Report - 2026 March

Nebo Farm March 2026 - Peter Chappell

Viewing Log for 14th of March

Finally had another free evening with clear skies, only means one thing, get out and do some viewing! I put the word out on the Swindon Stargazers Ad-hoc viewing page, only Norman was available for the evening. I said to Norman I would arrive around 19:00, while I was setting up my gear he arrived and set up his photographic gear for the evening. I would be using my usual set up being an eight inch (203 mm) Meade LX90 GOTO telescope with a 14 mm Pentax XW eye piece, giving a magnification of around 143? The temperature was around 4 °C with no wind but there was a bank of cloud out to the west. The guide stars were Sirius and Capella, I was set up and ready to go by 19:22. I noticed Venus hanging low in the western sky while I was driving to Nebo farm but by now in had set into the cloud bank and would not be viewable.
Only planets on view were Uranus and Jupiter, I started on Uranus but unfortunately there was no detail to be seen on the seventh planet from the Sun. I had better luck with the fifth planet from the Sun, namely Jupiter, I could make out the two main weather belts plus the moon Calisto out to the east of Jupiter and Europa nearly disappearing behind the planet out to the west with Io and Ganymede further out. Norman thought he could make out the Great Red Spot on the southern weather belt, I was not sure, at all? This spot I have not seen clearly in many years, probably my eye site is getting worst these days!
March is classic Messer (M) marathon hunting season when the moon is out of the way, the moon was not due to rise until well after midnight, so I thought I would have a start at the marathon. In the spirit of the marathon, you should only use basic telescope with no GOTO mode but with my eye site that would not knock out around 80 % of the objects on his list of 110 deep sky objects, so I will be cheating and use GOTO equipment. First on the list is M 77, a spiral galaxy (SG) in Cetus, this was a faint fuzzy blob (FFB) to look at and very easy to miss. Next was M 74, another SG in Pisces, again another FFB and hard to locate. Both of these objects have a magnitude (Mag) of 10.5, about the limit for my telescope? Going further west we come across M 33, the Pinwheel galaxy in Triangulum, yes another SG but this was a fuzzy blob (FB) to look at, has a low surface brightness which can make it a challenge to locate? Into Andromeda and the Great Andromeda galaxy namely M 31, this is a very large SG and has a bright core.

Not far away is M 32, this is an Elliptical galaxy (EG), a lot smaller than M31 but also has a bright core. Also close by is M 110, another EG but I was not sure if I could resolve this object. Going further west and north we come across Cassiopeia and M 52, the first open cluster (OC) on the list to visit, this is a compact and dim cluster with a lot of stars within the group. At the other end of the ‘W’ in Cass is M 103, a small OC which is wedged shape with some bright stars. The first Planetary nebula is M 76 in Perseus, this object was a FB to look at but I could not make out any detail. Back to OC’s and M 34, this is a small cluster to look at and very sparse of stars, did not help being low in the sky. One object you cannot miss with your eyeball is M 45, the Pleiades cluster in Taurus, this object is best viewed with the 9X50 finderscope as the main scope you are looking thru the cluster. Lepus is below Orion but unfortunately M 79 was behind a tree, this is the first Globular cluster on the list to view, I will have to come back to this object on my next visit? Into Orion and M 42 (the Great Orion nebula) and M 43 (in the same field of view with the eye piece), as usual M 42 was great to look at, the trapezium stars I could make out clearly. M 43 is much dimmer and often over looked, both are Bright nebula (BN). Just above the eastern belt star is M 78, another BN, I could only make out the two stars within this nebula, this is both an Emission and Reflection nebula, (this is the closest Emission and Reflection object to us), when I was out in Namibia last November, I could make out the nebula fairly easy, better darker skies and I was using a 11 inch telescope! Final object for the evening was M 1 in Taurus, the only Supernova Remnant on the list, this was a large grey blob to look at, also known as the Crab nebula.
Time was now 21:02, the wind had picked up a bit and was making it difficult to see objects clearly. The temperature had dropped to 3 °C with little dew around which would require all gear used to be dried overnight before packing it away.

Viewing Log for 18th of March

It was a lovely sunny day, played golf in the afternoon and as I was free in the evening, I thought I would carry on with my Messier (M) marathon as it was still clear! As I made the decision in the late afternoon I decided not to give the word out as it would probably be too late for anyone else to go out with me?
After getting permission from Phil, I arrived at Nebo farm and had my Meade LX90 set up and ready by 19:35, again I would be using my Pentax XW 14 mm eye piece. Temperature was a pleasant 12 °C with a little wind for company, there was a cloud bank out to the west and going north. By the time I had set up, Venus had gone behind the cloud bank, just like my last visit here! Guide stars were Sirius and Capella. Before I could use my Seestar S50, it needed another firmware update which would take a few minutes to complete.
While the S50 was getting updated, I turned the telescope to Uranus, after a bit of hunting I found the planet but could not make out any colour or detail on the seventh planet from the sun. Jupiter as usual was much clearer, being a lot closer to the sun and many more times larger than Uranus. I could make out the two main weather belts and only three of the main moons, Io was eclipsed by Jupiter with Europa and Ganymede out to the east of the planet and Calisto out to the west. What I was seeing was 40.46 minutes ago, that is how long it takes light to reach Earth from Jupiter at that time. The Great Red Spot was on the other side of the planet at this time.
That was the only planets on view, so it was back to the marathon and part two. As I could not pick up M 79 last time due to this globular cluster being behind a tree and very low. This was a dim fuzzy blob with a hint of a core. Up to Auriga now and the start of a lot of open clusters (OC). First one was M 35, this is a large and sparse cluster with a few stars in the centre area.

M 37, is a large OC with a lot of dim stars, this is the most distance of the three clusters from us in Auriga, and the final one is M 36, a ompact cluster with a few stars.

Now going south and east we come across Canis Major and around four degrees below Sirius we come across M 41, this is a sparse and loose cluster with some bright stars in the group. Now into Puppis and M 93, this is a compact wedge shaped dim cluster, often overlooked by its more favourable neighbours. Namely, M 47 and very close by M 46. Starting with M 47, this is a large and very loose cluster with some bright stars. M 46 is also large with a lot of dim stars, this cluster also has a Planetary nebula within the cluster, namely NGC 2438. Unfortunately I have never seen this object with my own eyes, it has a magnitude of 10.8 which is probably beyond my eyes with this telescope but does come up in pictures? If you draw a line between Sirius and Procyon and about halfway you come across M 50, a small and sparse cluster with few stars in the group. M 44, the Beehive cluster or Praesepe in Cancer is best viewed with the finderscope as it is a very large cluster that cannot be viewed with the eye piece, you are looking thru the object, just like M 45, the Pleiades cluster I looked at the last time I was out. This cluster has a lot of bright stars within the group. M 67, is the other Messier object in Cancer, often overlooked by the greatness of M 44, this is a large OC with a lot of dim stars. While I was viewing all of these OC’s the wind had picked up and making it difficult to view the clusters, so I thought I would pack up but back to Jupiter for one final view to see if the missing moon had reappeared or not? Io had reappeared to the east but the scope was now bouncing around a lot, makes viewing very hard unless you have some protection from the wind which we do not have at Nebo!
Time was now 20:57 and there was no dew on the equipment used, the wind had sorted the dew problem out. Temperature had dropped to 11 °C but felt colder than that due to the wind. Next time I go into Leo before heading across to Ursa Major and spiral galaxies, my least favourite objects to look at.

Clear skies.
Peter Chappell