by Jeff Barbour
T and I had been out the previous evening observing at Montebello to 1:00 a.m. We made the drive back to Boulder Creek in less than record time. Turning in as soon as we got back, I woke about 5:00 in the morning feeling the need to lay down tracks on our latest noctural adventure. Hammering away the the keyboard for a couple of hours, gave it up... went back to bed. Woke up, spent another hour finalizing the previous report. Didn't really do it any justice... For there were a lot of experiences left unsaid.
Even berfore T's arrival, I knew this was going to be one demading period of time. Unlike myself, T likes to get behind the eyepiece on every possible occasion. So, plans had been laid to resume our quest the very next day with a drive up to Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. Now, as many folks know, a state of near exhaustion doesn't lend itself to inpiration or enthusiam. T was hot to trot, but I was not. This naturally led to a discussion of observer's "burn out" and possiblities of a "jaded and faded" astronomy outlook.
So, with a previous night's experiences... such as they were, posted out to my astrobud's at TAC, T and I hit the road for points east and north. We were going to take the "long and winding road" to the top of Mt. Hamilton and the Lick Observatory. For some strange reason, I thought it was incumbant on us to arrive by 1:00pm in order to attend the "one and only" tour of the Observatory presented at that time. As it turned out, we arrived after 1:00 and found that the tour was presented every half hour throughout the afternoon (visitors notwithstanding). There were several minutes before we would participate in the next tour. T and I wandered the halls of the Visitor's Center which includes the 36" refractor site and a smaller unused dome facility. There was somethng very quiet and hallowed about those "halls" and the courtyard outside. Photographs of various astronomical studies hung along the walls, many of which were leading edge in their own time, but would probably have difficulty matching images captured by contemporary amateurs using CCD imagers (and Cor Berrovoet's new image stacking software!).
There was also something else we noticed. The entire complex seemed to hang in a state of abstraction. Even so, we learned that occasionally the 36" refractor was pressed to service for research, educational enrichment, and public education. Despite this, tt seemed that the bulk of the energies of the UC Santa Cruz system, which maintains the facilities, had been scooped up and transferred to the much more contemporary and cutting edge Keck Observatory complex on the big island of Hawaii. As T and I walked the grounds, numerous domes were seen to be in a state of disuse. On peering through the windows of the unused domes and rooms throughout the complex, many were seen to be used for storage. Often a dome appeared to be bereft of observational equipment altogether. A few had equipment, but all covered up, untouched for decades.
None of this is intended to be a critism of the Lick Observatory, or of the University of California of Santa Cruz. Encroachment of neighboring cities, such as San Jose and Morgan Hill have rendered the night sky somewhat less than ideal for cutting edge research. As stated previously, much in the resources available for astronomical research have been shunted to the "Big Island" and the bigger scopes... And the even bigger skies under which they stand.
But T and I weren't here to simply walk the grounds and to absorb the history of the Lick Observatory. We had brought along Argo and the Pup for a night of observing. But the hour was early and although T was exhilerated, J was tired. It would be many hours before we would turn scopes to sky. The many previous nights of observing, as mentioned before, had taken its' toll on my enthusiasm. T and I took up our conversation again concerning the matters of "burn out" and "jadedness". Rejuvenation was possible, however. Slowly, I felt and renewing of commitment and resolve. The night sky was big enough and endured long enough to sustain my interest - surely!
There was in fact, something about walking Lick's halls, seeing those old photographs, contemplating busts of astronomers past and their supporters, that was a subtle source of regeneration.
As the hours passed, and the mid-spring sun drew nearer to the horizon. We needed to decide on a place to set up the scopes. Short drives up and down Mt. Hamiliton road, and the desire to have good views to south and east led us to a small observatory dome abandoned, isolated... That we thought might make an excellent venue for us to observe from. Having made no arrangements in advance to observe from the grounds, we contacted the local security officer. Despite some measure of understanding, the officer was disinclined for us to observe from our chosen venue. Traveling east on highway 130, and not too far outside the grounds of the UC Lick Observatory, we found a paved road to a fire tower. Past the gate to the tower we came across a semi-passable spot with views south, east, and west. Despite the tree, we later found that all the classical planets could be seen exiting the night sky to the west.
At 8:10 PDT, the last vestiges of the solar disc could be seen slipping down below the western skyline. Almost immediately we were able to pick out Venus some thirty plus degrees east of the nearest horizon. That first look at the planet's brilliantly luminous disk at 180X showed enough definition to inspire our endeavours. A few moments later, Jupiter could be seen unaided, barely exiting the sky's middle third. Immediately, both Argo at 180X and the Pup at 80X were redirected to the Royal Monarch. This was not the 6 of 10 seeing found at Montebello the previous evening! Though not the finest view of the planet seen through 150mm Argo, it came damn close. The central equatorial belt took on a rare presence and delineation bisecting the distance between north and south equatorial belts. A dark barge could be seen approaching transit on the NEB. Nicely defined NEB irregularities could be seen breaking into the equatorial zone. A curd-like mottling could just be seen within the zone as well. The NTB was crisply delineated. STB present, but subtle. None of the other minor belts were visible. But not for lack of optical reach! The galieans were tiny, round specks against a darkening night sky. Most, if not all, had taken up a position trailing the planet to the east.
T was very pleased with the sharpness and presence that Argo detailed in the planet's cloud tops. Now, you have to understand that T has been following many of the reports published at astro.geekjoy and is familiar intellectually with the kinds of views Argo is capable of. I had hoped to have a night such as this where that intellectual appreciation could translate to visual familiarity.
The Pup, too, gave fine views of Jupiter's belt system. It was soon clear that more image scale was needful. Adding the 2X Shorty Barlow to the optical train increased Jupiter's size to a much more managable 140X. Hints of the equatorial belt were possible, and most surprisingly the dark barge could be detected approaching the CM.
As T and I continued to follow the transiting barge, we'd switch to the other planets hanging above the western horizon. Mars gave a tiny orange-red gibbous disk with only a tiny amount of flare - nothing unexpected here. More distant Saturn gave a decent 6/10 view of disk and ring system. In Argo, Cassini appeared waivering and inconsistant. In brief interludes an almost ribbon-like sharpening appeared.
In those moments when Argo would reveal the main ring division with greatest clarity, Cassini would also become distinctly visible in the 80mm Pup. But, the real surprise of the evening was when we were both allowed to see the tiny, perfect "crescent-moon" of Mercury hanging some 10 degrees above the horizon. Gorgeous and distinct with clear albeido markings - from bright orange/yellow at the equator, to bone/white at the poles. Unquestionably the finest view of the planet seen by either of us... EVER!
This night held great promise... And the few remnants of weariness that clung to me still were easily shaken off - to say the least.
By 8:50 PDT, T and I referencing the two scope separately agreed that Jupiter's barge had just transited.
Throughout all of this, the sky darkened, air chilled and winds had built to a crescendo. We were cold, yet exhilarated by the fine views of the planets presented to us by our two scope buddies. Through the blessings of an otherwise still and transparent night sky. Retiring to the car, we talked and napped until the last vestiges of our solar orbs rays could be seen to the west. It was time. Skydark. 9:45 PDT. Emerging from the cab, we looked up to behold a multitude of stars overhead. Certainly the deepest sky I had experienced since a trip last year to Crater Lake at Oregon. And as for T? Just another dark sky night in Ohio...
There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the two of us that no charts would be used this evening - and for several good reasons. The night air was very C O L D. And that same air was very B L U S T E R Y. In fact the winds were so strong that I chose not to install Argo's plastic dewshield for fear it would be snatched by airy fingers and delivered to the darkness below.
Our first deepsky studies were selected from among those visible to us from the west. Open cluster M35 gave only a satisfactory view due to low sky postion and San Jose lightdome. A "light dome" that could be seen visibly contigious with hundreds of thousands of lights in the valley below us. In fact, the effect was so strong we were unable to detect nearby cluster NGC2158, a mere twenty arc minutes southwest of M35 core. This view discouraged us from any further explorations in Gemini. Further east, Cancer could be seen still within the sky's middle third. M44 was our next study. Through the 80mm Pup I was just able to hold the 12.7 magnitude test star at 80X, under moderate aversion. Thus, at a mere one millimeter exit pupil magnification, the Pup was capable of holding stars to magnitude 12. This equates to 8 of 10 seeing stability and magnitude 5.9 unaided stellar reach. Such nights are exceedingly rare from backyard Boulder Creek! Our trip to Lick was vindicated...
We also dropped in on M67 just west of Alpha Cancri. The view through the 80mm Pup showed a nicely uniform group of 11+ magnitude stars, although it lacked the density possible in 150mm Argo. Now we went north to the "Great Galactic Duo."
It was here that such a deepsky paid its dividend. Both galaxies glowed so brightly in the night that we feared our pupils would contract and we'd would lose our dark adaptation. For the very first time, (at 52X) Argo was able to reveal the dust lane that lies west of the core of the M81. T remarked that a certain bright star-like point was actually a brilliant knot in the galaxy iteself. Something I find rather incredulous. (Further research needed!)
M82 displayed several distinct irregularities along its' frontier - as is its' usual wont, but with greater clarity. The Pup at 40X gave a similar, but less obviously structured view.
We dropped down to Beta Ursa Majoris for a look at the "Owl" and "Edge-on" located east/southeast. Indisputably, the sharpest, most extensive view of M108's spiral extensions seen to date through Argo. Meanwhile, that of the Owl planetary matched a sky of similiar depth from the Bonny Doon SCAC site last year even to the suggestion of one of the Owl's dark eyes. Continuing east/southeast, we turned both scopes on the M51, the "Whirlpool Galaxy" and NGC companion, 5195. Through Argo, and at a mere 52X, both spiral arms plus the barred extension toward the companion could be seen. But wind and cold had had its effect - we retreated once again into the hatchback for rest and re-thermalization.
Returning to the eyepieces around 1):30, we easily turned up the M65/66 pair plus NGC3628 that make up the "Leo Trio" between Theta and Iota Leonis. Although there have been occasions where the slight curl at the root of M66's spiral arms have been detected through 150mm Argo, to our regrets T and I, under the influence of rapidly chilling extremities moved on to our next study - M98.
Centering on Denebola, slewed due east to 6 Coma Berenices. The goal was to determine if, in fact, that vague, wafting of light, was indeed and actually an edge-on galaxy as proclaimed in all reference sources. (Not that I doubted the records mind you.) Now, typically, this galaxy is a very faint blur in both Argo and the Pup. No sense of orientation was possible. However on this very fine night, lying well near culmination, the 80m Pup, at some 40X, clearly proved the galaxy to be a faint edge-on, though some mild aversion was required.
The time now was about 11:00 pm, centering on Spica and well aware of the intense light dome lying due south, (Morgan Hill?) made the effort to turn up the southern wonder, Omega Centauri. To our surprise and delight, had no trouble picking out the large, faint, moon-like glow of the cluster some handful of degrees above the southern horizon. Unfortunately and once again, complete resolution of the cluster was denied us. It would seem that sky stability to the south was not equivalent to that of the west seen earlier in the evening. Foreground stars defied proper focus and that unremitting skyglow rendered even this fine cluster's magnitude 9 components undetectable. Once again, we retreated to the car for several hours of nap. The plan was to awake to the observing of the rising constellations of Scorpio, Saggitarius, Scutum, Vulpecula and Lyra.
It wasn't until 3:00 a.m. that we resumed our nocturnal adventures. Scorpio lay at culmination. M4 was a easy find due west of Antares through the finderscope. Th cluster showed a large number of faint outliers. These well outside the normal bounds seen under inferior conditions. The cluster took on an almost "shield-like" shape to the cluster as a whole. As always the fine queue of stars bisecting the core was easily apparent. I then made a run for M80 - a very small and intense globular cluster. I was convinced the cluster lay due east of Delta in the Scorpion's Tail. But despite my best efforts through Argo's 7X35mm finderscope, unable to pick out the cluster among the many stars in the field. Half an hour later, depairing at use of finderscope, simply swept about in the general location east of Delta. In so doing turned up an intense point of light totally beyond all hope of resolution.
>From M80 dropped down to the Scorpion's tail and turned up large open cluster M7. This bright but less than compact clusters numerous members could be seen to well overflow the one degree, 52X field. Despite numerous attempts, was unable to pick out small 10th magnitude globular cluster, NGC6453 located near the cluster's perimeter to the northwest. Once again, the "Morgan Hill" lightdome had worked its' especial "charms" on that region of the sky.
Slewing northwest, tracked down the smaller, more concentrated cluster, M6 which displayed numerous lobes and arcs of variously magnitudinated stars.
All this led up to the time to walk the "Via Galactic."
Beginning at the "Teapot's Spout", Gamma Saggitarii, we slew due north with the finderscope to the "Lagoon Nebula" which showed three prominent lobes of bright nebulousity, broken by very present dark trunks of absorption nebulae. To T's eye, some filamentation was visible on the perimeters of the Strawberry Cluster - which is the nebula's well-evolved fourth lobe. Continuing north, the less luminous "Trifid", M20 nebulosity was our next study. Two faint lobes of luminosity were seen but these were far more subtle and lacked the strong definition exhibited by Lagoon nebula and intervening dark nebulosity. The fine double centered in the Western(?) lobe was easily resolved at 52x. Nearby an undistinguished open cluster (M21) was easily picked up, almost in the same field.
Continuing north and east, we scanned our Galaxy's "Window" into the core: M24. Of particular interest was the bright sheen of dense, globularesque 11th magnitude cluster, NGC6603. Resuming our swing north, the "Swan Nebula" glided into the finderscope and main tube. For some reason, I was less impressed with he view of this delicate and bright nebula than on other occasions when higher magnifications were employed.
Continuing our ascent, M16 was also easily found also in the finderscope accompanied by its retinue of stars. Oddly the view of the "Eagle Nebula" was superior to all that seen previously through Argo.
It was now time for the contemplation of a trio of old favorites. The first faint glows of a rising solar orb could be seen to the east. Slewing northeast toward the "Eagle's" tail feathers, M11 was easily discerned in all of its "near globular glory" in both finder and main tube.
Continuing north along the Great White Way, we took light from M's 27 and 57. Neither Ring nor Dumbbell gave especially superb views of structure at such low magnifications, but both shone brightly luminous against the blackness of a 6th magnitude deep sky. Through Argo, the Ring's 13th magnitude neighbor could be seen with mild aversion adjacent to the Ring's eastern ansa. Meanwhile, M27 took up a place richly endowed in a sparkling stellar neighborhood.
A rich harvest of celestial wonders now hangs well overhead in mid-spring's pre-dawn skies. Soon this vast treasure-trove will take residence in the night sky above our heads. Meanwhile, the Great Solar Pilgrim will find another years' consummation. And we "faded and jaded" occupants of the Blue Planet might once again find our aspirations renewed...
Comments from ~T
And so, as we continue this series of reports from "Hotel California", I find myself lacking in my own reports. (a situation of which I think Jeff could quite probably understand.) Detailing my own observations is a much a part of me as my eternal fascination for the night...I have come to this place with "open arms and open eyes"... Ready for new experiences. What I have been given is total unfamiliarity, and an opportunity to overcome it. What was not told was the countless minutes I spent in search of the right knobs to turn, the inability to "star hop" in my own fashion, and a different way of doing things. Can I learn? You betcha'... Resilience is my middle name.
Part of my "Quest" has been met. For now I have seen Omega Centauri with my own eyes... In itself, a fantasy come true. More adventures await. My time here is not finished yet. But what I have found is a rejuvination of my own sorts. A solution to my own "faded and jaded" philosophy of stargazing. And what did it take to change my views?
A scopist... ;)
~T
"We are all just prisoners here, of our own device. 'Goodnight' said the NightMan, 'We are programmed to receive. You can check out anytime you like... But you can never leave.
What a nice surpise... When you realize. There's plenty of room at the "Hotel California".