by Jamie Dillon
Den 13 had a big collective time at the Observatory. Turns out the boys were most interested in seeing Mercury! It formed a clear crescent in the 30" and made a broad range of colors in the view.
The count in the Finnish Triangle was 15 for me, ca 5.8, but the seeing was literally excellent, 5/5. I just took two more turns that night in the 30" (had the binocs out front and was otherwise mooching photons). The one time looking at the Ring at moderate power, I saw the central star for the first time, 3x with a momentary sighting each time, with averted vision. Now later, the Whirlpool was astonishing. I had never seen spiral structure in 5195 before. Rock fooeying steady.
The mirror had just been cleaned, and that work of Medlock's is one earnest scope.
Omega Centauri was big and bright in Jane's Strider (12.5?) and esp in the binocs. In fact, it was a great night for binoculars, with the Messiers all holding still and showing off structure. M5 just threw itself at my old Swifts.
The boys were all hither and yon, all staying within hailing distance, so I spent the bulk of the time with Nick Barth and his Dad Craig, whom you might remember from the last TAC binge we had at the SW lot in January. They have a new Orion 8" and are excited and exciting to observe with. They esp remembered Rashad fondly. Imagine. Best of all Saturday night they liked the Lagoon Nebula, spent an easy hour gazing at it and showing it off to visitors.
It was a treat to be up on the Peak on a warm night, under a granular Milky Way. The place itself has a charm all its own.
This was with Swift 7x50 binocs on a tripod, mooching like mad. Went on and on to Craig and Nick about what a great resource TAC is. Anarchy is all.