Straight through M 31 and then left

Hi folks,

One week ago i had the opportunity to observe in the alpes at 6600ft. I´d like to share some inpressions with you.

I am the guy who likes using cable cars to get to great sites... Sometimes some footwork is needed afterwards. This time some more 300 ft. to manage with my 12"Dobson to get there... Here on the road with view back to the cable car station (middle of the pic)...

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Here an impression of what my site looks like in the evening...

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At my site there unfortunately where some young folks building up their tent...

In the very beginning of the night i gave them some kind of sightseeing - above all saturn. Although standing quite near the horizon it gave a spectacular view - very suprising good seeing!

Air humidity was starting at 60% and ended up in 40% in the morning. And very uncommon: absolutely no wind at all. Temperature: 12 Degrees throughout the night - at this altitude in the end of octobre! NELM something between 6m5 - 6m8.

First of all i tried the brightest star within M 31 as already posted in a separate thread - but now i decided to write something more about this night.

Just to repeat it - i was very happy to identify the 16m2 bright V 19 easily. I hadn´t thought before that a single star with 12" is possible...

Then i tried some globulars within - about a dozen ot them, individual selection with a look at position within the galaxie, brightness, interesting constellations within or in neighbourhood to stars of equal brightness and so on...

At first following the positions of my selected GC´s, using the great chart of Patricio

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/3.../#entry4454187

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So this is my list now with short impressions described:

G76 – 14m2; already easy at 170x, at 290x slightly patchy, slightly weaker than star directly nearby
G87 – 15m6; at 170x nothing to see, at 290x weak little patch
G29 – 16m4; occurs now and then but very tough
G33 – 15m5; already in 13mm Okular visible, nearby star slightly weaker in comparison
G78 – 14m2; easy and slightly patchy at 425x
G70 – 16m0; very weak but definately seen(425x)
G185 – 14m4; surprisingly easy seen near of M 31 centre as little star at 290x; at 170x threshold object
G280 – 14m1; slightly patchy at 425fach
G272- 14m7; easy (425x)
G279 – 15m3; already visible at 100x, at 425fach diffuse
G213 – 14m6; already visible at 100x
G233 – 15m4; rather weak and diffuse, but seen (425x)
G231 – 16m0; not seen (425x), yet some kind of tiring

Impression of the night....

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A few days later i was observing at another mountain at 4500 ft and added two more GC, chosen because of their position near the centre of M 31, for i was suprised how easy G185 was. I just add it here, although another night... but with very similar conditions:

G165 – 15m1; 270x; one of the hardest GC of my list. Threshold object. At first mistaken the nearby star as the gc. This star is slightly brighter than the gc. Maybe easier with higher power but not checked.
G148 – 15m0; 270fach; easy. Strange big kind of some halo, suprising patchy - cannot tell why.

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Especially at my second night at the other mountain i took a closer look at M 31 to check, how far reaches the galaxy in directioin of M 110...

So the following sketch is rather a check with regard to this exercise - its NOT an overall drawing of the whole galaxy. Yet i like to show it.

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View at 50x.

I tried to get a wink of sleep until the first cable car leaves... but it didnt work. So going at work... was a real torture folks - i tell ya.

But it was worth it!

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View onto the highest mountain in germany - the Zugspitze:
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Hope you enjoyed my little report.

CS!
Norman