by Jamie Dillon
Had one good hour, a very good hour, and I'll tell you the way of it. The ranger was there to gove good wishes, and I set up in front of the Observatory with the whole mountain to myself.
Started with M37, in the best part of the sky to the East. That lovely crescent Moon was starting to set behind the Peak. There was crap to the North, moving slowly my way, so I didn't waste any time getting to the eyepiece. Transparency was ca 5.5, seeing 3/5, good not great. Moved right over to Saturn who was showing off 3 distinct rings and 5 moons, Titan and Tethys to the East, Rhea off to NE, and Enceladus and Dione together off the western edge of the rings.
Figured I'd better get a new object or two in, and the best part of the sky was now around Aries, so I went to see that patch of galaxies around 1 Arietis that Wagner had mentioned, and that was afterwards written up in this month's S&T. Found the two brightest of the set, NGC 680 and 678. Not there at 57x in the 22mm, but they popped out at 126x with the 10. 680 looked elliptical (it is) with a bright core, oval disk. 678 was clearly elongated, looked like it would be a spiral (yup), gradually brightening toward the center.
Schwoop, I was surrounded by ground fog. I was at the top of the layer, could see stars peeking thru overhead. The Peak was obviously in clear air. Tantalizing. If only that stuff could drop a couple hundred feet... Battened down the optics and waited a while. This was at 1930. By 2100, cirrus was coming in, as the wet cleared. As I was starting to pack up, there was a bright light coming thru Felix's focuser. It was aimed straight at Jupiter! (Felix is a Celestron 11" f/4.5 Dobs with a primary made by Discovery. Was using a 22 Pan and a 10mm Radian.)
Was worth it. The Peak is a great place to have to yourself, magnificent. Enjoyed walking around before leaving. Two brand new galaxies. And observing there around the New Year has become a tradition, 4th time now. First time was '98, December 19, when Liam and I took the binocs and tripod up on spec around New Moon, found dripping dense fog, as well as people: Robert Hoyle at the Observatory, who showed off some of his pictures and mentioned TAC; then a certain Mark Wagner and Marsha Robinson, who stopped on their way out of the SW lot and gave us full details about TAC, which I joined the next day. Pivotal moment.
Merry Christmas, everyone!