Saturday, November 25, 2017, I volunteered with my 10” Dobsonian telescope at the George Observatory inside Brazos Bend State Park south of Sugar Land, Texas. The night was party cloudy, but 9 PM we had mostly clear skies. There were around 150 there from dusk to 9:30. The other volunteers help me find some first-time targets and I went through a lot of other well-loved targets. I also did a short 1-mile hike around the observatory along the Creekfield Lake trail. It’s short but usually empty. It’s a nice walk through the woods.
Here is my list:
- Mirach’s Ghost (elliptical galaxy NGC 404)
- Albireo (double star appearing green and white or blue and yellow)
- The moon including Purbach’s Cross or the Lunar X (this view changed throughout the night)
- Variable star grouping (appearing red, white, and blue) V* 695 Cygni
- M57 – The Ring Nebula (planetary nebula)
- M42 – Orion Nebula including the Trapezium cluster
- NGC 663 – faint open cluster in Cassiopeia
- M38 – Open cluster in Auriga
- M36 – Open cluster in Auriga
- Uranus (through 20″ Dob)
- Neptune (through 20″ Dob)
- Dumbbell Nebula with OIII filter (through neighbor’s 10″ Dob)
