by Phil Terzian
We had a small group of observers up at Montebello this evening, including James Turley, Denny Woolaghan, Dr. Lynn and Jeff B. It was cool (42F) and breezy at first, but by 10:30 the breeze had died down significantly. The seeing was quite bad, with no features observable on Jupiter and Saturn (with ring) appearing as an elongated blob.
Dr. Lynn set up her 35mm camera on a tripod and was attempting to photograph the five planet cluster. She was using 800 speed print film and a range of exposures. We'll see how she did when the photos are processed. This was probably one of the most practical endeavors of the evening, since it did not require good seeing.
I was observing through my 10" homemade Dob. You really have to know the sky to use this baby. I'm much more comfortable with my C9.25 on the GEM. At least I can find things easily. You do actually look at the sky more with a Dob though, so I think this is a worthwhile thing to do from time to time.
James was not feeling well and so he left quite early. Get well soon.
Jeff was busy looking for small globs in his 6" scope. I looked at a few, and they sure were faint. He showed me one that he has named the flashlight glob. So named because of a nearby star that looks like a flashlight shining on a wall (the glob). I forgot to note the identification of this glob. Maybe he can supply it to those who are curious.
Denny was playing around with his new G-11 mount, on which he has installed DSCs. A very nice setup.
I left at about 11:30, as it was a school night and the seeing was not improving significantly.