La Caja de Los Gatos Observatory: July 14, 2003

Yesterday I received an upgrade motor and hand controller for my Osypowski built Compact Equatorial Platform. I had sent Tom O my old motor and a check for the upgrade middle of last week. Installing the new motor was true simplicity. Two screws secure the motor to the ground board, and everything is instantly aligned. Two cords came with the hand controller, a short one that can be tucked under the platform while in use, and a long one, which allows the user to be at the eyepiece comfortably while holding the controller.

Setting the platform up is simple. There is a solid top board upon which the rocker box of my scope sits, and a ground board that has the motor and bearings on it. When I place the scope on the platform, it sits down over a pin (I remove the ground board of my Dob, so I am using the rocker box with the hole in the bottom). There is no hunting around to be sure the scope is sitting correctly on the platform, there is no way to make a mistake. It literally takes me under 30 seconds to set up. That's just how it went last night. Oh, I also like that the platform is large enough to be under nearly all of the bottom of my rocker box. I am somewhat skeptical of designs that do not provide an adequate footprint to support the scope. Why? I once tried placing a scope that was too large for my platform on it. The scope jumped the track during the night, and it was a major pain in the boo-tay to screw around with it, trying to "right the boat" in the dark. I like platforms with plenty of support under the rocker box.

So, last night I did a rough polar align with my newly enhanced platform and waited for astronomical dark. The instructions described how to adjust the motor speed up or down as needed. I used Vega and Deneb as test stars for adjusting motor speed. I kept increasing the magnification until I had my highest power eyepiece in. When the stars would stay motionless for several minutes at a time, I switched eyepieces and began looking at deep sky objects.

The first was The Cats Eye Nebula, NGC 6543, in Draco. I found an easy trick to locating it - I use 18, 19 and 22 Draconis - which are in a straight line - and draw an imaginary line out to the east, about the same distance. I then use 33 (Gamma) and 32 Draconis to draw a line intersecting the first line. A low power eyepiece should get the planetary in view.

The seeing was okay, but not great. With my 7 Nagler and 3.8 Ultrascopic, I could see an oblong gray haze, and sometimes even a dimmer outer halo, barely. There were hints of a central star (oh... this is with an 8" f/7 Newtonian). I walked into the house and fixed my self an adult beverage, came back, and just like advertised, there was the Cats Eye, right where it belonged.

I moved to M13. I used the 20 Nagler and had a truly marvelous view. Nice little tight stars everywhere. I was able to relax, with the object staying dead center, and let my eye wander around, noting that when I avert my vision to about 30 degrees off axis, I got noticeably better resolution of the glob. I sipped my drink, looked up at the sky, looked into the eyepiece, went inside the house to see what the dogs were up to (they got bored when I began telling them about the globular) and made myself, another, er, glass of liquid refreshment.

Out I came again. I knew this night was just for testing the new motor and hand controller on the platform, but I was having fun. I pointed the scope at NGC 6940, the nice open cluster in Vulpecula, just off 39 and 41 Cygni. Into the center of the eyepiece, nice rich grouping of stars, one of my favorites among the non-M opens.

I also noticed on other thing, while the platform was tracking.... the sound my old motor made was gone. There is still some sound, but it is much more muted than before.

It was getting late, I've been working a lot of hours, and decided to turn in. The night was a big success, both in terms of how the new equipment operated, and in my hitting targets from memory.

I plan to be out back again tonight. Me, my Dob, and my platform.

Occultation of Zubenelgenubi

Set up 8" Dob in my backyard. Put in 12mm Nagler. Found moon and stars. Seeing was very steady. Nice detail on moon, but I decided to watch the two stars instead of checking out la luna.

Began watching............ ........... ................................ ............................. ......................... ....... ........................ ............................. ..................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

blink
............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

wondered how far to edge of moon.................. ............................... ................................... .................................... ....................................................

sipped coffee ............. .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. ..................................

looked away for a moment........................ ......................................... ................................ ............................. ............................. ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ........................... ............... .............................. ................................................................ .................................................. .................................. ...........................

BLINK
put telescope away.

Observing near 1st Q at Foothills Park

I had a very enjoyable evening last night, tagging along with Rich Neuschaefer for an evening of observing at Foothill Park in Palo Alto. It had been several years since I'd attended one of these events, hosted by Peninsula Astronomical Society member William Phelps. It is a rather cozy area for observing, to our east is the entire expanse of the south bay, looking east across from Mt. Hamilton to Mt. Diablo and north, and up to Montebello to the west. The site offers very scenic views, but is only open to Palo Alto residents. As an amateur astronomer with a telescope, I was allowed in to support the program. Several other TACos were there... and others who are active PAS members that I rarely see.

I had brought out my 8" CPT, the 10" is still on loan. The 8 is an f/6.9, and really performs on the moon and planets. The moon was the early favorite target. Seeing was rather soft though, and even with the 20 Nagler (70x) it looked as if it were under a slow moving stream. But the views were still pleasing, even when I bumped it up to the 12 Nagler (116x)... and the public loves the moon. Views of Jupiter were a waste, the public saw a 70x almost featureless slightly fuzzy ball with four pinpoint around it.

The best views I had were of the big globulars. M13 put on a great show, as did M3 and M5. People were fascinated with these objects. I think M5 was the best at 70x, and shared the field with the nice double star 5 Serpentis. People were able to enjoy the globular at over 24,000 LY and realize that the double star at only 80 LY was really incredibly closer. It helps them realize the view really covers tremendous distances.

I finished the night turning the 8" toward the small globulars in Sagittarius that I had been hunting with 10x50 binoculars a few night before. Of course they showed much more easy in the 8". I picked off NGC 6638, NGC 6642, NGC 6624, NGC 6659, NGC 6528 which shared the FOV with NGC 6522, and NGC 6652. They were all obvious, without the need for charts (I'd spent enough time with binos that I knew where to look).

Other objects that showed well were M22, M4, Alberio, and M28, the Ring and Dumbell.

It was a very friendly and relaxing evening. If you have an opportunity to attend, Foothill Park can be a good observing site.