Feb 10, 2005 Rocklin CA

by Tony Franco


CSC showed a 4 hour window till 11pm this evening w/ fair conditions...

Setup the 16"in the backyard just before sundown to cool. Early evening transparency appeared to be good, but I didnt get started till 8:30pm when the softball fields in the back turned off their lights. I typically dont keep observation logs but decided to give it a try using SkyTools2.

Stuck to the eye candy this evening. Mainly just OC's featured in Feb S&T.

TransparencyGood fading to poor later in evening.
Seeingwas Fair..
Scope16" NSScope w/servocat
Eyepieces24.5mm SWA meade 18mm SWA meade
LocationRocklin CA

NGC 1647 OC in Taurus Loose cluster noted.
NGC 1662 OC in Bow of Orion Sparse cluster.. Acutally DOES look like a Klingon Battle cruiser. Noted multiple star system in cluster.
NGC 1758/1750 OC in Taurus Instesting comparision of contrasts.. Two OC overlapping a bit. One fainter and further.
NGC 1807/1817 in Taurus Interesting pairing of two clusters.
NGC 1778 OC in Auriga. OC mania in this area.
NGC 1857 OC in Auriga Nice cluster with bright orange star smack in the middle.
NGC 1893 OC in Auriga Not impressed but ok.
NGC 1907 OC in Auriga Nice contrast with larger M38 to the north.
NGC 2158 OC in Gemini Dim, can reslove faint stars in 18mm. Next to BigBrother M35.
M42 Orion Nice as always.. Could only resolve 4 stars in the trap.
Saturn..... Cassini division noted but seeing had a HSF.

Then the clouds started moving in just like clockwork..

Overall, a nice short session.


Posted on tac-sac Feb 12, 2005 16:11:57 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Feb 12, 2005 20:40:13 PT