It has been way to long since I've had the opportunity for an all-night observing session in comfortable weather. It wasn't quite shirtsleeves for me, but a turtle neck and sweater kept me comfortably warm. A great group of buddies, new and old, were at the Southwest lot of Fremont Peak, and all of us were anxious to observe. I was using my 12.5" Meade dob. I made a dew/light shield out of a thin camping pad. I used a long Velcro strap to attach it to the scope and it showed promise. I ended up taking it off after not too long because it was difficult to move the scope without grabbing the front end. I'm gonna have to add a handle before I try this again.
Lots of great scopes out again, as usual. A 7" AP with gorgeous views of Mars, homemade scopes, a classic 8" Cave with excellent optics, a TV 101, 12" SCT, a few 17.5's, and I was surrounded by 18" and a 20" Obsessions. Talk about your heavy photon grabbers!
The sky was dark, but not nearly so dark as it can get when the fog rolls in to the cities below the Peak. I was just grateful for the clear skies.
My observing program included the usual bright Messier objects just because most of them are so beautiful. I also continued work on the Herschel 400 list. I'm slowly getting through this since I get sidetracked so easily by views through other scopes and other objects.
Highlights for me were M13 through my binoviewers, as well as Mars when the seeing steadied. Mars in the 7" AP, and just about anything in the Obsessions! :-) The brightlight of the evening was the bolide that flew overhead around 2:30 am. I was looking through the eyepiece and suddenly the whole place lit up. I thought a car was driving into the observing area! I managed to look up in time to see the end of it's flight.
A fun night all around, and great company, as usual.
Here is my observing log for the evening. It was generated with The Sky log function. My own comments are at the end of each object listed.
| Type | ID | Description | Const | Dreyer desc | Mag | Size | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy | NGC 2903 | Elongated galaxy dusty. | Leo | Considerably bright, very large, extended, gradually much brighter middle, resolvable, but mottled, southwest of 2. | 8.9 | A real gem. Big and bright with lots of detail. | |
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3187 | Very faint, extended. | 13.2 | 3.0' x 1.3' | Dim sucker!!!!! | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3185 | Pretty faint, pretty large, gradually much brighter middle. | 12.7 | 2.3' x 1.6' | Nice, part of group. Chain of 3. | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3190 | Bright, pretty small, extended, pretty abruptly brighter middle nucleus. | 4.3' x 1.5' | Easy to find between neck stars in Leo. Part of group. | |||
| Elliptical Galaxy | NGC3193 | Bright, small, very little extended, pretty abruptly little brighter middle, 9.5th magnitude star 354°, 80". | 12.0 | 3.0' x 2.7' | Next to bright star. Part of group. | ||
| Elliptical Galaxy | NGC3226 | Pretty bright, considerably large, round, double with 3227, | 12.3 | 3.1' x 2.8' | Bright, easy to find! | ||
| Galaxy | NGC 3227 | Elongated galaxy close companion. | Leo | Pretty bright, considerably large, round, double with 3226. | 10.8 | 6.0' x 4.6' | Easy find with bright partner. |
| Lenticular Galaxy | NGC3222 | Faint, little brighter middle, partially resolved; binuclear? | 14.1 | 1.3' x 1.1' | Very small, Observing buddy Paul Sterngold noticed it first! | ||
| Elliptical Galaxy | NGC3605 | Faint, small, round, southwest of 3. | 13.1 | 1.6' x 1.0' | Dim, starlike. | ||
| Lenticular Galaxy | NGC3607 | Very bright, large, round, very much brighter middle, 2nd of 3. | 11.0 | 4.9' x 2.4' | Bright with a companion. | ||
| Elliptical Galaxy | NGC3608 | Bright, pretty large, round, pretty abruptly brighter middle, 3rd of 3. | 11.8 | 3.2' x 2.6' | Nice with pair. Bright and easy. | ||
| Lenticular Galaxy | NGC3599 | Bright, pretty small, round, pretty gradually much brighter middle. | 12.6 | 2.7' x 2.1' | Fairly bright, round. | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3655 | Pretty bright, pretty small, irregularly round, brighter middle, resolvable, but mottled. | 12.8 | 1.5' x 1.0' | Small and round. Easy hop from 3607. | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3686 | Pretty bright, large, very little extended, very gradually brighter middle, resolvable, but mottled. | 11.8 | 3.2' x 2.5' | Fairly bright and large. Part of group - nice chain of galaxies (3684/3681) | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3684 | Pretty bright, pretty large, extended, very gradually brighter middle. | 12.2 | 3.0' x 2.1' | Bright. Part of group with NGC 3686 and 3681. | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3681 | Bright, pretty small, round, brighter middle. | 12.4 | 2.5' x 2.0' | Pretty bright and round. Bottom in chain of 3 (NGC's 3686 and 3684.) | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3691 | Faint, pretty small, little extended, resolvable, but mottled. | 13.4 | 1.4' x 1.0' | Very faint and small. At the end of a chain of 3 stars. | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3596 | Pretty faint, large, round, gradually little brighter middle. | 11.5 | 4.0 x 3.8 | Fairly bright. Large and round. | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3593 | Bright, considerably large, extended 90° +/-, westward abruptly much brighter middle. | 11.8 | 5.2' x 1.9' | Easy find from M65. Elongation obvious. | ||
| Spiral Galaxy | NGC3810 | Bright, large, very little extended. | 11.3 | 4.3' x 3.0' | Bright and round. | ||
| Globular Cluster | NGC 6229 | Globular cluster mottled. | Her | Globular cluster, very bright, large, round, disc & faint border, resolvable, but mottled. | 9.4 | 4.5' | Small globular in Hercules. Mostly resolved. |
| Galaxy | NGC 6207 | Very elongated galaxy with bright core. | Her | Pretty bright, pretty large, extended 45° +/-, very gradually much brighter middle. | 11.6 | 2.0' x 1.0' | Small galaxy in field with m13. Use wide field eyepiece. |
| Galaxy | NGC 4485 | Elongated galaxy close companion. | CVn | Bright, pretty small, irregularly round, northwest of 2. | 12.0 | 1.6' x 0.8' | Easy star hop. Bright with close companion. |
| Galaxy | NGC 4490 | Spiral galaxy structure attached companion. | CVn | Very bright, very large, moderately extended 130°, resolvable, but mottled, southeast of 2. | 9.8 | 6.0' x 3.0' | Nice and bright with interesting companion NGC 4485. |