Coe - 24 Feb 2006

by Rob Jaworski

Mark pretty much nailed in on the head with his report, below. It certainly was a night of social observing. Good to meet a lot of you for the first time in person.

The International Space Station flew over my house at 1908 last night, and attained a max altitude of about 82 degrees and a magnitude of -1.1 (according to heavens-above.com). Yep, it really was bright as it crossed overhead; even my wife said the flyby was cool, and my 2 year old daughter saw it and exclaimed "shooting star!".

I was the last to arrive at Coe at around 2015, and the conditions weren't great, but as Mark says, they did improve shortly thereafter. And yeah, that 18" light cannon puts a crisp beam across to the other hillside! Though I froze on my last trip to Coe, I was much better prepared this time. Layers, gloves, a hat, thermals... all good things to have on-hand. It wasn't as cold this time either, but enough to layer up. No wind when I first got there, but it kicked up slightly at perhaps 2200 or so.

My quest for all the M objects continues, and last night I only officially logged one, M67. Here is my entry for it:

In trying to locate it, I had to make sure that I was using the correct guide stars, as I was not as familiar with Cancer as I am now after this exercise. (Side note: at this darker location, I was happy to be able to see the Beehive naked eye.) Once I had the correct star to jump from, it was relatively easy to find it. I've seen this object refered to as the King Cobra. After spending some time observing it an letting my mind absorb and work with the image, I did see a kind of serpent, perhaps not a cobra, but something with a larger body. The head, though, was definitely there in the form of three sharp pinpoints of light, situated in such a way as to make it appear similar to a snake's triangular head. Usually, I try to observe the object for a while first before reading O'meara's description, so as to not influence what I am to look at. It was interesting to see that my observations matched his description; he describes the thick body as being a cobra right after a big meal. The biggest satisfaction I got from this observation was getting familiar with Cancer and the region around it, including the head of Hydra.

After spending time with the Cobra, I figured I might as well try for M48, and/or 46 and 47. But the social aspect of the evening interfered, and I spent more time chatting with the others and looking through their bigger scopes, trying hard to stay content with my 8" mirror.

Saturn was nearly overhead and had a terrific 3D appearance to it, with a piece of the disc showing up, sticking out slightly below the rings. Cassini division was very much apparent, as were features on the face of the disc itself. Very nice.

I was introduced to Markarian's Chain, though I was only able to count 13. That entire area of the sky is incredible! Things are so close to each other that I when I get around to going after the M objects in that part of the sky, I have no idea how I'm going to be able to positively distinguish one from another. A daunting and formidible task indeed.

I was packed up and driving out the gate at 2355. Another good night along with good company. Thanks, everyone!

Posted on sf-bay-tac Feb 25, 2006 13:53:14 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Mar 02, 2006 00:02:28 PT