by James Turley
I took my 12 year old kid, Jamie, up to MB last night for a fine clear night at MB. He likes astronomy, but just can't be cold. Like most kids, he likes the idea of staying up late, but just can't hang on much past 10pm. The Milky Way was clear and fine.
Our XT10" f/4.5 dob was easy for him to operate. He can sit easily, and stand, reaching everything. He loved aligning the Telrad and 8x50 finder on Venus, and was anxious to point the thing...anywhere. He's had some experience at CalStar 2000. Using our tattered Deepmap 600 he quickly found these objects by himself. He likes Sag because he's a Sag and can find it easily.
M22 Sag Glob: Whew!
M20 Trifid: dark lines
M8 Lagoon, Q: what are those stars? A: NGC 6530
Antares
M4 Better than M22
M17 OIII Swan: Looks like it. Comment while struggling with screwing on the Lumicon O3 filter onto the Nag 17 T4: Why can't they make this fit? Priceless.
M20 Trifid w/ O3. Better. Cool
M16 Eagle. Dad, where are the Pillars of Creation? A: On my website.
Well...now he's got about as many Messiers as his Dad can safely log. He crashed in the back of the Lexus for the rest of the evening, exhausted from screwing on filters.
Continued with the best MB Veil ever, and a seriously bright NAM NGC 7000.
Packed up early for a pleasant drive down Skyline with my sleeping boy and great sky peering through the moonroof.