Firddletown last night and this morning

by Darrell Lee

Bob Kendrick and I were the only two people at Fiddletown last night. Weather was downright warm until I quit at 4 a.m. Skies were wonderful. Bob and I were imaging, so I don't have much to say about neat things seen.

My equipment was screaming payback time for all the great imaging sessions I've had in the past. Despite two collimation attempts, two polar alignment attempts, two drift alignment attempts, and two focusing attempts, I never got nice round stars in my images.

To top it off, my go-to scope didn't go-to because of battery/wiring problems, so I had to starhop to different objects. NGC 891 was disappointingly dim in my 10" Dob after hearing about what a nice edge-on galaxy it is. I never got dark-adapted because of various bouts with illuminated reticles and camera LCD screens, so that's my excuse for not finding the Cocoon or California Nebulae.

All-in-all, a pretty disappointing night, but any night under the stars is a good night. I was amazed to pick up the blue and pink colors in the Trifid Nebula with a single two minute exposure. Ditto for the spiral arms of M31 with a single 1.5 minute exposure. Just cruising the Milky Way was a neat experience.

Thin cloud cover was already blotting the sky at Fiddletown when I left this morning at 8:30. Clear Sky Clock looks good for tonight, but I already packed up and came home. Guess I'll image from my back yard tonight, or go up to Blue Ridge if anyone wants to go there.

Posted on tac-sac Aug 06, 2005 12:41:14 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Mar 07, 2006 17:40:32 PT