Binocular Star Studies:
Cool so so cool, this open very open star cluster is a delight to the eye. I saw it for the first time tonight thanks to "One Minute Astronomer" which recounts the story taken from "Stargazing for Beginners"…
“The young Queen Berenice, when her husband was called away to the wars, vowed to sacrifice her beautiful tresses to Venus if he returned victorious over his enemies.
He did return home in triumph, and Berenice, true to her vow, cut off her hair and bore it to the Temple of Venus. But the same night it disappeared. The king was furious, and the queen wept bitterly over the loss.
There is no telling what might have happened to the guardians of the temple, had not a celebrated astronomer named Conon led the young king and queen aside in the evening and showed them the missing locks shining transfigured in the sky. He assured them that Venus had placed Berenice’s lustrous ringlets among the stars, and, as they were not skilled in celestial lore, they were quite ready to believe that the silvery swarm they saw near Arcturus had never been there before.
And so for centuries the world has recognized the constellation of Berenice’s Hair.”
After finding that, I went on to find M3 which I did see for the first time tonight. I must mention that I could not see Andromeda with the telescope due to it sinking into the northern horizon and foggyish lower atmosphere. Of course the weather let me see Venus and Mercury again. I made a low quality video of it yesterday. Its on You Tube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-Yl5QSQwI
Nor could I see M 38, 36 nor 37 in Auriga. I know where they are but the visibility in this town is not that great. I did see the double cluster of Perseus with both the binocs and the telescope. Wow so many stars in there. Ok So also looked at Mars , Saturn M42 in Orions sword, the Pleiades, the Hyades and got to know the whole constellation of Leo finally. oh yes and charted the meteorite Vesta again. Right now it´s next to e Leonis It will be changing apparent direction after April 6th. Epsilon Auriga seems to be brighter again at 3.8 or even 3.75. I usually see it as 3.9 I checked to see when Algol will be eclipsing again and maybe on April the 17-18 I will get to watch it eclipse at 00:29 if the weather colaborates. So, I had a nice evening once again.
Today Natalia and I learned how to fix a flat bike tire from video on internet. This Lady is so funny the way she stares into the camera, http://es.video.yahoo.com/watch/2820112/8193249
WE DID IT yay!!!!!!!!!! with duct tape and glue. Hope it lasts.