Complete! IAS Novice/Urban Observing List for November 2013

At first my plan of attack this month was to photograph Andromeda again, because M110 and M32 would be included in the shots and I'd knock out 3 in one swoop. Since I just made a huge effort (534 subs) on Andromeda in September, I was putting it off and putting it off - and then we had a streak of clouds for 10 days or so and I never got around to it. I did take a handful of photos that I was planning to add into my stack, but the amount of effort to process all of it over again for marginal improvements was unappealing. Maybe if I get a new camera for Christmas I'll make another solid push.

Next up, I revisited some old friends in Cassiopeia and had no trouble locating a few in the same night. I caught Comet ISON in early November well before its confusing trip around the sun, and rounded out the month with some lunar geography and my best image of Uranus to date.

The lunar targets were add-ons for me because my gear has a separation limit of about 14" (arcseconds) but I'm glad I was able to get the minimum 6 targets without relying on the somewhat easier lunar locations.

• Venus, planet in south-western sky after sunset. What is the phase of Venus? ✔ Crescent
• Uranus, planet currently in Pisces ✔
• M32, satellite galaxy to M31 (photographed not processed)
• M31, the “Andromeda Galaxy” (photographed not processed)
• Eta Cassiopeiae, double star in Cassiopeia
• Psi 1 Piscium, double star in Pisces
• NGC 457, the “E.T.” Cluster, open cluster in Cassiopeia ✔
• NGC 663, open cluster in Cassiopeia ✔
• Gamma Arietis (”Mesartim”), double star in Aries
• NGC 752, open cluster in Andromeda ✔
• Challenge Object #1: M110, satellite galaxy to M31 (photographed not processed)
• Challenge Object #2: Comet ISON ✔
• Moon, Mare Humboldtianum ✔
• Moon, Riccioli (crater) ✔