Fiddletown, 12/11/04

by Shneor Sherman

One sad note - besides the fact that I was alone - was the blazing lights from the new house on the hill. These stayed on until about 9:20 and this left just a few sheltered spots for three or maybe four telescopes to view. I was in one of these, and so the lights did not affect me directly. The neighbor apparently has a new boyfriend, who came out a couple of times and turned the outside light on. But this only lasted for a few minutes each time, and I heard the owner telling him about "the astronomers". Her dogs put on a concert during the evening. as well as barking at numerous interloping small aminals.

I arrived at 4:30 Saturday afternoon, and set up in a location shielded from the house on the hill. It was warm, and I set up in record time, 45 minutes. The sky was beautifully clear as dusk fell while I ate dinner. By 6:15, I could see the two stars that flank M57, and I trained my 22" on it, using the WidescanII/Paracorr. The view was exceptionally clear, so I popped in my 9mm; the view remained very clear, so I fished out my 2X Powermnate, and put the 9mm in, giving 500X. The stars were still pinpoint, so I replaced the 9mm with a 6mm - but this time I was not rewarded. The stars blurred a bit at 750X. Still, it was useful informaton, and I noted the small galaxy next to M57 at 500X. I briefly looked for the central star, but as I did not see it, I continued on to M31, which was near the zenith. The view was pleasing, and I now inserted the Denks with 30mm Rini eyepieces. I wanted to see if I could replicate my experience of the previous week, when I viewed M31 through a pair of 22" binoculars and noticed that the globulars in M31 appeared disklike rather than stellar (only when using both eyes). Unfortunately, I was unable to replicate the view, as a couple of globulars I looked at maintained their stellar appearance.

Still looking for familiar items, I inserted a DGM Optics Nebular filter into my WidescanII/Paracorr and enjoyed a nice view of the Veil - both the eastern arc and the "Witch's Broom". The DGM is similar to the UHC, but seems to provide a significantly brighter image and preserves some color in extended objects. I them moved to NGC6894, a planetary in Cygnus similar in appearance to M57, but smaller and much fainter. When I removed the filter, I could still make it out.

I moved to NGC 891, and the small cluster of galaxiess to the east, including NGC906 and 911. I'm not sure exactly which ones I saw, but I did see four. I then moved to the Perseus Cluster, and viewed 7 galaxies. (While I usually view first using my WidescanII/Paracorr and then my 9mm, tonight I used the 9mm in the 2X Powermate, as conditions were good enough to support that magnification.) I them viewed NGC 7331 and (I think) NGC7337. I moved to Stephan's Quintet and viewed at 500X - the cores of the galaxies were visible (in four of the fine, anyway). I looked for the group of galaxies on the other side of 7331, but was unable to find it. I moved to the Pegasus I Cluster and viewed several galaxies which I am however unable to identify. (At some point I thought it would be neat to view Stephan's Quintet and Copeland's Septet on the same night; I couldn't stay long enough, though I tried anyway while it was low in the sky.) The Fornax Cluster was next, as it was just culminating. I first located the dagger of IC335, then a dozen or so bright galaxies reminiscent of Markarian's Chain. When it was high enough, of course, I viewed Thor's Helmet, looking for 3-D in the binoviewer, but was unable to find any.

I viewed M42 a number times during the night, using just about every piece of equipment on my list. The view with the Denks and Rinis was superb, also with the Denks and the 18mm Widescans. When Orion was high, both sets of eyepieces showed E and F and showed the color in these stars. At 500X, I looked for H and G, but was unable to see them. I also used the DGM filter, and noticed that while the green seemed to be gone or very washed-out, the pink in the nebula was quite apparent.

I briefly viewed M33, M81/82, the Peanut and Eskimo in Gemini, and NGC1535 in Eridanus. The double shell was quite apparent. I spent time hunting galaxies in Eridanus, for the first itme, I think, since Gregg and I viewed dozens of galaxies in Eridanus a number of years ago (before he buit his 25"). NGC 1400 and 1400 are a nice pair, and I saw several others. I viewed M79, my only globular of the evening, also M46 and M47. I viewed a nice little trio of galaxies west of Castor, NGC2389/2388/2385. I also viewed a number of galaxies in Leo including NGC3599/3607/3608, NGC3193/3190/3185, M65/66, NGC3686/3684/3691/3681. In Ursa Major, M3892/3972, 2998 and others. I know I have left out quite a bit; that's the penalty for not making notes. By the way, I thought the south was unusually clear this night, all night long.

Around 11 or so, I noticed, very low in the West and Northwest, a belt of clouds. This very slowly made it's way to near the zenith by midnight, but the southwest, south, east and northeast were still clear. However, as I had a social engagement Sunday afternoon, I decided to pack about 12:45. By the time I left, an hour later, the sky was no longer as dark as it had been.

This was the best observing night I've had in quite awhile.

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Posted on tac-sac Dec 12, 2004 20:24:32 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 23, 2005 13:11:59 PT