Observation Session – 29 December 2012

Location: Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Session duration: 2 nights

Sky conditions: Clear sky, low humidity, seeing ~7/10

Instruments:

  • 200mm Newtonian reflector
  • 80mm refractor
  • 100mm apochromatic refractor

Targets:

  • The Moon
  • Venus
  • NGC 7000 (North America Nebula)
  • Mars

Observation notes:

Transparency improved after midnight and allowed longer visual work on faint deep-sky targets.

The larger telescope resolved dense clusters cleanly, while the refractor was used for wider fields and comparison views.

Members present: Ayoub Berrabeh, Adama Traoré, Paul Garnier, Nicolas Artaud

Observation Session – 15 December 2012

Location: Quercy Dark Sky Reserve, France

Session duration: 2 nights

Sky conditions: Excellent transparency after midnight

Instruments:

  • 7×50 binoculars
  • 250mm Dobsonian telescope
  • 100mm apochromatic refractor

Targets:

  • Perseus star field
  • M42 (Orion Nebula)
  • M45 (Pleiades)
  • Venus

Observation notes:

Transparency improved after midnight and allowed longer visual work on faint deep-sky targets.

The larger telescope resolved dense clusters cleanly, while the refractor was used for wider fields and comparison views.

A long visual sweep and one test exposure suggested a very thin dark line crossing part of the star field, but the effect could not be reproduced consistently.

Members present: Adama Traoré, Maxime Dallois, Lucille Godefert, Ayoub Berrabeh, Julien Bertaud

Observation Session – 01 December 2012

Location: Plateau de Valensole, France

Session duration: 2 nights

Sky conditions: Very dark sky (Bortle 2–3), light wind

Instruments:

  • 250mm Dobsonian telescope
  • 7×50 binoculars
  • 100mm apochromatic refractor

Targets:

  • Rigel
  • Betelgeuse
  • M42 (Orion Nebula)
  • The Moon

Observation notes:

Transparency improved after midnight and allowed longer visual work on faint deep-sky targets.

The larger telescope resolved dense clusters cleanly, while the refractor was used for wider fields and comparison views.

Members present: Ayoub Berrabeh, Lucille Godefert, Maxime Dallois, Nicolas Artaud, Paul Garnier