I finished reading The Immortal Fire Within, a fine biography of E.E. Barnard by William Sheehan. Barnard is, as my avatar would indicate, something of a hero of mine. His drive to observe and see and experience the universe is something I aspire to. I wanted to preserve some passages from the book here before I return it to the library:
On his first light with his beloved 5-inch Byrne refractor, his first serious telescope, for which he paid two-thirds of his annual salary to acquire:
The first clear night after receiving my large telescope, I sat out on the roof of a three story house all night long, surrounded by ice and snow, the night being bitterly cold. After exploring the wonders of the moon until it sank from view beneath the western horizon my telescope sought the Milky Way. Here amid the splendors of that mighty zone of stars, I spent hour after hour sweeping among its marvelous fields of glittering suns, never wearying of the wonders constantly presented with each movement of the telescope, but gaining additional enthusiasm as the night drew apace. Nor did I forget the many double stars and clusters I had learned with my smaller instrument for they were each examined and I wondered at the beautiful contrasts of color in some of the binary systems and the myriads of stars revealed in the clusters that I had but dimly seen before with that small telescope. But from these lesser lights my telescope constantly swung back to the Milky Way, again to gaze on the 'broad and ample road where dust is stars.' So enraptured was I with these glimpses of the Creator's works that I heeded not the cold nor the loneliness of the night. And when the approaching dawn began to whiten the eastern skies, I sought out the great planet Jupiter, then only just emerging from the solar rays, and beheld with rapture his four bright moons and vast belt system. But when the dawn had paled each stellar fire the coldness of the night forcibly impressed itself upon me and I retired from the field of glory....
This makes me think of my first light with the 12.5-inch. The first think I looked at, in the twilight, was Jupiter. I was shocked to see a small black dot among the belts of the planet: Io was making a shadow transit at that moment. I was hooked.
The Byrne refractor was sold to USC when Barnard was short of funds. I wonder where it is now?
***
On comet sweeping: "Needless to say, such work could be tiring and extremely discouraging. Nevertheless, even unsuccessful sweeping was not without its consolations. Above all, Barnard later noted, the comet-seeker was 'the only astronomer who thoroughly knows the heavens; for he must examine every portion of it time and time again...Everything is interesting and numberless objects are beautiful in the extreme. There is nothing commonplace in the sky.'"
***
Writing in a friend's autograph book, with a sketch of Great Comet of 1882, which had just passed:
I had intended writing a short tale for your album but feeling my inability to do so, I have drawn one belonging to a friend of mine, which stretched halfway from the sun to the earth. May your happiness be as long as the tail herewith presented.
I can not wish that you may live to again see this wanderer, for it will not come back to us until many thousand years have passed, but I can and do wish that your life may always be as beautiful as that stranger, now gone. Sincerely yours, E.E. Barnard.
***
One of Barnard's comets will come back in 2019; I wish to be the one to recover it. "He found another, 1889 III, in Andromeda with the 6 1/2 inch equatorial on June 24. It was also faint, but proved to have a short period of only 130 years, so that it is expected to return again in 2019. It is, incidentally, the only one of Barnard's many comets which is likely to be observed again -- all the rest have been lost or will not return for thousands of years.
***
On Barnard's observation of Iapetus eclipsed by Saturn's rings: "The real story of November 1-2, 1889 is that the glory that night went not to the high and mighty -- the great telescope and the powerful director -- but to the humble 12-inch and the junior astronomer faithful at his post. That night Barnard and his telescope did well. According to his own frank assessment: 'The observations of that eclipse with the 12-inch equatorial have given us more information about the crape ring of Saturn, perhaps, than could possibly have been obtained by a hundred years of ordinary observing.'"
***
On globular clusters: "There is no class of objects in the heavens, unless it is the planetary nebulae, that shows the power of a great telescope better than the great globular clusters...No photograph, though it may show more stars, can begin to give one an idea of their beauty. The photograph is at best a dead copy of the original. The fire and life give by the myriads of stars are lacking in any picture except that seen in the telescope itself."
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Thursday, December 22, 2016
bad seeing night
I hoped to get out to the Pinnacles last night for some deep sky time. But the morning's forecast showed cloudiness in the early evening; the drive would not be worth the two hours of clear sky time before the moon rose. So I tried to content myself with a doubles session with the 12.5-inch; seeing was forecasted to be "good." Sadly it did not turn out that way. Seeing was never better than Pickering 6 and often 4 or 5. I could not form good star images above 170x, and this was not enough power to split anything <3", which was most of my list. I "saw through" the smudged stars to see what I could, sometimes pushing magnification higher than the seeing supported just to get hints of splits.
Starting out at 170x:
CTA 102: Quasar: In a flaring outburst; reported to have increased about 1 magnitude in the last 24-48 hours. My guess is ~12 mag. Brighter than the two companion triangle stars in the finder chart, which were themselves difficult to see.
BU 852: Likely widely separated faint star to the south. Other, more widely separated to the NE. More in field, including a wide, near equal magnitude pair to the NW. [AB is 7.21, 10.71; 58" 283°. BC is 11th mag but only 1.2", not seen. BD is 13.7 mag, not seen. There's also Aa, Ab, spectroscopic]
STF 2969: Pretty yellow and orange, ~3", 3 delta mag. Nice. [8.42, 9.7; 4"]
HO 482: Multiple in view. Likely the very faint to west which pops out with seeing; another to the south. Both wide. A could be a very close pair, it does not seem round. [AB is 0.6" 1 delta mag, so my suspicion was correct. AB,C is 10.97 PA 198°; I may have misjudged the PA. There is an AB,D pair, too wide for me to notice.]
Cou 15: Not much seen but a single star; seeing is not good. [Probably misidentified since Cou 15 is in Hercules?]
@ 277x:
STT 488: Bright A and very-very faint B ~west, fairly wide separation [6.84, 12.00; 14.6" PA 335°]
h1859: Nice double-double. Both ~ same brightness combination, about 1 delta mag between the As and Bs. The pair to SE is closer together. [AB is 6.45, 11.45; 33.8". There are three other pairings discovered later than John Herschel's in the system.]
STF 2968: Pretty close ~ 3 delta mag. Orangish B. [6.69, 9.48; 3.2"]
BU 78: Could be three or four in system. Two faint are in a line stretching north from A; another fainter star to the east. [AB 7.47, 11.09, 18.5" 54°. AC 12.27, 47.9" 58° -- so the line of three I saw is the system. Very cool to see the orbits happen to line up like that! Probably a once in many thousands of years chance. 300 light years distant.]
BU 385: Wide, bright pair the three very faint in a line, south to east from the A star. [AB not seen, near equal mag. 0.7". AB,C and AB,D seen as two in the "faint line" of stars]
STF 2978: Bright and easy; yellow-white A and orange B, ~1 delta mag. [6.35, 7.46; 8.2"]
@ 340x:
STF 175: Near equal white, fairly wide separation; maybe a 3rd to the west? [AB 8.99, 9.36; 28.1". BC is 13.16, 159", PA 37° -- roughly where I guessed it was.]
STF 196: Just off a bright star, making a pretty scene. 1/2 delta mag white pair, about 10" split. [AB 9.36, 10.92; 1.8" -- not seen. Likely I saw the B and the C in the AB and AC systems. This is a complex multiple with four stars visible but five different combinations. The orbits must be haywire.]
@ 170x:
STF 200: Pretty faint, close ~ 2 disk split, near equal mag. [9.55, 10.29; 8.1" -- how poor the seeing was to think this was 2 disks split!]
STF 212: Deformed star as A, could be very close near equal pair; suspect very faint to north in system too. [8.35, 8.71, 1.9" Seeing poor that I could not split but did see deformation -- relatively low magnification too]
STF 226: Near equal mag. orange, but split is lost in poor seeing, appears oval with 170x. With 277x it appears as two lobes awash in diffraction. [AB 8.02, 9.64; 1.8", seen through the poor seeing. There's also a AC "Lep 6" 16th magnitude and 252" -- how'd they find that?]
@ 277x
STF 240: Faint but pretty wide separation ~4", equal magnitude yellowish-white. [8.32, 8.6; 4.8"]
STF 244: Pretty faint, equal magnitude ~3-4", well split. [9.28, 9.41; 4.3"]
STF 221: Orange and blue pair, 2 delta mag., 8" Pretty. [8.13, 9.45; 8.4". AC 12.72 mag and 67" not seen.]
STF 224: Near equal brightness white pair, ~10", nice split. [8.28, 8.29; 5.9"]
On the bright side, during this morning's twilight I had a nice view of the 3rd quarter moon nearby to Jupiter through 7x50 binoculars. Spica was to the far end of the view. The moon shown nice earthshine and an unfamiliar broken line along the terminator. I really must wake earlier to take in morning views of the moon through the telescope.
Starting out at 170x:
CTA 102: Quasar: In a flaring outburst; reported to have increased about 1 magnitude in the last 24-48 hours. My guess is ~12 mag. Brighter than the two companion triangle stars in the finder chart, which were themselves difficult to see.
BU 852: Likely widely separated faint star to the south. Other, more widely separated to the NE. More in field, including a wide, near equal magnitude pair to the NW. [AB is 7.21, 10.71; 58" 283°. BC is 11th mag but only 1.2", not seen. BD is 13.7 mag, not seen. There's also Aa, Ab, spectroscopic]
STF 2969: Pretty yellow and orange, ~3", 3 delta mag. Nice. [8.42, 9.7; 4"]
HO 482: Multiple in view. Likely the very faint to west which pops out with seeing; another to the south. Both wide. A could be a very close pair, it does not seem round. [AB is 0.6" 1 delta mag, so my suspicion was correct. AB,C is 10.97 PA 198°; I may have misjudged the PA. There is an AB,D pair, too wide for me to notice.]
Cou 15: Not much seen but a single star; seeing is not good. [Probably misidentified since Cou 15 is in Hercules?]
@ 277x:
STT 488: Bright A and very-very faint B ~west, fairly wide separation [6.84, 12.00; 14.6" PA 335°]
h1859: Nice double-double. Both ~ same brightness combination, about 1 delta mag between the As and Bs. The pair to SE is closer together. [AB is 6.45, 11.45; 33.8". There are three other pairings discovered later than John Herschel's in the system.]
STF 2968: Pretty close ~ 3 delta mag. Orangish B. [6.69, 9.48; 3.2"]
BU 78: Could be three or four in system. Two faint are in a line stretching north from A; another fainter star to the east. [AB 7.47, 11.09, 18.5" 54°. AC 12.27, 47.9" 58° -- so the line of three I saw is the system. Very cool to see the orbits happen to line up like that! Probably a once in many thousands of years chance. 300 light years distant.]
BU 385: Wide, bright pair the three very faint in a line, south to east from the A star. [AB not seen, near equal mag. 0.7". AB,C and AB,D seen as two in the "faint line" of stars]
STF 2978: Bright and easy; yellow-white A and orange B, ~1 delta mag. [6.35, 7.46; 8.2"]
@ 340x:
STF 175: Near equal white, fairly wide separation; maybe a 3rd to the west? [AB 8.99, 9.36; 28.1". BC is 13.16, 159", PA 37° -- roughly where I guessed it was.]
STF 196: Just off a bright star, making a pretty scene. 1/2 delta mag white pair, about 10" split. [AB 9.36, 10.92; 1.8" -- not seen. Likely I saw the B and the C in the AB and AC systems. This is a complex multiple with four stars visible but five different combinations. The orbits must be haywire.]
@ 170x:
STF 200: Pretty faint, close ~ 2 disk split, near equal mag. [9.55, 10.29; 8.1" -- how poor the seeing was to think this was 2 disks split!]
STF 212: Deformed star as A, could be very close near equal pair; suspect very faint to north in system too. [8.35, 8.71, 1.9" Seeing poor that I could not split but did see deformation -- relatively low magnification too]
STF 226: Near equal mag. orange, but split is lost in poor seeing, appears oval with 170x. With 277x it appears as two lobes awash in diffraction. [AB 8.02, 9.64; 1.8", seen through the poor seeing. There's also a AC "Lep 6" 16th magnitude and 252" -- how'd they find that?]
@ 277x
STF 240: Faint but pretty wide separation ~4", equal magnitude yellowish-white. [8.32, 8.6; 4.8"]
STF 244: Pretty faint, equal magnitude ~3-4", well split. [9.28, 9.41; 4.3"]
STF 221: Orange and blue pair, 2 delta mag., 8" Pretty. [8.13, 9.45; 8.4". AC 12.72 mag and 67" not seen.]
STF 224: Near equal brightness white pair, ~10", nice split. [8.28, 8.29; 5.9"]
On the bright side, during this morning's twilight I had a nice view of the 3rd quarter moon nearby to Jupiter through 7x50 binoculars. Spica was to the far end of the view. The moon shown nice earthshine and an unfamiliar broken line along the terminator. I really must wake earlier to take in morning views of the moon through the telescope.
Monday, December 19, 2016
ghosts and doubles
I observed last night for a good two hours. I was prepared for more, but the seeing was disappointing, never getting above Pickering 6, with moments of 7; as a result of which I stuck to doubles plotted in CDSA rather than trying anything more difficult. It was colder than the night before, and not as transparent -- though there was no dew forming at ground level. It was worth while all the same, even if I needed to see through the seeing.
EI 1: equal magnitude orange pair. [no record in Stelle Doppie]
STT 9: Interesting multiple system; faint pairs on either side of a widely separated main pair, all in parallel PAs. [Quintuple; I saw AB through AE. C has a D pair which was not seen.]
STF 61: Bright orange pair, 6-7" [6.33, 6.34; 4.2"]
STT 26: Orange with much fainter B to south. Could be a very faint C to the west, fainter than B. [AB 6.34, 10.54; 10.6" PA 260. AC is 13.59 118" PA 341 -- I might've seen it, maybe had my directions mixed up?]
HJ 636: Very faint B but not difficult. Seeing is poor; does not focus to a disk but is rather a smudge. [7.36, 11.75; 20.4"]
82 Lacerta: Bright and simmering. Pair could be any number of fainter, widely separated stars scattered about. [not found in SD]
STF 98: 1 delta mag, wide separation. White A, blue B. Many other stars in the area, some of which themselves might be double. [AB 7.02, 8.14; 19.5". There are AC and AD pairs <12th mag.]
S 393: Orange main star with several more scattered about. [A poor observation! Need to take magnitude estimates and guesses at separation and PA!] [6.42, 10.61; 60". AC pair 11.67 mag 138"]
Beta Andromedae / Barnard 1 / NGC 404 ("Mirach's Ghost"): This was the highlight of the night. I usually don't try for galaxies from my backyard, but since Beta Andromedae is also a double, Barnard 1, and I just finished reading a biography of Barnard (the excellent The Immortal Fire Within), I wanted to have a look. I barlowed my 22mm Nagler (to save the effort to cap the barlow, to show you how lazy I was becoming) at 201x I had no trouble picking out NGC 404 nearby to the bright star; it was an elongated halo, 3:2, diffuse but gradually brighter to the middle. What intrigued me was the stars I could see around Beta. There were two bright obvious ones in the field, which could not be Barnard 1; I saw one fairly close to Beta on the opposite side of NGC 404. Then more came to view when seeing stilled. I went back to 553x and I could see two more. I moved Beta out of the FOV in different directions; I didn't see more stars, but the ones I saw were more distinct. In total I sketched seven such faint stars. I find on WDS this morning there are 8 Barnard pairings, plus a few others. The faintest Barnard is 14th magnitude, so I may not have seen it. I've been searching the web for a picture of Beta and its pairings, but don't find any. I may have to draw it out myself on paper -- I can use Aladin to get the distance to 404 and use that as the separation scale. I'm very interested to identify these.
Anonymous to west of M33: Near equal pair, white, many other stars around; likely a multiple
M33: Hinted at in the 50mm finder and a rather large diffuse oval glow. In the scope at 71x it is quite washed out, maybe some grayscale changes but not obvious.
NGC 752: Open cluster. Pretty at 71x, but no where near as glorious as seen at CalStar three years ago. Only the brighter stars show up; the brighter make a skeleton of what should be a great cluster.
STF 14: Wide separation, orange pair. 56 And: Orange pair just out of FOV [STF 14 likely not seen: it's a very faint B and rather close separation of 14". Likely needed to use higher magnification than 74x. 56 And matches.]
Seeing getting better at this point, ~10:30pm, 7/10. Back to 553x
STF 179: Near equal magnitude, 4", nice orange-yellow color. [7.59, 8.14; 3.5"]
STF 222: Bright with one much fainter closeby ~6". Several other in the field could be paired. [Not seen; only 1 delta mag and 16.6"]
At this point I reset my tracking platform and pointed to what I thought was at Atik, in Perseus. I made some observations but was confused by my finder field, which did not quite match what I was seeing. I checked my telrad again, and found I was pointed in Aries. So I pointed to Algol and continued.
STF 318: Yellow, 2 delta mag, blue B. Wide separation. [AB,C seen: 5.39, 9.68; 14" PA 237. AB,D a 12th mag and wider separation not noticed]
16 Per: Much fainter B, need AV; wide separation, PA to north. [AB seen but my orientation is off. 4.25, 12.8 76.7" PA 123. AC is 10.43 mag but 234", not seen]
B 9: Uncertain. Brighter star with maybe a very wide separated B, very faint. [B9 in SD is in Cetus, so something wrong with designation?]
h 654: Faint blue B to west, and another as faint, wider separation to WNW. [HJ 654. 7.22, 11.55; 33.1", PA 43 degrees. I think the second one is the pair, though my orientation is off]
AG 15: A row of stars, from left to right: B bluish, with a very faint star below it; then a very faint star in between it and finally, to the right, a fairly bright orange star. [Not seen. This is a near equal brightness 9th magnitude pair 2.8" separation.]
STF 285: Very finely split near equal pair. Orange, about 1/2 disk split. Two faint blue stars to the east could be in the system. [7.48, 8.14; 1.7"]
STF 336: Wide separation orange A; multiple fainter in field. [6.96, 8.27; 8.6"]
To end I tried some scenic views in Orion which was just clearing the meridian tree. At 170x I saw Rigel, the B star well split but just ahead of the diffraction spike. The Trapezium showed the A-E; F did not show (though I only went to 277x). Zeta Orionis split to four components, even with low power 170x. No hint of the Flame Nebula, and M42 was washed out. Since the seeing would not cooperate I turned in.
I should note: during twilight I looked for Mercury (which I didn't find) using my 8x56 binoculars. It seemed like I was looking through a soda straw -- even though it has a 6 degree field. This after trying out the ball head on my monopod using the 7x50s with 11 degrees field -- much wider and more satisfying.
EI 1: equal magnitude orange pair. [no record in Stelle Doppie]
STT 9: Interesting multiple system; faint pairs on either side of a widely separated main pair, all in parallel PAs. [Quintuple; I saw AB through AE. C has a D pair which was not seen.]
STF 61: Bright orange pair, 6-7" [6.33, 6.34; 4.2"]
STT 26: Orange with much fainter B to south. Could be a very faint C to the west, fainter than B. [AB 6.34, 10.54; 10.6" PA 260. AC is 13.59 118" PA 341 -- I might've seen it, maybe had my directions mixed up?]
HJ 636: Very faint B but not difficult. Seeing is poor; does not focus to a disk but is rather a smudge. [7.36, 11.75; 20.4"]
82 Lacerta: Bright and simmering. Pair could be any number of fainter, widely separated stars scattered about. [not found in SD]
STF 98: 1 delta mag, wide separation. White A, blue B. Many other stars in the area, some of which themselves might be double. [AB 7.02, 8.14; 19.5". There are AC and AD pairs <12th mag.]
S 393: Orange main star with several more scattered about. [A poor observation! Need to take magnitude estimates and guesses at separation and PA!] [6.42, 10.61; 60". AC pair 11.67 mag 138"]
Beta Andromedae / Barnard 1 / NGC 404 ("Mirach's Ghost"): This was the highlight of the night. I usually don't try for galaxies from my backyard, but since Beta Andromedae is also a double, Barnard 1, and I just finished reading a biography of Barnard (the excellent The Immortal Fire Within), I wanted to have a look. I barlowed my 22mm Nagler (to save the effort to cap the barlow, to show you how lazy I was becoming) at 201x I had no trouble picking out NGC 404 nearby to the bright star; it was an elongated halo, 3:2, diffuse but gradually brighter to the middle. What intrigued me was the stars I could see around Beta. There were two bright obvious ones in the field, which could not be Barnard 1; I saw one fairly close to Beta on the opposite side of NGC 404. Then more came to view when seeing stilled. I went back to 553x and I could see two more. I moved Beta out of the FOV in different directions; I didn't see more stars, but the ones I saw were more distinct. In total I sketched seven such faint stars. I find on WDS this morning there are 8 Barnard pairings, plus a few others. The faintest Barnard is 14th magnitude, so I may not have seen it. I've been searching the web for a picture of Beta and its pairings, but don't find any. I may have to draw it out myself on paper -- I can use Aladin to get the distance to 404 and use that as the separation scale. I'm very interested to identify these.
Anonymous to west of M33: Near equal pair, white, many other stars around; likely a multiple
M33: Hinted at in the 50mm finder and a rather large diffuse oval glow. In the scope at 71x it is quite washed out, maybe some grayscale changes but not obvious.
NGC 752: Open cluster. Pretty at 71x, but no where near as glorious as seen at CalStar three years ago. Only the brighter stars show up; the brighter make a skeleton of what should be a great cluster.
STF 14: Wide separation, orange pair. 56 And: Orange pair just out of FOV [STF 14 likely not seen: it's a very faint B and rather close separation of 14". Likely needed to use higher magnification than 74x. 56 And matches.]
Seeing getting better at this point, ~10:30pm, 7/10. Back to 553x
STF 179: Near equal magnitude, 4", nice orange-yellow color. [7.59, 8.14; 3.5"]
STF 222: Bright with one much fainter closeby ~6". Several other in the field could be paired. [Not seen; only 1 delta mag and 16.6"]
At this point I reset my tracking platform and pointed to what I thought was at Atik, in Perseus. I made some observations but was confused by my finder field, which did not quite match what I was seeing. I checked my telrad again, and found I was pointed in Aries. So I pointed to Algol and continued.
STF 318: Yellow, 2 delta mag, blue B. Wide separation. [AB,C seen: 5.39, 9.68; 14" PA 237. AB,D a 12th mag and wider separation not noticed]
16 Per: Much fainter B, need AV; wide separation, PA to north. [AB seen but my orientation is off. 4.25, 12.8 76.7" PA 123. AC is 10.43 mag but 234", not seen]
B 9: Uncertain. Brighter star with maybe a very wide separated B, very faint. [B9 in SD is in Cetus, so something wrong with designation?]
h 654: Faint blue B to west, and another as faint, wider separation to WNW. [HJ 654. 7.22, 11.55; 33.1", PA 43 degrees. I think the second one is the pair, though my orientation is off]
AG 15: A row of stars, from left to right: B bluish, with a very faint star below it; then a very faint star in between it and finally, to the right, a fairly bright orange star. [Not seen. This is a near equal brightness 9th magnitude pair 2.8" separation.]
STF 285: Very finely split near equal pair. Orange, about 1/2 disk split. Two faint blue stars to the east could be in the system. [7.48, 8.14; 1.7"]
STF 336: Wide separation orange A; multiple fainter in field. [6.96, 8.27; 8.6"]
To end I tried some scenic views in Orion which was just clearing the meridian tree. At 170x I saw Rigel, the B star well split but just ahead of the diffraction spike. The Trapezium showed the A-E; F did not show (though I only went to 277x). Zeta Orionis split to four components, even with low power 170x. No hint of the Flame Nebula, and M42 was washed out. Since the seeing would not cooperate I turned in.
I should note: during twilight I looked for Mercury (which I didn't find) using my 8x56 binoculars. It seemed like I was looking through a soda straw -- even though it has a 6 degree field. This after trying out the ball head on my monopod using the 7x50s with 11 degrees field -- much wider and more satisfying.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
doubles in aries
Last night was a cold but excellent night for observing doubles. Temperatures were in the 30s but the seeing was Pickering 8 to 9. There were moments when it was perfect: a steady star disk with no diffraction whatsoever. I spent time in Aries splitting doubles. I wish I stayed out longer. Maybe tonight, when it is to be similar conditions. All at 553x:
Gamma Aries / STF 180: Nice near equal magnitude pair, white, ~4". [AB 4.52, 4.58, 7.1". This is actually a quintuple, with AC, BC, and CD pairings. CD is a Burnham discovery, 1.6" separation and nearly 5 detla mag. I will need to look for them tonight, widely separated to the east, 8th magnitude to start.
STF 174: Pretty orange and blue pair, ~2 delta mag, ~2". [6.33, 7.21; 2.8"]
HVI12 / STT 21: Perhaps 4 stars? Bright and widely separated B to north; two other stars in field. [can't find the correct record in Stelle Doppie. I do find STT 21 but it's in Andromeda and is 1.3". Will need another look.
STF 194: Fairly faint 1.5" near equal magnitude, maybe 1/2 delta mag. Slightly orange, pretty. [7.62, 9.46; 1.2"]
STF 208: ~2 delta mag, ~1" very nice. ~1 disk split. Nice! [AB 5.82, 7.85; 1.5". There's an AB,C pair 95" 13.50]
HVI 69 / 14 Ari: Could be triple. Bright with some other stars in field. [AB and AC pairs, ~8th mag and widely separated]
STF 271: Yellow white with very faint bluish be, 3 delta mag to south, wide separation. [AB 5.93, 9.94, 12.8" PA 184. AC is 12.7, 114.8" so did not notice it]
EI 5: Near equal magnitude, wide separated, PA to WSW [not found on SD]
BU 306: ~4", ~4 delta mag, PA to north. very faint blue but steady. Great seeing! [AB 6.4, 10.36; 3.0". AC is 12th mag and 51"]
STF 389: Wide ~2 delta mag, PA to north. [SD puts it in Cam? and it's not what I was looking at...]
41 Ari: Cool! Bright with 2 faint stars to west and WSW. 2 more on edge of FOV. ~4 delta mag of the first fainter two. [7 stars in system. The two I noted are AB and AC, 11.04 34", 10.66 28.5". AF, AG, and AG are fainter than 16th magnitude!]
STF 300: Faint but very easy 3-4" separated pair. Near equal magnitude. Ought to be plotted in CDSA [7.89, 8.08; 3.1"]
BU 307: Faint B to WNW, wide separation, not terribly difficult. [7.11, 11.6; 16" PA 317]
STT 46: Yellow with very faint orangish B, PA to NE, ~5-6". Surprisingly difficult. [6.78, 10.79; 4.5". There's a AC, 12.7 mag, 13.8"]
STF 236: Orange yellow with deeper orange B. 3 delta mag, PA to SW 4" [SD says Perseus? and not in CSDA index...]
STF 346: Bright yellow-white A, orange B. ~4-5 delta mag, 5-6" PA to N. [Quintuple. I saw AB,C 5.46, 10.8, 5.1". AB is 0.5", so I wonder if I could have seen it if I tried... the other pairs are much fainter and wider.]
UX Cet: Orange star. Is B the widely separated, ~2 delta mag to SE? [No records.]
STF 401: Near equal white ~7", nice, W-E. Forms a double-double in wider FOV with STF 375. [AB 6.58, 6.93; 11.4". BC is 10.88 and off the scale wide...]
STF 375: 1.5" orange B, 3-4 delta mag. Nice. Almost easy to see B. [7.62, 9.90; 2.7". AC, AB,D are 14th mag and widely separated.]
61 Ari: Very wide to NE? 3 delta mag? [Need to try this one again, it should be doable. 5.34, 8.09; 0.9"]
At this point I needed to reset my tracking platform, and I lost where I was -- I could not point the scope back. Since the scope was pointed at Hyades, I observed there:
STF 545: Blush white, ~2 delta mag, PA to NE, wide separation. [AB 6.92, 8.78; 18.6". Also a 0.1" spectroscopic...]
Kui 17 / HVI 101: Very faint, very wide separated star to W? [5 stars visible, the AB pairing being 4.26, 7.85; 1.8" and should be doable. Seeing seems not to be so good to my south. I should stick to the WSW for observing.]
STT 79: No pair seen. A nice orange star. [0.5" might be doable, at least egg shape]
STT 82: Very close, 0.8" 1.5 delta mag, PA to N/NW. Very nice surprise when the seeing stills. [7.31, 8.63; 1.2"]
STT 10: No close split... could be the brighter, wide separated star. Seeing is getting worse--could be because of neighbors' roofs in this direction? [no record in SD]
STF 554: 1" 2 delta mag, PA N. Nice! [5.7, 8.12; 1.5"]
Beta pm: Very wide separation to NW?
Gamma Aries / STF 180: Nice near equal magnitude pair, white, ~4". [AB 4.52, 4.58, 7.1". This is actually a quintuple, with AC, BC, and CD pairings. CD is a Burnham discovery, 1.6" separation and nearly 5 detla mag. I will need to look for them tonight, widely separated to the east, 8th magnitude to start.
STF 174: Pretty orange and blue pair, ~2 delta mag, ~2". [6.33, 7.21; 2.8"]
HVI12 / STT 21: Perhaps 4 stars? Bright and widely separated B to north; two other stars in field. [can't find the correct record in Stelle Doppie. I do find STT 21 but it's in Andromeda and is 1.3". Will need another look.
STF 194: Fairly faint 1.5" near equal magnitude, maybe 1/2 delta mag. Slightly orange, pretty. [7.62, 9.46; 1.2"]
STF 208: ~2 delta mag, ~1" very nice. ~1 disk split. Nice! [AB 5.82, 7.85; 1.5". There's an AB,C pair 95" 13.50]
HVI 69 / 14 Ari: Could be triple. Bright with some other stars in field. [AB and AC pairs, ~8th mag and widely separated]
STF 271: Yellow white with very faint bluish be, 3 delta mag to south, wide separation. [AB 5.93, 9.94, 12.8" PA 184. AC is 12.7, 114.8" so did not notice it]
EI 5: Near equal magnitude, wide separated, PA to WSW [not found on SD]
BU 306: ~4", ~4 delta mag, PA to north. very faint blue but steady. Great seeing! [AB 6.4, 10.36; 3.0". AC is 12th mag and 51"]
STF 389: Wide ~2 delta mag, PA to north. [SD puts it in Cam? and it's not what I was looking at...]
41 Ari: Cool! Bright with 2 faint stars to west and WSW. 2 more on edge of FOV. ~4 delta mag of the first fainter two. [7 stars in system. The two I noted are AB and AC, 11.04 34", 10.66 28.5". AF, AG, and AG are fainter than 16th magnitude!]
STF 300: Faint but very easy 3-4" separated pair. Near equal magnitude. Ought to be plotted in CDSA [7.89, 8.08; 3.1"]
BU 307: Faint B to WNW, wide separation, not terribly difficult. [7.11, 11.6; 16" PA 317]
STT 46: Yellow with very faint orangish B, PA to NE, ~5-6". Surprisingly difficult. [6.78, 10.79; 4.5". There's a AC, 12.7 mag, 13.8"]
STF 236: Orange yellow with deeper orange B. 3 delta mag, PA to SW 4" [SD says Perseus? and not in CSDA index...]
STF 346: Bright yellow-white A, orange B. ~4-5 delta mag, 5-6" PA to N. [Quintuple. I saw AB,C 5.46, 10.8, 5.1". AB is 0.5", so I wonder if I could have seen it if I tried... the other pairs are much fainter and wider.]
UX Cet: Orange star. Is B the widely separated, ~2 delta mag to SE? [No records.]
STF 401: Near equal white ~7", nice, W-E. Forms a double-double in wider FOV with STF 375. [AB 6.58, 6.93; 11.4". BC is 10.88 and off the scale wide...]
STF 375: 1.5" orange B, 3-4 delta mag. Nice. Almost easy to see B. [7.62, 9.90; 2.7". AC, AB,D are 14th mag and widely separated.]
61 Ari: Very wide to NE? 3 delta mag? [Need to try this one again, it should be doable. 5.34, 8.09; 0.9"]
At this point I needed to reset my tracking platform, and I lost where I was -- I could not point the scope back. Since the scope was pointed at Hyades, I observed there:
STF 545: Blush white, ~2 delta mag, PA to NE, wide separation. [AB 6.92, 8.78; 18.6". Also a 0.1" spectroscopic...]
Kui 17 / HVI 101: Very faint, very wide separated star to W? [5 stars visible, the AB pairing being 4.26, 7.85; 1.8" and should be doable. Seeing seems not to be so good to my south. I should stick to the WSW for observing.]
STT 79: No pair seen. A nice orange star. [0.5" might be doable, at least egg shape]
STT 82: Very close, 0.8" 1.5 delta mag, PA to N/NW. Very nice surprise when the seeing stills. [7.31, 8.63; 1.2"]
STT 10: No close split... could be the brighter, wide separated star. Seeing is getting worse--could be because of neighbors' roofs in this direction? [no record in SD]
STF 554: 1" 2 delta mag, PA N. Nice! [5.7, 8.12; 1.5"]
Beta pm: Very wide separation to NW?
Monday, December 5, 2016
far and near and in between
The night of 3 December was clear, so I tried to take full advantage to observe with the 12.5-inch.
My first target was CTA 102, the blazar in outburst. I misplaced the finder chart I used at Dinosaur Point a couple nights previous; but I was able to remember exactly the pattern of stars to look for. I could not see 31 Peg in the reflex sight, so started with Zeta Peg to find 31 Peg. From there I used my memory; I quickly found the three pairs of stepping stone stars, then the triangle with a double star at its base. Switching to the main scope view at 170x, I found the small faint triangle further east where the blazar was. The blazar was only seen with AV and when seeing stilled. I changed to 277x and could hold the blazar more steady. Having a tracking mount helped greatly. The blazar appeared about 14th magnitude to me. It may be dimming? Again, trying to imaging the age of the thing, and all that is around us, how we came to be.
Next up I decided to try to find Neptune and Uranus, which I haven't looked for in two years.
My first target was CTA 102, the blazar in outburst. I misplaced the finder chart I used at Dinosaur Point a couple nights previous; but I was able to remember exactly the pattern of stars to look for. I could not see 31 Peg in the reflex sight, so started with Zeta Peg to find 31 Peg. From there I used my memory; I quickly found the three pairs of stepping stone stars, then the triangle with a double star at its base. Switching to the main scope view at 170x, I found the small faint triangle further east where the blazar was. The blazar was only seen with AV and when seeing stilled. I changed to 277x and could hold the blazar more steady. Having a tracking mount helped greatly. The blazar appeared about 14th magnitude to me. It may be dimming? Again, trying to imaging the age of the thing, and all that is around us, how we came to be.
Next up I decided to try to find Neptune and Uranus, which I haven't looked for in two years.
Neptune was a long star hop from 31 Peg. It was not visible in the 50mm finder and I needed a couple tries to make sure of the field. It was small, non-stellar ball. It was more star like but did not shine as brightly as a star with a similarly sized Airy disk. It seemed greyish blue, and maybe a little mottled?
Uranus, on the other hand, was visible in the finder, but that confused my star hopping since it formed a triangle with Zeta Psc and another star. It was larger and brighter than Neptune, more strongly appearing as a disk, and a yellowish green color.
Some high thin clouds were passing overhead; seeing was about 6/10 but getting better. I decided to soldier on with some double star observing:
HJ 634: Yellow-orange with faint wide B to west, ~3 delta magnitude. [7.28, 12.68; 56"]
STFA 3 / 37 Cet: Both orange, B 3 delta mag, so more intense orange. Wide separation PA to the north. Seen through branches of the meridian tree, a natural apodizing screen. [5.19, 7.85; 49" PA 331°]
Seeing improved to 7/10, so I went up to 553x:
STF 91: Orange-yellow pair, ~2 delta mag, ~4", PA to N. [7.43, 8.56; 4.3"; PA 314°]
STF 84: Yellow A and bluish B. PA west, 2 delta mag. Wide separation. [6.11, 9.52; 16.2" 254°. There is an AC pair, 14th mag and 117" not seen.]
STF 113: Pale orange and slight blue, PA to NW, ~1 delta mag. 2". Pretty. [6.45, 6.99; 1.6", PA 20.7°. B has its own pair C, 0.1"]
Anonymous two stars east of STF 113: Orange; nothing close. Could be fainter (~1 delta mag) white to the north, half a field away?]
STF 122: pretty white and orange; PA to N, ~3 delta mag, 6-8" [6.65, 9.51; 5.7", 329°]
95 Psc: Nothing close. Orange star. Could be very faint to west, ~3 delta mag? [I seem to have observed AB,C, 7.11, 12.90; 139", 224°. AB is 0.3" near equal, and was not seen.]
Mu Psc: Orange. Nothing close; suspect very faint AV star to west ~8" separation. [not matched with Carro catalog, B is widely sep and 7 delta mag!]
S 398: orange with 1 delta mag white to east. [not found in Carro]
STT 31. Orange with very faint glow, AV only, to east. ~4-5", 3 delta mag. [6.46, 10.56; 4", 78°]
STF 138: Tight near equal pair, yellow-white, 2" or so. Is third star, ~2 delta mag much wider to east in the system? [AB 7.5, 7.63, 1.6"]
STF 155: Nice near equal brightness white pair, with similar star to west and a fainter to south. [AB 7.87, 8.01; 4.9"]
Uranus, on the other hand, was visible in the finder, but that confused my star hopping since it formed a triangle with Zeta Psc and another star. It was larger and brighter than Neptune, more strongly appearing as a disk, and a yellowish green color.
Some high thin clouds were passing overhead; seeing was about 6/10 but getting better. I decided to soldier on with some double star observing:
HJ 634: Yellow-orange with faint wide B to west, ~3 delta magnitude. [7.28, 12.68; 56"]
STFA 3 / 37 Cet: Both orange, B 3 delta mag, so more intense orange. Wide separation PA to the north. Seen through branches of the meridian tree, a natural apodizing screen. [5.19, 7.85; 49" PA 331°]
Seeing improved to 7/10, so I went up to 553x:
STF 91: Orange-yellow pair, ~2 delta mag, ~4", PA to N. [7.43, 8.56; 4.3"; PA 314°]
STF 84: Yellow A and bluish B. PA west, 2 delta mag. Wide separation. [6.11, 9.52; 16.2" 254°. There is an AC pair, 14th mag and 117" not seen.]
STF 113: Pale orange and slight blue, PA to NW, ~1 delta mag. 2". Pretty. [6.45, 6.99; 1.6", PA 20.7°. B has its own pair C, 0.1"]
Anonymous two stars east of STF 113: Orange; nothing close. Could be fainter (~1 delta mag) white to the north, half a field away?]
STF 122: pretty white and orange; PA to N, ~3 delta mag, 6-8" [6.65, 9.51; 5.7", 329°]
95 Psc: Nothing close. Orange star. Could be very faint to west, ~3 delta mag? [I seem to have observed AB,C, 7.11, 12.90; 139", 224°. AB is 0.3" near equal, and was not seen.]
Mu Psc: Orange. Nothing close; suspect very faint AV star to west ~8" separation. [not matched with Carro catalog, B is widely sep and 7 delta mag!]
S 398: orange with 1 delta mag white to east. [not found in Carro]
STT 31. Orange with very faint glow, AV only, to east. ~4-5", 3 delta mag. [6.46, 10.56; 4", 78°]
STF 138: Tight near equal pair, yellow-white, 2" or so. Is third star, ~2 delta mag much wider to east in the system? [AB 7.5, 7.63, 1.6"]
STF 155: Nice near equal brightness white pair, with similar star to west and a fainter to south. [AB 7.87, 8.01; 4.9"]
Sunday, December 4, 2016
a weekday night at dino
Thursday night 1 December I went to Dinosaur Point for an evening's observing with Clara's telescope, the 10-inch Springsonian. Was joined by Jamie Dillon, Peter Natsher, Bob Jardine, and George Feliz. I arrived at 4:30pm, in time for the gate closing. Soon after we found Mercury, a few degrees above the horizon, which I could see with binoculars. It formed a long line with Venus and Mars, all about the same distance apart. A very picturesque scene along with the two-day old moon, round with earthshine.
While waiting for it to be fully dark we watched the sky for an International Space Station pass. Most of us were looking up, but Bob happened to see it rising from the western horizon. We watched as it rose and were excited to see it transit the earthshine part of the moon. The others began to track it with their binoculars, wondering if they could see any structure. I decided to try tracking it with the 10-inch, and I was able to fairly easily. It was bright, but appeared boxy. It was very cool to see it barrelling through fields of stars -- it was headed for zenith and the Cassiopeia Milky Way region. As it passed zenith it began to slowly dim, and eventually I saw it as an orange tube. I kept on it as it grew fainter, still able to track it easily with the Springsonian. It became too dim in the others' binoculars, but I could still track it for about another minute as it became fainter than most of the stars. Eventually it disappeared, and my telescope was pointed about 15° from level.
First up was Blazar CTA 102, which erupted a few days ago from its usual 17th magnitude and was now somewhere from 12.5 to 13.0. It is a staggering 8 billion light years away -- almost twice the age of our sun, and more than half the age of the universe itself. All five of us had printed finder charts from S&T and were searching for it to the west of the Great Square in Pegasus. I could point the scope to nearby 31 Peg with the reflex sight, but I could not get my 50mm finder in alignment with the scope, so I needed to star hop through my eyepiece, which I found challenging. I spent a good 20 minutes missing the correct field when Jamie called out he found the blazar in his 13-inch. I had a look, and once familiar with the field went back to my scope and was able to find the right reference stars to get to the target area using 35x. I could not quite see it so switched to 84x and was able to make out the faint point at the tip of a small triangle of stars, matching the finder chart. It was faint, but still direct vision. I tried to soak in the feeling of having such ancient photons entering my eye, stimulating my brain. I will need to come back to this -- will try for it at home.
I didn't have any specific plan for observing, so I made few notes. We spent a lot of time chatting with each other and sharing views. SQML was 21.18, a little low, and while it was around 40°F, there was no dew, and I had dressed for the weather. I knew I wanted to exploit the scope's wide FOV and to try large scale objects.
I saw Blanco 1, which I had seen on my charts for a long time. It was a disappointing, large loose cluster of a dozen or more stars in a triangle pattern. Meh. I started out with this object thinking I would go to the Sculptor Dwarf and then the Fornax Dwarf, but the light dome from the Los Banos Reservoir lights washed out the horizon to 15°. There were light domes all around, sadly. So I abandoned the lower elevations and went high.
George suggested I try the Helix nebula. He shared the view in his 13-inch, and showed me a good way to find it with a reflex sight: make a right triangle with Fomalhaut and Skat (Delta Aquarius). I found it straight off. It looked nice with a UHC -- though I probably should have tried an OIII, since it is a planetary nebula -- annular, with a large darker round interior.
My next thought was to try IC 342, a notoriously difficult face-on spiral in Camelopardalis. I wanted to start from Kembel's Cascade, an asterism in lower Camelopardalis near Cassiopeia. After some checking of my charts I did succeed in finding the straight line of stars making the asterism, and the small open cluster NGC 1502 at the end of it. Some nice colorful stars in the field. I then carefully star hopped through the eyepiece up the few degrees north to IC 342. I immediately saw an oval glow behind a rather dense field of stars -- if wasn't sure of my star hop I would have assumed this was an open cluster. But it was the galaxy's relatively bright small core and nucleus. The arms were not apparent; there was a very subtle change in grayscale but nothing certain. Someone proposed on an online forum to try yellow filters on objects hidden behind galactic dust, so I carefully screwed on my Wratten #15 to the end of the tube extender I had at the end of my Paracorr. I felt some of the arms were slightly more visible, but it may have been wishful vision. It was like looking at a soluble fish. I had Jamie take a look but he had not seen it before so could not confirm with certainty. I want to try this one again with the 20-inch to see if I can discern any arms.
I did some lazy sweeping around the Milky Way. The North America Nebula filled more than the field, and was billowy and cloud-like. I could see a large chunk of nebulosity hooking away from Mexico to the east. The Pelican Nebula (IC 5067 & 5070) was large and almost bright. And I could see the three condensations beneath the Pelican (IC 5068). The Gamma Cygni area was turbulent with nebulae and dark nebulae, too much to describe accurately. Same with the Mu Cepheus area (IC 1396 etc.). And the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) -- which was quite astonishing. IC 405 appeared as a wide comma, with IC 410 on the other side of the bright elongated star cluster Mel 31. M38 looked great, and I could see the small faint cluster NGC 1907 at its rim, not unlike the small cluster at the edge of M35.
The drawback of observing on a weeknight is I was too tired to write detailed descriptions, so I did only casual sightseeing instead. And with more than a couple people to observe with, I felt the need to be more outgoing and social, taking away time and concentration. Not having a list or project to work on dissipated my effort. But, it was very special to just try some comet sweeping, and coming across clusters, asterisms, vacancies and crowds of stars in the sky. It was very beautiful and a detailed description is both inadequate and unnecessary.
I shared a view of the California Nebula (NGC 1499) with the others, with an H-beta filter. In this scope it appears large, bright, with many tendrils -- I daresay photographic. It does not quite fit in the field -- panning east or west reveals the thinly tapering ends. By far this is the object which appears best in the scope so far.
Around 11pm I happened to take a rest and looked up. I noticed a bright white flash and assumed it was a plane. I watched it for a minute. It flashed again but this time it was dimmer, more yellow. And it seemed to be moving more slowly than a plane would. Then again the bright flash -- I was sure it was a satellite. So I asked Jamie and Peter to take a look, then Bob came over too. We were all wowed by the bright flashes, which came in irregular intervals. We believed it to be a tumbling satellite or space debris; it was moving below the "W" of Cassiopeia roughly west to east. I tried to find out what it was next day at the Heaven's Above website, but don't find any matches.
I shared views of M45 with George, who was very impressed to see all of it fit in the view (which he hadn't seen in anything but a refractor, he said -- and now with so much more light gathered). M31 too, with M32 and M110 in view. I could not see the dark lanes as well in my scope as his 13-inch. Finally M42, seen in its entirety. George lent me his NPB filter, which showed a little less nebulosity than my UHC but had more natural star colors, instead of the UHC's sickening neon green.
Near midnight some thin clouds moved in from the north. Everyone wanted to pack up. I took a quick look at the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) which was very distinct, even with Alnitak in view. We tried the Horsehead (B33/IC 434), which we could see as a dark thumbprint -- but not very well. I tried for the Witch Head Nebula but only suspected some grayscale changes -- needs a darker and more transparent sky. Finally, George wanted to see M81/M82, so we pointed the scope up there. It was just seen at the edge of some clouds. I could see NGC 3077 hiding out next to a nearby star. Very nice view of the trio.
I'm very happy with the scope. I will need to use my Stellarvue 50mm finder, since the Orion finder rings could not adjust far enough to align with the scope. This will help my star hopping to be more effective. And I will try to make the filter slide to fit this tube -- it will be much more convenient.
I should mention, too, that a couple times during the early part of the night I heard what sounded like an elk, with its strange flute-like call. Kind of surprising, but very nice. No coyotes this time.
While waiting for it to be fully dark we watched the sky for an International Space Station pass. Most of us were looking up, but Bob happened to see it rising from the western horizon. We watched as it rose and were excited to see it transit the earthshine part of the moon. The others began to track it with their binoculars, wondering if they could see any structure. I decided to try tracking it with the 10-inch, and I was able to fairly easily. It was bright, but appeared boxy. It was very cool to see it barrelling through fields of stars -- it was headed for zenith and the Cassiopeia Milky Way region. As it passed zenith it began to slowly dim, and eventually I saw it as an orange tube. I kept on it as it grew fainter, still able to track it easily with the Springsonian. It became too dim in the others' binoculars, but I could still track it for about another minute as it became fainter than most of the stars. Eventually it disappeared, and my telescope was pointed about 15° from level.
First up was Blazar CTA 102, which erupted a few days ago from its usual 17th magnitude and was now somewhere from 12.5 to 13.0. It is a staggering 8 billion light years away -- almost twice the age of our sun, and more than half the age of the universe itself. All five of us had printed finder charts from S&T and were searching for it to the west of the Great Square in Pegasus. I could point the scope to nearby 31 Peg with the reflex sight, but I could not get my 50mm finder in alignment with the scope, so I needed to star hop through my eyepiece, which I found challenging. I spent a good 20 minutes missing the correct field when Jamie called out he found the blazar in his 13-inch. I had a look, and once familiar with the field went back to my scope and was able to find the right reference stars to get to the target area using 35x. I could not quite see it so switched to 84x and was able to make out the faint point at the tip of a small triangle of stars, matching the finder chart. It was faint, but still direct vision. I tried to soak in the feeling of having such ancient photons entering my eye, stimulating my brain. I will need to come back to this -- will try for it at home.
I didn't have any specific plan for observing, so I made few notes. We spent a lot of time chatting with each other and sharing views. SQML was 21.18, a little low, and while it was around 40°F, there was no dew, and I had dressed for the weather. I knew I wanted to exploit the scope's wide FOV and to try large scale objects.
I saw Blanco 1, which I had seen on my charts for a long time. It was a disappointing, large loose cluster of a dozen or more stars in a triangle pattern. Meh. I started out with this object thinking I would go to the Sculptor Dwarf and then the Fornax Dwarf, but the light dome from the Los Banos Reservoir lights washed out the horizon to 15°. There were light domes all around, sadly. So I abandoned the lower elevations and went high.
George suggested I try the Helix nebula. He shared the view in his 13-inch, and showed me a good way to find it with a reflex sight: make a right triangle with Fomalhaut and Skat (Delta Aquarius). I found it straight off. It looked nice with a UHC -- though I probably should have tried an OIII, since it is a planetary nebula -- annular, with a large darker round interior.
My next thought was to try IC 342, a notoriously difficult face-on spiral in Camelopardalis. I wanted to start from Kembel's Cascade, an asterism in lower Camelopardalis near Cassiopeia. After some checking of my charts I did succeed in finding the straight line of stars making the asterism, and the small open cluster NGC 1502 at the end of it. Some nice colorful stars in the field. I then carefully star hopped through the eyepiece up the few degrees north to IC 342. I immediately saw an oval glow behind a rather dense field of stars -- if wasn't sure of my star hop I would have assumed this was an open cluster. But it was the galaxy's relatively bright small core and nucleus. The arms were not apparent; there was a very subtle change in grayscale but nothing certain. Someone proposed on an online forum to try yellow filters on objects hidden behind galactic dust, so I carefully screwed on my Wratten #15 to the end of the tube extender I had at the end of my Paracorr. I felt some of the arms were slightly more visible, but it may have been wishful vision. It was like looking at a soluble fish. I had Jamie take a look but he had not seen it before so could not confirm with certainty. I want to try this one again with the 20-inch to see if I can discern any arms.
I did some lazy sweeping around the Milky Way. The North America Nebula filled more than the field, and was billowy and cloud-like. I could see a large chunk of nebulosity hooking away from Mexico to the east. The Pelican Nebula (IC 5067 & 5070) was large and almost bright. And I could see the three condensations beneath the Pelican (IC 5068). The Gamma Cygni area was turbulent with nebulae and dark nebulae, too much to describe accurately. Same with the Mu Cepheus area (IC 1396 etc.). And the Flaming Star Nebula (IC 405) -- which was quite astonishing. IC 405 appeared as a wide comma, with IC 410 on the other side of the bright elongated star cluster Mel 31. M38 looked great, and I could see the small faint cluster NGC 1907 at its rim, not unlike the small cluster at the edge of M35.
The drawback of observing on a weeknight is I was too tired to write detailed descriptions, so I did only casual sightseeing instead. And with more than a couple people to observe with, I felt the need to be more outgoing and social, taking away time and concentration. Not having a list or project to work on dissipated my effort. But, it was very special to just try some comet sweeping, and coming across clusters, asterisms, vacancies and crowds of stars in the sky. It was very beautiful and a detailed description is both inadequate and unnecessary.
I shared a view of the California Nebula (NGC 1499) with the others, with an H-beta filter. In this scope it appears large, bright, with many tendrils -- I daresay photographic. It does not quite fit in the field -- panning east or west reveals the thinly tapering ends. By far this is the object which appears best in the scope so far.
Around 11pm I happened to take a rest and looked up. I noticed a bright white flash and assumed it was a plane. I watched it for a minute. It flashed again but this time it was dimmer, more yellow. And it seemed to be moving more slowly than a plane would. Then again the bright flash -- I was sure it was a satellite. So I asked Jamie and Peter to take a look, then Bob came over too. We were all wowed by the bright flashes, which came in irregular intervals. We believed it to be a tumbling satellite or space debris; it was moving below the "W" of Cassiopeia roughly west to east. I tried to find out what it was next day at the Heaven's Above website, but don't find any matches.
I shared views of M45 with George, who was very impressed to see all of it fit in the view (which he hadn't seen in anything but a refractor, he said -- and now with so much more light gathered). M31 too, with M32 and M110 in view. I could not see the dark lanes as well in my scope as his 13-inch. Finally M42, seen in its entirety. George lent me his NPB filter, which showed a little less nebulosity than my UHC but had more natural star colors, instead of the UHC's sickening neon green.
Near midnight some thin clouds moved in from the north. Everyone wanted to pack up. I took a quick look at the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) which was very distinct, even with Alnitak in view. We tried the Horsehead (B33/IC 434), which we could see as a dark thumbprint -- but not very well. I tried for the Witch Head Nebula but only suspected some grayscale changes -- needs a darker and more transparent sky. Finally, George wanted to see M81/M82, so we pointed the scope up there. It was just seen at the edge of some clouds. I could see NGC 3077 hiding out next to a nearby star. Very nice view of the trio.
I'm very happy with the scope. I will need to use my Stellarvue 50mm finder, since the Orion finder rings could not adjust far enough to align with the scope. This will help my star hopping to be more effective. And I will try to make the filter slide to fit this tube -- it will be much more convenient.
I should mention, too, that a couple times during the early part of the night I heard what sounded like an elk, with its strange flute-like call. Kind of surprising, but very nice. No coyotes this time.
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