by Matt Tarlach
Boy, it was good to get out again!
It's been so long since I've done "real" dark-site observing, or posted a report, that my name is probably unfamiliar to many newer listmembers. However I've been here lurking all along and enjoying your reports and news. Blame my silence, and absence from New Moon gatherings, on my obsessive approach to "recreation:" After devoting myself single-mindedly to astronomy for several years, I took up fishing a couple of years ago and that gradually came to dominate my free time, net surfing time (amazing how much info is online regarding the reproductive habits of bass!), and my brain in general. Throw in a move to Davis last Summer and 9 months of remodeling, and that about explains where I've been all this time.
But enough about me...you all want to know how Fiddletown was last night. Well, it was very, very good. Longtime observing buddy and Fiddletown veteran Ken Sablinsky made the drive from the Bay Area to join me, and we had the place to ourselves - except for the cat, which survives despite rumors to the contrary. The sky was clear all night and transparency was very good: considerable detail could be seen in the dark nebulae rippling through the Milky Way, when it rose high around midnight. We didn't do limiting magnitude estimates but the sky seemed a touch grayer than on the very darkest nights I've observed from Fiddletown...still as good or better than any night I've been at Blue Canyon. Seeing was middling, probably about an arcsecond near the zenith and much worse down low. My scope is a 12.5" f6 Astrosystems dob.
After my long hiatus from dark-site observing, I spent most of the night on old favorites. After getting into the swing with M13, M92, M5, M81/82, and NGC4565, I revisited the Virgo before it sank in the West.
I spent a fair amount of time on M61, which I had checked off some years ago but didn't recall observing carefully. At 160x (12mm Nagler) it presented an interesting, noticeably elongated form, with a bright non-stellar core, a middle zone brightening towards the core that revealed some structure (though I can't claim a definite identification of the spiral arms), and a faint outer halo.
After viewing many Virgo galaxies more casually I moved to Scorpius, by then culminating in the South. The "False Comet" asterism was evident to the naked eye, and Trumpler 24 striking in the eyepiece. A little west of these, the little planetary NGC6153 tested my rusty starhopping skills until I found the little diamond-shaped asterism it occupies. At 160x it was small but bright, and appeared somewhat diamond shaped itself (or is that a trick of the mind, transferring the shape of the asterism?) At times it seemed to reveal a brighter, elliptical core, oriented N-S, though the seeing was suspect especially at that declination (-40).
NGC6302, the Bug Nebula, surrendered more easily and looked about as I remembered it. A little to the Southeast, and in line with the stars of the Stinger, I located NGC6337, a very neat planetary that was barely visible without a filter but stood out nicely with an Ultrablock. The narrow hoop shape was quite evident at 160x.
As the Scorpion skittered across the Southern horizon, the Swan was rising well up in the East, and now I turned that way. NGC6888, the Crescent, is an old favorite and did not disappoint: at 70x (27mm Panoptic) with O-III much rippling detail was evident, along with fainter, smoother-textured, less defined nebulosity to the south-following side. The Veil was magnificent at all powers with the O-III, with Pickering's Triangular Wisp obvious and at 160x revealing dark patches and filamentary structure. At 70x I thought that the "ropy" eastern side of the Veil (opposite 52 Cygni) resembled a bony hand pointing ominously South. Ken stopped by for a look and also saw the hand shape, but a different gesture.
By now I was getting tired and decided to let Ken do the driving the rest of the way. He had brought his 114mm Vixen ED refractor and I introduced it to my 40mm Konig, and we enjoyed some 4 degree Milky Way views. The entire loop of the Veil was easily encompassed in this field, quite apparent without filtration and very beautiful with the O-III. I was struck by the difference in apparent radii between the eastern segment (NGC6992-5) and the loop as a whole, the kind of impression that is best obtained with such a wide field.
Next Ken turned the Vixen to the North American Nebula, and with the 4 degree field and O-III I enjoyed perhaps my best view ever of that object. The entire East Coast was clearly laid out, along with detectable structure within the nebula. The Pelican was easy, with its dark lane evident to careful viewing. And by the way from now on I'm calling the Pelican the "Atlantis Nebula." The geography is more or less appropriate, and those who have observed this region from various locations know that in less than perfect skies the Pelican often performs an Atlantean disappearing act, submerging into the subtlest skyglow while the North American remains afloat.
We looked at a few more things in the 114; I vaguely remember Ken putting the Lagoon and the Trifid, and then the Eagle and Swan, in the same fields, and a nice view of M24. We also paid a visit to a barely-there puffball called Barnard's Galaxy. But I was spent and soon turned in for the night, with those wide field views in Cygnus my highlights for the evening. This morning, a great breakfast of Eggs Benedict Arnold at Marlene and Glen's at the foot of the hill in Plymouth.....a highly recommended post-Fiddletown refueling stop!
As soon as I sign off it's back to painting the living room, but what a great break! I hope they come more frequently, now that the new house is getting somewhat squared away, and that we share a dark night somewhere soon!
Clear and steady skies to all of you!