Mark Wagner wrote:
It was fun, even with the fog and chill. I did a count and we had at least 18 telescopes set up in the lot. A very good turnout. [snip...]
Yep, Coe was fun, all right. And once again, I owe my daughter. I convinced Jenny to head to Coe with me, even though she's not into the astro-stuff at all. So she read books in the rental van for a few hours, while I played with the 14.5" Starmaster. Jenny was pretty spooked by a large Black Widow spider she saw in the out-house, so with that and the fog situation, we made an early departure at 11:00pm. Turns out there were quite a few Black Widows in that out-house, so take care when you visit.
Waiting for the Moon to set, I initially focused on Messier objects (I'm working a Messier survey with the Starmaster), and then used TheSky to check for H-400 and other interesting objects in their vicinity. I also spent a fair amount of time in Triangulum (again!), searching for faint fuzzies that I now think only an 18" will pull in from Coe -- at least with *my* eyesight. ;) Examining M33, well, it was certainly just a shadow of the view experienced from LSA, so I should have known that a Triangulum FF hunt wouldn't amount to much. NGC 604 certainly jumped out in the M33 field, but the spiral arms of the Pinwheel were just barely discernable. I think LSA has ruined me for life. <grin>
Before the fog set in, I was really surprised just how good the seeing was. Albert Highe moved the Starmaster over to Epsilon Lyra, and we were both surprised by the size of the gaps of the Double-double. Seemed like you could drive a truck through 'em. Cranking up the magnification was no problem either. Ken Head's/Mark Wagner's barlow-mania was a real blast; Jupiter and Saturn were beachball size, moving through their 18" 'scopes. Amazing what you could see, detail wise, especially with Saturn's rings.
A short night, but well worth the trip up the hill. :)