This last weekend I had my first chance to do some serious observing from Aguanga. I brought my Celestron 8″ SCT up as a permanent addition to the high desert site. I set the telescope up before it was fully dark. My first target, used to get the finder aligned, was Jupiter. A nice view of the planet and the four Galilean moons. Then I waited for dark.

After it was mostly dark (not fully “astronomical twilight“) I found M57, the Ring Nebula in Lyra. It was a nice pretty ring. I could not see the star at the center.

Using my Celestron sky guide, I looked for good objects in the southern sky. The new house has a great view to the south, something completely lacking in LA. The first and most obvious target was M8, the Lagoon Nebula. Almost as impressive as the nebula in Orion, it was a beautiful wispy sight.

I then turned to the constellation just to the north of Sagittarius, Ophiucus. It has several globular clusters. It straddles the Milky Way, and the globular clusters orbit the Milky Way, so this is a good place to see them. I have always liked observing globulars. Their compact and dense fuzziness, I find them most beautiful. I started in the southern section, looking for what I thought was M9 or M10. Instead, I found M19 and M62. With some help from the star chart, I moved north to find M10 and M12. These were particularly beautiful. Higher above the horizon, I could see foreground stars — really very nice. I’d love to image these object.

Finally, I sought out and found M14. The search showed me several things. The dark of Aguanga is sufficient to see the stars on the chart. I can search the sky with the 8″ SCT. And next time I’ll bring the Telrad. M14 was not as impressive as the others, but it was a good find.

Finally, a complaint. A neighbor to the north has a mercury vapor lamp that is so bright I can see a shadow. with dark-adapted eyes, I feel I could read by the light. Like a full Moon that does not light up the sky, it is a great distraction. A minor annoyance at a great location.