Saturday night was a good night at the River Ridge Observatory. It was cold, very cold, but it was clear and there was no wind. The Moon was just past first quarter so it limited what could be done until after 1 AM. I shot five objects but only the last two turned out okay.
The first object is the California Nebula, an emission nebula in the constellation of Perseus. It is quite large, about five times the size of the Moon on one axis and won’t fit in the field of view of my system. Perseus is in the northeast sky after dark next to the brighter crooked W of Cassiopeia.
The second object is the Rosette Nebula in the constellation of Monoceros and is also an emission nebula. It is a bit smaller and does fit in the field of view of my system. Monoceros is a dim constellation east of Orion which currently rises several hours after sunset.
Both are primarily reddish in the because the excited Hydrogen that causes them to glow is firmly in the red part of the spectrum. I’ve shot both before but these are object to return to again and again.
