High Sierra Star Party Sept 15 2007

by Mark Johnston

Several TACos including Michelle Stone, Tony Hurtado, Chris Kelly (And friendly dog, Luna) and myself (Mark Johnston) took the very long drive (for the guys anyway) to just inside the Kings Canyon park. The trip includes a very long stretch of highway where you are at the mercy of slow folk. The party was near Montecito Sequoia Lodge which presented no light dome and consisted of 2 locations separated by about 200 meters. Special thanks to Greg Nuckolls (greg@mslodge.com) who setup the event and web page at Web: http://www.montecitosequoia.com/astronomy_web/starparty.htm.

The next morning when I left I decided to go to a magnificent old-growth redwood grove called 'Grant's Grove' which was only 2 miles farther down the road and well worth the very short 20 minute day hike to see these gorgeous giants. OR just look at them from the parking lot if you like.

*Observing Conditions:

*A total of about 14 scopes spread between sites were present and all the other folks treated us TACos as friends. On Saturday there was no dew to speak of but we were told Friday was very wet. We had no winds and temperatures all the way up to 3am did not drop below -2 deg C. On the drive up smoke from the fires was seen at lower altitudes. Before sunset at the site, sky conditions hinted of light smoke (from the fires) but that was below 10-15 degrees and at 7400 feet we were above just about all of what remained. I had an early limiting mag of 5.8 or so but neglected to measure after 10pm so it may have gotten better. SQM meter was consistent between 21.40 and 21.59 mag/arcSecSq with several readings at 60 deg off horizon facing East (to no-mans land). I was a bit surprised SQM meter was not at a higher reading than Fremont Peak or Willow Springs. Very slight light dome in the Fresno direction but this was not an issue for the site I was at due to high trees blocked below 50 degrees from deep south-west all the way up to high North-west. A couple other trees blocked two sites to the east. The other site (where Michelle was) has almost no blockage in all directions but you have to walk your stuff out 50 yards and we preferred to be near our cars. Both Tony and I felt the skies were similar to a good night at Fremont peak and the SQM meter would agree. The next morning when we talked to Michelle she felt the skies were about like Lasson but the site was better (overall) because scopes could be left out and you could camp onsite and bring a dog if you liked.

*Observations:

*My observations were all just to find assorted goodies that are hard in general to see near the Bay Area. Other objects were chosen as I went along since I was 'in the area'. Tony had a list ready to track down mostly Hickson objects and Chris was tracking down his own objects of interest.

Starting with some 15x50 and visual observations that were of note was M31 group as well as M33 were a perfect match for the 4.5 degree FOV. I was able to very late in the night detect M33 with averted vision but am certain the core was observed. THAT was a first for me but next Fremont Peak I plan on trying very hard to pick it out with eyes only. Also of note was the North American nebula was amazing in both the IS binoculars as well as Tony's Stelarvue (which he also put in an OIII for fun).

By 9:18 was able to find Stephans Quintet which was a bit washed out perhaps because it was still early. Later in the eve it was a bit better. I like this one as my 11" has this at about it's limits so it is a challange. Was not able to resolve to all 5 as the 2 Siamese galaxies appeared as one.

9:48 Tony called me over to look at Hickson 88 which is a group of 3 galaxies in a row with a more edge-on 4th one offset from that line.

10:20 On to Barnard's Galaxy, NGC6822 which I have always had a very tough time with in the past as it is a fairly evenly spread mag 8.4 galaxy but so broad as to wash the surface brightness to appear almost as I typically see mag 12 or greater galaxies. This observation was confirmed by Tony as it was faint but the oblong shape was distinct.

10:30 Little Gem, NGC6818 planatary nebula was nearby so had a quick peak. Little Gem disappeared behind trees very soon after I got to it.

11pm On to M73, Asterism / 4-Star Group (GOT to be just about the most boring Messier). Moved QUICKLY on to ...

Somewhere around this time Chris brought out the Veil Nebula, in the Witche's Broom area and in his 14" SCT with AP mount, awesome contrast.

M72 globular cluster which is a mag 9.3 tiny star cluster. This one got lucky as well to be on Messier's list. It is almost typical of a Herschel 400 globular cluster. On M72 I was able to mag way up to x311 and was supprised to resolve some of the brighter stars.

11:30 The Saturn Nebula, NGC 7009, became a target 1st for Tony (damn him, I was too slow on silly old M72,M73). The nebula after significant mag up in Tony's 18" was in true form. One of the trained observers (Also named Greg but not the organizer) was discussing an outer halo but I don't think Tony or the other's observed this outer halo. I don't think he was talking about the dim part around the main body of the object but maybe that was what he was referring to..

12:30 California Nebula, NGC 1499, which has been very difficult for me in the past was only just detectable for my scope. It was for sure there but because my field of view is so limited the darn thing on the thin dimension takes over a half of my field. So we had to scan along the guy. Tried a H-Beta filter but I only had a 1.25 inch filer for H-Beta so had to go to an even narrower eyepiece (Celestron 40mm with 42 deg AFOV). Still it was good to see this large area. The end with the thiner area in the center to one end was also detected.

Everybody goes to sleep before this and Tony and I are left to man the scopes ... I think he was still having fun with Hickson objects all night. He called me over when he found good ones.

1am - 1:30am The nice little area in Cetus including NGC 584 I had not had time to look at carefully last week but this time had a good look. My observations picked up 594,596,600,615, and 636 with NGC600 being the dim one of the group but it is larger so again, the surface brightness issue perhaps.

2am tony and I were both pointing south and picking up NGC 55, 247 which are nice but NGC253, sculptor galaxy, was of course outstanding. Always like that one. It is IMHO worthy of the Messier list and kicks but on M109 even though M109 to me seems to have a core and arms resembling our own galaxy more than most.

3am: Tony and I called it a night.

Clear Skies,
Mark