Deep Sky Observing

Pole Dancers

2011-08-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

Now that I have your attention....

A few days ago, I mentioned on a public observing forum that I was wondering what to observe next. My observing partner, Steve Gottlieb, immediately chirped "how about 25 galaxies within 10 degrees of Polaris". I remembered him mentioning such a project a month back, and learned that in fact he had observed this list very recently at Sierra Buttes, at 7200 feet elevation in the Sierra Nevada. So, I took up the challenge, and last night at Willow Springs I attempted the list. While Willow is only 2200 feet elevation, lacking the transparency benefits the Buttes has, it is a still a very good "local" sight, a mere 2 hours from my home in the south San Francisco bay area.

A few words about the vagaries of this particular weekend - several of us were going to head to a friend's property near Yosemite to observe. The morning we were to leave, the weather forecast showed poor condition - potential thunderstorms, bad seeing and transparency.... we were unsure... weather reports are not always reliable. Then, as I was packing, I got a text message asking what I knew about the fire near Yosemite. Turned out, our destination was under evacuation warning, and choking in smoke. The ONLY fire in the entire state of California! Change of plans. We headed to Willow. Arriving there, the sky was filled with....

smoke.

From a new nearby fire!

Well, it was put out, and the sky cleared nicely. We enjoyed a fine evening observing, but it just goes to show, sometimes you just dodge a bullet ... and get lucky.

So, the Pole Dancers. 21 galaxies Steve sent me in list form. Actually, in an article, but I'll leave the specifics of that to him to discuss. The galaxies were all within 5 degrees of Polaris, and varied from dancers you couldn't take your eyes off of, to those you barely knew were there, or cared. Of the 21, I had 19 confirmed, the remaining two were "suspected" at best - UGC 3661 and CGCG 363-039.

I have to also note, I observe with an 18" f/4.5 Obsession, made in 1994. The mirror has its original coatings, and the only thing I've added is an Equatorial Platform, made by the master, Tom Osypowski. I love tracking, it makes the experience much more relaxed, and I feel I see much more not having to constantly worry about moving the scope at high power (note some of the eyepieces I use in this report). But, observing these targets, so close to the pole, I was able to turn off the drive, and just let the happy circumstance of being very close to the pole do the job of keeping my targets in the field of view. And.... I also never used my ladder, or moved my obseving chair. I could get used to watching pole dancing! ;-)

Finally, another great parts of a trip like this - with experienced and accomplished observers (included Mark Johnston and Richard Navarrete) - - - is sharing views. I've listed a few here in my report.

Thanks to Kevin Ritschel for hosting us at his property, great to see him again.... and thanks to Steve, for the project!

Here are my notes on the 21 Pole Dancers.

NGC 2268" 07 14 17.6 84 22 57 V = 11.5; Size 3.2'x2.0'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 63d

18" 7mm Obvious large elongated core in a slightly elongated e/w disk. Pinpoint nucleus comes can be held.. About 2'x1', fairly even gradual dimming from core to edges.

UGC 3528A = Arp 96 07 02 27.4 86 34 46 Size 0.8'x0.6'; PA = 63d

18" 7mm very dime pair with not much detail. Very close together, both have clear pinpoint nuclei, one closer to bright star has brighter obvious stellar nucleus. Both have indistinct hazy roundish disks. With 2x Barlow and 7mm, further out galaxy disk is bigger, brighter, and elongated N/S. Other galaxy disk is smaller, dimmer, and roundish.

UGC 3536A = Arp 96 07 03 22.0 86 33 28 V = 13.6; Size 0.7'x.0.6'; Surf Br = 12.7

18" 7mm very dime pair with not much detail. Very close together, both have clear pinpoint nuclei, one closer to bright star has brighter obvious stellar nucleus. Both have indistinct hazy roundish disks. With 2x Barlow and 7mm, further out galaxy disk is bigger, brighter, and elongated N/S. Other galaxy disk is smaller, dimmer, and roundish.

CGCG 362-033 = PGC 20191 07 08 15.1 86 39 29 Size 0.8'x0.3'; PA = 109d

18" 7mm w/2x Barlow - elongated SE/NW and 3x1 ratio. Inner 1x1 section is fairly even brightness, then falls off at extensions.

UGC 3654 = PGC 20601 07 17 47.1 85 42 48 V = 14.3; Size 0.4'x0.3'; Surf Br = 11.8; PA = 17d

18" 7mm w/2x Barlow - very small and nearly round, but slightly elongated. Dim stellar nucleus, elongation is N/S.

UGC 3661 = PGC 20655 07 19 45.0 85 46 01 Size 1.1'x0.25'; PA = 12d

18" 7mm w/2x Barlow - very fleeting view of just a small section of this thin galaxy.

UGC 3670 = PGC 20677 07 20 04.7 85 35 14 Size 1.0'x0.5'; PA = 40d

18" 4mm - very dim, elongated, even brightness, E/W elongation of about 3x1.

NGC 2276 = Arp 25 07 27 14.4 85 45 16 V = 11.4; Size 2.8'x2.7'; Surf Br = 13.5; PA = 20d

18" 7mm - fairly bright and obvious, compared to others this session. Round, fairly even brightness, mostly featureless except for small slightly brighter round core and dimmest of averted vision pinpoint nucleus.

NGC 2300 = Arp 114 07 32 20.0 85 42 32 V = 11.0; Size 2.8'x2.0'; Surf Br = 12.8; PA = 80d

18" 4mm - very bright very tight inner core with no discernible nucleus, and chaotic appearance. Quickly gives way to significantly dimmer outer core that extends at least three diameters of the inner core in diameter. Outer core extends over 1/2 way to brightest close star to the W. Possible HII to the SW. More possible HII toward pair of stars pointing away to the NNE.

sh2-71 nice detail! Viewed this in Steve Gottlieb's 18" Dob. With an OIII filter, much of the detail shown in this image was visible. The central star was very evident. Without the filter, the object took on a distinctly circular shape, was much less obvious - looked like an Abell Planetary, with an obvious central star. A very interesting object!

MCG 04-029 = PGC 21210 07 32 25.9 86 40 00 V = 14.3; Size 1.2'x0.6'; Surf Br = 13.8; PA = 45d

18" picked up with 12mm, off the end of a chain of four brighter stars framed at the target end by three collinear dimmer stars. Easy fin. Galaxy is small and elongated. The fact that the two collinear chains point into the field, make this a visually pleasing view with the galaxy as a highlight. Chains of stars are E/W, galaxy is mostly N/S, and seems to have brighter central section, and a bright knot to the S. Elongation is N/S.

IC 455 07 34 57.7 85 32 14 V = 13.3; Size 1.1'x0.7'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 82d

18" 7mm - picked up easily in 20mm, galaxy has a bright core and inner disk with apparent spiral arms extending

CGCG 362-045 = PGC 21817 07 48 01.0 85 33 07 Size 0.8'x0.6'; PA = 64d

18" 4mm - nice tight small core that appear chaotic. Occasionally a tiny bright pinpoint stellar nucleus appears. From core two close arms appear to extend only slightly, then a a larger disk that shows easily only on the side to S.

UGC 3993 = PGC 22202 07 55 44.0 84 55 35 V = 12.8; Size 1.6'x1.2'; Surf Br = 13.4; PA = 35d

18" 7mm- showed up at that magnification close to a tight uneven double star. Appears chaotic in its bright core..Entire core area is larger than first appeared, and even more disrupted - a dark intrusion? Surrounding is a large dim disk, more noticeable on the double star side.

Binoculars with UHC and NPB on Veil, North American and Crescent. 15x50 stabilizers. The Veil looked very much like this photo in the binos - what a great view!

The North American stole the show in binoculars though, displaying its entire form, along with the Pelican Nebula, hands down the best view of this area I've ever seen. I swept over to the Crescent, which gave a nice view, but not comparable to that seen in a big Dob with a filter - and the entire Gamma Cygni area was filled with large clumps of glowing nebulae. Spectacular views in binoculars.

IC 469 07 55 59.1 85 09 32 V = 12.6; Size 2.2'x1.0'; Surf Br = 13.3; PA = 90d

18" 7mm- gives the impression of classic spiral galaxy tilted toward us, with mottled core area and possible sweeping arm in front, and large extended arms.

UGC 4078 = PGC 22640 08 04 24.7 84 38 29 V = 14.3; Size 2.1'x0.3'; Surf Br = 13.6; PA = 82d

18" 7mm - faint glow without central brightening. Three stars define the field, in a chain, bight and two dimmer, galaxy is off the side of center dimmer star. Galaxy seems to have hard edge or maybe dark lane on the side of the three stars. Very impressive maybe 6x1 ratio, and framed nicely in the center of three bright stars - bisecting them at a long angle.

CGCG 363-039 = PGC 23621 08 26 26.3 84 56 21 Size 1.0'x0.2'; PA = 130d

18" 7mm - this galaxy and one other small edge on proved to be the most challenging so far of the night - with only occasional "suspected" seeing a bit of it - a brightening between the two stars that flank it, and closer to the dimmer of the two.

UGC 4297 = PGC 23770 08 28 29.3 85 36 29 V = 13.6; Size 1.6'x0.4'; Surf Br = 12.9; PA = 83d

18" 7mm - bright,small, compact core with fleeting pinpoint nucleus. Core is uneven. Overall appearance is dim, but seems to have good extension, as does a dimmer elongated core.

Comet in 6"refractor at low power- = bright comet, large even glow, core is tight with a very stellar nucleus.

CGCG 363-041 = PGC 23961 08 33 39.0 85 58 57 V = 14.4; Size 0.7'x0.6'; Surf Br = 12.9

18" 4mm - very dim but part of close pair. By comparison it is brighter and smaller with slightly oval shape pointing mostly away on its major axis form its partner.

UGC 4348 = PGC 24001 08 34 01.9 85 56 44 V = 14.2; Size 1.5'x1.2'; Surf Br = 14.7; PA = 21d

18" 4mm - part of pair, but larger the its companion by comparison, dimmer, separated by a definite black void.

Thinking more about binocular views of the Veil and North American, I asked Steve about H-Beta filters. We came up with a pair, slapped them on, and easily found the California Nebula. The entire stretch of the object was visible, but of course it is quite tenuous, and while it did not have the "knock your eye out" impact of the others, there was no doubt we were seeing the entire target. Quite the sight.

IC 499 08 45 16.9 85 44 24 V = 12.5; Size 2.1'x1.1'; Surf Br = 13.2; PA = 80d

18" 4mm - very dim and ghostly, much like an unknown phosphorescent deep water creature who's insides show through a dim clear body. Not quite round, but not enough elongation to call it distinctly oval. Very dim star just to one side gives impression of almost an annular planetary nebula.

IC 512 = UGC 4646 = PGC 25451 09 03 49.8 85 30 06 V = 12.2; Size 1.8'x1.3'; Surf Br = 13.0; PA = 175d

18" 4mm - I've been galaxy hopping in this eyepiece, and the 7mm. This galaxy is quit4e dim., shape is indistinct. Sometimes it appears round with a sharp edge, other times it appears to extend in an amorphous shape. Amorphous extension turns out to be UGC 4612.

A Tale Of Two Sites - Part 1

2011-08-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

2011 continues to be a sparse year for deep sky observing. As late as the end of June, conditions refused to improve - cold, cloudy, rainy, at least over new moon weekends, when most working folks can get out to dark sites and stay up all night. However, two occasions worked out. The first was the Golden State Star Party (GSSP), in far northeastern California, near the small towns of Adin, Bieber, Nubieber and Lookout. Thanks to Jeff Gortatowski for the great photo at right - Sunset at GSSP, with Mount Shasta on the horizon. Beautiful place!

That location is in what locals refer to as the Big Valley. If you're old enough, you have visions of Barbara Stanwick and her crew. But this large open valley, 20 miles wide by 100 miles long, is a real place, with unreal skies. We are fortunate to be able to spend several nights there each year, enjoying country/small-town hospitality, with cultured and bright inhabitant. If it is possible, they outshine the stars in their night skies. If you haven't been to GSSP, look it up for next year.... it is so well organized, with so many conveniences, its like camping in your own backyard, but with the best skies you can imagine.... and all your friends there too. Winner.

The other observing trip I've been lucky enough to go on was to the Yosemite area, a wonderful long term friend named Michelle Stone, and her husband Paul Plett - own property nearby. Several old time friends gathered for 2 to 3 nights, and had some amazing conditions under which to go deep observing. And, a day in Yosemite, relaxing up at Glacier Point, made the trip even more spectacular - the ultimate combination of Heaven and Earth (the best tenchinage, for my Aikido friends!). These observations, raw notes, are combined from several nights over both trips.

I hope to return to Michelle's for a few more nights over the upcoming new moon.

Before starting though, at GSSP I was set up near Dr. Alan Argawal, and Paul Alsing. Alan has a 24" f/3.3 Starstructure, and Paul a 25" f/5 Obsession. The idea was to set up close to some big guns - I observe with an 18" f/4.5 Obsession, and be able to "mooch" some views of challenge targets. Perhaps the most challenging target discussed by my regular observing crew, is Hickson 50. One evening, early on, when The Big Dipper was still in good position, several of us went to Alan and asked to star hop off of M97, to the nearby quarry of Hickson 50. With high magnification (someone will need to remind me what we were using - maybe an 8mm Ethos), in Alan's scope, a faint haze was visible. Several of us confirmed it. Then over to Paul's 25", with the longer focal ratio, the field revealed not only the haze, but what I can describe as "sprites" - pinpoint of light that came and went, within the haze. Two of us felt there were four sprites.

There were many great views at GSSP, but for me, Hickson 50 was the most impressive. Big scopes and dark skies. Works for me!

My raw notes:

Abell 75 Cep PN 67"x47" 14.5 21 26 23 62 53 33 PK 101+8.1 = NGC 7076 = PN G101.8+08.7

Visible with 20mm no filter. 12mm with NPB filter reveals annular disk about 2.7' and round.

Abell 77 Cep PN 67"x50" 14 21 32 10 55 52 43 PK 97+3.1 = Sh 2-128 = PN G097.5+03.1 = LBN 443

Barely visible both with and without filter, both 20mm and 12mm. With VHT filter there appears to be two arcs near a small triangle to the W, one to the N and the brighter to the S.

CRL 2688 Cyg PPN 24"x6" 21 02 18 36 42 00

3.5mm ultra wide Orion without filter reveals a bright embedded star to the N and dimmer star to S within a peanut shaped halo. Very obvious and bright. Stars are actually in bright knots, with dimmer halo surrounding entire N/S combination.

Abell 78 Cyg PN 113"x88" 13.4 21 35 29 31 41 45 PK 81-14.1 = PN G081.2-14.9

12mm w/ultrablock - mostly round, dim, even brightness across disk.. Filter helps, almost not visible without.

Abell 72 Del PN 134"x121" 12.7 20 50 02 13 33 28 PK 59-18.1 = PN G059.7-18.7

12mm w/ultrablock - almost round but slight e/w elongation. Stars involved, bright one at w edge. Solid, even brightness across disk.

Hickson 89A Aqr GX4 0.9x0.6 14.4 21 20 01 -03 55 20 MCG -01-54-012

7mm all three bright components viewed averted, B seemed easier than A. C would come in with a hint of D < 25% of time.

Abell 70 Aql 45"x40" 14.7 20 31 33.2 -07 05 17 PK 38-25.1 = PN G38.1-25.4

12mm 18" - entire disk shows without filter but NE section is clearly brighter. 7mm shows annularity and galaxy visible through NE edge of nebula.

Palomar 11 10.0' 17.3 19 45 14 -08 00 26

12mm 18" - obvious granular appearance and bracketed by 2 concave chains of 4 = mag stars each running N/S with a bright star nearby to the N. Using an NPB filter shows the entire NE triangular portion of the galaxy glowing in HII.

NGC 6822 15.5'x13.5' 8.8 19 45 00 -14 48 NGC 6822 19 45.0 -14 48 15.5x13.5 8.8 Sgr

Barnard's Galaxy has a low, irregular surf br, ~14' in length. Use OIII filter to search for 2 small HII regions at N end. 12mm 18" - elongated NE/SW and embedded in stars, there is a dark rift or two that run along the major axis and several HII regions embedded, most noticeably the two at the NE end of the object.

SagDIG 3.2'x1.5' 15.0 19 30 00 -17 41 00 SagDIG 19 30.0 -17 41 3.2x1.5 15 Sgr

The Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular is a difficult 3' roundish glow nestled in a rich Milky Way field. Very difficult to identify. 7mm 18" - oval glow between parallelogram of stars, elongated NW/SE and appearing almost annular - no doubt it is there.

I've manipulated the contrast and brightness in this image, in order to try bringing out the object. Its a tough one!

Abell 66 Sgr 295"x241" 19 57 31.5 -21 36 46 PK 19-23.1 = PN G019.8-23.7

12mm 18" - Pair of stars equal mag nearby to NNE. Planetary is large and perhaps elongated slightly N/S with slight annularity. Dim stars appear embedded in E edge - perhaps 2. Very faint, although occasionally the central area appears to brighten and negate annular feeling.

Sh 2-052 2 2 19 47 46.3 -23 05 15 See next entry - how many types of catalogs is this in!

Abell 65 Sgr 134"x34" 13.8 19 46 33.8 -23 08 12 PK 17-21.1 = UGCA 415 = MCG -04-46-001 = PN G017.3-21.9 = PGC 63654

12mm 18" - visible without filter, but UHC helps. Round and mostly even brightness, but SW edge seems brighter than rest of disk. Chain of 4 dim stars cup N edge, and 3 dim stars extend W from S edge, with E star touching disk.

ESO 461-007 1.2'.7' 13.3 19 52 06 -30 49 00
7mm 18" observed, aka Hickson 86A
Hickson 86A 1.2x0.7 13.3 19 52 08.7 -30 49 30 63753
Hickson 86B 0.5x0.4 13.8 19 51 59.0 -30 48 57 63748
Hickson 86C 0.4x0.3 14.9 19 51 57.3 -30 51 23 63752
7mm 18" observed.

Terzan 8 3.5' 12.4 19 41 45 -34 00 01

12mm 18" - forms an almost equilateral triangle with GSC 7434:401 and GSC 7434:31, but feeling is I'm seeing the core as it is relatively small and not all that difficult.

ARP 29 11.6'x9.9' 8.8 20 34 52 60 09 NGC 6946

Large core with two arms coming off to NE and swinging E. S of the 2 arms is fatter. Dimmer arm comes off S of core and swings tightly around to W. Large core has a gradually brighter center. Finally noticed another long arm, from WNW and winding around straight to NE.

Abell 71 Cyg 165"x150" 14.5 20 32 23.2 47 21 04 PK 85+4.1 = PN G084.9+04.4 = Sh 2-116

7mm 18" - very dim glow, no definition at all, surrounding a mag 13.5 star with more "glow around a mag 12.5 star on the edge. Extremely difficult. Dim star actually appears involved in a haze.

Sh 2-115 50 2 20 34 33.0 46 52 40

12mm UHC 18" - dim linear glow with some structure running E/W of two pair of stars to the S. Dimmer pair appears involved in nebulosity. OC Berk 90 is obvious at E of the two pair of stars.

Sh 2-112 15 2 20 33 50.2 45 39 35

12mm UHC 18" - easy to view this Sharpless around GSC49801. Nebulosity forms an arc through the star, running mostly N/S and arcing to the E, forming a J with most but thinnest section to the N. Bottom of J is most pronounced.[

AGC 2319 0.973 15.4 19 20.8 43 59

7mm 18"- CGCGs 230-9, 230-8, 230-7, 230-4

Sh 2-108 180 3 20 22 34.8 40 15 15 IC 1318

30mm 18" - nebulosity with dark neb veined throughout over large areas around Gamma Cygni, through into the North American Nebula. Outstanding views throughout the entire area.

Abell 69 Cyg 25"x22" 20.2 20 19 58.3 38 24 02 PK 76+1.1 = PN G076.3+01.1

7mm 18" - perhaps at most the southern arc of this planetary, very elusive.

Sh 2-105 18 3 20 12 02.4 38 20 59 N6888 = Crescent Nebula

12mm 18" UHC - spectacular view, wispy nebula with blue glow and blue stars. Internal knots inside western edge, northern and eastern edge very thick and distinct. Mottling throughout. Star embedded in northeastern wisp is very reminiscent of Veil Nebula's Witches Broom.

Sh 2-106 3 3 20 27 26.9 37 23 49

12mm 18' UHC - amorphous glow involved with dark veins interspersed in distinct star field just NNW of SAO 70038. Subtle, but there.

Sh 2-104 7 2 20 17 44.6 36 44 40

12mm 18" UHC - faint but distinct even nebulosity surrounding stars of Dolidze 4, elongated E/W, with a notch taken out of the NW edge.

A Tale Of Two Sites - Part 2

2011-08-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Sh 2-101 20 2 19 59 56.8 35 17 27

12mm 18" NPB - reminiscent of Crescent, but dimmer. Two bright stars embedded in W end of nebula. Brightest portion is to N and E of bright stars, Another bright section runs E of the S star of the pair. More nebulosity is to th S and W of the pair of stars, but much more subtle. This is a very good target.

Sh 2-100 4 3 20 01 50.6 33 30 41 N6857

7mm 18" NPB - planetary appears almost triangular, nearly as distinct without the filter. Elongated slightly NW/SE. But appears to have somewhat triangular shape, with a harder edge running N/S. Star embedded in nebula, but seems offset to the N, which may be an illusion due to a dim northern edge of the shell.

Abell 74 Vul PN 871"x791" 15.8 21 16 52 24 08 51 PK 72-17.1 = PN G072.7-17.1

Abell 74 is interesting in that I found it by mistaking CGCG 471-2 for an edge of it, no filter with 20mm. 12mm w/ UIHC filter gave great gain in smoothness and feeling of an object dark but large, around two bright stars and off of them to the west southwest, while the galaxy was invisible to the northeast.The planetarty is large and devoid of features, an almost uniform surface glowing as dimly as possible. Sometimes it appears as if there are the deepest knots in several places in the object.

N7769/70/71 Peg GX 5.4 12.0:13.8:12.2 23 51 06 20 12 00

NGC 7769 is bright and complex, having a stellar pinpoint bright core, inner and outer halo that appears a tilted spiral. It is an easy galaxy to see detail in. NGC 7770 and NGC 7771 are to its east southeast, both elongated in an east west direction with 7771 much twice the size of 7770 but equal with 7769. Views with 7mm. Excellent find from Miles Paul Atlas of Galaxy Trios. 7771 is long and thin with a bright inner region across much of its length, and a bright stellar nucleus - but the small galaxy appears intrinsically brighter. Estimate sizes at 3x2 for 7769, 4.5x1 for 7770 and 3x1 for the little one.

HCG 092A Peg Hickson 2.2x1.1 12.6 22 36 04 33 56 52 NGC 7320 Arp 319
HCG 092B Peg Hickson 1.9x1.2 13.1 22 35 58 33 57 58 NGC 7318B Arp 319
HCG 092C Peg Hickson 1.7x1.3 13.1 22 36 03 33 58 34 NGC 7319 Arp 319
HCG 092D Peg Hickson 0.9x0.9 13.4 22 35 56 33 57 59 NGC 7318 Arp 319
HCG 092E Peg Hickson 1.1x1.1 13.6 22 35 52 33 56 42 NGC 7317 Arp 319

Stephans Quintet - all members easily visible. Pair distinctly broken apart. - 7mm.

N7270/71/75 Peg Trio 6.9 13.9:14.6:14.3 22 23 36 32 24 00

All three galaxies show well in 7mm. Nice alignment of a pair of bright stars pointing at group, with one member on one side of a long arc of stars, the other two galaxies on the other side, with one of those being the last to show up.

Abell 78 Cyg PN 113"x88" 13.4 21 35 29 31 41 45 PK 81-14.1 = PN G081.2-14.9

12mm - very large, very difficult, very dim and even.

Jones 1 Peg PK104-29.1 12.1 23 35 54 30 28 00

Large mostly circular shell, looks at first like a faint U with thick uprights. But dim, think of dark nebula, but kind of a backlit glow. Northern edge seems brighter and thicker, especially toward the w.

HCG 099A GX 1.1x0.4 13.9 00 00 37 28 23 04 UGC 12897
HCG 099B GX 1.0x0.9 13.7 00 00 46 28 24 07 UGC 12899
HCG 099C GX 0.8x0.4 14.7 00 00 44 28 24 05 MCG +05-01-021

All three visible with 7mm - however, the pair were difficult to see individually.

HCG 093D GX 0.7x0.6 14.7 23 15 33 19 02 51 NGC 7553:

HCG 094A GX 1.0x1.0 14 23 17 13 18 42 29 NGC 7578B Arp 170

PK 94+27.1 K1-16 PLNNB DRA 1.9 m 14.2 99.9 18 21.9 +64 22

7mm barely visible partial disk with central star cent* variable DS Draconis

Abell 61 PK 77+14.1 = PN G077.6+14.7 PLNNB CYG 201" 13.5 19 19 10.1 +46 14 36

12mm OIII barely visible, round, several dim stars embedded near the center.

NGC 6813 SG 3.148 BRTNB VUL 3 m 99.9 99.9 19 40.4 +27 18

Dim star in an oval glow. Responds well to NPB filter..

Sh 2-84 EN SGR 15x3 19 49.0 +18 23

NPB filter 12mm faint glow between two bright stars. The "Little California Nebula" appears a faint, 4' shallow arc of nebulosity bracketed by two mag 8.5 stars. Located 25' ESE of mag 3.7 Delta Sagittae.

A Tale Of Two Sites - Part 3

2011-08-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

PARSAMIAN 21 REFNEB AQL 19 29.007 +09 38 39

Tiny cometary nebula visible predominantly on one side of a dim star.

Abell 64 PGC 63630 = PK 44-9.1 = CGCG 397-005 PLNNB AQL 40"x27" 19 45 34.8 +05 33 52

Dim with OIII, roundish, distinct size but not large, just west of a pair of dimmer equal magnitude stars.

Sh2- 72 BRTNB AQL 25 m 99.9 99.9 19 03.8 +02 19

12mm OIII, large, fills most of fov, centered and most condensed around star GSC 466:1790, seems somewhat square. Mostly just a slight change in contrast.

NGC 6778 PK 34-6.1 PLNNB AQL 19 s 13.3 9.1 19 18.4 -01 36

7mm OIII, bipolar planetary, two bright knots very close together with black separation between. Dimmer roundish disk surrounds bright inner pair. Central star very dimly observable.

Sh2- 64 LBN 90 BRTNB SER 20 m 99.9 99.9 18 31.6 -02 05

20mm OIII - large very dim area of nebulosity surrounding three dim stars. Not much distinct.

Abell 48 PK 29+0.1 = PN G029.0+00.4 PLNNB AQL 43"x37" 17.2 18 42 46.9 -03 13 25

7mm OIII, very small and ill defined. At edge of vision, but high percentage of time "feel" there is a dim glow. Mostly round. Off two pairs of stars at right angles to each other.

PK 26-1.1 K4- 5 PLNNB SCT 20 s 15.7 99.9 18 45.6 -06 19

12mm OIII, very unusual shape! Linear and brightest section extends e/w and appears to get thicker to the w. Under, or n of the linear section a round glow comes and goes, appearing to "hang" below the linear glow.is a "bubble" to the w of the center of the line. Bubble appears annular.

Sh 2-060 BRTNB SCT 20 18 36 40.5 -06 42 04

12mm OIII, dim even glow surrounding a pair of mag 12.6 stars.

NGC 6539 GCL 85 GLOCL SER 2.5 m 8.9 99.9 18 04.8 -07 35

12mm, large and dim, unresolved. In heavily obscured area.

Palomar 11 GLOCL AQL 8 9.8 19 45.2 -08 00

12mm, large in fov, coarse, resolved partially. This Palomar globular appears as a diffuse, irregular glow 4' SSE of a mag 9 star. Try to resolve at high power.

Abell 60 PK 25-11.1 = PN G025.0-11.6 PLNNB SGR 88"x77" 16.2 19 19 18.6 -12 14 54

Very dim oval haze with VHT filter and 12mm Nagler. Almost not detectable.

HGC085 CGCG 341-010 HCG DRA 14.4 18 50 18.5 +73 21 05

7mm Hicksons 85A and 85B.

NGC 6826 PK 83+12.1 PLNNB CYG 27 s 8.8 6.9 19 44.8 +50 32

7mm obvious central star, darkened torus with some bright spots, surrounded by a bright almost round ring. H IV 73;Blinking Planetary;PK83+12.1

Heaven and Earth

2011-04-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

It had been an awful winter for astronomy. This was the first night out for Mina and me this year. We arrived at Willow Springs at 3pm and met a local land owner who is selling parcels, and spent three hours looking at land. I'm told there are neighbors who grow organic food - vegetables and herbs, a local nudist, and a few parcels owned by Buddhists. Nudists, Foodists and Buddhists. Hmmm. Anyway, the area looked good, some great places out there, and who knows what might develop. The photo is a view of the peaks where the land is located, looking mostly northwest.

Afterward we set up at Deep Sky Ranch, and were soon joined by Marko Johnston, Richard Navarrete, and finally, Steve Gottlieb. The night turned out to be okay, but not great. I'll take it for a first night out. The sky seemed kind of bright, the SQM reading I overheard seemed to confirm it. Transparency came and went, as did the seeing. In the best moments it was great, in the worst, things I'd expect to be able to see were invisible. One thing I was curios about was Steve's experience observing with Barbarella, Jimi Lowery's 48" telescope near Fort Davis Texas... he promised to post an observing report, which I now see he did.

The night started out with Steve showing a recent supernova. It was very bright, looking much more like a field star than anything I'd take for a supernova. Nice find Steve. In the distance during the night, I could hear Marko taking notes on his recorder. Familiar. Next to me, Richard was observing Hicksons. I spent the night going over a grab-bag of objects, and trying to see the Hicksons in Richard's scope. Marko would join Richard and I picking out Hicksons. Some are quite easy, as the joke goes. Some are a bear. Maybe Richard will comment on them. Steve was busy as usual, observing challenging targets. I asked what was on his list, and he mentioned dwarf galaxies. It sounded so politically incorrect, I asked, and we determined that they should be reclassified as "size differenced" - but that giant galaxies would probably prefer to keep their size classification as is. So, don't call them dwarfs.

Other notable occurrences during the night were various amorous livestock in the area, and temperatures that dropped to 32F leaving ice on car roofs. Next morning we drove out and headed east, instead of the usual way home. The drive back through the Panoche Valley on J1 was desolate beauty . We drove past Mercy Hot Springs, and DARC, which I hear is the new 2nd home of one of our top local imagers. This is a good area for astronomy as all there is there, is - heaven and earth (tenchinage) - I've fallen for it again, and, it was a good, again. A new observing season... just getting out under open dark skies, is good.

Here are my notes. All descriptions are with 18" f/4.5 Obsession, and 7mm Nagler, unless otherwise noted. All images are click-able...

Arp 104 UMa GX 2.9'x1.6' 12.3 13 32 10 62 45 53
Arp 104 UMa GX 2.4'x1.8' 13.6P 13 32 07 62 42 01

NGC 5218 is disrupted, and has swirling arms. Bright bar of a core. NGC 5216 is dimmer, smaller, rounder and has a very compact nearly stellar core.

Arp 238 UMa GX 0.9'x0.7' 14.4 13 15 29 62 07 27
Arp 238 UMa GX 1.0'x0.6' 15.3 13 15 35 62 07 27

With concentration there are two dim galaxies oriented E/W, with brighter galaxy trailing, and has at times a small stellar nucleus. Other galaxy is round and smaller. The two galaxies can be mistaken for haze around stars, as there are a pair to their N with equal separation (and brightness) that are collinear with the galaxies.

N5308 Uma GX 3.7'x0.6' 12.3B 13 47 00 60 58 23

Nice very elongated galaxy SSW/NNE. Somewhat of a bright small round core, with stellar pinpoint nucleus popping in. Disk gradually thins beyond the core, with possible dark lane. Striking galaxy.

NGC 5322 Boo GX 5.9'x3.8' 11.1B 13 49 14 60 11 26

Bright compact core is small and quickly transitions to a slightly dimmer disk, which then dims quickly into large fading oval. Fairly large galaxy is elongated but dominated by the bright core, which makes the rest of the object appear dimmer than it really is. Stars overlay the galaxy on the s and e sides. Nice view!

N5430 Uma GX 2.2'x1.1' 12.7P 14 00 45 59 19 43

No find! Too bad :-(

AGC 1767 UMa GXCL 20.7' 15.7 13 36.00 59 12 00

Too dim for the night.

N5204 UMa GX 5.0'x3.0' 11.7B 13 29 36 58 25 09

Large elongated moderately bright galaxy with large roundish core that is even, losing brightness at the edge of the core through the elongation. Possibly mottled.

HGC066A UMa GX5 0.5'x0.4' 15.8B 13 38 38 57 18 44

One component just detectable, but barely. Sky is bright. No real detail, just a small oval dim glow.

N5585 Uma GX 6.1'x3.8' 11.2B 14 19 47 56 43 45

Large and obvious in 12mm, galaxy has elongated large core that could almost be a bright bar. Dim area around core hints at several long spiral arms. Close inspection shows core to be set asymetrically, with most of the arm structure toward the brightest nearby star.

NGC 5631 Uma GX 1.7' 12.4B 14 26 33 56 35 01

Small dim oval pointing away from nearby dim star. No detail.

N5443 Uma GX 3.2'x1.2' 13.1P 14 02 11 55 48 56

Dim lumpy bumpy elongated galaxy full of dark intrusions and disturbed appearance, Oriented E/W, there is a knot in the w side close to the core, compared to knot in E side, which is further from core. Dark intrusions both sides of core.

Arp 239 UMa GX 0.7'x0.4' 15.0 13 41 43 55 40 23

Dim, two main galaxies NGC 5278 and 5279, just break apart with black space between.

10 10 10! A fine night at Willow Springs.

2010-10-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, Richard Navarrete, Marko Johnston, Mina Reyes and I all met at Willow Springs for what would be an excellent night of observing. Between us, there were three 18" Dobs, and a pair of 20x80 Celestron Giant Binoculars on a parallelogram mount. Conditions were warm, requiring no more than a few light layers of clothing, and although the SQM readings were average for our location, they were better than conditions reported from other sites the prior nights. To our west there was some brightening over the hills, in the direction of Hollister, but overhead, we were going deep, and enjoying hunting challenging targets in the early fall skies. To the north, Comet Hartley 2 was on the verge of naked eye visibility. Over the night, Mina was doing quick sketches of the comet's position every 45 minutes or so, and you could easy follow its rapid motion against the background stars.

The night was very pleasant, with everyone sharing views, taking time to chat, joke, have a few drinks, and relax with each others company. The way it should be! Among the most interesting views were Abell 85 in Marko's scope, and several Hicksons in Richard's... of which I thought Hickson 16 was amazing, and could rival Hickson 68 for best in class!

I had created an Excel with about 100 targets to choose from, in a swath of sky a degree wide centered on RA 23:29. I began in the north, and as usual, never got much further south than zenith. Its just too much fun teasing out detail - in some cases, just teasing out anything at all!

I don't know what time we called it a night, but it must have been between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. As I lay in my truck, in bed, door open to the south... I fell asleep watching Orion climbing high in the sky to the south. I don't think I'd been to Willow Springs since maybe June - this was a great return.

Big thanks to Kevin Ritschel, whom I was very pleased to see again. A big red coming your way next time I visit.... thank you so much for the hospitality... your guests give you all 10's.

Here are the targets I viewed, and brief notes:

N 7762 Cep OC 11 23 50 01 +68 02 18

18" 20mm - 25 stars of similar (tier 1) magnitude in three distinct chains, largest one running E/W for about 13', next largest running S of the E end of the long one for about 8' and the shortest one between the other two running NW/SE for only 2' and having only 4 stars. Rest of cluster is dim background comprising of a distinct haze.

Sh 2-155 BN 60 2 22 56 43 +62 37 04

18" 20mm - three bright stars are embedded in nebulosity. SAO 20334, SAO 20335 and SAO 20332. Ultrablock helps show mottling throughout the area.. Nebulosity is most distinct on the W or "inside" of the curve of the three stars.

Sh 2-165 BN 10 2 23 39 48 +61 56 15

18" 29mm - Ultrablock reveals a distinct small bright glow around GSC 4284:722 - along with dim nebulosity located tightly to the NW of the star, and extending more dimly away to the S and a bit to the SE.

Sh 2-161 BN 55 2 23 15 29 +61 51 43

18" 20mm - Ultrablock shows very slight glow between SAO 19274, GSC 4252:370 and GSC 4248:909 with "brightest" area near GSC 4248:909.

M052 CAS OC 13 8 23 24 12 +61 35 00 NGC 7654

18" 20mm - bright, distinct cluster about 20' diameter - 1 very bright star near edge of cluster, about 20 bright (tier 1) stars embedded in estimated 50 dimmer (tier 2) stars. Dim glow of many more stars is throughout cluster.

Sh 2-158 BN 10 3 23 13 39 +61 30 40 N7538

18" 7mm - pair of "bright(er)" stars, (actually three), with dark lane to their W in an obvious glow surrounding the stars. Brightest section is S of the stars. Lower section (N of the stars) the glow is obviously mottled. Nice find!

Sh 2-162 BN 40 3 23 20 41 +61 11 52 N7635 = Bubble Nebula

18" 7mm - surrounds mag 8.7 star SAO 20575 - is mottled extending W with an E/W split showing a dark lane. Brightest section of nebulosity SW of star, to NE is an arc with a hard edge.

N 7419 Cep OC 2 22 54 20 +60 48 55

18" 12mm - nice compact cluster consisting of 1 very bright (tier 1) star, two dimmer (tier 2), and 19 dim ones, at the end of a nice chain of three stars in diminishing magnitude leading to the cluster. Very attractive at 193x.

NGC 7510 Cep OC 2 7.9 23 11 30 +60 34 00

18" 20mm - nice spray of stars in three chains coming off a mag 9.6 star, and all extending W. Very compact and distinctive.

Sh 2-157 BN 90 3 23 16 03 +60 02 44 18"

12mm - dim glow around GSC 4263:2102 and extending toward a distinct chain of stars to the east. Filters do not help. Distinct but very dim.

Abell 82 Cas PN 94" 12.7 23 45 47 +57 03 59 PK 114-4.1 = PN G114.0-04.6

18" 12mm - OIII filter. Dim, round, possibly annular. At least two stars involved, one bright. Bright star is possible central star. Appears mottled.

Abell 83 Cas PN 42"x37" 15.5 23 46 46 +54 44 38 PK 113-6.1 = PN G113.6-06.9

18" 12mm - OIII filter. Very dim, about 7'x3' E/W. Even brightness, possibly crescent and open to the north.

Abell 84 Cas PN 147"x114" 13 23 47 44 +51 23 56 PK 112-10.1 = PN G112.9-10.2

18" 12mm - OIII filter. Obvious oval glow that includes a bright star. Star makes nebula appear uneven in brightness, may be an optical illusion, but very noticeable. Nebula may be 2x as large as it seems around star, extending away from the star as a large oval with uneven brightness.

NGC 7686 And OC 7.4 5.6 23 30 60 +49 08 00

18" 20mm - large coarse cluster with wide range of star magnitudes. Dominated by brightest star in center of group. Wiggling the scope creates excellent "Mexican Jumping Star" effect. Perhaps 8'x10' in size.

NGC 7662 And PN 32x23 9 23 25 54 +42 33 00

18" 7mm - OIII filter. Distinct torus in center is dark. No central star. Torus surrounded by very bright glowing ring, which is immediately surrounded by a dimmer ring of equal thickness. This "inner" section is elongated generally E/W. Surrounding inner section is a large and dim "change in contrast" envelope extending in a mostly N/S elongation.

N 7640 And GX 10.5x2.0 11.3 23 22 06 +40 50 44

18" 12mm - large elongated galaxy with slightly brighter core and mostly even surface brightness. Some variation seems to indicate slighter brightening on NE half. Star embedded just off S of the central region appears to bifurcate galaxy, but this is illusion.

N7445/46/49 And Trio 4 14.6:14.4:14.0 22 59 42 +39 06 00

18" 7mm - trio shows readily at this magnification. NGC 7449 seems mostly round but perhaps a bit of elongation. NGC 7446 about equal in brightness and shape to 7449. NGC 7445 is noticeably dimmer, and shows elongation.

Arp 86 GX 3.3'x2.1' 12 23 47 04 +29 29 00 NGC 7753

18" 7mm - this NGC is listed as nonexistent, but NGC 7549 found at location. First seen though were NGC 7550 to its S and NGC 7457 to NGC 7550's W. Finally, after seeing NGC 7549, CGCG 454-15 appeared.

All astrophotos from Digital Sky Survey except NGC 7662 credit Adam Block and Orion by Hubblesite. Mina Reyes photo by Guillermo Moran.

Friendly Skies

2010-08-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

A group of six observers spent three nights at Mount Lassen this last new moon. We went during the week, with our last night August 12th, the peak night for the Perseid Meteor Shower. We stayed in a cabin, in Mineral, a few miles outside the park's southwest entrance.

I always marvel at the views of the park entering from the southwest. In past years, camping, the group would stay at Lost Creek Group Campground, or Summit Lake South. Both are great places from which to enjoy the park. We'd enter through the north, via the Manzanita Lake entrance. From there, you get to see some nice lakes, and views of the volcanic peak, however - the views entering the park from Mineral show the amazing display of the color and form that the geothermal and glacial activates have sculpted into the landscape. It is among my favorite drives in California. I also think it is no more driving time back from our observing site at Bumpass Hell Parking lot, to Mineral, than back to Lost Creek Campground, and only slightly longer than to Summit Lakes. The conveniences of having a cabin to relax/recover in during the day cannot be overstated.

Our first night was a cloud-out. This was not a problem, as several of the attendees has just come from other outdoor activies, including backpacking at Yosemite and several nights teaching astronomy at a camp in the Sierra. Getting a good night's sleep on arrival, with the prospect of two clear nights following, was a welcome idea. The second day we all went on a hike, 3.6 miles round trip, to Bumpass Hell. There was still some snow on the trail in places, but the hike was easy and spectacular. Views of the peaks forming the ancient Mt. Brokeoff (Mt. Tehama) volcano, followed by the amazing geothermal pools, steam vents and mud pots, was great fun. Easy hike, and highly recommended. That night we drove out, at 7pm, to the parking lot at Bumpass Hell. The site is over 8200 feet elevation, and looks out over the jagged peaks of that formed Mt. Brokeoff. It is a magical place at sunset, when the deep blue sky glows neon against the jagged silhouettes of the
surrounding peaks. In the east, the division between night and day (Belt of Venus) rose - a band of crimson between the blue of day and darkening gray-to-black of night. Some of us busied ourselves setting up gear, others sat quietly in chairs watching the show unfold. The second night, the night of the Perseids, was the best, as a one day old moon hung low over Mt. Brokeoff in the west, with bright Venus directly above it, Mars close to its east, and Saturn just a bit further to its west. Night was sweeping over us from the east.

And then the stars came out.

The stars at Lassen are incomparable. I didn't do a limiting magnitude count, but two occurrences testify to the darkness and transparency of the place. Looking down, we could not see our feet. Faces were featureless with only our heads and upper bodies visible against the ambient light. As telling was that charts Steve Gottlieb printed out for potential observing targets, were not deep enough. Mag 16 galaxies were not a challenge. Looking up, the dark lanes in and around the Milky Way beginning in Sagittarius, up through Aquila's "Off Ramp", bordering the star clouds of Cygnus and into the Northern Coal Sack, were black and detailed, with tendrils winding out and disappearing into the surrounding star fields. Since this was the peak of the Perseids, everyone took time to just look up, which provided ample time to marvel at the broad unaided views. This is truly a place where words are inadequate - by day and by night.

As for the Perseids, they showed up, but it was not a big show. Of course I am jaded, having witnessed the Leonid Meteor Storm several years back, but even so, I'd estimate the maximum hourly count was about half this year of what one might wish for.

We observed those two nights until I think close to 3 a.m. We all had special projects. I prepared by downloading (this sounds crazy, but look at the hobby we have!) close to 200 pdf files from Paul Alsing's web-space. Of those, I winnowed the list down to 38 targets, with Steve's help. The last night, I narrowed it down to 13 remaining. Many were difficult and exotic objects, but the great skies allowed me to find and observe everything I looked for.

A big thanks for those friend who attended, for making it such a nice. Richard Navarrete, who booked the cabin, Steve Gottlieb, Ray Cash, Ken Archuleta, and, her first time to Lassen - Mina Reyes.

They were indeed, friendly skies.

Here are the objects I observed, and my notes, all with an 18" f/4.5 Dobsonian.

Abell 55
12mm UHC - obvious although dim. Suspected annular with slight E/W elongation.

Abell 62
12mm UHC - very dim, large, round, with dim central star. Many stars embedded around circumference, glowing. More pronounced glow along southwest edge. Estimate 5' diameter.

Abell 64
7mm no filter - very dim, elongated E/W with possible curve outward to S. Even brightness across object.

Abell 65
12mm - even round glow, no detail. Responds to filters but not a great difference.

NGC 6751
7mm w/UHC - small, round, bright, mottled. With 4.8 Nagler object is transformed - concentric rings around a small torus, and dim central star.

NGC 6772
4.8mm dim, round, even surface brightness across object, fairly sharply defined edges, possible very slight annularity.'

NGC 6778
4.8mm - bright, squashed and rectangular appearance. Central star is just brighter than disk. Dark intrusion into disk gives sense of slight annularity. 1.8x1 ratio.

NGC 6781
7mm - large, bright, round, soft edges, somewhat annular, direct vision easily, about 2' diameter. Filters do not help much.

NGC 6804
4.8mm - large, faint, mottled, very dim central star, other stars seem embedded in shell, sharp edges.

Parsamian 21
4.8mm - dim star on north end of slightly expanding fan of comet shape extending south, appears brighter on western edge. Filter did not help.

Palomar 11
12mm - dim haze with several members resolved. Bright star close by to the north, dimmer but obvious pair equally close to the northeast. No problem seeing this target. 7mm - fairly even glow, round, several dim stars resolve especially near the southern edge.

DWB 111 - Propeller
20mm H-Beta - v shape of stars with double at vertex. Propeller goes from top of V to top of V, most pronounced at the top of both chains in the V shape. Some nebula also shows dipping "down" toward V at the vertex.

Gyulbudaghiam 98-171
7mm no filter. Appears to be a cometary reflection nebula extending ENE from a medium bright field star. Surrounds the star and spreads widely away from it. Dim star embedded in the end of the tail, possible knot about mid-point along the object's major axis.

Sh2-106
12mm UHC - dim star with averted glow surrounding. Glow appears mottled, but has a tight round glow with the star offset slightly to the E, embedded in a larger oval halo extending W. Also in field is long streaky sections of nebulosity extending NW/SE and most pronounced involving stars to the SE, and to their north.

Sh2-112
20mm UHC - dim star but brightest in field, embedded in dim but obvious glow extending in fan shape NE and S, with dark intrusions. Nebula has sharp edge along the NE section. Other areas of nebulosity are throughout the region, especially pronounced to the E over 40', dark lanes are clear. Very easy location close to Deneb.

Sh2-91
20mm - OIII - nice supernova remnant strip, arcing SW/NE around a bright easy to locate star just off Alberio in Cygnus. Brightest section is due S of the star, strip is quite long, over 40'. Check to see if there is a second strip paralleling the one observed, as there are hints of it in the field.

Sh2-101
20mm - OIII - very nice large swath of HII with bright stars embedded at opposite ends, including some doubles. Bright single star is at N end of object, two pronounced arcs of nebulosity extend south along the E and W edges, with a faintly nebulous center. This is an oval, with two pair of stars embedded in the S end, where nebulosity is its most obvious. The southern part is actually a large knot of nebulosity with the pairs of doubles clearly embedded. Shell is least obvious to the east, and also seems to have some nebulosity extending further SE from the S edge.

Simeis 3-210
20mm - OIII - long strand of nebulosity that is probably an outlying section of the Veil Nebula. Confused at first with the 52 Cygni section of the Veil due to the embedded star in this target. Strand extends SE/NW and crosses entire length of 20 Nagler - 47'. View was dim, but direct vision.

WR 134
20mm - OIII - very distinct Wolf Rayet nebula, with western section most pronounced, extended north and around to the east, with a cavity between, having a chain of four stars in the middle and showing some involved nebulosity. Like a very large Crescent Nebula, but sparse on the southeast section. Still, other dim nebulae are throughout the area on the SE side.

Photos 1, 3, and 4 are by Richard Navarrete

Houge Park's Big Turnout

2010-03-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Local skies in San Jose were beautiful all day, and spring daytime temperatures made their first real appearance, so it was no surprise we had a big public turnout at the San Jose Astronomical Association's Houge Park in-town public star party last night. However, I had a lot of concern when packing to go, as the clear blue skies were washing due to a high thin opaque layers of clouds encroaching from the west.

Someone counted eleven telescopes. There were a number of refractors, including a very nice 6" AP on a 900 mount, and at least three ten inch Dobs (including mine). The crowd began to show up just at dusk, and I really didn't have the opportunity to walk around and look at the other scopes. Early on, people were fascinated that they could see Venus and Mars. There was also a thin crescent moon. Venus was so low that the moon and Mars were the showpieces. Later though, Saturn would rise and take center stage.

Aside from the local (solar-system) targets, I was showing people views of The Orion Nebula (M42), the big open cluster M35 and NGC 2392 (aka The Eskimo Nebula) in Gemini. The high clouds persisted, cutting down transparency, but there was still enough detail in all the objects to make it worthwhile. Saturn at times of steady seeing was spectacular - creamy golden with a slit of a gap in the nearly edge-on rings, and subtle banding on the disk of the planet. Mars was OK, but only occasionally gave up much detail - people just liked its color! There were some quite good views of it though through the 6" AP later in the evening.

Other than Saturn, the crowd pleaser in my scope was The Orion Nebula. People asked good questions about size and distance, I would answer about light years and what the term meant. Kevin Roberts, set up next to me, interjected with the most tangible comment about the distance, saying the light we're seeing left from the object around the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, before the Dark Ages - good answer! A boy asked how the nebula was formed, so I got to talk a bit about dust and gas in space, gravity, stellar winds and radiation, so aside from the nice visual of the (brighter portion of the ) nebula and Trapezium stars, there was some appreciation cognitively, for what was being viewed. I had added an Orion Ultrablock filter to show more of the nebula - of course it dimmed the stars, but it also led to discussions about passing only certain wavelengths of light. So, all these things led to interesting discussions, and a good size crowd around the scope.

Overhead, there were long bands of thin clouds that would pass through. Some of them reminded me of the great aurora we saw from Houge Park several years ago. But there was still plenty of decent sky to enjoy. People seemed to like M35, as a contrast in object type to M42. The low power view at 57X allowed nice framing (my scope is a 10" f/5.7)... the stars were varied magnitudes in the cluster, and sharp pinpoints.

I finished up showing the Eskimo Nebula at 163X. I added an NPB filter, which showed the greatly dimmed central star, round bright disk in which the star is embedded, and a dim outer ring around the disk. Some people saw the object, some saw detail, some could not figure out what I was looking at - it was the "challenge" object of the night!

The last thing I did was to try splitting Procyon, but could easily tell there was enough scintillation to make it impossible. By then it was 11 p.m. the temps had dropped to the point of feeling chilly, and the crowds had disappeared. I packed up while visiting with some old buddies, and new friends I had met during the evening. I got to use my 10" scope, which is a rarity these days, and we had finally had a good (well, reasonable) night at Hogue Park, the first in several months.

A suggestion, if you're not looking at Saturn, you're missing out. It is spectacular right now with the rings at such a shallow angle. Get your gear out and check it out!

The Big Freeze; A Cold Night In UMa

2010-03-14T13:32:00.001-07:00

I'm home, and can finally feel all my toes... now to start peeling off the layers of cold weather clothes.

As I stepped out of the garage yesterday, to pile gear in my truck, the north wind blew right through me. A cold shiver had me thinking twice about my decision to drive to Willow Springs. Night temps were forecast around freezing, and this wind... but blue skies won.

Soon I was greeting Richard Navarrete at the meet-up spot in Morgan Hill, where I filled my thermos with Ethyl, topped off the tank, and headed for the hills. The drive south was easy, quick, and spectacular. The rolling hills were at peak green, wild mustard tall as corn painted the valley floor and spilled on up the sides of the nearby slopes, mixed with orange California Poppies. With podcasts as company, the empty two-lane quickly left the city behind, and led to adventures where the sky is literally the limit. Love the drive, love the place, love the sights, love where it all takes me.

Antelope Valley Road leaves the winding J14 pavement and leads into Willow Springs and Deep Sky Ranch over a one mile series of water-filled pot holes and ruts. I'm always gentle driving in, but enjoy making the morning ride out fun and exciting... Anyway... upon arriving at DSR, I found Steve Gottlieb at the gate and Peter Natscher pulled over to the side of the road. Soon Richard pulled up, to be joined shortly by Julien Lecomte and Rogelio Bernal Andreo. We noted the 42F degree temp, and while setting up chatted about our observing buddy Greg moving to Arizona, DSR regular Marko Johnston bailing on us for an observing trip down under, and the conveniences of DARC Observatory. Our host Kevin Ritschel arrived and the group was complete. Venus was low in the west, with Sirius, Procyon and Mars rising to zenith in a line from the south. Just as I was noticed it, Kevin pointed out the Zodiacal Light, amazingly bright and wide, tilted toward the south, up into Taurus through the Pleaides. There was no hint of dew, and the wind had disappeared. This held the promise of a great night... M42 showed tons of detail even in full twilight. I climbed into the truck to gear-up for the cold, and by the time I got out, the winter Milky Way and hundreds of stars were out...

Early soft seeing would steady up during the night. Peter's plan was to mostly study planetary nebulae on the McNeil 450 list, with his 24" Starmaster. Julien worked on finishing the Herschel 400 with a 12" Meade LightBridge. Richard's 18" Obsession sat on an Osypowski Equatorial Platform, hunting Hicksons until late... Steve... well... he always has something unexpected, and last night his 18" Starmaster was showing Sharpless reflection nebulae, blasars, and other selected esoteric targets, such as the Integral Sign Galaxy. Kevin was testing GoTo on a 12" driven Dob... with gears that were reminiscent of the old Coffee Grinder LX-200's! Me... slumming a list of mixed targets in the chilly north, with my 18". Oh, almost forgot Rogelio... the lone imager! I believe he was shooting the Seagull Nebula, but we'll have to wait and see... it strikes me as ironic, that I, a visual observer who uses little in the way of technology in the hobby, have to describe non-visually in writing what I see, yet Rogelio, who relies heavily on technology, presents us with no words, and instead, something that is entirely visual!

So, during the night, we'd share views, take breaks, drink coffee (regular coffee) and talk... relaxed and friendly, a very good group. I especially enjoyed seeing Peter, who I've known for many years, but rarely get to observe with.

During the night, the temps dropped to 26F. I had all my layers on, chemical toe warmers in my Sorrels, fingerless gloves inside mittens with fold back fronts - in which I put toe warmers. By 1 a.m., the cold was enough. I couldn't feel my toes, the soles of my feet were icy, and I couldn't take notes. I closed shop, took off my boots and jacket, and crawled inside the truck, into my sleeping bag, thinking about frostbite, and about freezing...

I woke groggy in the morning to a big freeze outside... a layer of ice covered the green hills and gear, a white world under perfect blue skies.

Now that I'm home, and can finally feel all my toes... despite the temps, and the numbing, I have to say I had a great time. The coffee in my thermos is still hot as I write this.... maybe I just need more insulation.

Here are the targets I observed, in star-hopping order, and some sketchy notes about them...

Arp 207 Dra GX 1.2'x0.2' 15.4 09 31 06 +76 27 00 UGC 05050
18" 7mm bright pinpoint core, elongated NW/SE 3x2, about 1'x0.7'. Dim halo.

NGC 2985 UMa GX 5.5x5 10.6 09 50 24 +72 17 00
18" 7mm very bright core with a slightly brighter nucleus embedded. Brightness drops off rapidly to a large dim halo, elongated mostly N/S and about 3'x2'.

M82 UMA GX 9.x4.0 9.5 09 55 54 +69 41 00 NGC 3034 Arp 337
18" 7mm very bright and mottled with dark intrusions near center of 8.5'x2.5' elongation, WSW/ENE. HII regions to E of center near crossing dark lane. With UHC, 3 obvious HII regions, two adjacent to dark intrusion, one to W and possibly one more at extreme W end.

NGC 2787 UMa GX 2x1.3 10.9 09 19 18 +69 12 00
18" 7mm large spiral NNW/ESE with large dim halo showing hints of spiral structure. Core is bright, small, and shows chaotic form, or perhaps very tightly wound spiral arms in the core. Approx 3'x2'.

M81 UMA GX 21.0x10.0 8.5 09 55 36 +69 04 00 NGC 3031
18" 12mm beautiful tight bright small core gradually decreasing in brightness along a mostly NW/SE elongation of about 20', with 10' width. Tenuous spiral arms distinctly evident on the SE edge, leading around E to NE. Spectacular galaxy, much in the way 47 Tucanae is for globulars. Dim spiral arm is also visible extending from NW and around the W side, separated widely by large black dark lane.

NGC 3077 UMa GX 2.3x1.9 10.9 10 03 18 +68 44 00
18" 7mm tiny dim pinpoint nucleus surrounded by a moderately bright 0.5' core that is mostly round but rather chaotic. Larger dim envelope seems to extend more to the E of the core, and about 2'x1.5' E/W

Arp 300 Uma GX 1.6'x1.0' 13.4 09 28 02 +68 25 00 UGC 05029
18" 7mm pair of galaxies oriented mostly E/W and close together, W is brighter and smaller, elongated mostly N/S, E galaxy is larger, more diffuse and more NE/SW elongation.

NGC 2976 UMa OC 10 8.5 09 47 12 +67 55 00
18" 7mm elongated 6'x2' with even brightness across entire galaxy. Very slight hint of small brighter core, or possibly HII embedded. Mottled. Bright. Elongated N/S.

N2814/20/I2458 UMa Trio 3.9 13.7:12.8:15.0 09 21 48 +64 18 00
18" 7mm - wonderful view of 3 edge on galaxies. Largest is E of the smaller two, elongated 3'x0.2' NW/SE, other two are almost perpendicular to largest at N/S, at 0.5'x0.1'. Larger galaxy nearby clearly visible. NGCs 2820, 2814 and IC 2458. NGC 2805 very nearby.

N 2805 UMa GX 6.3x4.8 11 09 20 20 +64 06 10
18" 7mm - large and clumpy. Dim, core shows best. At first appears core only, but soon lumps appear out away from core…. Arms? HII regions?'

N 2880 UMa GX 2.0x1.2 11.5 09 29 34 +62 29 27
18" 7mm small bright core with stellar nuclei, dim large extended disk mostly N/S at 2'x1'. Active galaxy?

NGC 2742 UMa GX 2.5x1 11.2 09 07 36 +60 29 00
18" 7mm elongated 4'x2.5', even brightness, mottled, E/W, perhaps a very faint stellar nucleus.

NGC 2768 UMa GX 2x1 10.5 09 11 36 +60 02 00
18" 12mm - stellar nucleus surrounded by a small bright elongated core. Elongated disk runs WNW/ESE about 3'x1.8' NW/SE.. Beautiful galaxy!

NGC 2950 UMa GX 1.3x.9 10.9 09 40 36 +58 51 00
18" 7mm - elongated galaxy WNW/ESE 2'x1'. Bright pinpoint nucleus in a small bright core that ends abruptly.

NGC 3079 UMa GX 8x1 11.2 10 02 00 +55 41 00
18" 7mm elongated N/S 7'x1', S 3' is brighter and mottled, and warped to W. Nice!

NGC 2841 UMa GX 6.4x2.4 9.3 09 22 00 +50 58 00
18" 7mm elongated 4'x2; mostly N/S with small bright core and dim stellar nucleus, dusty mottled appearance.

N2854/56/57 UMa Trio 10.6 13.0:13.1:12.3 09 24 30 +49 18 00 NGC 2857 = Arp 1 NGC 2854 = Arp 285
18" 7mm 2854 and 2856 are very similar small bright elongated galaxies, perpendicular to each other. 2857 is large, dim and diffuse.

HCG 041 UMA Hickson 1.5x0.3 13.6 09 57 35 +45 13 48 UGC 05345
18" 7mm 2 bright ones show. End of notes. Freezing. No toes, no fingers. Bed time.

California Poppy image by Steve Loos...

A Good Night For Winter

2010-02-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

Getting out twice in a week, observing, is a rarity. Having had modest success at Dinosaur Point on Saturday night, when the weather forecast showed a good opportunity on Tuesday, four TACos jumped on it and met at Willow Springs. The rationale was simple. One, it could rain for the next two months. Two, the satellite imagery was favorable, even though skies at 3:30 p.m. were mucky and not encouraging. I had a running conversation with Richard Navarrete during the afternoon, and it came down to this simple statement: "I'd hate to go and get skunked, but I'd hate worse not going and hearing it was a good night".

Our arrival was after dark, but within 45 minutes, including some equipment repair (Richard's equatorial platform battery was dead), we were underway.

I have to say, the drive to Willow in the dark is a different animal than I'm accustomed to dealing with. Driving south through Gilroy, then Hollister, is typical night "city" driving. But once I passed through the hamlet of Tres Pinos, it felt like I was on a road to nowhere. Twists, turns, occasional oncoming headlights... it was as if the road was a ribbon of safety and nothing else existed. I listened to an astronomy podcast about advanced civilizations, and learned about theorized Dyson Spheres, as I arrived.

Things worked out quite well. There was dewing, but it was minimal. The sky cleared, I was hearing SQM reading in the mid 21's. Decent transparency... not the best, but workable. I think the highlights of the night were seeing Greg LaFlamme again, before his departure to Arizona, enjoying some of Marko Johnston's humor, watching our host Kevin Ritschel buzz around toying with a 12" Synta driven Dob, and looking at views of some tough Hickson Clusters of Galaxies with Richard. Greg had one of the bet views of The Ghost Of Jupiter in his scope I've ever seen. I need more power! Also, and this is always one of the most mesmerizing things to look at when you get a great view, M51 was stunning. A view like that is what makes people look in wonder, realizing what they are seeing is real, and mindlessly far away, even though it is a "close" object. Mind numbing, mind expanding...

I suppose we were at it until about 2 a.m., when I laid down in my sleeping bag, and watched as, "overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."

In the morning, there were signs of dew...

and sights of transition between winter and spring...

We were all glad to have had the opportunity to observe, and enjoy each others comradarie and company.

A quick packing job and we were on our way...
back to the daily routine, and life on planet earth.

All above shots are done via iPhone. Wish I could say the same for those below!

Here are my observing notes...

Equipment was an 18" f/4.5 undriven Dobsonian, and three Nagler eyepieces, 20mm, 12mm and 7mm, Rigel Quickfinder, and The Sky planetarium software (as a chart). The only filter I used was an NPB.

N 2541 Lyn GX 6.3x3.2 11.8 08 14 40 +49 03 43
20mm 18" - large, elongated 4x2 NW/SE, no core, gradually brightening to the center.

Arp 6 GX 1.7'x1.5' 12.3 08 13 14 +45 59 00 NGC 2537
12mm 18" - small, mostly round with slight elongation NW/SE, bright, no discernible core, bright throughout. IC2233 in same field, with 7mm long dim slash 6x1 N/S with star embedded in N end.

N 2493 Lyn GX 1.9x1.9 12 08 00 23 +39 49 49
7mm - 18" - small, very bright core with stellar nucleus, dimmer outer halo extended 3x2 SW/NE. N2495 and CGCG 207-17 both visible to NE.

Arp 143 GX 1.2'x0.8' 13.2 07 46 53 +39 01 00 NGC 2444 and NGC 2445
7mm - 18" - almost identical galaxies, N/S, dim halos each with bright stellar cores. Galaxy to N is a bit brighter. Both small in angular size.

NGC 2419 Lyx GC 1.7 11.5 07 38 60 +38 53 00
7mm - 18" - mottled but bright globular, averted gives hints of resolution. This object is the farthest globular cluster from us, in our own galaxy.

N 2415 Lyn GX 0.9x0.9 12.4 07 36 56 +35 14 32
7mm 18" - small round galaxy with moderately bright core, no nucleus, dim halo.

N2373/75/79 Gem Trio 10.1 13.7:13.6:13.5 07 27 24 +33 48 00
7mm 18" - all three show with averted vision. Pair are mostly N/S, took work before they started to show.

N2385/88/89 Gem Trio 7.7 14.2:13.7:12.9 07 29 06 +33 48 00
20mm 18" - all three show up easily. 7mm shows all three have stellar nuclei, and appear elongated N/S.

NGC 2372 NGC 2371 Gem PN 47x43 9.5 07 25 36 +29 30 00
7mm 18" - nice bi-lobed proto-planetary with pinpoint progenitor star obvious. Both lobes bright, W lobe is brighter and more condensed, E lobe appears larger but dimmer. E lobe aslo has bright condensed center. Appears there is a larger dim oval envelope surrounding entire object. W lobe has a blue-green tint, without filters.

Arp 82 GX 2.5'x1.2' 12.8 08 11 13 +25 12 00 NGC 2535 NGC 2536
12mm 18" - dimmer member of pair is SE of larger and brighter one. Larger member appears elongated N/S, dimmer has tiny stellar core and is perhaps linear inside envelope.

NGC 2420 Gem OC 7 10.2 07 38 24 +21 34 00
12mm 18" - horseshoe of bright stars opening to W, with a tail of stars off the SE end of the closed part of the horseshoe. About 8 stars in the horseshoe, with 4 in the arced tail, opening to the W. Many dim stars fill in and through the brighter components. Very obvious cluster, elongated E/W. CGCG 1117-59 and 60 show up barely as dim elongated smudges with 7mm.

NGC 2392 Gem PN 47x43 9.35 07 29 12 +20 55 00
7mm 18" - bright pinpoint central star is surrounded by a very tight black ring, with a brightish second ring that is mottled and elongated slightly N/S. Outside is a large dimmer ring that is uneven in brightness, perhaps just some mottling. Good view. No color. Photo credit NASA

Arp 165 GX 1.8' 12.2 07 36 37 +17 53 00 NGC 2418
7mm 18'" - very small with a condensed core, stellar nucleus, elongation seems to vary with averted vision, NW/SE, but changes, so may be disrupted.

Abell 21 Gem PN 744"x509" 10.2 07 29 02 +13 15 13 PK 205+14.1 = PN G205.1+14.2 = YM 29 = Sh 2-274 = Medusa Nebula
20mm 18" - large, dim, using NPB filter. 12mm - elongated NNW/SSE and mottled, almost a dark ring inside the border, with an uneven edge to the entire outer area. Easy target. Photo credit NASA

N2510/11/13 CMi Trio 5.6 13.4:14.1:11.6 08 02 30 +09 24 00
7mm 18" - NGCs all show, although sky is not good in this direction. 2513 is faint but obvious, other pair are very faint indistinct small smudges.

All four of the next targets are unconfirmed, although the first is pretty assured. I include them only as impressions, what I felt I was catching glimpses of. The mind is a funny thing when looking for threshold targets.

Abell 24 CMi PN 265"x180" 13.9 07 51 37 +03 00 21 PK 217+14.1 = PN G217.1+14.7
12mm 18" - large, no filter, elongated N/S, central star dim but obvious, stars embedded throughout, but bright ones on S edge. Mottled, brighter eastern edge. Photo credit Martin Germano

Abell 22 CMi PN 105"x68" 07 36 07 +02 42 28 PK 215+11.1 = K 1-11 = PN G215.6+11.1
12mm 18" - NPB, large oval elongated NNE/SSW, very indistinct, perhaps a bit of brightening on NE and E edge. Hint of annularity. Photo credit Stathis Kafalis

Abell 20 CMi PN 65" 14.7 07 22 57 +01 45 37 PK 214+7.1 = PN G214.9+07.8
12mm 18" - NPB, medium sized and very dim, round with possible N/S slight elongation, even brightness across object, maybe central star with other stars involved on N and S edges - inside edges. Photo credit Stathis Kafalis

Abell 25 Mon PN 150"x145" 08 06 46 -02 52 35 PK 224+15.1 = K 1-13 = PN G224.3+15.3
12mm 18" - NPB, elongated a bit N/S, even brightness across, central star, sharp edge especially along NE edge or along entire E side. Star is either central,or on N edge, hard to tell. Photo credit Stathis Kafalis

M048 HYD OC 54 5.5 08 13 48 -05 48 00 NGC 2548
20mm 18" - large, bright, coarse, dispersed. Lots of chains.

Starlight's Return

2010-02-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

It has been a long winter, waiting for observing opportunities. I hear the word El Nino kicked around by locals, and for those of us who spend time hunting out ancient star light, that name is synonymous with "frustration". My last legitimate time out observing away from the limited magnitudes of city skies was November, but for other friends, September or longer. So, even though El Nino gave us what otherwise would have been "stay home" skies, the prospect of any sky at all resulted in a big turnout

The observing site was Dinosaur Point parking lot, a large paved parking lot used by boaters at the San Luis Reservoir along Highway 152, between Hollister and Los Banos. Special permission has been obtained by members of The Astronomy Connection (TAC) to use the site for astronomical observing, but requires advance notice, and no overnight camping. Of the closer sites to the San Francisco south bay, it is the darkest, but subject to wind and fog at times, due to the local geography. When its good, it is justifiably the best choice. And it is the easiest drive. The drive this time of year features green hills and fields full of brilliant wild mustard plants in vibrant yellow bloom. Worth the trip just for the drive, to break the cabin fever.

The night turned out to be short, and about an even mix of observing and socializing. I observed a handful of deep sky objects. There were a few remarkable views through other telescopes worth mentioning. The Orion Nebula in Greg LaFlamme's 22" Dob had subtle red and blue/green hues. Reds in the arms, and back around M43, the cooler tones in and around the Trapezium. Mars in Julien Lecomte's 12.5" Meade Lightbridge showed a brilliant sharp edged white polar cap, ruddy ochre tone with lots of dark markings mostly in the hemisphere opposite the white cap. Great view. Saturn in David Cooper's 6" AP refractor was stunning in its crisp detail, in spite of heavy dewing (later during the evening) creating a bright glow around the target. Those three views alone, along with seeing so many people out enjoying them self, were enough to make it a worthwhile evening. But I did some observing too (although not a lot). Photo credit

Here are my observing notes - short, as I was dodging clouds and fighting dew for most of the night. You can't always get what you want... but it was the first time out for 2010, so no complaints. I was back home by 12:30 a.m.

Arp 25 Cep
GX 2.8'x2.7' 11.4 07 27 13 +85 45 00 NGC 2276
12mm 18" - large and diffuse, almost lost in glow of bright star close by to west, but enough separation. No distinct detail, no nucleus, round.

Arp 114 Cep
GX 2.8'x2.0' 12.1 07 32 20 +85 42 00 NGC 2300
12mm 18" - shares field with N2300 much brighter and approximately 20' east. Bright core with pinpoint dim nucleus occupying most of the visual extent, with a dim thin halo surrounding the core. 7mm seems to extend outer halo giving appearance of extended face on spiral galaxy. Excellent deep field area for another night!

Arp 9 Cam
GX 3.0'x1.8' 11.9 08 14 59 +73 34 00 NGC 2523
7mm 18" - small core brighter than outer disc, hints at face on spiral. Occasional glimpses of pinpoint nucleus embedded. Outer halo dimmer than core, but distinct. Can hold with direct vision. Galaxy just kept asking for more power!

N 2366 Cam
GX+KNT 8.1x3.3 11.1 07 28 55 +69 12 57
12mm 18" - dim galaxy elongated mostly N/S, with N end very dim and bright knot tow S end. N end is diffuse and chaotic. Galaxy appears broken (void) between N and S ends. Bright knot is small and has a pinpoint nucleus. A dimmer knot is close by the N knot, to its SSW.

NGC 2403 Cam
GX 16.8x10 8.9 07 36 48 +65 36 00
7mm 18" - large and diffuse galaxy, chaotic. Distinct core seems featureless, but large, has star at SW edge. Arms seem to be knots, broken off from core, most distinct one is to the NE. Another knot to S with star embedded, another to N of core and closer. Dim diffuse arm seems to extend around and beyond N knot. Another dim knot seems to be to the N off of three stars extended W of galactic core. Nice galaxy! Drawing is from http://www.deepsky-drawings.com/

N 2500 Lyn
GX 2.9x2.6 11.6 08 01 53 +50 44 15
12mm 18" - large, mostly round, slight N/S elongation. Featureless, but slight brightening toward center. Fairly low surface brightness.

Arp 165 Gem
GX 1.8' 12.2 07 36 37 +17 53 00 NGC 2418
7mm 18'" - very small with a condensed core, stellar nucleus, elongation seems to vary with averted vision, NW/SE but changes, so maybe disrupted.

NGC 2395 Gem
OC 12 9.4 07 27 12 +13 35 00
20mm 18" - large, scattered, 16 brighter members over many dim ones, elongated E/W and thicker in middle, forming almost a parallelogram..

Wet Behind The Ears - Dewy night at Willow Springs

2009-11-24T22:52:00.002-08:00

A small group of observers took the opportunity to go to Willow Springs last Saturday night, There had been plenty of indecision leading, as a large bank of clouds lay to the west, on the heels of the rain we had Friday. The jet stream forecast pointed the problem to the southeast directly at Willow, but the visual and IR weather loops an east-west trajectory with the southern edge skirting the south bay. I met Olga at the usual Morgan Hill Chevron rendezvous and caravaned south. The sun had already set and twilight silhouetted the black hills to the west against florescent golds, oranges and a deepening electric blue. The Belt of Venus was already well up in the east. An hour later we arrived Willow, followed closely by Greg and Marko. The air was a chilled 38 degrees, sunset a dying ember. The only light was from the stars, Jupiter and crescent moon.

Soon our host Kevin emerged, dragging out Dobzilla, his 33" Dob. I had my 18" f/4.5 Obsession, Greg a 22" f/3.6 and Marko an 18" f/3.7 . I shared my telescope with Olga, who has proven to be a good observer and very proficient star-hopper, in spite of still being wet behind the ears. Even well before the moon set there were some great views. Greg showed The Veil in the 22, and we had fun poking around with his 77mm binoculars, looking at wide field targets.

After dark Kevin shared a mind boggling view of the Dumbbell Nebula in the 33".

At low power and with a filter, its distinct apple-core shape was very apparent, containing what appeared to be strings of filamentary material. The outer edges were clearly defined, in a large oval, but with extra "puffs" of ejecta outward of the main shell, at right angles to the major axis of the apple-core. Easily one of the best views I've had of the target. We'd run back and forth, scope to scope, grabbing views, but most of the night was spent in pursuit of dry optics. The only master of the seas that night was Marko, who's dew setup kept him out of the drink. We talked about dew prevention a bit, and I related that I've only been really dewed out a handful of times in all the years I've been going out. But this high on the the "bad" scale of those nights. All night long, the views would bloat, then fade to empty fields. My secondary and eyepieces were hit bad. The combination of dew and masacara are a deadly combination.

But the night was still a lot of fun. In the background, there was plenty of chatter, and Kevin's selection of music, eclectic, ranging from beautiful flamenco guitar to lullabies in foreign languages, to old cowboy tunes from the American West. I think my favorites were The Streets of Laredo, Red River Valley, and Happy Trails, which I would have loved hearing as the last song of the night. It occurred to me how ingrained in me those songs of the old west were - back to my earliest childhood memories. But to my observing partner they were as foreign and new as most of the objects we were observing. I enjoyed the old songs, and new songs, along with the old views, and new views.

By the end of the night, we were picking out bright targets just for fun. M42, M37, M38, M36, M35, M46/47, The Eskimo (bloated and dulled by dew), a teasing taste of Thor's Helmet, then off to the Mexican Jumping Star in NGC 2362. The star would not jump much though... I think the telescope was frozen. W pointed low toward Canis Major, it just kept dropping down... unbalanced from the weight of the frozen ice sheet of dew on the shroud.

In the morning, I looked over at Marko's scope, and chuckled at the ring of obliterated footprints surrounding it, too many to count, marking his mostly circular travels during the night. A small distance walked, but such a great distance traveled.

Packing up my gear, I lazily daydreamed of a bigger scope, wondering just what I could might see. Its a fun dream. I dream it a lot.

It had been a very wet night. Yet even with the cold and dew, it was a fun. It was good to be out again, with friends, under the dark sky. Thanks Kevin, for the hospitality.

Here are our other observations from the night. Happy trails...

NGC514 Psc GX 4.2'x2.7' 12.2B 01 24 03 +12 55 03
12mm - amorphous, some central condensation, no detail. Large, dim.

N524 Psc GX 2.7' 11.3B 01 24 48 +09 32 00
Viewed NGC 524, along with NGC 518, NGC 516, NGC 509, NGC 532 and NGC 525 all in the same field. Most had to be teased out, due to conditions.

HCG5 Psc Hickson 0.9'x0.7' 14.9B 00 38 54 +07 03 46 NGC 190
Observed A, B and C components. Very surprising, conditions are apparently varying.

AGC 0076 Psc GX 28.0' 15.0 00 39 48 +06 46 00 IC 1565
Located very close to Hickson 5. Only picked up IC 1565 and IC 1566.

N486/90/92 Psc GX Trio 0.4' 15.5 01 22 06 +05 24 00
This trio was a very dim smudgy grouping that would not break into individual galaxies.

N48 Psc GX 1.4'x0.9' 14.4P 01 21 48 +05 15 00
Fighting very dewy conditions, picked up round glows of NGC 49, NGC 51, NGC 48 and IC 1534.

Arp157 Psc GX 4.5'x1.8' 12.2B 01 24 35 +03 47 00 NGC 0520
OK view. With 7mm a bright knot on the NNW end, with a spread appearance, almost fan-like, at the SSE end. Long and thin.

Arp227 Psc GX 7.0'x6.2' 12.4B 01 20 06 +03 25 00 NGC 0474
3 nice galaxies in a group. NGC 470 and NGC 474 very close together, with 470 appearing noticeably fainter. NGC 467 is the smallest of the three and about 10' E of 470.

NGC428 Cet GX 4.1'x3.1' 11.9B 01 12 55 +00 58 54
Entire galaxy appears chaotic. Large, with a N/S oval shape and fairly even brightness across surface.

HGC7 Cet GX 2.2'x0.8' 13.4B 00 39 13 +00 51 49 NGC 0192
Perhaps the most pleasing view of the night was teasing out this wonderful foursome of galaxies. This is a bright Hickson. NGC 201 is the largest of the group and stands alone, with the other three smaller galaxies grouped into a small tight arc.

Winter's Return to Willow Springs

2009-11-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday conditions were not very promising, early in the day. Dark bottomed clouds filled the sky, with only occasional patches of blue showing through, and a chill was in the air. The forecast was for clear skies in the evening, and indeed, shortly after arriving at Willow Springs, blue sky began spreading and the clouds were dissipating as they moved southward.

The group this trip comprised of Steve Gottlieb, Greg LaFlamme, both whom preceded me in arriving, followed by Tony Hurtado, Richard Navarrete and Mark Johnston. Along with my 18" f/4.5 Dob, the others, in order were, 18", 22", 18", 18" and 18". Our host, Kevin Reitschel, hauled out Dobzilla, his 33.4" titan. As we all worked on collimating our scopes, the sun was setting through cloud banks in the west, spraying the sky with orange and gold rays. By the time it was dark, we had an almost entirely clear sky, and would enjoy a fine night of deep sky observing under almost ideal conditions, save for some diminished transparency, and temps that dropped into the mid 20's. We were all prepared for cold, and my fingertips were the only part of me to feel winter's return to Willow Springs.

I observed from about 6:30 p.m. until after 1 a.m., and woke in the morning to fresh crisp air, and sounds of horses in the field and birds warming themselves in the branches of nearby trees. The hillsides were were tinged red with thin cover... and I packed to leave, enjoying the stillness, sights and sounds, as the others awoke.

Soon, I was on my way, leaving Willow Springs to follow the winding two-lane J1, back toward a very different world.

This month I changed what is included in my observing list to add some interest for an observing friend - limiting it to 60 targets, varying from "eye candy" to my usual more challenging ones.

Here are the objects I observed from that list, with my unedited notes:

N559 Cas OC 4.4' 9.5 01 29 30 +63 18 00
20mm - rich but many dim stars. Brighter pair in cluster close together E/W with a nice dim chain arcing to the north. Pretty. Actually fairly large. Arc of stars trail off E end of cluster, which has a few dozen brighter stars overlaying numerous dim hazy stars.

N381 Cas OC 6.0' 9.3 01 08 18 +61 35 00
20mm - poor large cluster near two bright stars, brightest star is appox 18' E of cluster. Approximately 20 brighter stars overlaying many dimmer haze stars. Coarse.

N129 Cas OC 21' 6.5 00 29 54 +60 14 00
20mm - beautiful field - brightest star to S and pretty colored arc of stars to E leading to outlying bright star. Cluster comprised of about half dozen brighter stars overlying a V shaped wedge of dimmer stars opening from the south and expanding to the N. Entire cluster appears to have haze involved, which may be nebulosity.

N436 Cas OC 5.0' 8.8 01 15 30 +58 49 00
20mm - pretty and condensed. Brightest members form chains to W and N from center. Dimmer members of cluster extend widely N and S. Nice arced chain of stars 23' W.

N457 Cas OC 13.0' 6.4 01 19 06 +58 20 00
20mm - large rich cluster with 2 bright stars dominating SE edge. Chain of stars crosses cluster from SE to NW. Custer appears coarse initially, but is rich in dim stars. Extends 10' SE/NW and 24' SW/NE.

Abell 2 Cas PN 33"x29" 14.5 00 45 36 +57 57 24 PK 122-4.1 = PN G122.1-04.9
12mm NPB filter - small but obvious, nearly direct vision. Slightly elongated NE/SW, possible slightly annularity. 5mm hints at annularity, and stars embedded in N, W and S edges.

Sh 2-184 Cas BN 28.0'x21.0' 00 52 50 +56 36 37 N0281
20mm - no filter, nebula is visible easily, extending E and W of an easy double star… more obvious to the E and SE. Very large area of nebulosity. With Ulutrablock, nebulosity is very distinct and wide, extending most noticeably SE/NW, with extension also S to W along the southern edge. Other dim nebulosity throughout the region. Very rich nebula.

N185 Cas GX 11.9'x10.1' 10.1B 00 39 00 +48 20 00
12mm - large mostly elliptical, slight extension mostly E/W (slightly SW), dim extensions and gradually brightening, evenly, to a fairly bright non-stellar core. Approximately 11'x3.4'
N278 Cas GX 2.2'x2.2' 11.5B 00 52 06 +47 33 00
7mm - small and bright. Very bright small core with a dim stellar center. Possible arms curled tightly around core form a dimmer halo.

M32 And GX 8.8'x6.5' 9.0B 00 42 41 +41 51 00
7mm - large and bright, slightly extended E/W with a stellar core and tight torus also elongated E/W around the nucleus.

M110 And GX 21.9'x10.9' 8.9B 00 40 24 +41 41 00
12mm - spectacular, elongated NNW/SSE, lens shaped core mostly N/S, Fill half field or about 14'. Very underrated.
NGC206 And C+N 4.2x1.5 00 40 31 +40 44 22
12mm - could easily be mistaken for a dim galaxy overlaying the edge of M31. Elongated WSW/ENE and separated from M31 by a dark lane to the S. Very nice target.

N404 And GX 3.4'x3.4' 11.2B 01 09 24 +35 43 00
7mm - use high power get orange/gold Beta Andromodae out of field. Small tight core with dim stellar nucleus. Core diminishes rapidly in brightness to an even brightness out to edge. May have tight spirals.

HGC10 And Hickson 3.6'x1.3' 12.3V 01 26 21 +34 42 14 NGC 0536
7mm - all 4 visible. Three are easily there - NGC 536, NGC 529 and NGC 531. Eventually NGC 542 comes in and can be held. All appear elongated.

N407/10/14 Psc GX Trio 2.3'x0.6' 14.3P 01 11 00 +33 12 00
12mm - NCG 407 - small slash elongated N/S, NGC 410 - elliptical elongated SW/NE with bright core and even brightness in halo., largest and brightest of trio. Stellar core. NGC 414 - small round and very little halo around a stellar nucleus.

N392/94/97 Psc GX Trio 1.2'x1.0' 13.7B 01 08 24 +33 06 00
7mm - NGC 394 slight elongate mostly N/S with stellar core, NGC 392 - brightest of trio mostly round with tight core and bright stellar nucleus, NGC 397 - small and slightly elongated N/S with even brightness and no nucleus - dimmest of the trio.

N447/49/51 Psc GX Trio 2.8'x2.1' 14.0V 01 16 12 +33 06 00
7mm - NGC 447, NGC 449, NGC 451 - all three small, no detail, and dim. NGC 449 and NGC 451 are a challenge due to proximity of bright star nearby. NGC 447 is marked in error in The Sky (planetarium software) as having a very bright star nearby.

Arp331 Psc GX 1.4'x0.9' 12.8V 01 07 24 +32 24 00 NGC 0383
12mm - NGC 383 anchors a beautiful long string of 9 NGC galaxies in a chain. Arp 331 included (NGC 379).

M33 Tri GX 65.6'x38.0' 6.3B 01 33 54 +30 39 00
20mm - huge and bright, showing lots of detail. Bright core with a dim fuzzy nucleus, star overlaying core - core elongated mostly WSW/ENE. Core shows sweep of arms starting - nice! 2 giant arms sweep S and W, N and E. Large HII to the NE glaring. 2 other HII to the w of the core, another to the SW.

NGC315 Psc GX 3.2'x2.2' 12.2B 00 57 48 +30 21 09
12mm - 315 is very bright, elongated WSW/ESE with an elongated elliptical core and stellar nucleus, with dim extensions. NGC 311 is somewhat ESE/WNW, small and no definition. NGC 318 is dim, small, off star to its NW, Very small, nearly stellar, tiny dim stellar nucleus.

N311/15/18 Psc GX Trio 1.8'x0.8' 14.0B 00 57 48 +30 18 00
See above.

N252/58/60 And GX Trio 1.5'x1.0' 13.4P 00 48 00 +27 36 00
12mm - NGC 252 is pretty round with a dim stellar nucleus in a small round core surrounded by a dim halo. Brightest in group of 3. NGC 260 is quite dim, an indistinct haze slightly elongated N/S and about same size as NGC 252. NGC 258 required 7mm to confirm no find. Just beyond limit for night.

Arp282 And GX 2.6'x0.8' 13.2 00 36 52 +23 59 00 NGC 0169
7mm - interesting field due to two bright stars each with a pair of bright and dim galaxies off them. NGC 169 is obvious as a slash e/w with a tiny puff of IC1559 off its S edge. NGC 160 is larger, fatter, dimmer and SW/NE, with very occasional hint of UGC 354 to it NW. Fun field due to symmetry.

HCG8 And Hickson 0.5'x0.3' 15.2B 00 49 34 +23 34 42 MCG +04-03-008
7mm - amazingly, all 4 components came in! Several of us observed this group in our own telescopes.
NGC514 Psc GX 4.2'x2.7' 12.2B 01 24 03 +12 55 03
12mm - amorphous, some central condensation, no detail. Large, dim.

Late Season Highlights from Willow Springs

2009-10-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

I originally planned a leisurely Saturday afternoon, driving to Willow Springs, about an hour forty minutes from where I live south of San Francisco. But when the forecast changed and showed good for Friday, and deteriorating skies for Saturday, the decision was made. Traffic commute was an issue, but with the longer nights, it really didn't matter if arrival was after dark, so on toward sunset I met Richard Navarrete at the rendezvous in Morgan Hill, and waited for another observer, Olga Stackovsky, to arrive. She had not been to this remote observing site before, and would follow us. Just as she arrived, another familiar face appeared... Rogelio Bernal Andreo.

The group drove south an hour, weaving trough traffic on 101, then onto 25, and eventually the J1 where civilization ends and the sky begins. I'd only been on the J1 once at night, driving home after a fog-out, but this night time trip in had an entirely different feel. As the road twisted and turned in my headlights, there was nothing to see in the dark other than a ribbon of blacktop and dark shapes off the sides... the drive actually became, to me, a bit manic. The last section, at Willow Springs, is washboarded dirt, rutted with pock-marks full of water from the week's rains. Behind me, only three sets of headlights in a dust cloud, looking like a night shot of the Dakar rally outside Ouarzazate.

As we pulled in to Deep Sky Ranch, our host Kevin Ritschel greeted us, opening the gate. Steve Gottlieb and Julien Lecomte were already there and set up. Minutes behind our group was Mark (Polo) Johnston... and upon his arrival about 20 minutes of musical chairs, car-style, ensued, until everyone was settled in. During the night it became confusing which Mark was being spoken to, so Johnston volunteered he's been called "Polo" before. I referred to him as Pollo, which unleashed Mark's surprisingly thorough understanding of Spanish colloquialisms and likely expletives... we were off to a fun night!

Overhead, the sky was clear and dark, the Milky Way bright. The air was electric. Scopes set up... eyes adapted... and... off we went, everyone into their own adventure.

Olga, Richard and I pretty much observed as a group. Richard and I both were using 18" Obsessions, his was on an Equatorial Platform. Nearby, Kevin had 33" Dobzilla set up.
Probably the most aesthetically dazzling view of the night was early on, in his 33, of the Veil Nebula high overhead. With an 82 degree AFOV eyepiece, the Waterfall side - NGC 6992, was a spectacular glowing lacework ribbon of intertwined knots and "silk" threads. This was in incredible detail - twists bunched into sheer fabric, other sections pulled apart to where you could see the finest of strands. Those who saw it I'm sure would agree, this is not "gushing" over the view, it is an accurate yet insufficient description.

I observed some Abell planetaries and Hickson Clusters of Galaxies. Several of the Hicksons were also cataloged as Arps. Many were challenging. Olga was helping me star hop and identify the correct fields. I found myself wondering how much better her vision might be then mine, and made the mistake of asking a woman her age. Advice - don't do it! The only answer I got was a terse "younger than you" (which was not help). Olga was hopping between Richard's scope, enjoying some of the Hicksons he was observing, mine, and the 33". She helped me locate and observe looked Hicksons 93 and 94, seeing components A-E in 93, and A-D in 94. We also had fun breaking up the galaxy trio of NGC 7769/70/71 at high power.

Later in the evening (most of us observed from around 8:30 pm to 4:00 am), we used Richard's scope to track some planetary nebulae. First was the Eskimo, NGC 2392. With a 3mm Radian putting the view at 686x, the view showed a pinpoint central star, a tight black ring circling the star, electric neon torus outside the inner black ring, and a large extended nearly circular dimmer grey envelope with obvious mottling. This was an outstanding view - very easy to just sit and stare at it. I moved my scope over to the Blue Snowball - NGC 7662, and while it was bright, I was disappointed that it gave up little if any detail (there is none). I suggested NGC 1535 in Eridanus, and it turned out to be even more stunning than the Eskimo, which was a surprise since it is not nearly as well known. This planetary had all the attributes of the Eskimo, but its outer shell was elongated and more subtle... another great view at high magnification.

I asked Richard to see the Peanut, NGC 2371/2372, in Gemini. This proto-planetary showed two distinct lobes with glaringly different brightnesses, at 686x. The progenitor star sat alone, and obvious, between the two puffs of star-stuff.

After that, I was off on a brief highlight tour myself. M35 and NGC 2158, M81/82, M33 - which provided one of the best views I've had in years, M31 and its satellites, M78. I borrowed an H-Beta filter and at 100x had an excellent view of the Horsehead Nebula - very distinctly black against the glow of IC 434. Richard called it the best view he's had, and Olga, with sharp eyes but no prior experience, found it easily as well.

Although I had looked at it earlier in the evening while lower in the east, I returned to M42 as a treat at the end of the night.
At 194x, all six stars in the Trapezium were easy, sharp points. Thinking about it today, I didn't even bother with a filter on this target - it was so rich in detail and contrast. It is, to me, the premier view in the sky. I almost have to put the Veil up there with it, but the Orion Nebula exceeds it in dynamic range, and equals the Veil in its sheer aesthetic beauty. The black nebula behind the tight group of bright stars.... the sculpted arcs of dust, looking like molded clay, the knots in the bright turbulence around the Trap. It is impossible to tire of this view... slide a bit to the north, behind M42, and M43, and subtle sheets of nebulosity surround the bright stars in NGC 1977 - The Running Man...

Only fatigue and knowing the sun would come up too early caused me to stop there...

Before I knew it, there was a tap-tap-tap on the truck window, and it was time to pack and head out. The drive out through the back roads was a relaxed treat. The fun time I had with friends is something I look forward to again, next time.

Thank you to Kevin and Phetsy, and Deep Sky Ranch

Image credits:

Veil Nebula: Diego Meozzi
NGC7769/70/71: Dimitrios Kolovos
NGC 1535: Adam Block
M42 Region: Rogelio Bernal Andreo

Spoiling An "A" Student

2009-09-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

September new moon this year saw amateur astronomers from all over California converging on Lake San Antonio, for the annual CalStar observing event. It was in many respects typical of prior years... hot weather with temps around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, clear night skies, some newcomers, and familiar faces returning for the sheer enjoyment of seeing each other again. This year's event was lightly advertised, more word of mouth like the original events had been a decade ago, and in fact it had the casual feel of the old early get-togethers - the only rules were no white lights, and that any other rule making was simply an exercise in rule-mockery. And guess how it turned out? Even when the event encountered a little "bump in the road" (a car's alarm system flashed lights for some time), it was handled without incident, complaint, or really even any notice. All the astro-animals were a peaceable kingdom! How nice to see such a pleasant event...

I arrived the first official day, Thursday, in the mid-afternoon. A good number of attendees were already on site.... and I picked out a space along the western edge of the field. Up went my two canopies, I made my bed in the back of the truck, and kicked back to have a few cold beers, snacks, and catch up with friends at the Wicks' under their canopies and aluminet. Bantering went on until around sunset at which time I moved to my scope and began observing targets on the very lengthy list I'd put together - virtually all challenge objects for this trip. I went on until around 3 a.m., in temps that required no more than a light sweater.

The next day, more friends arrived. Paul Sterngold set up next to me, so I had an old buddy close by - it really is great to see friends who are usually hundreds of miles away. As we prepared to start our night's activities, a woman I'd met at Houge Park, and had told about CalStar, appeared. It was Olga S., whom I assured, if she came to CalStar, she would be able to observe through my scope, or pretty much any one on the field, stressing what a friendly group it was. Her 11 year old son Kirrill was along too, an active and bright boy who was clearly enjoying being outdoors - and away from home. I had known Olga only a short time, but knew she was quite bright - and in fact is a research scientist at a prestigious bay area school. She had never, to my knowledge, been to a real dark sky event before, and this would be her introduction to deep sky observing.

I'd had a good night on Thursday, logging some Abell Planetaries and various Sharpless nebulae, the most interesting being Sh2-158, also known as NGC 7538. I could see in my 18" Dob it was an unusual object, looking at times like a planetary nebula, other times like a face on spiral galaxy. I went over to Paul Alsing and a group of us observed it in his 25" scope, where it appeared even more like a big spiral at first, then a planetary with a huge extended envelope. It is an emission nebula, but unusual enough in appearance to warrant a visit if you're in the area.

Friday night I decided that with Olga, I'd coach her as long as she was interested. I would ask her at times if she liked what she was doing, as I soon had her hunting mostly targets off my list. It was a good arrangement, I'd coach, and watch, and ask if she was doing ok. She'd reply that if she got bored, she'd wander off.

It was not easy for her at first. Getting the hang of using a unit-finder, in this case a Rigel Quickfinder, proved challenging, but only briefly. She was a very quick learner. Her first target was the easy to find M31 and its satellites M32 and M110. She easily described the dust lanes without any prodding. Next, a bit more challenge, to M15, and the star hop off Enif from the crook in the neck of Pegasus. Pretty good. Then I suggested we get into some of the challenge objects.

The first was the Miles Paul galaxy trio UGC 12064 A, B and C. With a lot of effort, we picked up all three down to mag 15.5. Honestly, I was astonished to have a rank newbie see these targets, but I had also been coaching her about averted vision and relaxing while observing. I moved over to NGC 7331, to show an example of a large spiral galaxy with detail, after the dim trio.

The big galaxy was looking very good - a broad spread, and three companions clearly visible to its east. Olga was able to describe 7331, but at first did not notice the dimmer ones nearby. I showed her the computer screen, and back to the eyepiece where she easily picked out the other members. I asked if she was enjoying this and she said yes, let's keep going.

I asked what she wanted to see, and she replied some interacting galaxies. Well, Stephan's Quintet was a few eyepiece fields away.

At low power we picked out four galaxies. With the 7mm and 294X, all five were easily visible. It was a very good view.

We finished Friday night observing a number of other dim Abell Planetaries, until Olga turned in. I continued for a while, observing, and visiting friends.

During the day on Saturday, Paul and I decided to beat the heat, jumped in his car and headed to the coast, to the quaint artist community of Cambria, near Hearst Castle. Neither of us had ever been there, and thought it a great place for a weekend getaway with wife or girlfriend. The town is fun and interesting, and Moonstone Beach was a very pleasant place to walk and play in the cool coastal fog. Chasing Sterngold down the beach, whipping at him with a long "kelp rope" was just so much fun!

That night I decided to let Olga have the reigns of the scope again, and pointed it at some eye candy. The Veil Nebula at 212X with an OIII filter, in a dark sky, is spectacular. First part she found was Pickering's Wisp. Soon she had navigated the Witch's Broom and the Waterfall. Other excellent views that and the next were the Crescent Nebula, NGC 253, NGC 246 (which had outstanding brightness and detail - right after a very dim Abell Planetary - what a contrast!), B86 and M33.

But those objects were thrown in only to add some fun and eye appeal to what was an otherwise very daunting list of targets that she was, pretty much apprenticing, helping hunt down. I think the singular most challenging target we looked at was Abell 1, observed by Richard Ozer and me, with Olga and Paul Sterngold doubting our claims. Another difficult one was Abell 85, a supernova remnant in Cassiopeia, which was marginal at best.

We shot over to another galaxy trio, NGC 48, 49 and 51, ranging from mag 14.1 to 14.5, all in an E/W chain. Just south of those, in the same high power eyepiece field was another trio, IC 534, 535 and 536, from the high 14's to about mag 15. While the NGCs were challenging, they were obviously there. We needed to refer to the computer for the position of the dimmer trio, but we both were able to confirm each of the components. I find this pair of trio chains so close together, very enjoyable to observe.

Other outstanding targets, without naming everything we looked at, were NGC 7635 (The Bubble Nebula) IC 5146 (The Cocoon Nebula), and NGC 6543 (The Cats Eye). I found the Bubble, Olga found the Cocoon. The bubble was just full of rich detail, especially around the embedded stars. There was an obvious arc toward the north. Wonderful view. The Cocoon was, well, a major surprise. With the 20mm Nagler at 103X, it stood out as a grey mottled circular area without any filters - like I said, a major surprise, I've had some good views in the past, but never like this, unfiltered. The Cats Eye was simply amazing, at around 600X, in a 20" driven Dob. The mottling in the ring outside the bright neon green torus was way more detailed than anything I'd ever seen....

We finished up with two very different targets. I had been swinging the scope around at anything bright I could think of, when I noticed M42 was up high enough for a peek. The contrast between dark and bright nebulae in this object is always spectacular. I showed M33 again, pointing out NGC 604, commenting that it was a similar object to M42 in the external galaxy. We were both wearing down, so I decided to head to the Pegasus 1 Cluster, where we tracked down nine galaxies in a single field, without really pushing it.

Olga said good night, and headed to her tent, where her son was sleeping. I thought for a bit how much fun it had been to have such a good student. Amazing she did so well on such difficult targets!

Looking around, I noted a definite sign that the star party was at full tilt. The smell of burning popcorn and laughter were coming from the direction of Chez Dan's. I headed over to find a crew of partiers with a table covered with ripped-open Jiffy-Pops, and various libations. I sat down and began partaking in the revelry, with a few shots of good scotch, and popcorn covered in Tabasco Sauce.

The last thing I remember...

before heading off to sleep was...

Dionysus, in red light...

while I sat with friends...

with the skies of ancient Greece whirling overhead....

A few days later, I received an e-mail from Olga, thanking me for the time at the telescope, and saying she's afraid she might be spoiled, by starting out on an 18"... but what the hell. It reminded me that those were my exact thoughts, sitting there that last night with my buddies, the scotch, popcorn, and sky.... and spoiling an A student.... what the hell.

Can't wait until next year...

Date Night at Houge Park

2009-08-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Friday August 28th was an public star party night for the San Jose Astronomical Association. I had arrived late, after dark, having run from an Aikido training in order to support the event. As I was setting up my telescope, people were coming by asking to look through it, asking questions about it, and generally being inquisitive. I hurriedly finished the set up and began showing views of the moon and Jupiter...

Both targets were nice, lots of detail, steady enough seeing to allow decent higher power magnification. It is always fun seeing children, sometimes not even tall enough to see into the eyepiece (I bring a ladder for the shortest attendees) get their first real views of a world beyond the earth. The moon is especially good for them, as craters, rilles, mare, and mountains are very easy to see in great detail. Even Jupiter provided detail the youngest could discern... cloud bands and moons... It is a great experience for them, for me, and their parents.

I had been expecting a guest, a woman I had a few e-mail contacts with on Match.com. She seemed quite nice by e-mail and had expressed interest in the sky, so I invited her to come out. I thought it a decent relaxed place in a public setting for a first meeting. So there I was, showing whatever to whoever, and I see appearing out of the dark, a face I'd seen before. It was Cat (Catherine), from Match. It was only then, that the realization hit me, I was on a "date" (sort of) at Houge Park, with a bunch of my friends around. In my comfort zone, but not feeling all that comfortable!

Cat turned out to be great... fun, intelligent, inquisitive, playful, and was certainly getting plenty of attention from the nearly exclusive male make-up of the SJAA. If women want to meet science guys, with something of a nerdy cant (in some cases, major), I realized this is the place!

So, I found myself relaxing into the experience, and began to show Cat a few things. She wanted to learn some constellations and see a nebula, but this was not the night for dim extended objects - the next Houge Park event on a 3rd quarter moon would be much better for that.

I began by showing (after the moon and Jupiter - the dogs and ponies of the night), I put the scope (10" Dob) on Alberio. This is where I soon learned that my "date" was quite bright. I asked about the color of the stars, and what they meant in terms of their longevity. This gal nailed it. Really, a first. I was astonished (been doing this for about 15 years). I smiled. She wanted to know where the star was, so I borrowed a green laser pointer and outlined Cygnus, and the location of the pretty double.

I showed a few more constellations - Pegasus, Lyra, Corona Borealis, the Teapot in Sagittarius. I thought maybe we had a new observer, as her vision was quite good. So, I turned back to the scope and hit M15. The view was very good, considering the ambient light pollution and first quarter moon was still up. I showed it to a young couple who had joined us....

If fact, and undoubtedly due to Cat's presence, a number of amateur astronomers had gathered around... The couple looked at M15, and then Cat did. I talked about how ancient the stars in it are, how they are first generation stars comprised essentially of only hydrogen, their age, about stellar evolution...

It led to others joining in, a PhD physicist who teaches locally going into details about supernovae, and where new elements are created, and eventually about our "real" connection to the stars.

While the talking was going on, I would move the scope to new targets. Eta Cassiopeia, the pretty yellow and copper double star, M31, which despite the moonlight was showing its core along with its satellite galaxy M32.

During all this, Cat was sitting on the tailgate of my truck, clearly enjoying herself around the other attendees... and participating in the discussions.

As things wound down, she said it was time to call it a night. For me too. She took off, I packed up and I left as well. I thought about what a fun time I'd had. Date night at Houge turned out very well....

No Need For Speed

2009-08-23T16:27:00.001-07:00

Friday night at Plettstone was a great get together of friends that rarely get the chance to spend time with each other. I had not seen Michelle Stone in a year. Hard to believe. I think the same goes for Rashad Al-Mansour. Albert Highe reminded me that we'd seen each other at CalStar and Dinosaur Point, and I thanked him for correctly pointing out the deficiencies in my memory! I probably had not seen Carter Scholz in that long, and know I'd only met Dan Foy a handful of times previously, at most. It was a great group. Fortunately for us, the skies help up all night, and I think we all got in our fill 'o photons. I spent quite a bit of time just visiting, so my observing "count" was well down, but a big count is no longer part of my observing routine, if it happens it happens, but odds are I'm going to be taking my time now, teasing out any detail I can in some of the deeper stuff out there, and sharing views with my friends. It is very relaxing, and fun. Below, I am posting my unchecked raw observing notes. I have no idea of how accurate they are in terms of what to have expected. I am just posting my impressions.

Saturday morning I woke early, and saw scattered clouds increasing from the south. By the time Richard, Rashad and I took off together for Glacier Point in Yosemite, the sky was gone. Where the temps

in and around Mariposa had been in the high 90's the day before, temps were as low as the mid-60's up high in Yosemite. The views were gorgeous. It is as magical an experience to be there as it is to look at the wonders through an eyepiece. Upon returning, we found some of the gang gone, along with the sky. Richard Ozer had shown up, surprisingly. We had a nice pot luck BBQ with Michelle and Paul. After dinner I packed up the truck, only to find the last of the observing crew pulling up the driveway.... first timer Olga S. We took her in, introduced her to Michelle, and hit the road for home. I hear Olga was heading to Yosemite too, so I'm sure she was in for a grand treat, in addition to meeting Michelle.

The drive home was uneventful. On the other hand, the trip to Plettstone found me getting pulled over by the CHP on highway 156 just west of Casa de Fruita (before the 152 junction)... doing 69 in a 55. Amazingly, I talked my way out of the speeding ticket. It is even more amazing, since I didn't have proof of insurance (which is what he ended up writing the "fix it" ticket for - no fine if I fix it). I thanked the officer, and asked him to adjust my side-view mirror before I pulled out. He did, and wished me well. What a pleasant fellow!

Yes, it was a really good weekend....

For some fun, have a look at Richard Navarrete's video observing report from the trip. Its very well done!

Here are the targets I went after, and the raw notes...

Sh 2-113 Cyg BN 15 21 20 48 38 05 29

18" 20mm - small almost triangular area of nebulosity involving approximately 6 dim stars, points are W, NE and SE.

Abell 78 Cyg PN 113"x88" 13.4 21 35 29 31 41 45 PK 81-14.1 = PN G081.2-14.9

12mm NPB, very dim, mostly round, stars embedded, possibly annular, small with central star?

Abell 74 Vul PN 871"x791" 15.8 21 16 52 24 08 51 PK 72-17.1 = PN G072.7-17.1

12mm UHC very dim , galaxy MCG 4-50-4 misplotted in The Sky, should be closer to flat triangle of stars. Galaxy with 7mm, Planetary w/35 Panoptic responds differently to OIII and UHC. Star in middle with UHC is bright, dims out almost totally with OIII compared to other stars in field. UHC shows dim arc with dark lane, with OIII just a large mottled area.

Abell 72 Del PN 134"x121" 12.7 20 50 02 13 33 28 PK 59-18.1 = PN G059.7-18.7

7mm OIII does not respond with UHC. Large, dim rounds, western edge shows best, possible brighter spots in W and S.

Abell 76 Aqr PN 0.4x0.2 21 30 03 -02 48 32 PK 5-036.1 = PGC 85185
No image available: 7mm OIII round, even brightness across the disk, central star. Dim.
*Note, this is listed as a ring galaxy, which I learned after returning from the trip.

Hickson 89 Aqr GX4 0.9'x0.6' 14.4 21 20 01 -03 55 20 MCG -01-54-012 66570

5mm Navarrete scope on platform. 89D occasional split off C, others not that difficult.

Hickson 78 Dra GX4 1.4'x0.6' 14.9 15 47 16 68 13 14 UGC 10057

7mm - definite sighting 2 galaxies dim but certain direct vision, preceding is NW/SE elongation with a tiny stellar nucleus and is smaller than the trailing galaxy, which is larger, almost even in surface brightness, E/W, averted gives very occasional glimpse of stellar nucleus.

Photos and drawings are culled from sources publicly available on the Internet - usually linked to the original. Star party photo Copyright (C) 2008 by Randy Muller.

Observing Distant Fires (Holy Smokes!)

2009-08-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Richard Navarrete, Elisabeth Oppenheimer and I all met Saturday afternoon in Mogran Hill for a trip to Deep Sky Ranch at Willow Springs. Conditions were uncertain, as the Lockheed fire in Bonny Doon, up in the Santa Cruz Mountains was covering the south bay in a thick smoky haze.... In Morgan Hill, it smelled like BBQ. A quick trip to San Juan Bautista for dinner at Jardines, then down through the wilds east of Paicines, and we were relaxing at the ranch, sipping cool beers in the shade... the only sounds around being the cats, a few horses, Magpies flying around, and Scrub Jays eating unripened fruit off the nearby trees. The hills were golden, and tinged with the yellow-green of tarweed. Temps were comfortable, a cool breeze blew through along with some relaxed, enjoyable conversation. Our hosts were away at an eclectic party in Santa Cruz, and returned after dark... what a treat to have such friends... my thanks to them for their hospitality and generosity. Thank you, Kevin.

We set up our telescopes at sunset... the sky showing some haze to our south and east... and a layer of orange/red glop in the west, all indicating that the smoke indeed would be a factor for us. Just how much depended on the whims of the winds...

I think we got lucky. During the night we were observing targets to about mag 17.2 in the 18" telescopes. When our host arrived home, out came the monster, Dobzilla. I have no idea what limit it was hitting. I was busy working on targets I'd compiled for the evening, Richard was hunting Hickson Galaxy Clusters. Elisabeth, who brought a 4.25" Starblast spent much of the evening in initiation on the big Dob. I would chuckle at times, when Kevin's voice would warn from high up on the ladder, that it was just too dangerous to do. Kevin's twelve foot ladder is about two feet to short!

Aside from the objects below, which were on my list, a few views are worth noting as they were simply spectacular...

M31 in Richard's 18" with a 35 Panoptic showed extensions of its spiral arms way out beyond what I consider even good views. Tenuous thin gauze, the sheerest of silk, fading out behind the foreground of stars, and into the background deep space beyond. The dark lanes were pronounced to the point of being black swaths with etched edges, sharp as you'd see in a master pen and ink rendition, or a woodcut. M110 and M32 were beacons.

To finish off the night, as the earthshine side of the moon rose over the mountains to the east , I noticed Cetus was up high, and suggested the planetary NGC 246 for the big scope. The first view was without a filter, and I do not know the magnification or eyepiece, but it nearly filled the field. It showed its gray form and embedded stars easily, and hinted at the amazing detail we'd soon view when a filter was added. With the filter, the structure in the shell was reminiscent of some fine views of the Crescent Nebula. Parts were thick and ropey, one end appeared to be "broken open" like a cracked egg. The view was mesmerizing.

Here are my observations. Most of these were very difficult objects... the last one was quite special.

Sh 2-136 Cep BN 5 21 16 29 68 15 12
18" 12mm NPB, distinct but dim triangular glow extending west from, and involving stars GSC 4461:645 and GSC 4461:1453.

Abell 75 Cep PN 67"x47" 14.5 21 26 23 62 53 33 PK 101+8.1 = NGC 7076 = PN G101.8+08.7
18" 12mm easily picked up with NPB filter, 7mm shows slight elongation N/S with star embedded in slightly brighter E section. Planetary appears mottled or possibly slightly annular.

vdB 142 Cep RN/DN 15 21 36 42 57 30 00 the "Elephant's Trunk"
18" 20mm - large elongated dark lane running WWSW/EENE, with glowing edge especially along the S edge along star forming region. UHC filter. Very near the nice triple and double stars Struve 2819 and 2813.

Sh 2-131 Cep BN 170 21 39 00 57 29 10 IC 1396
18" 20mm - scan very large are full of nebulosity

Abell 73 Cep PN 80"x66" 17 20 56 27 57 26 03 PK 95+7.1 = PN G095.2+07.8
18" 12mm UHC- large, elongated slightly N/S, E and W edges show more than N/S, annular, only edges show. Very dim. Dim star inside E edge of shell, brighter star just outside E edge of shell.

Abell 77 Cep PN 67"x50" 14 21 32 10 55 52 43 PK 97+3.1 = Sh 2-128 = PN G097.5+03.1 = LBN 443
18" 12mm UHC - smallish, elongated N/S slightly, can only hold parts of the object, seems brighter on N and S edges, perhaps mostly even brightness across disk.

Sh 2-127 Cyg BN 2 21 28 41 54 37 14
18" 20mm - large area of dim nebulosity between and involved in stars extending mostly E/W, like a river, non-uniform, mottled with dark areas embedded. Subtle.

Sh 2-120 Cyg BN 1 21 03 46 49 52 51
18" 12mm - obvious rectangular brightness with extensions off the corners. In area of rich nebulosity.

Sh 2-121 Cyg BN 1 21 05 12 49 38 59
18" 12mm - very large region of faint nebulosity in rich Milky Way field - dark lanes running through. Sh2 must be a photographic object to separate it from other nebulosity. Very near prior target.

Sh 2-123 Cyg BN 13 21 42 22 44 32 25
18" 20mm - large rectangle, almost square, of nebulosity in rich Milky Way, with many stars embedded - surrounded by dark lanes.

CRL 2688 Cyg PPN 24"x6" 21 02 18 36 42 00
18" 7mm 2x Barlow - elongated N/S with a dark lane separating two nearly equal sized lobes. N lobe is significantly brighter, and shows at times a stellar point embedded. S lobe is nearly equal in size, but significantly dimmer. Entire object is surrounded by oblong faint shell. PK 80-6.1 - Northern lobe is elongated at 824x - more clearly than the S lobe.

Short But Good Night at Houge Park

2009-08-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

I arrived at Houge Park in San Jose from Aikido, for the SJAA's in-town public star party as twilight was setting in. I quickly collimated my 10" f/5.7 Dob, it was almost dead on and required almost no effort. How nice!

The turnout was good, in terms of both telescopes and visitors. Of course, most scopes were aimed at the moon, which was getting larger by the minute, well past first quarter. I showed it briefly, noting a good view of the fully lit Alpine Valley, some great Mare ringed by sharp mountains, some nice large craters showing with ejecta rays, but soon decided to offer views of targets less obvious.

I began with Alberio. The colors were quite vivid tonight. I was showing it at 120x. I'd ask people the usual questions; what colors do you see, and which of the two stars should live (last) longer? Its always good for conversation, gets them thinking.... helps bring astronomy "to earth".

I moved to Epsilon Lyrae, the Double Double. It was splitting at 120x, but people were having difficulty really seeing it cleanly. I went to the 7mm and, at 207x the views were excellent; the stars separated into four very clean points. Again, people were amazed. They'd look at the "pair" in my 9x60 finder, then again in the eyepiece. The seeing was fantastic.

A quick trip over to the Ring Nebula, which was fairly washed at 120x out in the bright moonlight, and I decided it was either a moon night, or one for good double stars.

That said, my next target was M3, which I picked up in the finder next to a bright star. The view was actually quite good at 120x, even though it was nothing like the great view it can be, again due to the moonlight. But, it was obvious, and if you took a moment at the eyepiece, it was obvious that the "haze" was actually a great buzz of stars. Nice view. People "got it".

After that, another nice double. I headed to Izar in Bootes. At 207x it was a nice split, with its obvious magnitude differences, and striking colors. I stayed there for a while, as people would look, move the scope, ask questions about how I made it, and how it worked.

By 11 pm, the atmosphere had condensed, and clouds were quickly erasing the sky. It was getting chilly too... so time to pack up, head home, have a glass of wine and think about the next time out.

All in all, it was a fun night, and a great start to a full weekend.

Mark

Two Nights With New Sights

2009-07-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

Richard Navarrete and I observed Tuesday and Wednesday nights from Deep Sky Ranch, south of Hollister in San Benito County. Conditions both nights were excellent. Richard was using an equatorial platform he'd just purchased along with his 18" Obsession, I had my 18" Obsession undriven. I was impressed with the performance of the platform, and am convinced it allows a more relaxed observing session. I had great success both nights, logging many new targets that were both interesting and challenging. I did not do a star count or use an SQM, but both seeing and transparency were excellent. We observed until dawn the first night, and to about 2:30 the second night. My target list was compiled from objects between RA 19:40 and 20:39:59. First night I started in the north and worked south, next night from the south to the north. Aside from what I observed in my telescope, I spent a good amount of time looking at Hickson groups in Richard's scope - I believe we were seeing into the mid 17th magnitude. If I had to pick out a few objects I viewed and say they were highlights, they'd be the views of the Crescent Nebula, Sh2-101 and Sh2-100 which I refer to as a planetary, but it isn't. I also had the opportunity to use some new eyepieces with 82 degree fields, that performed very nicely.

Here are the targets I viewed, and my observing notes:

ARP 29 11.6'x9.9' 8.8 20 34 52 60 09 NGC 6946

Large core with two arms coming off to NE and swinging E. Southern of the 2 arms is fatter. Dimmer arm comes off S of core and swings tightly around to W. Large core has a gradually brighter center. Finally noticed another long arm, from WNW and winding around straight to NE.

Abell 71 Cyg 165"x150" 14.5 20 32 23.2 47 21 04 PK 85+4.1 = PN G084.9+04.4 = Sh 2-116

7mm 18" - very dim glow, no definition at all, surrounding a mag 13.5 star with more "glow" around a mag 12.5 star on the edge. Extremely difficult. Dim star actually appears involved in a haze.

Sh 2-115 50 2 20 34 33.0 46 52 40

12mm UHC 18" - dim linear glow with some structure running E/W of two pair of stars to the S. Dimmer pair appears involved in nebulosity. OC Berk 90 is obvious at E of the two pair of stars.

Sh 2-112 15 2 20 33 50.2 45 39 35

12mm UHC 18" - easy to view this Sharpless around GSC49801. Nebulosity forms an arc through the star, running mostly N/S and arcing to the E, forming a J with most but thinnest section to the N. Bottom of J is most pronounced.

AGC 2319 0.973 15.4 19 20.8 43 59

7mm 18"- Viewed CGCG230-9, CGCG230-8, CGCG230-7 and CGCG230-4

Sh 2-108 180 3 20 22 34.8 40 15 15 IC 1318

30mm 18" - nebulosity with dark veins throughout over large areas around Gamma Cygni, through into the North American Nebula. Outstanding views throughout the entire area. Truly great view of the North American, rivaled only by high elevation views at Mount Lassen.

Abell 69 Cyg 25"x22" 20.2 20 19 58.3 38 24 02 PK 76+1.1 = PN G076.3+01.1

7mm 18" - perhaps at most the southern arc of this planetary is visible, very elusive.

Sh 2-105 18 3 20 12 02.4 38 20 59 N6888 = Crescent Nebula

12mm 18" UHC - spectacular view, wispy nebula with blue glow and blue stars. Internal knots inside western edge, northern and eastern edge very thick and distinct. Mottling throughout. Star embedded in northeastern wisp is very reminiscent of Veil Nebula's Witches Broom.

Sh 2-106 3 3 20 27 26.9 37 23 49

12mm 18' UHC - amorphous glow involved with dark veins interspersed in distinct star field just NNW of SAO 70038. Subtle, but there.

Sh 2-104 7 2 20 17 44.6 36 44 40

12mm 18" UHC - faint but distinct even nebulosity surrounding stars of Dolidze 4, elongated E/W, with a "Pac-Man" type notch taken out of the NW edge.

Sh 2-101 20 2 19 59 56.8 35 17 27

12mm 18" NPB - reminiscent of Crescent, but dimmer. Two bright stars embedded in W end of nebula. Brightest portion is to N and E of bright stars, Another bright section runs E of the S star of the pair. More nebulosity is to th S and W of the pair of stars, but much more subtle. This is a very good target.

Sh 2-100 4 3 20 01 50.6 33 30 41 N6857

7mm 18" NPB - planetary appears almost triangular, nearly as distinct without the filter. Elongated slightly NW/SE. But appears to have somewhat triangular shape, with a harder edge running N/S. Star embedded in nebula, but seems offset to the N, which may be an illusion due to a dim northern edge of the shell.

Sh 2-77 8 1 19 48 16.6 01 08 52

12mm 18" - very faint and tenuous nebulosity, very indistinct, around a few stars and perhaps between. Nothing certain.

Abell 70 Aql 45"x40" 14.7 20 31 33.2 -07 05 17 PK 38-25.1 = PN G38.1-25.4

12mm 18" - entire disk shows without filter but NE section is clearly brighter. 7mm shows annularity and galaxy visible through NE edge of nebula.

Palomar 11 10.0' 17.3 19 45 14 -08 00 26

12mm 18" - obvious granular appearance and bracketed by 2 concave chains of 4 = mag stars each running N/S with a bright star nearby to the N.

NGC 6822 15.5'x13.5' 8.8 19 45 00 -14 48 NGC 6822 19 45.0 -14 48 15.5x13.5 8.8

12mm 18" - elongated NE/SW and embedded in stars, there is a dark rift or two that run along the major axis and several HII regions embedded, most noticeably the two at the NE end of the object. Using an NPB filter shows the entire NE portion of the galaxy as a triangle glowing in HII.

SagDIG 3.2'x1.5' 15.0 19 30 00 -17 41 00 SagDIG 19 30.0 -17 41 3.2x1.5 15

7mm 18" - oval glow between parallelogram of stars, elongated NW/SE and appearing almost annular - no doubt it is there.

Abell 66 Sgr 295"x241" 19 57 31.5 -21 36 46 PK 19-23.1 = PN G019.8-23.7

12mm 18" - Pair of stars equal mag nearby to NNE. Planetary is large and perhaps elongated slightly N/S with slight annularity. Dim stars appear embedded in E edge - perhaps 2. Very faint, although occasionally the central area appears to brighten and negate annular feeling.

Sh 2-052 2 2 19 47 46.3 -23 05 15
See next entry - how many types of catalogs is this in!

Abell 65 Sgr 134"x34" 13.8 19 46 33.8 -23 08 12 PK 17-21.1 = UGCA 415 = MCG -04-46-001 = PN G017.3-21.9 = PGC 63654

12mm 18" - visible without filter, but UHC helps. Round and mostly even brightness, but SW edge seems brighter than rest of disk. Chain of 4 dim stars cup N edge, and 3 dim stars extend W from S edge, with E star touching disk.

Hickson 086D 0.3x0.2 14.7 19 51 51.9 -30 48 30 63749
7mm 18" not observed, or if so a very tight split with Hickson 86B

Hickson 086B 0.5x0.4 13.8 19 51 59.0 -30 48 57 63748
7mm 18" observed

ESO 461-007 1.2'.7' 13.3 19 52 06 -30 49 00
7mm 18" observed, aka Hickson 86A

Hickson 086A 1.2x0.7 13.3 19 52 08.7 -30 49 30 63753
7mm 18" observed.

Hickson 086C 0.4x0.3 14.9 19 51 57.3 -30 51 23 63752
7mm 18" observed.

Terzan 8 3.5' 12.4 19 41 45 -34 00 01

12mm 18" - forms an almost equilateral triangle with GSC 7434:401 and GSC 7434:31, but feeling is I'm seeing the core as it is relatively small and not all that difficult.

A Memorable Weekend.

2009-05-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday night observing over a new moon is a rare treat for most amateur astronomers. This patriotic Memorial Day weekend I took the opportunity to do so over three nights in two dark sites at 5,000 feet elevation in northern California's Sierra Nevada, among friends, old and new.

My last night was a return to Blue Canyon (BC), and would turn out to be the best of the three nights for conditions and achievement. So, this is For You (red, white and) Blue.

Conditions on the drive up highway 80 from Auburn to BC looked highly suspect. Big white cumulus clouds boiled up over the mountains to the east, ahead and in the direction of my destination. The prior two nights, while providing good observing, were both impacted by clouds and humidity. By the time Marsha Robinson, Bill Porte and I were set up, next to Terry and Gary (new acquaintances), dew was evident on the seats of our observing chairs (always the first indicators). However, as darkness rose, the clouds fell... and by the time twilight ended we had a clear sky, and improving conditions.

I again concentrated on the remaining targets of my Herschel 2500 observing project. I began with 69 left, and knocked out another 29. The remainders are mostly in parts of the sky unavailable this time of year, so I'll have to return to this later, when the winter sky begins to rise again in the early morning hours.

I logged some highlight views last night. My sparse notes (still on search-and-destroy observing mode) listed NGC 5490 as being in a great field, in which my target was "5490c" - IC 982. I also had fun splitting apart NGC 5679c from its two brighter and overlapping galaxies. I found a number of misidentifications in The Sky (Software Bisque's planetarium program) - such as NGC 5098 being twice mislabeled - in fact that target is not displayed in the program, and two MAC catalog galaxies are each labeled as with its designation. Weird. Again, I was all over the sky in declination, from targets near Polaris to those at -31 in Hydra where I was on my knees to peek though the eyepiece.

Late in the night, Bill asked me what I was going to do once I was done with the Herschel 2500, and I joking replied "find a new hobby". Reality is, there are endless numbers of ways to alter the recipe, and I don't think I'll ever tire of mixing the ingredients.

I think it was close to 3 a.m. when we pulled out, leaving Bill to close the gate behind us. A half hour later back in Auburn, I headed to my room and was quickly asleep.

Thanks to all my TAC-SAC friends for making this such a memorable Memorial Day weekend. Marsha, Bill, Randy, Alvin, Gary, Shneor, and new friends Gary and Terry, see you at next month at the Golden State Star Party, or back at BC...

Below are the targets logged last night... I have 40 left to complete the list, 8 of which I can get next month if I'm diligent.

Mark

NGC 4993
NGC 5093
NGC 5361
NGC 5303b
NGC 5403
NGC 5403
NGC 5305
NGC 5265
NGC 4774
NGC 5401
NGC 4711
NGC 5199
NGC 5228
NGC 5223
NGC 5233
NGC 4737
NGC 5096
NGC 5157
NGC 5025
NGC 5074
NGC 5187
NGC 5592
NGC 5328
NGC 5694
NGC 5490c
NGC 5679c
NGC 5718
NGC 5618
NGC 5866b

Rare Sighting at IHOP

2009-05-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Continuing my observing journey in the Sierra Gold Country of Northern California, last night Marsha Robinson and I ventured to the Ice House Observing Plateau (IHOP), located on highway 50 on the way up to South Lake Tahoe. I had been there once before and wanted to see if my recollection was accurate regarding the quality of the skies. My first time there I felt it was a slight improvement over the old default observing sight of Fiddletown, outside of Pokerville just east of Highway 49. Fiddletown has over the years fallen into disuse by my circle of observing friends, replaced by Blue Canyon (see yesterday's blog entry) and IHOP.

IHOP's advantage over Fiddletown is lack of neighbors, and elevation. IHOP is the same elevation as Blue Canyon, both approximately 5,000 feet. But while both IHOP and Blue Canyon have a light dome from Sacramento, at IHOP it is due west, compared to southwest at Blue Canyon. I suppose IHOP is the better observing site, but last night one could not tell. The light dome was significant, seemingly equal to that at Blue Canyon. This jived with my earlier recollection that IHOP was a slight improvement over Fiddletown. What I have come away with is the best site purely for observing, from my experience, is Willow Springs, a much closer trip for me than IHOP or Blue Canyon. What draws me to the the latter sights are the friends who I rarely get to spend time with.

My goal last night was to continue on the remaining targets on the Herschel catalog, the 2500. I determined I had 114 remaining after the prior night. I ended up logging an additional 21 before conditions and fatigue stopped me at about 1:30 a.m. Since I had not been out observing in, in some cases, years, with some of the people there last night, this was as much a social event as an astronomical one. Long stretches away from the eyepiece were spent with Randy Muller, Gary Manning, and even some friendly interaction with Shneor Sherman. Other attendees were Marsha (of course) and Alvin Huey. A friend of Alvin's was present as well, Steve.... but we never introduced ourselves. So it goes, sometimes.

The rarest sighting of the night was, without question, Gary. It has been years since I've seen him other than as chatter on the Internet, now and then. Randy, Gary and I picked up where we'd left off as friends years ago, and had a very enjoyable time together. Part observing, part social. I wonder how long it will be before I see Gary again.

I mentioned the conditions. Humidity was very high, starting off around 80%, climbing to nearly 100% by the time we decided to head back (an hour twenty minute drive back to Auburn). The air was unquestionably thick, cutting down on transparency more and more the closer your targets were to the horizon. As an example, I had great difficulty picking out a mag 12.7 galaxy in southern Corvus, and no problem detecting a mag 16.6 one up high in Draco. The Herschel list had me bouncing all over the sky in declination, although most targets were within about four hours or right ascension.

This was a continuation of "speed dating" astronomy - find the target, check it out very quickly, move on. At times I would not even change out my low power eyepiece - detect, confirm, move on. Kind of fun, for a change of pace.

Of the targets I visited I thought the most intriguing was NGC 6088, and the two MCG galaxies that it overlapped visually. I called both Randy and Gary over to look, asking them what they thought they were seeing, before revealing what was there. We all concluded there were two cores in this "galaxy". The NGC galaxy is the brightest, at a mere mag 15.6. The two MCG galaxies overlay each other, one shining at mag 16.6, the dimmer one at 16.8. What we were undoubtedly seeing was the combined light from the cores of both these ultra-dim targets, appearing as one glow, away from the core if the brighter NGC target. Almost appearing like a dim bipolar planetary nebula. I think it was the catch of the night....

As I would observe, I'd hear Randy and Gary bantering, looking occasionally through Randy's 18" scope, more often sitting and taking it all in from their chairs. Marsha was busy, as usual, intent on her observing, rarely deviating from it. Alvin and Shneor would talk in hushed tones, old friends. It was a great backdrop to a nice night out under a dark sky. In the east the star clouds and dark rifts of the Milky Way rose, and put on a great display. Finally, temps in the mid 30's, cold fingers and toes, along with lack of sleep and an unfamiliar drive back to Auburn, put an end to the observing session.

It was a very enjoyable evening. I think we'll try for a third one tonight, back at Blue Canyon.

Here are the targets I observed last night:

NGC 5640
NGC 5295
NGC 3197
NGC 3252
NGC 2963
NGC 2810b
NGC 4857
NGC 5881
NGC 6088
NGC 6088b
NGC 6182
NGC 4965
NGC 4834
NGC 4987
NGC 5040
NGC 4998
NGC 4932
NGC 5009
NGC 4741
NGC 5214
NGC 4985

Return to Blue Canyon

2009-05-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

This new moon, I decided to get away from the usual observing sites I've gone to over the years, mostly in the south bay, and try the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento for a change. Just for something different. So I packed up the truck and headed out mid-day Thursday. A quick drive to Roseville, late lunch with Randy Muller in Roseville, then off to meet Marsha Robinson for a kids event in Rocklin, followed by a quick drive to Auburn. I spent a pleasant Friday working, via the Internet, a nice dinner, and then the airport at Blue Canyon.
The airport sits just east of highway 80 at 5,000 feet, on the way to Lake Tahoe. The Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society (SVAS) uses the site for its monthly star parties, has an observatory there, as do a select few old timers to the place. While it has a significant light dome to the west from Sacramento, the elevation and good horizons make this a fine place to observe, just slightly over half an hour drive from Marsha's home. Turns out last time I'd observed at Blue Canyon was over ten years ago, on an weekend with my daughter split between the Fiddletown site, and the SVAS's annual Star-B-Q. Here is that report:

http://deepskyobserving.blogspot.com/1999/06/big-dwarf-and-monster-meets-master.html

some familiar and interesting names in there!

Early Friday evening, before heading out to observe, I reviewed my old notes from the Herschel 2500 in order to see what I had left. I did this because Marsha told me she had about 200 targets left to observe on that list, and I thought why not return to my long ago abandoned 2500-quest. After transcribing numbers from my paper logbook to an Excel, I found 114 entries remained, of which I had undoubtedly observed a number but did not note them. So, the 2500, old style, would be my goal. Old style observing for me is "search and destroy" astronomy - no note taking, just find it and move on. What this does is train you to be very proficient at star hopping (rapid fire), and learn to pick out quite dim targets in low power fields (about 100X). It had been perhaps ten years since I've observed that way. Turns out, the change of pace if kind of fun, almost liberating compared to slogging through detailed note taking. Its the "speed-dating" of observing - shallow, but fun.

Joining us at Blue Canyon were Alvin Huey and his home-built 22", and a few possible SVAS members who were observing and camping overnight to attend Saturday's club event. As darkness set in, Alvin and I looked for some dim stars around Ursa Minor to see what our limiting mags were. We both picked out a mag 6.7 star just inside the dipper - not bad, since the sky was not yet at it darkest.

Even before it was its darkest, I was already chasing targets. I hit a mag 14 galaxy as soon as the mag 5.1 star SAO 7522 in Ursa Minor was visible direct vision, to hop from to the target. It portended a very good night. And it was... although the seeing was off, transparency was excellent.

Since I was doing search and destroy observing, I do not have detailed notes to share. I do have the NGC numbers. Of the 114 remaining of the 2500, I logged 29 new ones... and that is over a shortened observing session, as high clouds began encroaching from the west shortly after midnight. By one I was pretty much done - as the high stuff covered the spring time areas where my remaining targets were. I satisfied myself with eye-candy for a while - the Ink Spot, M22, M11, Crescent Nebula, Veil Nebula... etc.

What I can say about the 2500 list, which includes the Herschel 400 and 400-II subsets, is it is a tremendously varied list, as far as challenges. The targets I observed were all galaxies (no surprise, the spring is galaxy season in the rich depths of Leo, Virgo, Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici). Some of the targets were big and bright, some were in large clumps of galaxies - including my favorite Abell Galaxy Cluster; AGC 1367, "lonely" isolated ones, and those that are best described as apparitions - fleeting sometimes views that tease your vision.

Today, after finishing this report, I'm going to query my blog-site's search feature for the remaining H2500 objects on my list, and see where I stand. This has been a long term project, with stretches of years between working on it. Thanks to Marsha for inadvertently getting me back on it.

Off to IHOP tonight, to cast a wider net in darker skies, and observe with more good friends... here are the targets I logged last night...

Clear skies,

Mark

NGC 3523
NGC 3848
NGC 3860b
NGC 3917
NGC 3931
NGC 3961
NGC 3976
NGC 4045
NGC 4087
NGC 4128
NGC 4145
NGC 4159
NGC 4277
NGC 4303
NGC 4331
NGC 4326
NGC 4333
NGC 4436
NGC 4363
NGC 4392
NGC 4453
NGC 4519
NGC 4538
NGC 4572
NGC 4583
NGC 4588
NGC 4655
NGC 4707
NGC 4704

Sons of Dobzilla

2009-05-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

A group of observers gathered at Willow Spring, home of the monster-scope Dobzilla, for a shortish night of deep sky observing last Saturday night. We were there over the year's first legit heat wave, with temps probably hitting the low triple digits by mid afternoon. The attendees are becoming somewhat of a regular group there, and someone decided we needed a name, thus, Sons of Dobzilla. The scope, a 33.4" f/5 is an intimidating sight, especially from the top of the ladder when the beast is pointed at zenith. Not for the inexperienced, or faint of heart.

The other scopes were not nearly as daunting, three 18's and a 22"... legit aperture in any other setting. But Dobzilla stomps them all.

Richard Navarrete and I were the first to arrive. We'd had a Mexican food dinner at Dona Esther on the way down, in San Juan Bautista. It used to be my favorite haunt in that town, back when I was frequenting Fremont Peak in the early and mid 90's. I have to say, I think Jardine's has taken the trophy these days, in case anyone is interested. Felipe's is also pretty good. But, while in town, we picked up some assorted items for mirror cleaning, and spent a short time at Willow Springs, after arriving, drinking cervesas and field servicing our primary mirrors. It was so hot out, we hardly needed to dry off the glass.... that's the way to do it!

Even though sunset is coming later and later now, good company made the time fly by. Soon enough Saturn was out, and was looking great. The seeing was excellent. However, there was a grayish tint to the more distant mountains, that looked like a haze that could affect the transparency. And in fact, that's how I felt the evening went. Very good seeing, with good but not outstanding transparency. I was limiting out with my 18" Obsession at about mag 15.5, about half a mag below the best nights I've had at that location.

The night was casual observing. Even though I spent quite a bit of time at the eyepiece, there was no manic panic to log big numbers. I think those days are done. I visited, ate cookies, had some coffee with Bailey's breaks, and looked through the beast. Before I knew it... the eastern horizon was bright from a rising third quarter moon.

I think all who attended would agree, it was a very worthwhile night.

Here are my observing notes. These were generally challenging targets. I think the AGCs I viewed would be worth revisiting on a top notch night, as there were many components that were just beyond reach last Saturday...

Arp 109 Dra GX 0.5'x0.4' 15.2 15 48 07 69 28 11 UGC 10053
18" 7mm IC1146 is obvious elongated 3x2 mostly E/W, MCG 12-15-18 and UGC 10053 are dimmer to the N, with MCG elongated SW/NE and the UGC to its NW elongated maybe slightly E/W, and dimmer than the MCG.

Arp 109 Dra GX 1.2'x0.7' 15.0 15 47 50 69 28 11 UGC 10053
18" 7mm IC1146 is obvious elongated 3x2 mostly E/W, MCG 12-15-18 and UGC 10053 are dimmer to the N, with MCG elongated SW/NE and the UGC to its nw elongated maybe slightly E/W, and dimmer than the MCG.

HGC 078A Dra GX2 1.4'x0.6' 14.9B 15 48 17 68 13 14 UGC 10057
18" 7mm - small but has bright core. Elongated sliver mostly E/W. C component at mag 16.6 is in and out,tiny glow.

HGC 078B Dra GX2 0.7x0.2 14.9B 15 48 08 68 12 24 MCG +11-19-016
18" 7mm - dimmer than UGC 10057 and elongated NW/SE, no detail, small but larger than the UGC.

HGC 080C Dra GX3 0.4'x0.3' 16.1B 15 59 07 65 14 01 PGC 56572
18" 7mm - dimmest fo three seen in this Hickson, just a small roundish glow to the W of the CGCG.

HGC 080A Dra GX3 0.9'x0.2' 15.5B 15 59 19 65 13 58 CGCG 319-038
18" 7mm - most obvious of the group. Reasonably bright, elongated mostly E/W and about 4x1 size ratio.

HGC 080B Dra GX3 0.5'x0.3' 16.4B 15 59 21 65 13 22 PGC 56590
18" 7mm - dimmer and to the S of the CGCG. Amorphous but perhaps showing elongation maybe NW/SE but very difficult to tell, a bit smaller than the CGCG.

N6015 Dra GX 5.4x2.1 11.1 15 51 25 62 18 35
18" 7mm - approx 6'x3' elongated N/W with fairly even brightness throughout - slightly brighter middle, slightly brighter elongated core.

NGC5982 Dra GX 1.2x.8 10.9 15 38 39 59 21 21
18" 7mm - small bright core with swirl detail containing a bright nearly stellar nucleus, set in a much larger envelope about 1.5'x1.0' elongated E/W.

N5985 Dra GX 5.5x3.0 11.1 15 39 37 59 15 55
18" 7mm - large and ecliptical, running N/S. Slightly brighter large core with rest of galaxy having even brightness, approx 4'x2'.

Arp 188 Dra GX 3.6'x0.8' 14.4 16 06 03 55 25 29 UGC 10214
18" 7mm - elongated mostly E/W about 2'x0.6', dim stellar nucleus in a slightly bulging core.

Arp 2 Her GX 2.8'x2.2' 13.2 16 16 18 47 02 47 UGC 10310
18" 7mm - very difficult and only occassionaly glimpsed faint glow elongated NNE/SSW, no detail at all.

Arp 90 Boo GX 1.7'x0.9' 12.2 15 26 07 41 40 39 NGC 5930
18" 7mm - very nice pair of very close interacting galaxies oriented NE/SW; NE of pair is larger and appears to have some spiral structure or some disruption. Both appear to have stellar cores, but SW galaxy's is brighter and more obvious.

Arp 90 Boo GX 1.0'x0.9' 13.6 15 26 06 41 40 39 NGC 5929
18" 7mm - very nice pair of very close interacting galaxies oriented NE/SW; NE of pair is larger and appears to have some spiral structure or some disruption. Both appear to have stellar cores, but SW galaxy's is brighter and more obvious.

N6058 Her PN 24"x21" 12.9 16 04 26 40 40 59
18" 7mm - nice symmetrical round planetary with even brightness across the disk. Easy bright central star. No filter necessary. NPB filter dims central star significantly and seems to show mottling in the disk, elongating N/S as if the E/W were slightly pinched, but only in the brighter inner N/S section.

AGC 2124 CrB GXCL 13.4' 15.6 15 45 00 36 03 00 UGC 10012
18" 7mm - UGC 10012 is dim but unquestionably visible. Picked up nearby galaxies, MAC 1545+3605, MAC 1545+3607B, MAC 1545+3611,

AGC 2162 CrB GXCL 56.0' 13.7 16 12 30 29 32 00 NGC 6086
18" 7mm - NGC 6085, NGC 6086, MCG 5-38-32, CGCG 167-55, CGCG 167-56, MCG 5-38-28, U10258, MCG 5-38-27, U10259, U10262.

AGC 2079 CrB GXCL 17.9' 15.4 15 28 06 28 52 00 UGC 9861
18" 7mm - MGC 5-34-36, U9861, I4547, I4546, CGCG 165-55.

Arp 220 Ser GX 1.5'x1.2' 13.1 15 34 57 23 30 11 IC 4553
18" 7mm - slightly elongated NNE/SSW, even brightness, amorphous, approx round and slightly disrupted.

Big Turnout At Houge Park

2009-05-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Friday evening, May 14th at Houge Park was another good night for "sidewalk" astronomy. Several familiar faces showed up with telescopes, entertaining curious and interested public visitors with dazzling views under steady skies. I've concluded that one would have to make a real effort to *not* enjoy this sort of event.

I started off the evening well before dark, with views of Saturn. I was able to find it in my 10" Dob by looking at where Phil Chambers' GoTo SCT was pointed. The sky was still bright blue, and Saturn was low contrast, but there was no doubt the seeing was very steady. Detail on the planet was stunning, with knife-edge rings and crisp limbs on the disk. Several moons hung off to its side, bright little disks as well.

As dark fell, other targets began to avail themself to us. While the others continued showing Saturn, I turned to M3. The transparency was clearly down compared to the best nights I've had at Houge, but with some coaching about averted vision, some explanation about why our eyes see better in the dark from the sides, everyone was able to resolve the globular.

Looking around, I realized we had quite a crowd. Lines at my telescope and others. People had their children out, college students doing astronomy class assignments, others interested in buying telescopes or a binocular asking questions, seniors out for a different sort of evening. It was a great mix.

People were asking for different targets, since so many telescopes were trained on Saturn. "Show us a galaxy"... so off I went to the Leo Trio. Even though M66 was there, the view was disappointing.... so much glop in the air that transparency was way down (but the goo helped steady the gorgeous views of Saturn). I could only see one of the trio, and had to coach people in order for them to glimpse a dim sliver of light... following two bright stars to all that shown - - - the slash-like core of the galaxy.

Later on, M13 was showing well, the best of the globs, hands down. Lots of stars resolving. Izar, with a 7mm eyepiece was a nice clean spit for a tight double star.

Once the crowd thinned out, it was time to say hi to friends. I was talking with Kevin and Dan, Rich, Bo, Lee, and Phil. Nice group, all out to share their views our little corner of the universe.

Next up, a trip to Wilow Springs, and some real dark skies...

Event Horizon at Deepsky Ranch

2009-04-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

By 11, the first dark cloud appeared over the western horizon, low, flat, long, and dark. We knew what it meant. I knew it that afternoon, looking at the skies with my friends, when we met in Morgan Hill for the drive. The sky was thick, gloppy, Fremont Peak to the south a mere suggestion of a silhouette, no detail. All we could do was hope.

The drive, this time, blew by in a blur of quick glimpses. Part was due to speeding, but mostly it was an active internal dialogue - I was totally distracted.

A quick stop in Paicines waiting for others to catch up, I stood looking at the fields of green onions and grape vines, my mind still racing through personal history. I was hardly there. I missed all the scenery, and suddenly found myself turning onto Antelope Valley Road and into Willow Springs.

Willow Springs is almost not there. It is not a place name you find on any maps, just on the entry gate. It is a place where a few friends meet, once or twice a month, and almost literally leave the world behind. It is called Deepsky Ranch for a good reason, as there lives Dobzilla, the beastly 33.4" f/5 Dobsonian telescope. Even the 22" there that night, looked like a toy next to it.

We sat around for a while in the chill breeze, sipping a bitter Torpedo Ale, waiting for the crew to arrive. Soon we were all on board and began setting up or equipment.

At sunset, I was already in most of my cold weather gear, but the soles of my feet were chilled. Good news was, the jet contrails were short. Bad news, it was cold, and the air was still thick. In the east, the purple edge of night was rising, and the west showed a very thin sliver of a moon a few degrees above the horizon, and Mercury at its greatest elongation eight degrees further up the ecliptic, shining brightly at almost mag 0, fat at almost quarter phase. It was almost too bright and easy to see, to believe it was Mercury.

As soon as dark was upon us, the crew began in earnest at their telescopes. There was quite a bit of discussion about a new ultra-fast 22" that was nearby, but other than that, conversation revovled around occasional "hey... come look at this" sorts of invitations.

The evening continued that way until about 11, when the first dark cloud appeared over the western horizon, low, flat, long, and dark. We knew what it meant. As the property owner had predicted, the moisture content had begun to condense. Soon, the entire western horizon was dark - black bottom clouds, a testament to the darkness of Deepsky Ranch.

The race was on. I had been observing targets off a list I'd put together, mostly Arp galaxy pairs and (rather poor) Abell Galaxy Clusters.

To me, the best view of the night was NGC 4565 in the new 22". It had a huge wingspan, the dark lane was nearly photographic, and the small bright core stood clearly on one side of the lane. Great view.

With the approaching wave of moisture I abandoned the list, and began racing through the big and bright, as if to gather as many photons as possible before the stars went away. M3, M13, M 92, M51....

And it was done. The edge of darkness hung over us at zenith like a crashing wave. To the north and south it began closing in. Spots of darkness began to appear overhead further to the east. It felt like we were skirting some sort of event horizon... another 30 minutes, and the universe would appear to disappear. Indeed, the clouds were an ending horizon for our event.

We thought about how wet everything would soon get, packed, and by 12:30 I was on the way home. I saw no more of the scenery on the way back than I did getting there. My mind was racing, but this time, at night, I was driving cautiously, on the winding roads home from Darksky Ranch.

Here are my notes from the night. Telescope, 18" f/4.5 Obsession, using a 20mm Nagler for finding, 7mm Nagler for scrutiny, and sometimes a 12mm Nagler.

AGC 1767 UMa GXCL 20.7' 15.7 13 36.00 59 12 00 MCG+10-19-96
18" 7mm - observed MCG +10-19-96, MAC 1336-5911A, MAC 1336-5911B, MAC 1335-5913.

AGC 1691 CVn GXCL 19.0' 15.4 13 11 24 39 12 00
18" 7mm - most are very dim averted only. MCG +7-27-39, MCG +7-27-42, MAC 1311-3917, 1311-3916A, 1311-3916B

Arp 40 CVn GX 0.8'x0.5' 15.8 13 29 21 37 24 49 IC 4271
18" 7mm - galaxy is dim but obvious, elongated NNE/SSW, no detail, even brightness across. Dimmer galaxy visible about 6' EESE, no detail slightly smaller

N4914 CVn GX 3.5'x1.9' 12.5B 13 00 42 37 18 54
18" 7mm - elongated NNW/SSE about 3'x2' in size. Bright stellar nucleus in an elongated core. 20mm also shows N4868 and N4893 in same field.

NGC5033 CVn GX 12.4'x5.0' 10.8B 13 13 28 36 35 28
18" 7mm - elongated N/S, bright, 5'x1' with a bright elongated core and a distinct pinpoint nucleus. Star at N end of galaxy, possible bright knot on W edge of S side. Holmberg VII is nearby, large but smaller than N5033, dim, amorphous but elongated. Required averted.

Arp 265 CVn GX 1.4'x0.6' 15.1 12 53 53 36 05 10
IC 3862 18" 7mm - extremely faint, elongated slightly W of N/S. No detail, indistinct. Small.

NGC5273 CVn GX 2.7'X2.4' 12.4B 13 42 08 35 39 19
18" 7mm - nearly stellar nucleus surrounded by round brighter core, dim almost round halo extends to about 3'x3'. Just E is N5276, elongated NW/SE and slightly smaller, very little detail.

N4956 CVn GX 1.5'x1.5' 13.3B 13 05 00 35 10 40
18" 7mm - small, mostly round with possible slight elongation WWSW/EENE, bright nearly stellar nucleus in pronounced core. Core is surrounded by small halo.

Outstanding Night at Dinosaur Point

2009-04-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday April 18th was one of those days the astronomy gods smiled on. You can't tell when you'll get one. Sometimes there can be an entire observing season full of them. Then they can disappear for years. A friend once equated observing to skiing, saying conditions make all the difference. A great day skiing is memorable, like a great one observing. Saturday night was a very good one. The combination of very good seeing, transparency, little wind and warm temps made it about perfect.

Even the drive there, for those of us who beat the accident on 152 east, was easy, and beautiful. This has to be the prettiest time of year to drive out of the city. The hills are green, with yellow mustard and orange California Poppies. The spots that are not green are either a rusty red ochre or speckled granite. Pacheco Pass is an amazing place.

The turn to Dinosaur Point comes up fast. It is easy to miss, almost directly behind the sign. The road passes the entrance to Pacheco State Park, which was the old Rancho San Luis Gonzaga, back in the days of the California gold rush. The old stagecoach road can be seen down in a gully just past the entrance gate. The observing site is a large paved parking lot just above the boat launch at San Luis Reservoir. Literally hundreds of vehicles could park there.

The turnout was very good, a combination of lots of long time observing friends, with a good number of new attendees as well. We were all in for a treat.

The Zodiacal Light was huge. It was obvious well before dark. The seeing was never poor. It was excellent often during the night, with periods of slight softening. Saturn was easily winner of the beauty contest. Incredible, especially in a few Astrophysics refractors (5" and 6"), as well as a great home-made 10" Mak-Newtonian. In my 18" f/4.5 Dob, some of the real showstopper targets were at their best. M51 was showing spiral structure deep down into its core. The arms were etched at time. M94 too was showing tons of detail, big sweeping arms, an intense big nucleus, spiral structure in the outer core... the big globulars were at their best.

It was hard to go wrong. The only improvement I can imagine is to not have the seeing soften at all during the night. I'll put my order in now, for new moon June.

I didn't just look at big and bright stuff for the night. I was working the edges too. Probably the most challenging views of the night were Arp 204 and Hickson 66. Others were just plain interesting or fun, like NGC 5308, NGC 5322, NGC 5023 and NGC 5103. I finished the night sharing views of Copeland's Septet, with the entire group showing nicely.

This was truly a nice to enjoy being at the eyepiece, under a great sky, with your friends. More like this!

Even the drive home was easy. I was home by 3.

Here are my observing notes for the night. I didn't push it, enjoying the experience, looking through my friend's telescopes and sharing views through mine.

Arp 204 Cam GX 0.8'x0.3' 16.4 13 22 45 84 30 28 PGC46811
Arp 204 Cam GX 2.5'x0.5' 15.6 13 22 49 84 30 08 UGC 08454
18" 7mm - UGC 8454 is dim and elongated 3x1 E/W with no notable detail. Even brightness across. PGC 46811 lies to the W and is fleeting, coming in and out as a slight small amorphous brightening.

Arp 104 UMa GX 2.9'x1.6' 12.3 13 32 10 62 45 53 NGC 5218
18" 7mm elongated E/W and appears disrupted. Roundish, like it may be a spiral. Very dim star possibly embedded in E end. E end appears to hook N, W end appears to hook S. Even brightness throughout, no core visible.
Arp 104 UMa GX 2.4'x1.8' 13.6P 13 32 07 62 42 01 NGC 5216
18" 7mm about 7' S of NGC 5218. Appers round with bright core and stellar dim nucleus. Extended halo surround core but is qiuite dim.

Arp 238 UMa GX 0.9'x0.7' 14.4 13 15 29 62 07 27 UGC 08335
Arp 238 UMa GX 1.0'x0.6' 15.3 13 15 35 62 07 27 MCG+10-19-57
18" 7mm - small dim pair form this Arp. E/W to each other, with a pair of stars in identical orientation just to their N, forming an easy parallelogram. Eastern member seems brighter.

N5308 UMa GX 3.7'x0.6' 12.3B 13 47 00 60 58 23
18" 7mm - fairly bright and gorgeous spindle. Extremely bright stellar nucleus, maybe Seyfert galaxy. Elongated core around nucleus. Orientated SW/NE with hints of a dust lane along the 4'x0.5' size. Dust lane if there is on NW side of nucleus.

NGC5322 UMa GX 5.9'x3.8' 11.1B 13 49 47 60 11 26
18" 7mm - elongated E/W and about 2'x1'. Brighter core inside dimmer speckly halo, makes it look somewhat like a globular cluster. Nucleus is almost stellar.

N5204 UMa GX 5.0'x3.0' 11.7B 13 29 36 58 25 09
18" 7mm - elongated N/S about 3.5'x1.0'. Soft western edge, hard E edge. Even brightness across object, but hints of mottling and a slightly brighter core barely shows.

HGC066A UMa GX5 0.5'x0.4' 15.8B 13 38 38 57 18 44 MCG +10-19-104 PGC48226
18" 7mm - Hickson 66 is SSE of the nearby MCG 10-19-103, and appears clompy with a ENE/WSW orientation. Could be just one object elongated, but appears to be more than one.

Arp 239 UMa GX 0.7'x0.4' 15.0 13 41 43 55 40 23 NGC 5279
18" 7mm - very small with some possible NW/SE elongation. This Arp pair also has pairs UGC 8671 and MCG 9-22-94.
Arp 239 UMa GX 0.8'x0.6' 13.5 13 41 39 55 40 12 NGC 5278
18" 7mm - eongated E/W and fairly even brightness. Fairly bright.

NGC5195 CVn GX 5.8'x4.6' 10.5B 13 29 58 47 16 21
18" 7mm - bright nearly stellar core with a dark lane bisecting the galaxy NW/SE of the core, obscuring that side of the galaxy. W side of galaxy is round and bright but has a brighter bar NW/SE along the edge of the dark lane. Very interetsing object.

M51 CVn GX 10.3'x8.1' 9.0B 13 29 53 47 11 48 Arp 85
18" 7mm - incredible detail under very steady seeing. Main two arms are almost etched. Core has a bright stellar nucleus, with spiral structure within the core into the nucleus.

NGC4800 CVn GX 1.5'x1.1' 12.3B 12 54 37 46 31 50
18" 7mm - spiral with a dim pinpoint stellar core, 3'x2' elongated N/S. Bright core around the nucleus, with a large dimmer envelope around the core.

N5023 CVn GX 6.7'x0.7' 12.9B 13 12 11 44 02 20
18" 7mm - elongagted 7'x1.5' slightly W of N/S. Dim, pretty brightness across object, but hint of bisecting dust lane and several areas that appear to be brighter HII regions.

N5103 CVn GX 1.4'x0.9' 13.6P 13 20 30 43 05 02
18" 7mm - small, in beautiful setting at the end of a small chain of three other dim stars next to a bright star. Elongated NW/SE, in an oval. Appears to have a bright bar or spindle inside the halo. Very bright stellar core. Pretty object.

M63 CVn GX 13.7'x7.3' 9.3B 13 15 49 42 02 06
18" 7mm - very bright. Elongated 5x2 WWNW/EESE. Very bright pinpoint stellar nucleus surrounded by a large bright core about 4'x1.5'. Extensions off the core gradually dim, and have some hints of visible spiral
structure (dark lanes). Excellent example of a spiral galaxy.

M94 CVn GX 14.3'x12.1' 9.0B 12 50 53 41 07 10
18" 7mm - very bright, very large. Inner core is solidly bright and large, containing a pinpoint small nucleus. An outer core is distinct from the inner core, and appears somewhat mottled, possibly by tightly wound spiral arms. Two large sweeping spiral arms come out of the bright second core at the N and S and wrap around the galaxy, N to the W and around, S to the E and around. The bright outer core in moments of great seeing do show spiral structure and dark lanes. Galaxy outer core is elongated slightly NW/SE. What an objject!

Tight Split Night at Houge Park

2009-04-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

I was at the SJAA's in-town public star party last night, at Houge Park. Early on, the skies were partly cloudy, but improved to "milky" as the night wore on. Transparency was clearly down, but little by little, the deep stuff began to show up.

I started out giving the public views of Saturn through my 10" f/5.7 CPT Dob. The seeing came and went, but when good, the views were outstanding. Lot of the public came by, there must have been over a dozen telescopes set up, and the fun people were having was obvious by the laughter and raucous buzz of voices.

I was very surprised to have very definite views of M65 and M66. Next door, another 10" had bright views of M81 and M82. The Sombrero (M104) showed up as an elongated streak, with one side clearly brighter than the other (the dust lane being the dark side). M13 and M3 were poor representation of their usual selves this night....

Someone was asking about double stars, and mentioned Porrima, which I had talked about in the beginning astronomy class. With a 7mm eyepiece in the scope, I was very surprised to see it cleanly split for long stretches of good seeing. Porrima is increasing in its separation, to
0.9" in 2010. A 6" AP running over twice the mag I had showed an amazing view, clean wide separation, nice round stars, and airy disks.

I moved on to Izar, which was interestingly more difficult that Porrima, due to the greater difference in magnitude of the components. Porrima is an almost equal double, while Izar is at magnitudes 2.3 and 5.

All in all, it was a fine night. I thought the tight split of Porrima stole the show.

The crowds thinned out after 11 P.M., and by midnight we were packing up to leave.

More observing tonight, with the gang, out of town.

Clear skies,

Mark

Surprising Night at Houge Park

2009-04-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

It turned out to be a much better night than expected. Weather forecasts called for wind increasing throughout the day, and reaching 25 mph during the night. It couldn't have calmer. Wispy clouds were appearing as I drove into Houge Park... but disappeared after sunset. There was a penetrating chill in the air at sunset as I set up my 10" CPT, but temps seemed to warm soon after. All in all, the night turned out to be a pleasant surprise... I stayed for the entire event.

With a full 1st quarter moon high in the sky, this was not a night for faint targets. A few people insisted on picking out galaxies, M81 and M82 were seen in telescopes as small at 4 inches. A 12.5" CPT gave the best view of M82, but still, not the night, thanks to Mr. Moonlight. I picked out M3, which broke into sprinkles of stars, but certainly wasn't its splashy self. Perhaps the best deep sky views were the big open clusters in Auriga (in the 12.5").

The real show of the night was put on by the moon and Saturn. Early on the seeing was okay, but not really tack sharp. I was cranking up the power on crater Eratosthenes, which was sliced in two by the terminator, enjoying the chain of craterlets sitting in the full sunlight, but wishing the steadiness could improve a bit. A neighbor with an 8" Orion Dob looked, and decided to get it in his scope. I looked at his view... it was fantastic. Detailed rilles and sharp edges on the craterlets. I was baffled, wondering how his smaller scope with mass produced optics (mine has pretty high end optics) could so clearly outperform my view! I went back to the 10" and looked again. It was the seeing! It transformed in a matter of minutes from acceptable to outstanding. The moon was giving up detail all over the place. This was totally unexpected, given the forecast for strong wind overnight.

That transformation kicked the star party into overdrive. Saturn now held up even in my most powerful eyepiece. The moon became a playground. Visitors were having fun, some so excited at the views words literally failed them - - - it was really, a surprising night at Houge Park.

It was also surprising to me, how much I have missed the public aspect of amateur astronomy. I used to be a regular at Houge, but over the past five years, seeking out darker sites further from home, my participation has been infrequent. This year has been a nice return. Maybe its time to bring sidewalk astronomy to downtown San Jose...

If you would like to participate at Houge Park, with or without a telescope, here is the events schedule for the San Jose Astronomical Association.

See you next time!

Mark

Patience Pays...

2009-03-29T20:51:00.001-07:00

It turned out great at Willow Springs Saturday night. It sure didn't look that way early on though. A few of us met for dinner at Jardine's in San Juan Bautista at 5, and by the time we arrived at the observing site, it seemed the best part of the trip might be the dinner together. The sky was a combination of 75% cloud cover, crisscrossed by fat contrails in several directions. Some great sun dogs, talk about the Gegenschein (and galacti-gegenschein), our solar direction through space, and GSSP were among topics that passed the time as we watched, hopefully, for conditions to improve. There was also talk about bailing out at midnight if conditions did not improve dramatically.

Some time around 10 p.m., as we were talking, I looked up at Ursa Major and thought it and Leo were looking suspiciously clear. I headed for the eyepiece. So did another observer or two. Soon we were all at it, and continued uninterrupted until after 2:30, when I turned in. Transparency may have been compromised a bit, and a breeze after midnight was chilling, but it paid off, and I think all had a very good night.

Highlights for me had to be galaxy-hopping the limits of perception in AGC 1213 and AGC 1185, logging 25 and 15 galaxies in each, respectively, nearly all in single eyepiece fields (although I magged up and indeed did hop in the clusters). Two other objects were very notable - Omega Centauri in a 12.5" f/5 Dob - pinpoint stars throughout the glob, and M51 in an 18"f/4.5 showing just tremendous detail.

It was a good night. I woke to a chill wind from the west blowing low scud a few hundred feet over our heads. The drive home through the wild unknown country, CD playing old favorites, winding roads and spring's vibrant colors, all capped off the trip perfectly.

Thanks to Kevin and Bob for the generous invitations. Looks like everyone had a good night, if they waited. Patience pays.

Mark

Here are my observing notes....

Arp 217 UMA GX 3.1'x2.4' 10.8 10 38 46 53 30 16 NGC 3310
18" 7mm - large, round, very occasionally a pinpoint bright stellar nucleus, large bright core offset west in a much larger dim halo. Unusual appearance, almost mottled across core.

N3583 UMA GX 2.8'x1.8' 11.1 11 14 10 48 19 06
18" 12mm - fairly bight and elongated 3'x2' WNW/ESE. Dim stella core.

NGC 3198 UMA GX 9.0'x3.2' 11.0 1019 54 45 33 09
18" 12mm - large, 9'x3', elongated SW/NE. Core is slightly brighter than extensions. Appears odd, like its disrupted or mottled, uneven looking.

N3319 UMA GX 6.2'x3.4' 11.1 10 39 09 41 41 14
18" 12mm - long and thin, dim due to poor transparency. 4'x1' NNE/SSW.

Arp 148 UMA GX 0.6'x0.5' 15.4 11 04 00 40 51 00 MCG+07-23-019
18" 7mm - very dim, averted only, elongated slightly WSW/ENE. Dim pinpoint stellar nucleus pops in and out.

NGC 3294 LMN GX 2.6'x1.2' 11.4 10 36 18 37 19 30
18" 12mm - elongated and bright, 3'x2' WNW/ESE. Kind of chaotic appearance, Slightly brighter middle. Possibly an arm extending from E around to N then 'W. Dark intrusion on both N and S sides of galaxy.

Arp 206 LMN GX 6.8'x1.5' 11.3 10 52 31 36 37 12 NGC 3432
18" 12mm - very elongated 7'x1' SW/NE. NE section appears brighter than fading SW portion. Slightly brighter nucleus, maybe warped, or has some dark intrusions.

Arp 206 LMN GX 0.9'x0.7' 17.0 10 52 17 36 35 34 UGC 05983
18" 7mm - negative observation.

Arp 270 LMN GX 3.1'x1.2' 12.2 10 49 56 32 58 58 NGC 3396
18" 7mm - SW/NE 2'x1' pinpoint bright core and mottled. Interacting with 3395. Core, is 1'x1' and brighter than the extended disk.

Arp 270 LMN GX 2.1'x1.2' 12.1 10 49 49 32 58 58 NGC 3395
18" 7mm - E/W 2'x1' spindle, dim but very bright nucleus.

N3430 LMN GX 4.0'x2.2' 11.6 10 52 11 32 56 59
18" 7mm - 3'x2' NE/SW appears to be classic spiral galaxy tilted toward us. Slightly brighter nucleus.

N3424 LMN GX 2.8'x0.8' 12.4 10 51 46 32 53 59
18" 7mm - elongated 2'x1', appears disrupted, uneven brightness, brighter areas pop in and out like sprites.

NGC 3621 HYD GX 5.0'x2.0' 10.5 11 18 18 32 48 49
18" 7mm - Large, bright, 6'x2.5', N/S classic looking spiral, even brightness but has a dim stellar nucleus surrounded tightly by a slightly brighter core. Fun find.

Arp 267 LMN GX 2.0'x1.2' 14.7 10 36 42 31 32 51 UGC 05764
18" 7mm - oriented ENE/WSW but very very dim, averted only occasionally, slightly brighter middle.

Arp 107 LMN GX 1.9'x1.2' 14.6 10 52 18 30 03 25 UGC 05984
18" 7mm - barely visible averted only 10% of time.

Arp 21 LMN GX 0.8'x0.7' 14.7 11 04 58 30 01 37 CGCG 155-056
18' 7MM - round, dim, possible dim stellar core or star overlaying galaxy. Maybe elongated E/W but very difficult to tell. MCG 5-26-48 visible nearby.

N3254 LMN GX 5.0'x1.6' 11.7 10 29 19 29 29 30
18' 7mm - Nice edge on 6'x1.5' WSW/ENE with a bright core 1.5'x.8', bright stellar nucleus.

AGC 1213 UMA GXCL 22.4' 14.5 11 16 30 29 15 00
18" 7mm - excellent cluster. 25 galaxies logged down to mag 16 using Megastar. Easy asterism near brightest UGC in group.

Arp 105 UMa GX 0.7'x0.7' 14.7 11 11 12 28 41 46 UGC 06224
18" 7mm dim and part of next target.

AGC 1185 UMa GXCL 28.0' 14.3 11 10 48 28 40 00
18" 7mm - excellent cluster, while most galaxies are 15 - 16 mag, there are a few brighter to work off. Prettiest section is five galaxies in a chain off of NGC 3550. Total of 15 galaxies observed in group.

Arp 105 UMa GX 0.8'x0.8' 14.3 11 11 13 28 41 46 NGC 3561
See above.

NGC 3277 LMN GX 1.1'x0.9' 12.0 10 32 54 28 30 43
18" 7mm - round, bright, 2.5'x2.5' dim halo with 0.5'x0.5' bright core and a sharp fairly bright pinpoint stellar nucleus.

NGC 3245 LMN GX 1.8'x0.9' 11.2 10 27 18 28 30 27
18" 7mm - NW/SE orientation, 4'x2.5' elongation, dusty, bright core is small and possibly offset in disk, with a very small stellar nucleus.

Digging Celestial Bones at Dinosaur Point

2009-03-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

I took off for Dinosaur Point around 6:30 p.m., stopping once in Morgan Hell for for fuel (from the pump, and convenience store). The drive this time of year is one of my favorites - the vibrant greens of the hills, yellow of the new wild mustard fields, views horses, lakes and the jagged mountains south of winding two lane highway 152 heading toward Pacheco Pass. Very pretty drive, even if only for the drive itself. By the time I arrived the sun was down and a half dozen or so other observers were already set up. Three or four more would arrive after me, some under cover of dark (but we know who you are....).

Quick collimation of my 18" Dob, and time to enjoy the late twilight. A question came up about the Zodiacal Light, which is at its best this month and again in September. And sure enough, it was bright an broad in the west, reaching up to intersect the Milky Way - nearly perpendicular to it. There was no mistaking the ZL this night.

I spent most of the night at my own telescope, but did manage to peek through a neighbor's 13" f/4.4 at some interesting objects. I took a relaxed approach, not pushing for numbers, but instead enjoying each view, trying to tease out detail in the brighter targets, and in other cases just attempting to glimpse an occasional apparition at the threshold of vision. Here is the list I used: http://www.resource-intl.com/Observing.Lists/Deep.Sky.Mar.09.html

Although the seeing softened later in the evening, I had several faves for the night. The view in the 13" of "four galaxies in one field" as my neighbor described it, which turned out to be the incredibly glamorous Hickson 68. The chaos of M97 and M108 in my scope, and sipping a light drink at the celestial bar in NGC 3359.

After a very enjoyable evening, I put away my paleoastronomy tools and was soon flying down the empty highway home. A good night digging the sky. In bed by 2:30 a.m.

Thanks to George for the chocolate, Al for the cookies, Mark for the collimator, Greg for the chuckles, and Albert the gatekeeper. Here are my observing notes for the night:

Arp 181 DRA GX 1.6'x1.1' 13.1 10 28 16 79 48 49 NGC 3212
Arp 181 DRA GX 1.1'x1.1' 13.0 10 28 41 79 48 49 NGC 3215
18" 7mm N3215 is mostly N/S dim, slightly bright core with hints of stellar pinpont nucleus averted. N3212 maybe slightly brighter, slightly brighter center (like 3215), no nucleus, mostly E/W. Star just W of 3215.

Arp 156 DRA GX 1.3'x0.7' 15.0 10 42 38 77 29 41 UGC 05814
18" 7mm - small, roundish, very dim with averted, has a brighter core, but only slightly. Pinpoint stellar nucleus occasionally pops in.

N3516 UMA GX 1.7'x1.3' 11.7 11 06 47 72 34 07
18" 7mm very bright core, Seyfert galaxy, elongated 3x2 NE/SW. Surprising little galaxy,.

HCG 049A UMA GX 0.4'x0.2' 15.2 10 56 41 67 11 07 PGC 32899 CGCG 314-001
18" 7mm - viewed A component without question averted at least 75% of time. Small, surprisingly bright when viewed.

N3359 UMA GX 7.2'x4.4' 10.6 10 46 36 63 13 28
18'" 12mm - large fairly bright possible barred spiral, elongated N/S, core is slightly brighter.

HCG 045A UMA GX 1.3'x0.4' 14.9 10 19 13 59 07 51 PGC 30153 UGC 05564
18" 7 mm - dim, elongated and smallish, oriented slightly N of E/W, bisecting a pair of equal magnitude stars, equal distances nearby to the N and S. Averted only.

NGC 3610 UMA GX 1.3'x1.0' 11.2 11 18 24 58 47 12
18" 7mm - surprisingly large given the first impression. Extended halo WNW/ESE is oval, bright almost bar seems to extend out along the major axis from a very bright nearly stellar core, giving impression of Seyfert galaxy. "Bar" may actually be some tight inner spiral close to but S of the nucleus.

M 108 UMA GX 8.0'x1.0' 10.0 11 11 30 58 40 19 NGC 3556
18" 12mm - elongated 9'x3', bright star overlays center of galaxy. Galaxy appears mottled, ragged, has a distinct bright knot in the western section, possible brighter central area or knot to E of the bright star, overall orientation in WNW/ESE.

N3225 UMA GX 2.0'x1.0' 12.6 10 25 10 58 09 00
18' 7mm - 2'x1' NW/SE, fairly even brightness across object, occasional averted feeling of very dim stellar core.

NGC 3613 UMA GX 1.6'x0.8' 11.2 11 18 48 58 00 01
18" 7mm - Large elongated 3'x1' with extended dim halo E/W that shows signs of mottling. Brighter central region is tight around stellar nucleus. Inner core appears swirled as if showing spiral structure. Inner core area is intense, elongated approx 1'x0.6'. Nice, interesting galaxy.

Arp 24 UMA GX 1.6'x1.5' 12.6 10 54 36 56 59 16 NGC 3445
18" 7mm - Arp 24, NGC 3445 mostly round fairly bright oval without any distinct features - elongated E/W, MCG 10-16-24 appears to be in contact, as somewhat of an extension NW.
Arp 24 UMA GX 0.5'x0.1' 12.8 10 54 45 56 59 16 UGC 06021
Mislabeled? Should this be the MCG?

M 97 UMA PN 3.4'x3.3' 9.9 11 14 56 55 01 09 NGC 3587
18" 7mm NPB - large, bright, very chaotic interior with two darkened areas that give a bipolar appearance. Very tight exterior shell is smooth in appearance. MCG 9-19-14 visible intermittently averted.

Arp 233 UMA GX 1.0'x0.9' 13.4 10 32 32 54 24 30 UGC 05720
18" 7mm - very small, roundish disk surrounding a stellar core. Appears to be other galaxies to the WNW.

Arp 205 UMA GX 5.7'x1.8' 12.0 10 54 39 54 18 24 NGC 3448
18'" 7mm - fairly bright elongated WSW/ESE about 5'x1', gradual brightening to core, UGC 6016 seems almost equally bright off the NE end of the NGC. No detail.

All Things Being Equal - Naked Eye Astronomy

2009-03-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

I was watching Venus Friday night. I didn't realize the huge dive toward the horizon it had taken in the past week. I recall coming home around 8 pm a few times during the week, the past several months, and seeing Venus high and bright. Friday night at Houge Park we were looking for it in early twilight. I was looking high, but Paul Mancuso said its getting very low. I was totally surprised at how low it was, and how much dimmer it had gotten.

Speaking of naked-eye astronomy, at that star party Friday night (Houge Park), I blew it and forgot the mount for my Dob. I was pretty unhappy at myself, but Mancuso suggested I just mooch photons, and enjoy myself. Resigned to it, I soon found I was having a great time with the public, just talking about the constellations, deep sky objects in them, their mythology. Borrowing a laser pointer made it pretty easy.

After I got home, I realized I hadn't done anything like that in eons. Made me think of ancients doing naked eye astronomy - like at Stonehenge, but without Druids. Coincidentally, Friday was the Vernal Equinox... and all things being equal, naked eye astronomy was absolutely lots of fun.

Houge Park - Try It, You'll Like It!

2009-02-02T07:33:00.000-08:00

I had a great time at Houge Park Friday evening. Turnout was surprisingly light considering the great January weather, maybe half a dozen telescopes set up, and a sparse but steady stream of public visitors. Among the scopes were two 10" Dobs (one was my f/5.7 CPT), a 10" SCT, 10" Takahashi Mewlon, 4" Takahashi refractor and a 3.5" Questar.

What stood out to me were a few particular visitors.

I didn't recognize SJAA member Rob Jaworski when he came by in the dark, and I'd never met his five year old daughter Rebecca. She wanted to look at the bright star below the moon. Of course, it was Venus. Rebecca climbed the ladder, looked, and asked again to see the bright star, instead of the moon. To prove that it was not the moon, I moved the scope up to the "real" moon, and had her look again. She was astonished. She'd ask to see it bigger, smaller, medium size, she noted the earthglow. She hogged the scope (which was fine, with so few others around, it was fun to watch). As other people would come by, she'd drape herself over the ladder, bending acrobatically out of the way as others looked through the scope. This went on for at least an hour, until she began to chill, and dad said it was getting to be bed time. The experience took me back to when my daughter was that age, and was introduced astronomy. Next day Rob e-mailed me and said Rebecca was telling him Venus looks like the moon. Success...

As others came by, I'd move from this object or that. Even with some haze deep sky targets were still visible.

Among my last visitors were two West Valley College students. They were asking about the telescope, so I showed them how to use a Quickfinder, and had them move the scope to M42 and M45. We also looked at some nice doubles - Eta Cassiopeia and Gamma Leonis, comparing magnitudes and colors. The Eskimo Nebula was a good view at 206X - although the shells did not really break out the disk was very evident with a pinpoint central star. I explained what a planetary nebula was, and our sun's future. From there we moved to the Crab Nebula, since we were talking about stellar collapse. Not an easy in-town target - the -students could not see it. An observer next to me came over, peeked in, and immediately saw the round glow. After some explaining about averted vision and what to expect, the students saw it. I think it became interesting to them by describing the size of its neutron star, and that the sweeping beam of its pulsar rotates 30 times per second. That's still mind-boggling to me.

Other targets included NGC 457, The Double Cluster, M35 and M81 (M82 was barely a suggestion). Not a bad collection of sights for the night. It was nice to share them.

After the public left I was talking to Paul Mancuso, looking through the Mewlon. With a 31 Nagler the view of M42 was beautiful. I could hardly believe the image scale, not realizing just how long a focal length is packed into such a small OTA. Paul is a long time SJAA member, and I off-handedly asked if there was anything he was interested in doing with the club, some project. He replied that he wanted to get involved in the school star party program. I thought about Rebecca, looking at the Venus "moon", and the West Valley students pushing the a Dob around, and learning about pulsars.

This sort of observing, actually sharing, was fun. Mancuso is heading in the right direction.

Maybe I'll see you at Houge in two weeks. The 60's saying "Try it, you'll like it!" certainly applies...

Mark

ps - who remembers the derivation of that saying?

Ice-nine night at Willow Springs

2009-01-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

Tuesday afternoon I met Richard Navarrete and Greg Claytor in Morgan Hill and headed for Willow Springs. The sky worsened to the south with clouds and lots of moisture in the air, you could see how heavy it looked. Still a nice drive. When we arrived, Greg LaFlamme was there with Chris Jensen. Kevin Ritschel had some guests visiting who left shortly after we arrived, so things were busy. Steve Gottlieb arrived, followed by Mark Johnston.

Even before dark, there was dew on the shrouds of our Dobs, and the roofs of the cars were already quite wet. The hair-drier and battery saved the night for most of us... there were 2 or 3 of them on site.

Considering we had very misty skies, with fat stationary contrails criss-crossings, things (aside for being wet) were actually pretty good. There were some suprising SQM readings, but I knew how dark it was just by repeatedly walking into my observers chair and ladder, which I usually can see. It was dark.

I took it easy observing. I hadn't expected to get out this month and didn't put a list together, but looking at my list from Jan 08, I realized I didn't get out that month... so, I was saved. Here's the list. There are lots of list there, actually, just change the date.

But I also spent a lot of time at other scopes, and talking about telescope making with Greg L. Some of the memorable views were through Kevin Ritschel's 33", especially striking was the galactic "Z" - NGC 1365. The shape was very distinct, never have I seen such an angular bright galaxy.

Steve revisited Abell 12, a nice planetary in the glare (right in it) of about a 4th magnitude star. We also looked at a part of the Vela Supernova Remnant.

Navarrete called me over to count galaxies in a Hickson group. Fun, elusive.

I don't know who the big dog was, I turned in after 1:30 but before 2. I think it was either Steve or Mark who was last man standing.

The views were memorable, and the company was really good. We would walk into Kevin's garage to warm up, and defrost eyepieces. He had a nice catalytic heater going in there. We needed it, it had dropped to 25F outside last time I checked. Oh, and this was the second time I've had ice on the shroud of my scope. And not just a little, it was thick and made the fabric very stiff. Heavy enough to change the balance of the scope when pointing low.

When I awoke at sunrise I found the fields, cars, scopes and tables all covered in a layer of ice. It looked as if someone spilled some Ice-nine and everything froze. It was 32F outside, and I was the only sign of life other than the sounds of a few horses warming up, and some Magpies chirping. Here is a dated photo.

Here are my notes from the eyepiece. The telescope is an 18" f/4.5 Dob. I found each object interesting, even the open clusters. There is so much variety.

Arp 213 Cam GX 5.3' X 3.9' 10.5 04 07 47 69 48 00
IC356 was large, faint, amorphous, and slightly elongate east/west. Its middle was brighter, but no real structure was visible.

Arp 210 Cam GX 3.7' X 1.8' 11 04 30 49 64 50 00
NGC 1569 is elongated 3x2 north-northwest/south-southeast, with a brighter middle that extends along it length. With averted vision a pinpoint dim stellar core comes in.

NGC1502 Cam OC 7' 5.3 04 42 00 62 20 00
My notes on this call it Kemble's Cascade, but that's a string of stars that form a nice binocular object, ending at this cluster. The cluster has 20 to 25 bright stars in tight group overlaying a dim haze of star. It is dominated by a tight red brighter pair along the southern edge. It is a visually nice cluster.

NGC1501 Cam PN 13.3, 9 04 42 00 60 55 00
A large planetary, and fairly bright. Its round with an even brightness, has sharp edges and is somewhat mottled. The central star is easy, and there are very dim stars embedded in the east and west edges.

N1624 Per C+N 5'x5' 10.4 04 40 37 50 27 41
This was one my my favorite objects of the night. Nice cluster embedded in large nebula. I wonder if it would make a good imaging target? Cluster is small and rather sparse extending e/w, with three brightest stars in brightest potion of cluster at S/E point. Cluster extends E/W, nebula has hard edge along E, running N/S, and is triangular with another bright portion extending W. Dimmest section is from N to W.

NGC1545 Per OC 18' 8.0 04 20 00 50 15 00
OK, some clusters are not so exciting, but they are varied. This one is a large sparse open cluster, with perhaps no more than five or so bright stars.

NGC1528 Per OC 25' 6.2 04 15 00 51 14 00
This is very near the prior cluster, and is very large and dense, with many stars of similar magnitude. Throughout its perhaps 35' in size is an extensive dimmer glow of faint stars. It also had hard eastern and western edges. I thought this was a very outstanding cluster.

NGC1513 Per OC 12' 8.8 04 10 00 49 31 00
Another fun open cluster! This had an interesting shape. About 23' north-south and 14' east-west in size. A distinct open "hole" along east edge that gives it a flat u shape. The brightest members seem to form the outline of cluster, especially along the east side. The hole in the cluster's side is strange looking.

N1605 Per OC 5' 10.7 04 34 52 45 16 18
Another open... this was large, rich, and elongated mostly south-north. The stars were very dim and all about the same magnitude. Surprising.

N1582 Per OC: 24' 04 31 39 43 50 00
I didn't realize how many open clusters I was tracking down, since I was looking in other telescopes, but here's another. Its a huge open cluster, distinguished by a large arc of bright stars from east to west and heading south. The rest of cluster is lackluster in comparison. 40' diameter.

NGC1664 Aur OC 15' 7.5 04 51 00 43 42 00
My last open cluster. I admit, I'm ready to look at something else. This one was shaped like a mini Perseus, somewhat arcing out to an open end. It contained several relatively bright stars, but was rather poor. Fan shape opens to west, and there is a bright star a western end of one arm.

N1579 Per RN 12'x8' 04 30 14 35 16 47
A nebula! And a good one too. There is extensive nebulosity. A 15' north-northeast/south-southwest extension with large bright knot at the south end. That knot is bifurcated, with dark areas intruding. The central section of nebula appears to be its widest, although it appears relatively dim compared to the knot. Nice target.

N1514 Tau PN 136"x121" 10.9 04 09 17 30 46 33
Nice to finish up the night on a planetary. I was surprised at this one. It has a bright central star and even almost round disk. It was easy without filter. With an NPB filter at almost 300x it was somewhat annular, and the brighter outer ring had a rough outer edge. Check out the photo, nice object. http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n1514block.jpg

Clear skies for 2009!

Munching Cosmic Brownies At Coe

2008-11-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time I was at Coe. I suppose I was there some time earlier this year, but it has been a while. When I arrived at the overlfow lot the gate was locked, so I drove to park headquarters and soon had Ranger Bonnie unlocking it, and letting me in. Richard Navarrete joined me there, and eventually maybe a dozen other observers were parked around the perimeter of the lot. It was a treat to see Richard Ozer there. I also hadn't seen Kevin Roberts or Mark Brada for a while, as well as Greg Claytor, his (TAC lurker buddy) with a Highe-type scope, and Matthew Marcus. "Dan" (didn't catch the last name), Mike Delaney, Chris Kelly and his food raiding dogs (hey... great dogs, but they raided the KFC remnants from inside my truck - think Bumpass' Hounds in Christmas Story!), Peter K, Jeff Weiss, and others were there too. We really had a good group, and quite a social observing evening. Folks from down the hill and in the campgrounds joined us after dark to look through our scopes and learn about the sky and our see some of our neighborhood in it. There are certainly a few new observing converts among them - good questions, wide ranging discussions (water table, fishing, GSSP, astro-clubs, literature, philosophy and joking) on a warm and clear late November night. What a treat.

The skies began very mushy. I didn't look, but heard comments about Jupiter being plain ugly. Stars were fat. The sky glow from San Jose was up high, and you could see the moisture content out there. Transparency was noticeably down, and my 18" f/4.5 scope was barely breaking into the mid mag-14's. As such, a lot of the targets on my observing list were just silly to try for. I thought about the skies at Willow Springs the prior weekend, and, while last night was an okay (average) night at Coe, I found myself missing the darker location. The trade-off was proximity, I could easily drive home afterward and enjoy waking in my own bed.

Even though the transparency and steadiness began as a double-whammy, the seeing improved dramatically as the night wore on. But, the lower transparency put me off my list for sure, and I spent much of the night doing public outreach and looking at brighter, familiar targets I hadn't seen in a while, and just hanging out with the buds.

Of the "tougher stuff" I chased down:

A component of Hickson 1 - UGC 248 in 12mm and 7mm. Elongated, averted.

Arp 65 - which is part of the NGC 83 group I observed the prior week (had at least 25 galaxies) - Nice field in 7mm - NGCs 80, 83, 91, 93, 96, 86 and 79.

Arp 249 - UGC 12891 - 7mm - small, dim, averted, elong N/S with dim star involved or stellar core.

I also observed:

NGC 23 - 7mm - small galaxy elong N/S with star involved on SE. Other galaxy to W is dimmer and elong E/W.

NGC 129 - Nice triangular open cluster in field dominated by 6th mag star to S. Triangle opens to the N.

NGC 136 - 12mm - small, dim, rich, round.

That was it for my list.

There was actually something of a "party" atmosphere going on by about 10 p.m. The group had gathered around the two 18" scopes (mine and Richard's) and we were sharing eyepieces, views, Mexican Coffee (a few of us, limited supply) and the Cosmic Brownies I brought along. Here... put your mind at ease...

http://www.resource-intl.com/Mark.Cosmic.jpg

Mmmm... mmmmm!

It turned into something of an eye candy ... or, actually, let's stick with the "Cosmic Brownie" kind of night at Coe...

I was showing M31 and its satellites to the visitors using Ozer's 35 Panoptic. People were easily able to see all three galaxies in a single field, in relation to each other - distinct differences in size and shape. Cool. We showed the Double Cluster, which sparkled. M45 still overflowed the field, but was spectacular. From there I showed M15, to contrast young open clusters with ancient ones and to talk about distances. M37 in Auriga with the cool red star at its center. On to M42 - which our guests not surprisingly fell in love with. We even showed M1 to give an example of a supernova remnant, along with synchrotron radiation scientist Marcus discussing for our company what was actually taking place *in* the object. Fascinating. And fun. Who'd ever guess that amateur astronomy could be such a group participation activity!

Later, after the company took off, I began poking around at a few other interesting objects. I began on M82, which was very sharp in the 12mm Nagler, looking like it had two big chop marks in it with chunks missing from the galaxy. One comment was that it looked like it was almost cut in half.

I peeked at M81, and convinced myself I was seeing some outer sweep of the spiral arms.

Decided to try something I hadn't looked at in a long time, since the seeing was now excellent. Off to NGC 2371/72 in Gemini. Nice bi-lobed protoplanetary. At 294x with the 7mm Nagler and NPB filter, the SSW lobe was clearly circular and brighter than the "trailing" ENE lobe, which also appeared circular, but larger. Between the two was a dim stretch of filament that seemed brighter on its N edge, although with averted vision filled in to something of a bar.

Oh, reminds me, I tried that target after having an excellent view of M76 with the 7mm and NPB filter.

I kept the NPB in an moved on to a showpiece planetary - NGC 2392 - aka the Clown or Eskimo. This object stole the show as far as planetaries for the evening. With the 7mm in,the central star stood out well, alone in a torus of black, surrounded by a sharply defined neon-glowing ring. The contrast and clarity of this view was as good as I've ever seen. Surrounding the neon ring was the soft slightly elongated "puff" of outer envelope. Several of us kept taking in this view. When its working, get it while you can!

Moved back to Orion and (NPB and 7mm in) went through M78 and the associated NGC emission nebulae that form the larger complex. Richard Ozer and I were picking them out. Then (for the heck of it) I decided to cross the line (inside Orion's torso above his belt) to try for UGC 3331 (negative observation) and on to another emission nebula, IC 426. We didn't really buy into seeing it while we were there, but looking at its shape today (using The Sky) and the DSS image, I am certain we were picking out the brighter/denser portion trailing off a bright field star. Woo hoo - redemption!

After that, I began looking for something more off the beaten path, and noticed that Sirius was now reasonably high. That meant NGC 2359 was up. This target is a large area of nebulosity illuminated by a Wolf Rayet star - in a shape that reminded someone of a Norse Helmet. And so it was named Thor's Helmet. Again, with the NPB in and a 12mm Nagler, this object showed great extent and variety in density. If you get a good night, you should spend a little time there. Under the right conditions, this one is a hidden gem.

I think we finished up on the Rosette Nebula, which showed thick, almost pasty patches, and put me in the season's spirit. The 18 was doing great, but by then it was past 1 a.m., and that was the Witching Hour for me. My bed sounded good. It had been actually a very rewarding night, unexpectedly, given what the sky looked like early on. Instead of a "butt-busting" observing session, it was more kicked back at Coe. A relaxed, social, and as it turned out, very good night, even with a brighter than normal sky. And, surprisingly, I didn't even put on a jacket or hat (although I had layers of thermals on). Amazing, for the last weekend in November.

Let's hope for a repeat in December. If it sounds to you like this was fun, it was. Come out next time... I'll bring the brownies...

Observing-LITE

2008-11-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

Those folks who ventured out to Willow Springs had an excellent night of observing this last Saturday. Our group was split over two locations, Bob Ayers' property atop the hill at 3,000 feet, and Kevin Ritschel's in the valley at 2,200 feet. I was with Steve Gottlieb, Bob Jardine, Bill Cone, David Cooper and Elisabeth Oppenheimer at Kevin's.

As dark set in, I bundled up in multiple layers expecting a very cold night. That never really materialized, temps were reasonable all night, chilling a bit after midnight. The sky stayed quite clear throughout the observing session, although seeing was at times mediocre. Still, it was dark and transparent, and a treat for this time of year. A good gauge of the night was seeing the gegenshein between the Hyades and the Pleiades. Hopefully conditions will improve from the current forecast for late this week and warrant another trip out on Saturday.

At dark I decided to throw out my plans and have a relaxed night observing. It began in a very social manner, no "hard core" list-busting - just relaxed, visiting with friends. It was like the old argument about whether it "tastes great" or is "less filling". How can you lose? I just wanted to take it easy, and "sip a cold one" on a late November night with friends. I hadn't seen Bill in a long time, and I can't recall the last time David and I were set up next to each other. I did observe a handful of targets on my November list... and, later at night teamed up with Steve to break up a few big galaxy clusters...

Observing-LITE... with an 18" Dob...

I began with NGC 40, a great planetary nebula near the Cepheus-Cassiopeia border. With my 7mm Nagler (294x) it showed two bright edges - at the east and west, appeared almost circular and slightly annular, with a bright central star. After Bill mentioned it, I noticed a warmish tone to envelope. When looking carefully, the annular appearance was most pronounced toward the outer edge of the envelope, and near the brighter edges.

I moved on to NGC 7762, a surprisingly interesting open cluster on the Herschel 400-II list, easily located next to a mag 5 star in eastern Cepheus. With a 20mm Nagler (103x) it showed as a very pretty open cluster with several dozen bright stars strewn across a long stretch of dimmer cluster members. The cluster is distinct, and almost rectangular in a mostly nw/se direction. I compared it to a small version of "naked-eye" Milky Way but in a single cluster and eyepiece. Worth a visit. Note a few linear strings of stars in the cluster.

I skipped a few items on my list, deciding instead to focus on targets I thought would either be interesting, or easy. Goodbye to most of the Sharpless stuff. Adios insane Abell Planetary that was seen once 10% of the time in a 24" scope! If I want pain, there's always the upcoming SJAA board meeting! ;-)

I next tried convincing Bill we could see Sh2-171 in my 10x80 finder. He said no, I said yes. BTW... for Navarrete (since he asked me to check it out), I liked Steve's Stellarvue finder a lot more than the archaeological relic I'm using! Here's what I came up with on the target: Visible just north of quadrangle of bright stars, as a large asymmetric glow. The northern edge has a noticeable right triangle of stars in a tight grouping. In a 20mm eyepiece there is a very distinct contrast difference from one side to the other, running N/S next to the triangle. Looking at the DSS image ( http://tinyurl.com/66owym ) the triangle of stars is just to the right of center.

Abell 2 is a dim planetary nebula in such an easy to hop to location, anyone with interest in trying it should. Check it out - right on a constellation "figure" line in Cassiopeia and just west of the notable double star Eta Cass... its position is made to order. In my 12mm Nagler, I picked it up without a filter as a dim roundish glow, using averted vision. With the 7mm and OIII - round without much differentiation, potentially some annularity.

This next one is contestable. Go ahead, nay-sayers, sling your arrows. Sh2-176 is a very dim and large planetary. See these images ( http://tinyurl.com/6mx9nv ). Here are my notes: 20mm OIII suspected, with 12mm and OIII filaments appear and disappear with averted, - arc along the NW edge, knot in the SW edge. OK... so I did a toughie.

Another dim planetary? Well, its not all *that* dim.... Abell 82 is located in Cassiopeia very near the beautiful open cluster NGC 7789. What a great contrast in objects between the two! Visit both when in the area. With my 12mm and OIII the Abell was visible dimly as fairly large uneven glow with, with an easy to pick out central star. My sense is that the western half of the planetary was the most visible.

With that, I was through with planetaries for the night. What a relief, on to easy targets - Arp 112 in Pegasus! With a 7mm I resolved two galaxies of almost equal magnitude, the eastern-most (NGC 7806) with a NE/SW elongation, other (NGC 7805) is mostly N/S. 7805 has mag 12 star overlaying and appearing to be a stellar nucleus. What a nice pair!

Arp 113 is awesome looking, on paper (or in a planetarium program). Check it out. With the 7mm eyepiece I could pick out 7 galaxies in tight group dim group. Clumpy. The group is dominated (can you say that for dim galaxies?) by NGCs 70, 71 and 72. Seeing was marginal at the time, so that's all there is to this one.

Arp 46? OMG, another Arp. Where is the easy stuff? 7mm - UGC 12665 obvious as large amorphous glow, UGC 12667 is significantly dimmer and amorphous. Alvin Huey had observed these in a larger aperture, and higher power, and noted there is an "A" companion (which he did not detect)... but I don't see it in Megastar or The Sky... anyway, 12667 was in and out with averted vision.

Argh.... another Arp! Arp 86 is in Pegasus and is not too tough. With a 7mm 7753 shows spiral structure with possible bar e/w (heh.... just looked at the DSS image, yeah!), NGC 7752 is small elongated glow. 7753 is big and bright.... go for it!

In order to flog myself even more thoroughly, I moved away from the Arps, and moved on to Hickson 99. UGC 12899 is the brightest member of five in this group, at mag 14.7. In my 7mm only the A and B (UGC 12897 and UGC 12899) were visible. With enough "watching" I felt a B had notch possibly showing, which would be the C component at mag 15.7.

I also observed two rich galaxy clusters with Steve, Abell 400 in Cetus and the NGC 80 group Andromeda. We would locate the brightest member of the cluster, and work in distinct directions off it, pulling in IC, CGCG and MAC galaxies down to the mid mag 16 range. 16's were well within reach, once we went dimmer, things got tough quickly. I estimate we pulled in close to 30 members of Abell 400, and 25 targets in the NGC 80 group. I'll let Steve chronicle exactly what we saw, I decided to just enjoy the trip and leave the note-taking to the most experienced hands. Observing like this with such a capable observer is always a treat.

Lastly, I'll note a few other targets that were fun in my scope and others.

I had a rockin view of The Horsehead Nebula in my 18" with the 12 Nagler and an H-Beta filter. Black notches don't get any darker or more distinct. The contrast difference on along the edge of IC 434 was very dramatic.

We had a very interesting view of the Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy in Steve's 18", I think pretty much everyone looked at it - this target was large and shown itself as an elongated brightening that was not much more than a change in contrast - but it was there.

Bill Cone called me over to look at Burbidge's Chain off of the big galaxy NGC 247. We pulled in 3 members. Second time I've seen this group. Bill also had nice views of Neptune and its big moon Triton - nice color - similar to the color we saw viewing the Saturn Nebula in Capricornus (coincidentally, the constellation in which Neptune was discovered!).

David Smith was set up with his 6" f/7 Astrophysics refractor pulling in great views of large objects like the entire sweep of M42 (and M43, and The Running Man, and NGC 1981.... awesome!) and the hands-down best view I've had of the California Nebula in a 2.7 degree field!

It was also a lot of fun to have the enthusiastic Elisabeth sharing views, and wowing herself over the great skies and how well targets were popping out in the 8" Dob she was using.

The one thing that was as it always is, was Jardine. The man is an observing monster, a photon munching machine. Other than when he was looking through Steve's scope at The Sculptor Dwarf (and were you guys looking at the WLM too?)... you wouldn't ever know he was there... glued to his eyepiece throughout the evening.

It was a great night. And if I had to choose, tastes great won. It was not a less filling evening, I was very full by the end! So much for Observing-LITE.

Thanks to all my friends who made it so much fun... and Kevin... thanks again for being such a generous host. I hope Dobzilla feels better soon. Feed the beast!

Wide Gaps

2008-11-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

I was at the SJAA's Houge Park star party Friday night. I arrived early, and by dark was joined by perhaps a dozen others with their telescopes. What was immediately obvious was excellent seeing. I can't recall a night of steadier skies at Houge.

I was using my 10" f/5.7 CPT Dob. The Royce full thickness mirror was giving highly detailed views of, in particular, la luna - in a very crisp waxing gibbous phase. Rilles were sharp edged knife cuts etched into the surface. Some were black, short, deep slices, others running "with the grain" appeared as lite lines running long distance into and out the back sides of mountain ranges. Big craters like Clavius with small ones inside, and even smaller craterlets in bunches around those. It was spectacular seeing. It looked like there wasn't a breath of air on the moon, or between it and my us.

Some people were looking at Jupiter, bit it was low, and the best that could be said of it was given its altitude, it didn't look bad, and was even showing some nice atmospheric refraction!

The public turned out in good numbers. Kids with parents, college students, return visitors, all sorts. One young guy, Johnny, 7-1/2 years old did not want to leave. I had let him move my telescope and track things down using the optical and unit finders. No better way to get a kid interested than to let them do it. Mom and dad stood by rather nervously, as Johnny pushed the scope around. I was reassuring, but you could see, especially dad, hoping the boy wouldn't tip it over. Johnny left saying he wanted a telescope, and I told them about the SJAA's loaner program. Mom and dad also told me about a great few nights they'd had in Modoc county, what the sky looked like. I told them about GSSP...

One of the other telltale signs of what the night was like was a contrail. It crossed the sky mostly west to east, almost grazing the moon. Not only did the trail hold together from one end to the other, but you could easily see the individual trails within it, one end to the other. Can you say "steady"?

In addition to the rock solid skies, was excellent transparency. I was a Houge a few weeks ago, when there was no moon present. But last night, even with a fairly big moon up, deep sky targets were outperforming what I'd seen two weeks ago. M31 and M32 were easy. The Blinking Planetary proved popular with those who could get it to do its trick. M15 broke up wonderfully. The ET Cluster was a good test of people imagination (some people got'em, others.... well...). It was also fun to show off some double stars....

Eta Cass's companion was ruddy copper. What a color! I heard a friend talking about Gamma Andromedae - great color contrast too - yellow and blue. I started popping some really tight doubles - you just could not throw enough power at these - every one I tried gave back wide gaps. Mack truck like wide. A few people started talking cosmology - the Big Bang - "before" the Big Bang, oscillating universes, speaking authoritatively too - like God planted the answers in their heads! I was enjoying it. They got onto the color of stars and the amateur astronomers began to quiz the curious visitors on which stars were hotter, would live longer, etc. They were showing colored doubles during this lesson.

So, I got my scope back from Johnny, and pointed it to Gamma Arietis, and let them guess which was hotter, and what was there before the stars.

There were wide gaps in their answers. It was a wide gap kind of night....

It might be a while before there's another like it...

Fun...