JAN 2026 STAR PARTY OBSERVATION LOG

Suresh Randadath
3 hours ago
4 min read

Venue: JWSS Astro Camp, Kavalur. Coordinates: 12.6267° N, 78.7505° E Date: The night of 17 Jan 2026

6:00PM to 7:00PM: Telescope Setup and Astronomy interaction: Suresh gave an overview of the star party followed by a Q&A on astronomy.
7:15PM: Saturn: We started the observation with Saturn. Rings were still fully edge on. One of the moons were visible along the plane of the rings close to the rings. Most likely Rhea.
7:54PM Cassiopeia and Andromeda Galaxy: First DSO target was the Andromeda Galaxy. Had a hard time in making out the Pegasus's great square and the two horns next to which sits the galaxy. With some random scanning along the two stars in Cassiopeia helped spot the galaxy. It appeared as a fuzzy patch of light. Could not resolve any details.
8:10PM Taurus - Aldebaran - Pleiades : Pleiades (M45) as breathtaking as ever. This cluster is so wide it could not fit in the FOV of a 28mm eyepiece.
Dinner break.
9.05PM Jupiter in Gemini: Equatorial cloud pattern easily resoled. Only three of the Galilean moons were visible.
9:50PM Orion Nebula: Breathtaking! The gas and dust of the foreground were resolved in much greater detail than what we could see from Bangalore. It stretched across the field of view like the outstretched wings of a giant bird. Four stars in the trapezium (Orionis A, B, C and D) were easily resolved.
10:10PM Stars targeted: Sirius, Rigel and Betelgeuse. Constellations Canis Major and Orion
11:00PM Little Beehive Cluster (M41): An open cluster in the belly of the dog, Canis Major. Not as spectacular as Pleiades.
11:08PM Beehive Cluster (M44): Another open cluster in Cancer. It took a while to identify Cancer as it is a dimmer constellation. M44 was more richer and brilliant than M41.
11:44PM Crab Nebula (M1): The famous planetary nebula. Took a while to locate it as it is a very dim nebula. From the southern horn of Taurus, located ζ (zeta) Tauri, the third-magnitude star that marks the tip of the southern horn. With the telescope centered on ζ, moved 1 degree to the northeast to reach M1. Appeared as a very faint patch of light with no details visible. Not many people present could identify it through the eye piece though.
12:10AM Binary Stars in the Big Dipper (Alcor and Mizar): This is the second last star in the handle of the Big Dipper. As the Big Dipper rose above the horizon, this could be located with some random scanning around the area easily. The stars appeared wide apart through a 18mm eyepiece though they are binaries.
Dew started setting in post midnight. Decided to take a break for couple of hours.
3:30AM to 4:30AM Star Trail Photography: Setup my DSLR on the tripod with the Sigma wide angle lens and the intervalometer. Exposure set to 48sec, f4.5, ISO 1600. Pointed the camera towards little dipper to take 150 frames. Unfortunately dew washed away all frames after the 29th. See the picture below.
3:42AM Whirlpool Galaxy (M51): Did a star hop from Alkaid (the last star on the handle of the Big Dipper) to the south by about 4 degrees to spot the galaxy. Initial attempt to hop to the start at 2 degrees southeast was not successful. This is supposed to be the most spectacular galaxy of the northern hemisphere. This is an interacting pair of two galaxies that share a mass-transfer bridge. But due to the heavy dew, not a lot of details could be resolved. It appeared as a very faint fuzzy patch. Will definitely want to try this again next time after taking care of the dew.
3:56AM Binary Stars (M40): Optical double that are not physically related. This is a very tight double star in Ursa Major that Messier mistook for a deep-sky object. Star hoped from Megrez, the star at the base of Ursa Major’s tail, by 1.5 degrees northeast to get to M40. Required magnification to resolve the binary (unlike Alcor and Mizar which were so wide apart).
4:05AM Jewel Box - NGC 4755 (Caldwell 94): Open cluster in Crux. Not as spectacular as the name suggests. Easily located.
4:10AM Omega Centauri - NGC 5139: The famous Globular cluster in Centaurus, the biggest globular in the Milky Way. Star hoped from Theta Centauri to the north about the same distance as between Beta and Theta Centauri. In fact it is visible to the naked eye if you look carefully. Due to the heavy dew, could not resolve any stars. Binoculars, which were not impacted by the dew, gave a much better view than my telescope.
4:30AM Scorpio and Antares: Saw the rising of Scorpio around this time.
4:45AM Great Hercules Cluster (M13): First step was to identify the keystone asterism inside Hercules constellation. That itself was a challenge due to the lack of familiarity with this constellation. Once the keystone was identified, M13 was 1/3 of the way from η (Eta) to ζ (Zeta) Hercules. Due to the heavy dew not a lot of details emerged in the eyepiece.
5AM: The cold and dew was making further observation difficult. So we decided to wind up and catch some sleep.
Constellations identified: