Observation Details

Location: Mansfield, GA (33.4689° N, 83.7353° W)

Date and Time: 2025-01-04, 20:20 – 21:31 EDT

Sky conditions: Seeing – Average , Transparency – Mag 5

Instrument: Apertura 60mm FPL-53 Doublet APO Refractor @ f/6 (native) – Aperture: 60mm, Focal Length: 360mm

Mount: Star Adventurer 2i

Eyepiece: N/A (Imaging)

Reticle Device: N/A

Imaging Equipment: Canon T7i, Optolong L-Pro

Image type and sensor: CMOS, APS-C, 332.27mm² (22.30mm x 14.90mm)

Image capture details: 30.5 minute integration, 122 images, Exposure time – 00:15, @ ISO speed – 800
Software: PixInsight, Photoshop

M42 – Orion Nebula

M43 – De Mairan’s Nebula

Date: January 4, 2025

Time: 6:30 – 9:30

Outreach for Girl Scouts troop with about 20 guests

To celebrate and focus on the successes of the Hubble Telescope, the Astronomical League and NASA are presenting a NASA Special Observing Award Challenge.  For more information on the Hubble Telescope Mission go to the mission website.

The Hubble Telescope has been responsible for bringing the universe to all of us in fantastic clarity.  It has brought us images of many distant and incredible objects.  In the past 35 years, the Hubble Telescope has marched onward and produced thousands of images.  Now, it is time for us to celebrate all those accomplishments and join the party.

Imaging as well as visual observing are allowed for these awards.  Go-to telescopes are permitted including remote telescopes when the observer specifically requests the object be imaged for them.

If you are doing an outreach activity and you would like to give participant certificates to your attendees, there is a downloadable certificate available here.

There are two levels to this Challenge.  You do NOT need to be a member of the Astronomical League to participate in this challenge and to receive the certificates and pin.

Details for this award:

Silver award (certificates only):

One or more outreach activities must be done during one of the months for which you submit for the silver award; to spread the word about the Hubble Telescope and its mission.  An outreach activity is anything that spreads the word to others about the Hubble Telescope, its 35th anniversary, or this challenge.  This might be on a website, at a meeting, an outreach event, or on a blog.

The same outreach activity may be used for multiple months at the silver level.  We encourage you to do more outreach activities to meet the requirements of the gold award.

The observations must be done during the specific month for each silver certificate.

Each month’s observation targets will be listed below.  There is a list for northern observers and also a list for southern observers.

You must observe at least one of the objects from either list each month to earn a silver certificate.

Sketch or image the object(s).

Attempt to identify the part of your sketch or image that corresponds to a part of the Hubble Telescope image.  (See links in the References section to access the Hubble image gallery.)

Gold award (certificate and pin):  

Over the span of 2025, do four or more outreach activities to spread the word about the Hubble Telescope and its mission.  An outreach activity is anything that spreads the word to others about the Hubble Telescope, its 35th anniversary, or this challenge.   This might be on a website, at a meeting, an outreach event, or on a blog.

Observe four or more objects for each month from the lists and submit them monthly.

Sketch or image all of the objects you observe.

Attempt to identify the part of your sketch or image that corresponds to a part of the Hubble Telescope image.  (See links in the References section to access the Hubble image gallery.)

Note:  The gold award requires additional observations each month beyond the requirements for silver.  Be sure to capture them.

Monthly Object Lists:

January 2025 – submission deadline 2/28/2025 for a silver certification, or as one step in the gold certification.

Northern List

• M42: The Orion Nebula
• M1: The Crab nebula
• M43:  DeMairan’s Nebula
• M78
• M79
• Caldwell 46:  Hubble’s Variable Nebula

Southern List

• M1: The Crab nebula
• M42: The Orion Nebula
• M43:  DeMairan’s Nebula
• M78
• M79
• Caldwell 73
• Caldwell 103
• Caldwell 46:  Hubble’s Variable Nebula

Submission Requirements:

• Outreach Events
  • Date and time
  • What was the outreach activity
  • Group and group size
• Observations
  • Date and time
  • Details of instruments and filters used
  • Sketches or images of objects

Note: These awards will be listed in the on-line database under the Hubble Telescope  35th Anniversary Special Observing Award rather than under the NASA Observing Challenges.

References:

• Hubble Telescope Messier Image Catalog
• Hubble Telescope Caldwell Image Catalog
• Hubble Telescope Main Web Page
• Hubble Telescope Night Sky Challenge Page
• AL Flyer for the Challenge (PDF format, JPEG format)

(Submission Deadline is the end of the month after each silver challenge.  Submissions for the gold challenge should be submitted monthly by the same deadlines)  Late submissions will not be accepted.