by Michael Portuesi
A nice evening for Mooning at Monte Bello last night,
It sure was. It was nice meeting you and the other TAC folk (Stacy, Dennis Steele, Grimly Fiendish :0 and Phil Chambers) for a laid-back night observing under the Moon.
there definitely was a fair amount of lunar exploration going on, with Rukl atlases open and rotated to match both binocular and telescopic views.
I was there to reviv my flagging Moon observing program, working with 12x60 binoculars. I checked off basic maria and craters for the AL Lunar 100 club. I've never taken the time to really learn the locations of lunar features, so dedicated lunar viewing was a big help for me. Also, looking at the Moon through binoculars - with a big picture view, and no problems of reflection and inversion of the view - is great for learning your way around.
Although it wasn't part of my plan, I also took the time to launch my AL binocular club program in earnest. Although I started just before breaking down for the evening, I picked off M13, M92, and M4 through my 12x60's. I was surprised how bright and observable they were in binos through the Moon glow and valley skyglow.
Although I'm not known to observe when La Luna is around, I joined Stacy Jo McDermott, Phil Chambers, Dennis Steel, Kevin Roberts, Michael Portuesi and Michael's observing buddy - whose name just slipped my mind (Sorry!) - at MB last night.
That would be Jim Mace :-)
Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) - I spotted this comet just after 9:00pm, low to the WSW in Hydra. Given its location in the twilight sky, Comet LINEAR started off its eyepiece-visit as a non-distinct fuzzy patch of light, but developed some nice detail as the sky darkened. With just the barest hint of a tail at 152x, the comet was mostly coma, with a small nucleus visible with averted vision. Comparing the comet's brightness with a nearby out-of-focus 4th magnitude star (12-Hydrae, 4.32-mag.), they more or less matched, so the comet's magnitude is probably in this general range. I estimated the comet was moving about 5-arcmins/hour against the background stars.
Through 12x60 binos about 9:50pm, it appeared as a round fuzzy patch through the ground haze with a suggestion of a tail. I drew a sketch, which I will post to my website: http://astro.jotabout.com/sketches/Comets once I have a chance to scan them in, probably today.
I also did a sketch of C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) through binos, which I will also post to the same page. About 10:30 pm, NEAT also appeared as a ball of fuzz, with a bit of extra fuzz in one direction suggesting a tail.
Thanks to the TAC members who provided me with the lowdown on Montebello. It's a great close-by observing site, especially for city dwellers. I'll definitely see all of you there again soon.
Posted on sf-bay-tac May 31, 2004 12:21:59 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.1 Jul 12, 2004 20:53:16 PT