Cal-star and Blue Canyon

by Brian Zehring

Had a great time at Cal-Star on Thursday, it was nice meeting you all. Sorry I had to leave early but I had been away from home all week already. I went to Blue Canyon Saturday and was almost blown off the mountain. Allen and I were looking for a very faint galaxy near M31 for over an hour and I was wondering if anyone knows anything about it. It is called PGC 2544 or Andromeda IV, it's near M32. Allen and I both swear we saw it but I am not sure. We also had a great time looking for extra remnants around the cat's eye nebula and some other stuff. I am really happy to report that even though I've had some minor power issues on the GOTO that it has worked very well for me. The best part was on Saturday night when the wind was howling the telescope didn't move from the field even with a 3-6mm Nagler in place due to the drives being engaged. Most everybody else found their telescopes unusable due to the wind and left early. I stayed until about 4.

I have been without filters and ordered new Lumicon o-iii and h-beta filters today. Better order now before they all disappear. I found mine on the internet at Shutan cameras in Chicago. Kendrick in Canada has some as well.

I'd really like to get one or two more nights of observing in before the weather turns and I won't be able to go this weekend. Anybody want to join me at BC in the next couple days?