by Tom Campbell
| Observer | Tom Campbell |
|---|---|
| Location | Somewhere in Southeast Kansas (Long: 95W 12' Lat: 37N 48') |
| Equipment | 8" Discovery DHQ dob |
| Eyepieces | 1.25" Plössls (25mm, 15mm, 10mm, 6.5mm, 4mm) |
| Filters | None |
| Time | 9:30pm - 11:00pm CDT |
| Transparency | 9/10 |
| Seeing | 8/10 |
| Weather | Temperature in the 70s. There was a gusty breeze. |
Once again, I found myself with a clear night. There were a few building clouds on the far western horizon, but they weren't much concern. With no cellphone, I was a little worried about what would happen in case of car trouble. With Mike (a fellow stargazer that lives nearby) working 2nd shift, I asked my family members whether they'd like to go.
My mom, who has recently shown an interest in things astronomical, declined the offer because she was too tired. Surprisingly, however, my brother Terry volunteered to accompany me. So, we packed my telescope, binoculars, and other gear into the car and began the half-hour trip to my new-found dark-sky pasture.
By the time we arrived, the sun had just finished setting. I quickly tweaked the collimation on my telescope and began the ordeal of waiting for nightfall. The two-day-old moon was low in the western sky begging for attention, so we swung the telescope and binoculars towards it. Even with binoculars, some cratering could be detected.
The only problem with the darkening sky seemed to be the gusty breeze. While it felt good, it was strong enough that when I pointed my telescope near the horizon, the wind would sometimes howl through it. The upper-level atmosphere also seemed to be experiencing windy conditions, as evidenced by rapidly drifting contrails.
By 9:30pm, the sky had darkened considerably. While the Milky Way was glorious, it didn't quite have the same luster that it did Saturday night. The dome of our galaxy was just barely visible in the Ophiuchus and Scorpius region of the sky. Still, it beat the best nights from my back yard.
I still had several Messier objects in Sagittarius to officially log, so that's where I started. They were mostly some globular clusters, which seem to riddle poor Sagittarius the Archer like bullets from a machine gun. Despite these wounds, however, the warrior still proudly rears his head and bow above the horizon, refusing to die.
| ISS + Discovery | Space Station / Shuttle | ~9:30pm CDT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just as I wes ready to begin my official observing session, a moving light
in the south caught my eye. I knew at first glance that it was the
International Space Station. I had remembered that the Discovery had
undocked from the ISS today and that it would be several seconds behind the
space station. I quickly inserted a low-power eyepiece into my telescope and
took aim. Just as I had found it in the telescope, it approached the Earth's
shadow and quickly faded from view.
A shout from my brother told me that Discovery had now come into view. Following almost the exact path of the ISS, it cruised from southwest to southeast, just out of reach of Scorpius. I was able to track it in my telescope as well, but the low angle and awkward body position I was standing in prevented me from being able to notice much detail. A few seconds later, it too disappeared into the shadow of Earth. Because of the spontaneity of the moment, I didn't even get a good chance to compare the relative brightnesses of the two spacecraft. I wish I had written down the time they were scheduled to appear so I would have been ready for them. Even so, this view alone was worth the 30-minute drive. They were both too low in the sky for me to have been able to spot them from my house. | |||
| M 55 | Sagittarius | Globular Cluster | 9:40pm CDT |
| NGC 6809 | RA: 19 40.0 | Dec: -30 58 | Mag: 7.0 |
| This is a large but fairly faint globular. At 81X, dozens of stars can be resolved in a roughly globular shape. It did appear slightly flattened, however. At 122X, even more stars are resolved. For a globular, it doesn't seem very rich, as the background glow is dim instead of bright. | |||
| M 70 | Sagittarius | Globular Cluster | 9:50pm CDT |
| NGC 6681 | RA: 18 43.2 | Dec: -32 18 | Mag: 8.1 |
| This globular is small and tight, but fairly bright. 188X offers about the best view tonight. With averted vision, a few stars can be resolved, but direct vision reveals only a fuzzy smudge of light with a bright core. This cluster isn't very impressive through my telescope, but it looks like it has some potential for larger scopes. | |||
| M 69 | Sagittarius | Globular Cluster | 10:00pm CDT |
| NGC 6637 | RA: 18 31.4 | Dec: -32 21 | Mag: 7.7 |
| Even at 188X, I was unable to resolve this one. Even though it is slightly brighter, it appears to be even harder to resolve than M70. It is a circular patch of light. Although it did appear mottled, individual stars were not detectable. In the same field was a bright star, which was more than a little bit distracting. | |||
| M 54 | Sagittarius | Globular Cluster | 10:15pm CDT |
| NGC 6715 | RA: 18 55.1 | Dec: -30 29 | Mag: 7.7 |
| This cluster has a bright, stellar core. 122X offered about the best view. It has a patchwork appearance, but individual stars couldn't be resolved. It does have a nice, round shape to it. This globular seemed to beg for more aperture. | |||
| M 75 | Sagittarius | Globular Cluster | 10:25pm CDT |
| NGC 6864 | RA: 20 06.1 | Dec: -21 55 | Mag: 8.6 |
| Like the previous globulars, I was unable to resolve this one as well. It has a bright but diffuse core and a mostly round shape. This cluster also appears a bit mottled, which begs for a bit more aperture. | |||
| Little Gem | Sagittarius | Planetary Nebula | 10:35pm CDT |
| NGC 6818 | RA: 19 44.0 | Dec: -14 09 | Mag: 9.9 |
| Even at 305X, no details are visible in this planetary. It appears as a fuzzy blue-gray patch of light. It doesn't seem to be quite circular. Typical of other planetaries, this one looks like it is never quite in focus. | |||
| M 23 | Sagittarius | Open Cluster | 10:40pm CDT |
| NGC 6494 | RA: 17 56.8 | Dec: -19 01 | Mag: 5.5 |
| This is a large open cluster. At 49X, it is framed nicely within the field of view. The most interesting aspect of this cluster is that it consists of several little chains of stars going in all directions. Easily 50-60 stars are visible of varying magnitudes, including a lot of bright ones. Some of the chains are straight and some form nice little arcs, giving the cluster an interesting texture. | |||
While any of the objects I viewed tonight would be considered fine gems in nearly any other constellation, Sagittarius is so blessed with beauty that the globulars were pale in comparison. I wanted to sweep the brighter regions of our galaxy with a widefield view, so I traded off with my brother and let him use the telescope while I browsed the sky with binoculars.
TO BE CONTINUED...