The Astronomy Nexus

It's been a quiet few months thanks to rainy weather here in northern Colorado.

June 29 was the first day in 3 months that I got more than a quick look at the sky. As a result, it was more of a "summer showpiece" sort of night, full of big bright things like the 1st-quarter Moon, globulars like M13 and M3, and bright nebulas like M57 and M27.

Saturn, which I'd hoped to observe more in the spring, is finally on its way out; I saw it briefly, but only very low, with already poor seeing made worse by the altitude. I was hard pressed to see any moons besides Titan and Rhea, and no details on the disk itself.

I did get a few quick photos through the 100mm refractor:

Moon just past 1st quarter

M13. Seven frames, ISO 800 -- I'd have gotten more, but I ran out of battery power!

M13 after some contrast adjustment and sharpening. This looks a little more like its appearance in the telescope, though the center is a bit too bright.