by Darrell Lee
We met Charlie Stifflemeyer (sp?), co-owner of the property. Although this was my fourth or fifth trip to Fiddletown, I'd never seen the observatory door open before. Considering last winter's weather, I guess we all know why. Another observer and friend of Charlie's, Mark, was also there with his SO, Mimi. Renato and I helped Charlie roll his 20" out of the observatory, and Mark and I helped him roll it back in about 2 a.m. Charlie's aches and pains kept him from viewing much, so he and Mark kept up a constant stream of talk while I imaged and learned not to get stomped on by an elephant. I contributed from time to time, remembering Carroll Soo Hoo, the famous Fleishacker Zoo patron, whom Charlie of course knew.
I spent my time imaging, with a few peeks through my 10" Dob when imaging was going well unattended (rarely). About 12:30 a.m., the Sculptor Galaxy NGC 253 put on a pretty good show. It and NGC 891 were much more impressive in Charlie's 20" than in my 10" or Renato's 12.5". We could see the dark lane in 891 well in the 20, but only with averted vision through the smaller scopes. Charlie showed us an Abell cluster near 891. While in the area, Charlie mentioned a nearby globular, NGC 288, which we all soon found in our respective scopes.
I took a good look at NGC 7023 through my scope and Renato's, trying to see the dark lobes and the throat of the Iris. Couldn't make out anything more than the nebulosity around its brightest star. It looked the same as it did at Angwin last month when I imaged it to bring out those details. Most times, the camera captures so much more detail than my poor eyes and brain.
Renato showed me NGC 185 and 149, which barely fit in the same fov, between the M31 group and Cassiopeia. He also showed me NGC6939 and 6946, OC and galaxy, respectively, in Cepheus.
I imaged the eye candy for the season - the Trifid, Iris, Veil, Pleiades, Sculptor Galaxy, Andromeda Galaxy, and even the Orion Nebula. By the time M42 was up above the murk, the approaching clouds had wiped out the Veil and the entire western and northern parts of the sky, leaving just the area around Orion clear. I logged my last dark frames as I packed up to leave at dawn.
During the night, I split Iota Cassiopeia nicely with my 10" Dob at only 50x. Who needs a refractor?
Charlie asked about Alvin Huey. I told him the beautiful people were at IHOP, and we didn't make the grade ;-).
Posted on tac-sac Sep 04, 2005 15:29:06 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Mar 09, 2006 22:12:16 PT