We had 10 RASCals at the VCO on Wednesday evening. It was a beautiful mild night and the observing pad was abuzz as 4 RASCals set up their own instruments while the 12 inch Dob was also rolled out. The rugged craters of a 33% Moon generated considerable enthusiasm when viewed through the VCO Takahashi 5 inch refractor at 142 power. Marjie Welchframe, a graduate of the Observe the Moon program, amazed us all when she instantly identified Theophilus and its iconic centre peak. It may inspire others to give Observe the Moon a try.
It was so busy that it was difficult to track all the objects viewed but Andromeda, the Double Cluster and Saturn received considerable attention.
When the crowds thinned out Reg flashed up the QHY600 cooled camera on the OGS 12.5 inch RC reflector and captured 19 1 minute exposures in the luminance channel of the beautiful galaxy NGC7331 (Caldwell 30) which has a newly minted super nova SN2026aavi. It just so happened that Reg captured a much longer exposure of NGC 7331 in August 2025 in LRGB using the same gear (172 minutes in the luminance channel and 116 min luminance in RGB). It also had a super nova SN2025 RBS which shows as a pale blue dot in the attached PDF and jpeg file. The 2025 super nova was slightly closer to the galactic core than the brighter 2026 Super Nova. Miles Waite visually glimpsed the 2026 super nova using his 14 inch Dob. Are you up to the challenge?
It is unusual for two super novae to occur in the same galaxy so close together. In 1996 it was discovered that the galactic bulge of NGC 7331 t rotated in the opposite direction from the outer portion of the galaxy. It makes one wonder if the shear between the two galactic components helped contribute to the enhanced supernova activity.
It was great to finally open up the VCO and we look forward to more opportunities ahead as the onset of nightfall occurs earlier. So we hope that you might consider joining us when the next Session is announced.
