Over the past week, I’ve let several clear nights pass by without setting up the telescope. But today, with the sky looking promising and my chores finished early, I finally decided to take the gear out. I started right after sunset, while the sky was still glowing with the last light of day, and used the time to capture calibration frames—darks, bias, and flats.
Just as I was about to align the mount, a layer of fog drifted in. I decided to wait it out, and thankfully, it began to clear fairly quickly.
Although it did clear up, the sky still looked a bit washed out—but that’s pretty typical for San Francisco skies. I began the session in Sagittarius—about as high as it ever gets from here—then moved on to targets in Cygnus and surrounding constellations.
Observations:
- M8 Lagoon Nebula – Sagittarius
- M20 Trifid Nebula – Sagittarius
- M17 Omega Nebula – Sagittarius
- M16 Eagle Nebula – Serpens
- NGC 6604 Open Cluster – Serpens
- M22 Great Sagittarius Globular Cluster
- M28 Globular Cluster – Sagittarius
- NGC 6590 Reflection Nebula – Sagittarius
- C27 Crescent Nebula – Cygnus
- M27 Dumbbell Nebula – Vulpecula
- NGC 6823 Cloud Sculpting Open Cluster– Vulpecula
- C33 Eastern Veil Nebula – Cygnus
- C34 Western Veil Nebula – Cygnus
- IC 1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula – Cepheus
- C19 Cocoon Nebula – Cygnus
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| M8 Lagoon Nebula - 45x5s |
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| M20 Trifid Nebula - 38x5s |
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| M17 Omega Nebula - 50x5s |
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| M16 Eagle Nebula - 41x5s |
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| NGC 6604 - 39x5s |
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| M22 Great Sagittarius Nebula - 10x5s |
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| M28 - 21x5s |
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| NGC 6590 - 51x5s |
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| C27 Crescent Nebula - 85x5s |
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| M27 Dumbbell Nebula - 40x5s |
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| NGC 6823 - Cloud Sculpting Cluster - 24x5s |
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| C33 East Veil Nebula - 33x5s |
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| C34 West Veiil Nebula - 28x5s |
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| IC 1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula - 43x5s |
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| C19 Cocoon Nebula - 40x5s |
