by Jamie Dillon
Pulling into Fremont Peak State Park at sunset on Saturday, there was billowing fog pouring over the mountain, and the trees were dripping. In over 5.5 years of serious use up there, I'd never seen the marine layer drop once it's that high. Turned out Ron Dammann, who's been up there much longer than me, hadn't ever seen it happen either. Then come 2300 we had clear skies over the whole area. Plenty of dew, though, except on the very Knoll by the Observatory.
Which led to the 2nd surprise. Being a dew-hater, I didn't set up Felix but helped out with the 30". First time I'd swung that scope in about 4 years. (That odious docent training from the legacy of Mary Pass is no longer required.) Marco S. and Dave Saunders were in charge, with Ron sitting in the backseat. We had decent views of 457 the ET cluster in Cassiopeia, and 7789, also in Cas, justifiably named the Magnificent Cluster. Swirling dark lanes and endless tons of stars. Checked out Uranus and Neptune, then had a remarkable view of the Helix before the fog came back at 0115.
So the night not only was salvaged but ended up being really fun. Best of all was the view we got of 7331, a solid classic favorite galaxy in Pegasus. Cool that Wagner was watching the same object from the foothills. I'd seen 7335, a close actual companion, with Felix, but had had no hint of 7337, in the same field with a 9 Nagler in the 30". 7337 is a fairly long oval, but with low surface brightness. So I got a new object out of it. Gladly would I have hogged the eyepiece; the details on 7331 were lovely.
Just goes to show, you never know!
Posted on sf-bay-tac Aug 23, 2004 16:19:03 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 09, 2005 08:22:44 PT