Scutum Star Cloud	Another really great piece of the sky if you have binos. Some careful examination reveals a myriad of pinpoints of lights that goes all the way down to gray nebulosity that stands out from the black background sky. Impressive!
,,	M11 Wild Ducks Cluster	Kind of accidentally re-discovered this one with the binoculars. 5" is a little low to really try to resolve this cluster to individual stars, but the V-shape can be seen.
During WHY2025	Full Moon	During WHY2025 I brought my telescope to show stuff to people and it was a big success. Below are the targets that were popular.
,,	Saturn	Saw three moons in total, Titan, Rhea and Thetys I think
,,	Andromeda Galaxy	It was possible despite the fog and lights.
,,	Polaris	___
,,	Double Double	___
,,	Ring Nebula	Some people were not impressed or did not see it, but some were really into it. Those guys should buy a telescope.
11-08-2025	Venus	Rolled out of the tent after a night of drinking and no sleeping only to see Jupiter & Venus in conjunction in the morning sky. Venus was a nice crescent
,,	Jupiter	Jupiter was a bit hard to see due to the air mass, but cloud bands could be seen.
,,	Trapezium in Orion Nebula	It was already the morning and the nebula was not visible, but the Trapezium was. No 5th and 6th component to be seen, but frankly I didn't try either.
13-08-2025	Perseids	Weather was shit but I saw 1 very nice perseid. Packed up after half an hour of watching...
,,	___	___

Date

Object(s)

Notes

18-03-2025

M36, 37, 38

Beautiful through binoculars. Easy to find and in an extremely rich field of background stars.

M46, 47

Easy to find but in light dome, interesting contrast between the two clusters. Planetary nebula in M46 bigger and fainter than expected; needed UHC filter to see it.

M81, 82

High in the sky and visible through binos, very nice pair as always in 8".

M1, Σ742

The Crab Nebula wasn't that impressive due to the bright sky, but Σ742 is a very nice little double star.

29-03-2025

Sun & Moon

Partial solar eclipse! There were a few small clusters of sunspots visible, as well as a larger sunspot on the limb. The moon creeping across the sun was great to see, and the difference between the jagged moon edge and the perfectly smooth edge of the sun was a great contrast.

22-04-2025

T CrB

Just checked with my binos, no extra star to be seen

30-07-2025

M24 Sagittarius Star Cloud

Way too large for telescopes. Best enjoyed through a pair of binoculars - any type should work. Fantastic region to just wander around. So much to see!!

M22 Great Sagittarius Star Cluster

This globular cluster immediately jumps out to you, even through binoculars. Worth checking out again in the future with the 8" scope. Quite awesome

M28

Another neat globular cluster, but this one is much fainter and I only found it after looking at a chart. Nice comparison with M22; M28 is a good 50% farther away (11 vs 18kly)

M8 Lagoon Nebula

A very bright patch of light through binoculars, very enjoyable.

M20 Trifid nebula

Noticeable grouping of stars, quite a nice cluster in the 5" telescope, no nebulosity apparent.

M17 Swan Nebula

AKA Omega but I prefer Swan... Bright nebula with a distinctive inverted, elongated '2' shape, very fun to look at. Visible through binoculars as a patch of light.

M16 Eagle Nebula

Visible through binoculars but challenging through a 5" even with dark skies. Nebulosity nearly absent, just a cluster of stars

M101

Dark skies really do help: Located quite quickly with binoculars. Forms a nearly equilateral triangle with Mizar and Alkaid. Tried to observe spirality and thought I saw some through the 5" but it's most likely imagination.

Eastern Veil Nebula

Picked up with just binoculars! Visible as a curved patch of light in a wing of Cygnus. Need to cross reference a lot with your star chart, but it's definitely there! I tried to mess with an UHC filter in front of one of my binocular ocular, and it does seem to help, but the faffing was quite distracting.

31-07-2025

M17 Swan Nebula

Just as nice as yesterday but today at a darker location. UHC filter reveals quite extensive nebulosity around the core of the nebula.

M18 Eagle Nebula

Finally with a UHC filter nebulosity is visible! After a while you can see irregularities in the light and you can try to begin to imagine why named this blobby nebula after an eagle. In honesty, I don't really see it.

Scutum Star Cloud

Another really great piece of the sky if you have binos. Some careful examination reveals a myriad of pinpoints of lights that goes all the way down to gray nebulosity that stands out from the black background sky. Impressive!

M11 Wild Ducks Cluster

Kind of accidentally re-discovered this one with the binoculars. 5" is a little low to really try to resolve this cluster to individual stars, but the V-shape can be seen.

During WHY2025

Full Moon

During WHY2025 I brought my telescope to show stuff to people and it was a big success. Below are the targets that were popular.

Saturn

Saw three moons in total, Titan, Rhea and Thetys I think

Andromeda Galaxy

It was possible despite the fog and lights.

Polaris

___

Double Double

___

Ring Nebula

Some people were not impressed or did not see it, but some were really into it. Those guys should buy a telescope.

11-08-2025

Venus

Rolled out of the tent after a night of drinking and no sleeping only to see Jupiter & Venus in conjunction in the morning sky. Venus was a nice crescent

Jupiter

Jupiter was a bit hard to see due to the air mass, but cloud bands could be seen.

Trapezium in Orion Nebula

It was already the morning and the nebula was not visible, but the Trapezium was. No 5th and 6th component to be seen, but frankly I didn't try either.

13-08-2025

Perseids

Weather was shit but I saw 1 very nice perseid. Packed up after half an hour of watching...

___