Session 20201106 is held during lockdown 2, so it is a session from my lightpolluted back yard. 

The sad part of the session is that I was supposed to land on La Palma today, for a 14 day observing trip. It was cancelled due to the pandemic.

This week I had the pier equipped with the C11 for photography, and having 4 clear nights, I couldn’t resist trying some visual observations, before moonrise. 

The 12″ Sumerian was up for some action.

Being restricted to my back yard, I planned to visit some clusters and do some sightseeing.

First up was NGC 1907, in Auriga. A very compact cluster of weak stars of even brightness, resloved. Two bright stars above the cluster and fainter “wings” make this cluster look like a mini Owl Cluster, NGC 1907 being the body of the owl.

Next was M38, the starfish cluster. Beautiful, and this one clearly outlines a starfish, hence the name. In the center of the starfish is 1 lonely bright star. There are weak points of light all around. 

Last cluster is Cr (Collinder) 21. A ring-like Asterism of about 12 stars.