35 Stars in a Magical Sky

As I drove to the rendezvous point for our small core group of Mount Lassen Star Party regulars, I felt like I had not been home for some time. I had just finished two nights of nearly all night observing at Sierra Buttes with Steve Gottlieb, Ray Cash, Jim Shields, Marsha Robinson, Mimi (the Messier Monster) Wagner and Rashad Al-Mansour. I was wondering how I would last four nights more. Upon arrival at the appointed location, seeing the group ready to go, my energy level recharged, and off we were to the 6th year of Mount Lassen star parties.

Driving north away from the greater San Francisco bay area, the city falls away and turns into the rolling farmland that makes California's Central Valley a breadbasket to the rest of the states and the world. It is a wonderful drive, between the coastal range mountains to the west and the towering Sierra Nevada to our east. Somewhere out there, to my east, were several of the gang I spent the past weekend with, still up at the 7200 foot observing location. I thought it would be interesting to compare skies, although it is subjective and difficult to do without same real-time data. But, I would come to some definite conclusions by the end of my four nights at Mt. Lassen.

Finally reaching our turnoff from northbound highway 5, we were heading east and uphill, with the peaks of Mt. Lassen to our face, and hints of Mt. Shasta to our left. These peaks are interesting geological features, Lassen being a plug-dome volcano, and Shasta being a composite example of the earth's eruptive forces. Those of you who recall Mount St. Helen's 1980 blast, Shasta is the same type of volcano. Also notable is the fact that although others will say we were observing in the high Sierra, Mt. Lassen is the southern most mountain in the chain of the Cascades, which run perhaps from north of the Washington - Canadian border south, to our observing site. Mt. Lassen is also notable in that it has examples of every form of volcano, plug-dome, shield and composite. It is geologically unique in the world of volcanism. Mix in boiling mud-pots, steam vents, The Devastated Area, Boiling Springs Lake and Devil's Kitchen portions of the park with abundant lakes (ranging from glacial to nearly desert), the Pacific Crest Trail (made famous by John Muir), waterfalls, meadows full of wild flowers and wildlife, and observing sites at 6,000 and 8250 feet, and there can be no better location to hold a star party for the solitary observer or one with family in tow.

This year, after hearing glowing reports of steadier, darker skies at the Bumpass Hell parking lot, our group decided to give the location a try. Some of you may wonder at the name of this area. Briefly, in 1864, a hunter and mountain man named Kendall Vanhook Bumpass, discovered the largest geo-thermal area of the region. He was also the first person to accidentally step through the thin crust and suffer a severe burn (his leg had to be amputated for lack of treatment as he packed out by horse). The name "Bumpass Hell" serves as a warning to other people entering the area. Our observing site, at 8245 feet was at the trail head to Bumpass Hell.

I can't help but tell you of the view. You can keep Glacier Point in Yosemite, with the crowds, the long drive, the sometimes cranky rangers, the concession stands, moving your vehicles away from your equipment... Bumpass Hell is a paradise. Facing south, the only obstruction on the horizon is a solitary tree. Behind you, and just outside the parking lot, are Lake Helen and Emerald Lake. Ice was still on Lake Helen, which was turquoise blue at its shores. Snow banks rimmed the lake, and lay heavy along the sides of the road and along the less sun-exposed areas in the region. Emerald Lake, a bit lower on the south-west slope, lived up to its name. The colors of the waters were simply magnificent. Nature's paintbrush was never more creative, nor beautiful. Still facing south, Lassen Peak was behind us to the north-east. Huge areas of lava plugs jutted out from the Peak, as enormous rock formations jutting out of an otherwise nice cylindrical cone. Pilot Pinnacle and Mt. Diller rose over 8,000 feet to the north-west, Brokeoff Mountain just south-south-west and Mount Conrad to the south-east. At our feet, over the edge, was 8200 feet of descending forest land. But curiously, the area between us, Pilot's Pinacle, Brokeoff and Mt. Conrad, history holds a secret, called Mount Tehama. The huge open area we were looking down upon, between the aforementioned peaks, is 11 miles in diameter, and constituted the base of ancient Mt. Tehama. The Mt. Tehama "strato-volcano" had built up over eons of eruptions, finally collapsing about 600,000 years ago. If not for its caldera being breached, it could have developed into an area reminiscent of Crater Lake. If you visit, stand at the steaming vent of Sulphur Works, thought to be the giant volcano's main vent, and imagine the mountain that once there stood. It is stunning.

So, our view was over this ancient caldera, and the jagged colored peaks surrounding the area. As sunset's light played against the colored rocks, snow and forests, the area took on a magical feel. When darkness faded the caldera into hues of gray and black, it was easy to feel as if I were standing on the edge of forever... civilization faded away, the Milky Way rose in front of me, and I felt all my 46 years of life in the soup of current American culture fade away, and I was transported back to a time when only the earth and stars existed. Before me lay an ocean of geologic history, and celestial delights, all at over 8,000 feet of dark, transparent, steady skies.

My 18" F/4.5 Obsession was at the ready, Telrad serving as my finder and a 20mm Nagler in the focuser. I was planning on continuing the Herschel (2400+) list. My atlas was the current high end version of Software Bisque's The Sky on a laptop computer hooked to a deep-cycle marine cell batter and inverter. These observing tools are pretty standard for me now, and offer endless possibilities of discovery and confirmation.

As the sky darkened, the Milky Way became a living entity, glowing, divided by the Cygnus Rift, fingers of darkness snaking their way into the thick star fields. Behind Deneb was black. The Pipe Nebula in Ophiuchus was just a part of the dark horse. Things hard to see in lesser skies were jumping out. Messiers naked eye. The eye was overwhelmed, and it would be easy to sit and watch the earth turn all night.

But, the eyepiece beckoned. Rather than list all the objects observed, I will give a smattering of the more interesting and/or challenging objects.

NGC 2908 and UGC 5203 in Draco. I had a very difficult time locating this NGC in between Dubhe (Ursa Major) and Polaris. In fact, I gave up and star-hopped back from NGC 3057, which was the next object on my list. I mention this pair of galaxies since the UGC immediately broke the mag 15 barrier early in the evening, and low toward the northern horizon where the thicker atmosphere tends to extinguish such dim light. UGC 5203 was a nice elongated smudge of light about 12' south of the NGC. A pair of 10th magnitude stars sits NE-SW between these objects. These two stars make an excellent guidepost. The UGC is about 2.5"x0.5" running NW to SE.

NGC 3215 and NGC 3212. I began looking for NGC 3215, and was pleasantly surprised to see it has a close companion, NGC 3212. Both are round galaxies in the mag 14 range. There is very little separation between them, perhaps an arc second. There is supposedly a third galaxy in the field, and The Sky shows a 7ZW327 at a dim mag 17.6 nearby, but it was not visible in my view. The field for the two visible NGCs included a number of mag 10 - 11 stars in easy to identify shapes. It was fun to see the two NGCs show close together.

Sitting on the borderline between Sagittarius and Ophiuchus (Ophiuchus is a great constellation, it has everything!), sits Palomar 6, a dim globular cluster. It is not difficult to find the correct location, as it sits on a line between the tip of the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius (star is 22-Lambda Sagittarii, mag 4.2 aka Kaus Borealis) and mag 4.3 Theta Ophiuchi (the easternmost star in the bottom of that constellation). This globular was dim, but not difficult to make out. It appeared to be about 12' in diameter and its core about 6' from a mag 8.5 star to its south (the brightest star in the field).

Since that globular was fun, I went on to Palomar 7. East of Ophiuchus in Serpens Cauda, this object is not difficult to find either. I used an asterism that was once its own constellation, Pinotubo's Bull (60, 62, 67, 68 and 70 Ophiuchi), in Ophiuchus, to help locate the correct field. Pal 7 is a bit larger than Palomar 6, and is not difficult to observe (but maybe it was just the great skies we were under). Helping to identify the field, the globular sits between two mag 7.5 stars widely spread.

I moved to Palomar 8, and found this one a challenge. I am sure I saw it, but as I recall, it required averted vision to detect what appeared to me a haze, reminiscent of observing a faint large planetary nebula (which I would spend time doing later this trip). Palomar 8 is north of the "teaspoon" asterism east of the Teapot in Sagittarius. A Telrad finder makes locating the position a relative snap. But, observing the object was a challenge. Fortunately, it sits between two mag 6.5 stars, one about 26' west and the other about 36' northwest of the object. A chain of about 7 mag 9+ stars run between the two brighter ones, helping mark the correct location for Pal 8.

My favorite Palomar Globular of the night was to follow. Just between the end of the teaspoon (37-Xi2 Sagittarii) and the top outside star of the handle of the Teapot (34-Sigma Sagittarii) sits a small round ball of light with stars embedded. Palomar 9 is interesting... I can't tell if I see stars in the globular, or some foreground stars that are fortuitously positioned to appear a part of the cluster. Still, it is small and easy to see, just off the very bright mag 5 star 35-Nu2 Sagittarii. This one is a winner!

I finished the my Palomar observing with Pal 11. This was a bit larger than Pal 9, but not nearly as noticeable. It was not a difficult object, but was obviously diffuse compared to the smaller one just observed. A mag 8.6 star sits almost in the cluster (perhaps 4' from the center), just east of due north.

I also tried for Palomar 5 and 12, without success. These were fun objects to hunt down, and I will go after others.

I thought it would be interesting to check out objects in my newest acquisition, The Night Sky Observer's Guide (NSOG). A number of use made a list of objects in Aquila and Bootes with volume two, during the day. The list consisted of mostly dim planetaries and galaxy groupings. Here is some of what we observed using that source (all planetaries used a 2" OIII filter):

NGC 6772 - bright and smallish planetary in Aquila. This was at an easy location and presented little difficulty. Using the Telrad and the "tail" star in the Eagle, the object in on the line from there (16-Lambda-Aquilae) to Altair. The disk appears annular. I did not note a central star, but do not recall looking for one. If I remember correctly, this one looked like an "Owl" nebula to me.

NGC 6760 - this is a rather dim globular cluster, perhaps the only one in constellation. It was granular, but not well resolved. I would estimate its size at about 6 arc-minutes. A mag 7.5 star 36' northeast and a mag 8.8 star 25' northeast point at the globular, with a close pair (mag 8.5 and mag 10) southwest about by about 14'. This is a nice find.

PK47-4.1 is also known as Abell 62. It is a challenge. It sits on the line between Altair and 17-Zeta Aquilae, the tip of the western wing of the Eagle. Without the OIII, this object would have been hopeless... IMO. It was very faint even with it. It was as if we (several of us found it) were seeing a slight background "glow" that was barely a change in the contrast. However, with averted vision, the object would show some definition. We were able to confirm by matching the star field with our computer displays.

Next was PK33-5.1, or Abell 55, a very small mag 15.4 object, according to The Sky software. It is positioned favorably just west of the line from 17-Zeta Aquilae to 30-Delta Aquilae, which is the center of the "wings" of the Eagle. Although the NSOG description says this is a difficult object, it was not so at Lassen. The mag 10.5 star was the brightest of the close stars, but there were other brighter ones at the periphery of my field.

The last object in Aquila was PK38-25.1, Abell 70. At mag 14.3, this object too was not exceedingly difficult. A small grouping of stars seems to be almost interacting with this planetary. I wonder if the planetary is part of the group?

I will finish this report with a few objects out of Bootes, then an impression of our last night in the park, when we held our public observing session. We began going after NGC 5490 (page 31 in NSOG), to see the group. It was so low on the northwestern horizon by this time that only the brightest members shown. So, we went after higher targets in the constellation.

NGC 5673 (pg 35) and IC1029 were excellent. Both primary galaxies shown easily, and should present no problem in a good dark sky with transparancy. In the area, I also picked up NGC 5676 and NGC 5660, without trouble. I was unable to find MCG8-26-38 nearly at mag 15, but it may have been a moment of softness.

NGC 5869 (pg 36), NGC 5683 and NGC 5682 were also no problem. 5689 was big and easy to detect, with a definite extended streak of a core. A bright group of seven stars sits near the edge of the field, some of which can be used to point at the galaxies. NGC 5682 was also easy, but breaking NGC 5683 out was not. While in the area, I also picked up NGC 5700 and UGC 9426. I mention the UGC, as it is listed at mag 16.5.

NGC 5795 and companions (pg 38) had me puzzled. It was easy to pick out the main object, and three of the other four. Three of the galaxies lie in a line away from NGC 5795, separated by a mag 6 star. NGC 5797, 5805 and 5794 are no problem to see. 5795, the one listed as the primary object in NSOG, is in fact the most difficult of the four, a dim streak almost touching a dim star. As for NGC 5804, I tried and tried again and again, but could not find it. Interestingly, Steve Coe's drawing shows a position where The Sky will point to (enter NGC5804, click, it shows the correct location), but even with the program set to mag 18, nothing appears on screen. Is it a real object? I sometimes think I see things that are nothing more than.... Lumpy Darkness.

The last night, Saturday, the seeing was tremendous. Before sunset, we could look out over the great expanse of Mt. Tehama's ancient collapsed caldera, across the Central Valley of California, and clearly see the outlines of Sutter Buttes, a series of volcanic peaks jutting up out of the valley floor some 90 miles to our southwest. We could actually see well beyond that, but there is nothing but flat-land until one reached the coastal mountain around Lake County, and Clear Lake, probably one hundred fifty miles away. The sky would remain essentially perfect for our last night, and the public would turn out, there at 8240 feet elevation, standing on the edge of the smaller eternity of geologic time, and the vast eternity of our universe.

I showed the big and bright. M13, M4, M3, M31, M51, M11, M22, M15, M57, M8, M20, M17. All were exquisite jewels, resolution to the max. Dark lanes where none had been seen before by my eyes. The public was so appreciative, many coming from nearby towns, knowing that we put on this show every year. Old friends.

I finally turned the scope toward 52-Cygni, put the OIII back on the eyepiece, moved the scope a nudge toward the beginning of the section of Veil Nebula some call the Waterfall. One by one, I allowed people to move the 18" scope and follow the sinuous threads of the creation's hand across the sky. People would literally gasp in amazement at the beauty and wonder of this object, creation out of destruction. Question after question.... people making the transition from observational astronomy to cosmology, to philosophy, religion, back to creation. It is an inspiring sight. It opens the wonder and curiosity of the human mind.

It was a great night.

Back at camp that night, equipment packed away for the drive home after some sleep, the core group sat around, sipping cold beers, and reflected on times gone by, new people, people we'll never see again, friends, and so on. It is an after-observing tradition.

I mostly listened that last night. I looked up, and quietly counted 35 stars in the Great Square of Pegasus, with no effort. No averted vision, no work. Mag 6.5 with no effort.

Lassen's skies are Magical. When I think of Kendall Bumpass, I can't help but think...

One man's hell is another's paradise.

I can't wait to return.

A Big Dwarf and The Monster meets the Master...

Friday, June 11, my daughter Mimi and I left our home in Los Gatos for the Gold Rush towns along California's highway 49, in particular, for a piece of land outside the town of Plymouth, once known as Pokerville. The drive was a familiar one, as I have taken my family to the Gold Country for family weekends many times in the past, and we had travel led the same back-road on those adventures as we would heading out to pan for celestial deep-sky nuggets.

Arriving at our first stop, we found fellow TACos Jim Bartoloni and Rashad Al-Mansour waiting at the Pokerville market, where we had agreed to meet for the final drive along dirt roads, gravel roads, and through gullies to our final destination. Soon we were there.

One of the old timers at the location was already there. Charlie Stipplemeyer was inside the observatory building enjoying the shade. He remembered me from my last visit back in September of 1998. I was surprised at his recall (he even remembered my name).

It was warm, and the sky did not look very good, cut we set up. Charlie with a 20" f/4.2, my 20" f/5, Jim's 16" f/4.8, and Rashad's 12.5" f???. About them, Bill Charrington arrived. He brought out a 16.5" f/5.5 sonotube Dob called Evergreen. My daughter, known on this list as the Messier Monster, set up her 10" f/4.5, and we waited for dark.

The clouds cooperated by departing except for some occasional bands along the western and northern horizon, but it looked like we were in for a good night. Unfortunately, we found soon that the transparency was not up to snuff, so started out on the brightest objects on our respective lists. The Monster was pooped from all the excitement of school ending, an impending birthday (all the plans), the big drive where she read the map and was a very proficient navigator, and whatever else excites almost 11 year olds. She turned in by 10 p.m. I was on my own observing.

I began my observations in Leo, where there seem to be endless galaxies to hunt. I would use my 19mm Tele Vue Panoptic exclusively for the evening, yielding a magnification of 134 times.

NGC3862 was my first object. What a treasure of object there was around this galaxy! You will find this galaxy close to 93 Leonis, a magnitude 4.59 star about the "tail" (triangle) in Leo, its angular separation is 00�53'07" and position angle: +230�07'. Dreyer describes this object as very faint, very small, round. It is 1.5' in size, glowing at mag 13.5. In the same and surrounding field I located NGC3873 (1.5x1.3, mag 14 elliptical) with a close companion NGC3875 (1.3x0.3, mag 14.9 extended lenticular), 3861 (2.3x1.3, mag 13.6 round with bright core), NGC3687 (0.6x0.6, mag 14.6, small and round), NGC3859 (1.2x0.3, mag 15, appears elongated - lenticular?), NGC3868 (0.8x0.3, mag 15.3, almost stellar?) and NGC3859 (1.2x0.3, mag 15, round and dim). There were more objects in the surrounding fields, but I did not want to spend a long time in the area, as Leo was already diving head-first for the horizon.

Next, on to NGC3883. The center of the Telrad circle is just north of the same starting star as above. This galaxy is 2.9x2.4 in size, mag 13.1 and round. It is easy to see. There is a mag 9.4 star just west of south from the galaxy, about 5' away. No other galaxies were in the field, but just outside I did observe UGC6725 (1.6x1.3, mag 13.9, lenticular), 27' ESE of NGC3883.

My last object in Leo for the evening was NGC3884. Moving along the line from NGC3883 to the mag 13.1 star, then along in the same direction, you will pick this next object just before running into a mag 7.8 star. The galaxy is 2.1x1.4, mag 13.5, small and faint.

Looking north, I found Ursa Major high and in good darkness. Lots of objects there too. So to the north I went.

Keep in mind, that while all this is going on, other observers are calling each other to their respective telescopes for views ranging from the esoteric, to the most spectacular beginner Messier object. It is a fun way to observe.

Starting with NGC4020, just north of the tail of Leo. I found it hard to believe this was part of Ursa Major. In fact, it sits near the junction of Leo, Coma Berenices and Ursa Major, but in the big bear. The galaxy is 1.9x0.9, mag 13 and elongated. A mag 11 star sits just west of the galaxy, and further east, at the edge of my field of view (almost 31 arc minutes) sits a nearly straight line of stars from mag 11 to almost mag 12, perpendicular to the galaxy and other star. The star field is distinctive and easy to recognize.

NGC4194 is at the back of the Big Dipper's bowl, and under the handle. Most of the Telrad is outside the bowl. This object eluded me in the past, but tonight I found it to be very small and almost stellar. It took some looking to realize where the galaxy was. It is mag 13.1 and 1.8x1.1. You would think at that size it would be easy to see, but most of the brightness is in a very small core.

NGC4500 is also easy to locate. One edge of the Telrad almost touches the star connecting the handle to the Big Dipper to the bowl, while the line toward Alcor and Mizar nearly touches the middle Telrad circle, with most of the Telrad riding above that line. There is a mag 10.5 star about 45 arc seconds due east of NGC4500. The galaxy has a noticeably bright core, and appears like a lenticular spiral some 1.6x1.0 in size.

NGC5376 was located by drawing a line from Alcor and Mizar to 11-Alpha Draconis. The Telard sits just east of that line, with the western edge of the Telrad laying across the line. The galaxy is 2.2x1.3 and is mag 12.9. There are other dimmer galaxies just north and a mag 8.75 star due east (with a close mag 12). Bright middle, perhaps extended. Travelling south from this galaxy, you will come to two mag 9 stars with mag 10 stars bracketing them, in a line. Just northwest of them is NGC5272, a small mag 14.2 galaxy coming in at 0.6x0.4. Just 36' northwest of NGC5376 is NGC5342 at 1.1x0.4 and mag 14.5, a very faint lenticular galaxy.

NGC5389 was a nice target, very close to NGC5376. The surrounding field included a number of other objects. Just east of this object sits two bright stars, one at mag 9 and the other, close-by at mag 10. Forming a line with the stars are a close pair of stars at mag 11 to the north, and on the other side of the original pair, another mag 10 star. The line of stars runs north to south east and is distinctive. The target galaxy shines at mag 13.1, and is a cigar shaped 3.5x1.0, having a brighter nucleus. To its west, opposite the mag 9 and 10 stars, sits NGC5379, a mag 13.9 galaxy shaped more stubby at 2.2x0.9. Going back to 5389 and moving so that you travel between the mag 10 and mag 9 star, you will come to NGC5302, near or just outside the eastern edge of the field of view. This object is small and dim, appearing elongated, but not much more than about 1' in size. UGC8859 may also be glimpsed, a little over 7' south of NGC5389. This galaxy is indeed dim, and required averted vision, its magnitude being mag 15 and 1.5x1.0.

Very close to the border between Bootes and Ursa Major, just into UM from Bootes northeastern-most point, and close to where M101 it, sits NGC5422. This galaxy is a nice sight, at 3.9x0.7 and mag 12.8. It has nice extension and a bright core. It sits in a right triangle of bright stars that overflow the field of view, two stars in the mid-mag 9 range, and the star at the right angle being in the mid mag 8 range. There is also a distinctive line of about 8 stars between the eastern stars of the triangle. This area is fun to hunt around in, as there are many small galaxies in the general neighborhood of M101. On to NGC5430 is on that line between Alcor and Mizar and 11-Alpha Draconis that was previously described. But, this galaxy is a bit closer to Draco. The northern edge of the Telrad just touches the line between these stars. The galaxy is 2.2x1.1, and seems disturbed or mottled, shining at mag 12.8. A mag 8.7 star appears to be foreground to the galaxy and there are some distinctive star patterns close by. 8' north is a close pair, the brighter one at mag 9.8 being one of the brightest stars in the field. Closer to the galaxy, and slightly west of north, is a mag 11.3 and just under 4' away, and forms an equilateral triangle with a pair of mag 13.8 and mag 14 stars. By travel ling from the bright pair to the dimmer triple, then beyond, you hop to a mag 14, then to a mag 12 star, then just beyond in that direction to MCG10-20-59, a tiny mag 15.2 galaxy that was just dancing in and out of view.

The next target was NGC5443, back near the northeastern-most border of Bootes with Ursa Major. It is fairly easy to locate with a Telard, if you walk the chain of stars coming off Alcor/Mizar that describe a straight line along the handle away from the bowl of the Big Dipper. There are 4 naked-eye stars in a chain, then a gap, then two or (if your eyes are keen) three stars. But placing the bottom of the Telrad just above the forth star in the chain away from Alcor/Mizar, you will be in the area of NGC5443 and several other galaxies. 5443 sits just north of M101, shining at mag 13.12 and 2.6x1.0 in size. It is pretty faint, but shows elongation. To its north in the field of view are two pair of stars, all about equal magnitude, three in the tens, the other in the nines. A fifth star sits in the western portion of the field, about equal brightness with the others. Identifying star patterns is by far the best method of object confirmation I know of. From this object, I also hopped to MCG9-23-23 and MCG9-23-25, mag 15.2 and 0.8x0.6 and mag 14.9 and 0.8x0.4 respectively. These small dim galaxies inhabit the area around M101.

M101 was awesome. The extent of the galaxy, its spiral arms, bright HII regions, all showed well by this time of night. The sky was quite dark now and transparency had dramatically improved. M101, while never a blinding object, showed as much detail as I had ever seen it reveal.

Meanwhile, Bill Charrintgon was amazing all of us with the unusual objects he was literally plucking out of the sky. Why such an unusual verb for what he was doing? Because what was happening is to me, mind boggling. Bill has been observing for 29 years now, and is an accomplished deep-sky aficionado. When he showed me the "fish-hook" galaxy... somewhere around Coma B or Virgo, I leaned over his scope to look through the Telrad. "Where's you Telrad, Bill" I asked. "Don't use one" he replied. I looked around and saw nothing up top as a finder, and he pointed down at the rocker box. A home-made 7x60 (I think) finder sat attached. This fell must know star fields to find these dim things with only a finder!

I would find a few more object that night, then I would find myself involved in a arm-wrestling match with a giant dwarf. I located NGC5473 literally on the northeast tip of the border between Ursa Major and Bootes. Looking at the four stars that describe a straight line extending from the bend in the Big Dipper's handle, the Telrad sits on the last of the four stars, but leans a bit away from them. This galaxy also shares billing with M101, as it is a mere half-degree away from the giant's core. A mag 11 star sits right on this galaxy, and a trail of brighter stars fall away to the southwest in a small, tight string. Other bright stars sit one to the northeast 7' away, and to the northwest about 12.5' distant. These are distinctive landmarks. The galaxy shone at mag 12.5, and was small and round at 2.4x1.7. Moving east of the galaxy, toward and beyond the single bright star, and outside the initial field, you come upon NGC5485 and NGC5486, the first being 22' away. The galaxies are mag 12.4 and 13.8, 2.4x2.0 and 1.8x1.1 respectively. 5486 was the more interesting of these two, being brighter in its core rather than just even in brightness across its area. travel ling south from NGC5485 to a small triangle of stars (two equal brightness, the third significantly dimmer), you can go southeast for about 6' to find MGC9-23-39, a mag 14.73 galaxy that is quite small at 0.7x0.5. All these are in the photon shadow of M101.

NGC5480 and NGC5481 are right on the constellation boundary between Ursa Major and Bootes, just "above" the end star in the handle of the Big Dipper, Alkaid. The boundary found approximately at a right angle from Alkaid, using half the distance between Alkaid and Alcor/Mizar as a distance measure. NGC5480 is mag 13 and round in appearance, despite the 1.5x0.9 size. NGC5481 is 3' east of its close companion, and glows at a similar mag 13.3, and is slightly larger at 1.8x1.5. This is a nice view, and can be confirmed by, not only the two galaxies and their proximity, but a nice little T shaped asterism of dim stars just northeast of a mag 11.5 star, also northeast of the galaxies.

Just them, Jim came over and asked if I'd ever found the Draco Dwarf galaxy. No I hadn't. I'd never looked for it. No idea where it was other than somewhere in Draco. Just on a chance I entered the name "Draco Dwarf" into the "find" utility on The Sky and sure enough, it was in the database. I called Jim over and we looked at the location on the laptop. If you can find the star 14-Eta Draconis, and imagine a line extending to 33-Gamma Draconis (the brightest star in the dragon's head), this close galaxy would be just about in the middle between the two stars. I put my Telrad there, looked in the eyepiece, and....

Nothing. Just some stars. No galaxy.

I began sweeping, but still nothing. I started again. Still nothing.

This went on for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then I decided to look on the computer at the star field and size angular size of the galaxy relative to my eyepiece field of view.

The galaxy is a bright mag 10.5, but that brightness is spread out over a surface area of 38.5x24.8. That's larger than my 30.52' eyepiece field of view. How easy it would be to simply pass right over such a large low surface brightness object, which is just what I did.

I looked for any distinctive star fields in the area, and found that there are some good foreground stars right on top of the galaxy. I memorized a pattern, went back to the eyepiece and looked in...

They were in the center. Bingo. I followed a dim chain of stars out to where the edge of the galaxy showed on the computer, and the field grew darker. Back I went, the contrast changed. I called Jim over, and he was seeing the same thing. The Draco Dwarf make the word "subtle" seem too brash. This is a dim, subtle object. But we bagged a dwarf, one who's angular size made it a giant, albeit a dim one, in our scopes.

It was time for bed. The eastern sky was brightening, and I had to drive to Blue Canyon the next morning for the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society annual BBQ, where other members of our observing group were scheduled to meet us.

It was a good night. I slept from 4:30 until 8, and woke up. Packed up, down to town for breakfast at a local diner, then I was northward bound.

The drive along the gold highway from Plymouth to Auburn went by quickly. Good road for the most part, beautiful landscapes with oak, grapevines, horses, cows, river valleys and the flavor of the old west throughout. The highlight was the surprise of driving through the town of Coloma, where John Sutter discovered gold and began a frenzy that changed the face of the United states and the world. Many old buildings still line highway 49, and the famous river bed is plainly visible off to the east as we drove through town to the north. It would be a fine place to take the family to absorb a bit more of the history that makes California still such an interesting place to live.

Joining highway 80 at Auburn, it was a quick drive on the multi-lane freeway to the Blue Canyon Airport.

The airport is, I believe, on Bureau of Land Management property. It is an emergency facility. The runway lies to the west of the area where we set up our telescope. The horizons were very good in all directions, and the 5,000 foot elevation help promise of some very good transparency. However, clouds were in the sky, and we would need to wait to see what would happen. The club's BBQ, raffle and other festivities were fun, and other TACos Randy Muller, Gary Manning, Bob Czerwinski and Jay Freeman would join us later in the day. I would estimate about 75 telescopes were set up, ranging from small AP Travelers to small equatorial mounted Newtonians, plenty of Meade LX series SCT, a large D&G refractor, big old Unitron and an older 6" f/12 AP on a new Mountain Instruments (gorgeous!) mount. There were lots of Dobs. My 20" was not the biggest, there was a 25" Obsession on a big Equatorial Platform. A real nose-bleeder on top of the 5,000 ft elevation! In fact, there were several Equatorial Platforms, and so, it was not surprising when I heard from behind "hey Mark".... it was Tom Osypowski, the manufacturer of top quality Equatorial Platforms. We chatted for a while, and later he would use my telescope, while I spent time with my daughter, Mimi, the Messier Monster.

I also had the opportunity to meet Larry Meyers, owner of Mountain Instruments, and found him very congenial and an all around good guy. He has an observatory at Blue Canyon, as does the SVAS and a few other individuals. Talking with Larry was someone else I thought I recognized, and realized it was Don Machholz, comet hunter and originator of the Messier Marathon! I called my little girl over...."Mimi, meet Don Machholz" and I told her who he is. The Monster had met the Master. I could not have been more proud, as beaming, Mimi told Don she had over 50 Messiers in just her first few nights of observing.

What a start to the night. Dark began to set in, the sky was clearing.

As dusk fell, and the light faded, the constellations appeared. Before it was completely dark, I pointed the scope at M65 and M66 in Leo. Even though I could barely make out NGC3828 (the third galaxy in the trio), I could see so much extension in the bright galaxies that I knew, if the skies would be clear, we' have an outstanding night.

Mimi and I struck a deal, to make sure we each got some observing time while out with each other for astronomy. So many times, I get so involved with her, I forget to do my own observing. So, we decided to switch off finding objects. This seemed to work well. Since she'd seen all the Messier's that were up just after dark, she began the Herschel 400. Her first object was NGC4038 in Corvus. She had no trouble finding it, and noted how oddly it was shaped (using her 10.1" Coulter and a 20mm Meade Research Grade eyepiece). She'd begun her Herschel 400 hunt finding the Antennae Galaxy. Nice find Mimi!

I turned my scope on NGC2684 in Ursa Major. The mag 13 galaxy seemed small to me, at 1.0x0.7. It was also dim. The object is located just "above" the paw in the Big Bear's front leg. The location is easy to see naked eye. In the eyepiece, the brightest star is a mag 7.9 one just below and east of the galaxy, about 10.5' away. Almost north of the galaxy is a chain of three stars, mag 9.6, mag 12.3 and mag 10.9. These are also easy landmarks. Finally, there is a very distinctive question mark of stars that begin at the galaxy (the galaxy is the "dot"), going east, with the open part of the question mark facing south. When you see this asterism, there is no doubt you are on the right galaxy. Mimi saw the galaxy and recognized all the star patterns.

One of my goals with Mimi, and taking turns finding objects, is to train her eye to recognize star patterns and to see the dim galaxies, before she attempt to find them in her own Herschel hunt.

Mimi's turn had her find NGC4027. This proved too much in her 10", so she swung the 20 over to the right spot and called me over to have a look. For sure, she'd found this one too. It was really pretty easy, the top stars in Corvus point precisely at the location to the west.

I went after NGC2810, again in Ursa Major. The life saver here, for finding the galaxy is, it is on a line between Polaris and 23 Ursae Majoris, the star "beyond" the end star in the Big Dipper's bowl, as you continue out toward the head of the Great Bear. There is a grouping of fainter stars still visible to the naked eye, all mag 5.5 to 6.0, that fall within the Telrad circles where the object is located. Not the easiest hop, but you can definately get there. The galaxy itself is a mag 13.2 is round at 1.7'. It is not very bright, but does have a bit brighter center. It is flanked to the north by a very easy to recognize grouping of stars, that also lead to UGC4697. The stars begin with a small chain of three, the center on being the brightest at mag 11.8, the bordering two at about mag 13. Just beyond these three are two more, just 4' away, the brightest of the pair being the eastern of the two, shining at mag 10.7, the dimmer western star at mag 12.3. Just northeast is dim UGC4697, softly glowing at mag 14.7 and 1.0x0.9 in size. Mimi saw this one too. In fact, she also saw UGC4951, the opposite direction from the other galaxy and slightly further away. UGC4951 is a mag 14.66 object, sized at 0.9x0.7.

I spent some time showing bright objects to "tourists".... and have to say we had an absolutely killer view of M51.... nearly as good as the best views I've ever had. This view would rank 3rd all time, and yes, I clearly recall the other two better times.

Next stop was Mimi, and M67 in Scorpius. The souther horizon was good enough at Blue Canyon for her to resume the Messier Hunt now. The object was a piece of cake for her. Almost instantly she said "I think I've got it." Nicely resolved medium size globular cluster.

I worked my last Herschel for the night, as clouds were just beginning to show up again in the low west. I wanted to help Mimi get through some more Messier's if we were going to lose the sky. Anyway, on I went to NGC3043 in Ursa Major. This one was very easy to find, by placing the 2 degree Telrad circle so the right edge is on 29-Upsilon Ursae Majoris. This places the galaxy right in the field. Mimi describe the object a cigar-shaped. It is a long lenticular galaxy, mag 13.6 and 1.7x0.6. There are several easy to identify stars in the field, a bright one and several tight pairs.

Mimi then finished the night by locating M6, M7, M8, M20, M16, M17, M18 and M22. By then, the clouds had moved in and turned our observing session into an evening of Jay Reynolds Freeman discussing life as a student at Cal Tech. Really, lots of fun, all the way around. About 2 a.m., we all turned in.

I awoke about 3 to the sound of hail on the roof of my truck. A short storm. About 15 minutes later, the sound of a short rain. That got me out of the truck to wipe down the telescope.

We woke at about 8, to find Bartolini leaving, and Rashad packed up. We did the same, and soon left the magic of the mountains and dark skies, heading back down the ribbon of asphalt and steel that makes highway 80, the gateway to Lake Tahoe. Soon we were home, truck unpacked and empty, but our head full of stars and memories.

Thanks to Randy Muller, Walt Heiges and the SVAS for being such wonderful hosts. We *all* had a great time and will be back.

Messier Monster Update

Friday night at Fremont Peak, the West Valley College (Saratoga, California) astronomy class, led by instructor Benjamin Mendelson and retired instructor Tom Bullock, came to Fremont Peak to observe through the 30" Challenger.

Mimi, Rashad, Rich, Jay Freeman and I were set up by the observatory.

There was maybe an hour or so of reasonably clear sky, during which time I mostly watched Mimi show college students Messier objects. I got quite a kick out of the students asking questions, and Mimi doing her best to answer them (what is the focal length of your telescope? What is the eyepiece size? What is the telescope called?). Mimi would explain, then sign the student's worksheets. Friday was a short observing night, but fun.

Saturday night was cold but nice and clear. There was a bad light dome from Salinas, but at least there was no high fog or bad wind.

Mimi wanted to work some easy Messiers, but she'd already logged all the early evening Messiers in prior weeks. All that was up was the Virgo objects. So, in she dove.

I am amazed at the spatial relations she exhibited. Mimi mostly lands on the object she is after... using a 20mm wide-field Meade eyepiece. It was fun watching her on the laptop computer, identifying galaxies in Markarian's Chain, around M84 and M86. She loved "The Eyes".

The only place she had trouble was trying to find M89. She kept landing on the wrong galaxy, and the star fields just did not match up. I asked if she'd scanned around the adjacent fields. She tried, and found M89 immediately. Her next Messier object, and her last in Virgo was M90. She looked at the computer and was very happy to see that M90 was the galaxy she'd been mistakenly landing on while looking for M89.

To finish the night, Mimi climbed the ladder next to my 20" Dob, and pointed the scope at M13. She gasped. What a view! No... not the view of the cluster... the view of the 10 year old pushing around the big Dob, and the charge she got out of her view!

The night was complete. The Messier Monster had completed Virgo. Now she must wait for the summer objects to come up to log more Messiers. She could always start the Hershel 400 in the interim.

I did very little personal observing, but I had a great time.

I wish I could land on objects as easily as the Monster.