Dinosaur Point

Larry McGovern

I usually go to Henry Coe on dark weekends about once a month, but noticed this weekend the crowd was going someplace new for me: Dinosaur Point. I was a little concerned about giving up the altitude, considering possibility of fog or haze, but excited to try a new observing site. I was not disappointed.

I set up my 10" Lighbridge next to Bob Jardine at 7PM. Mark Wagner came over right away and introduced himself. It's funny that it has taken about two years to slowly meet the group, but observing in the dark where it is difficult to recognize faces can do that. Even in spite of this difficulty, I am constantly impressed with how welcoming and friendly everyone is. It is especially helpful to someone such as myself who is relatively new to this hobby.

My first order of business was to hunt down the comet, and it provided a spectacular surprise. I was expecting to see a dim fuzzy object, and was surprised to see how large, bright, and well-defined the halo was. Definitely a highlight from the night.

Since the night sky is still very new to me, my observing approach is still to take in as much as I can. Most of the objects I had not seen before. I also haven't learned the art of staying in one part of the sky before slewing to someplace completely new, so my evenings are rarely thematic. Here is my list from the evening:

NGC281: Nebula in Casseopeia. Unusual looking object which almost looked like a large planetary nebula.

NGC225: Open Cluster in Casseopeia. After spending a lot of time in Casseiopeia a few months ago, I had to go back and pick up a few OCs I missed.

Double Cluster & Andromeda Galaxy. I will never get tired of looking at these.

NGC404: An interesting galaxy near a fairly bright star in Andromeda.

NGC253: I just finished reading "Seeing in the Dark", in which Timothy Ferris remarked on the beauty of this object. He referred to it as the "Silver Coin Galaxy". Wonderful object in Sculptor.

NGC288: A globular cluster close to NGC253.

NGC247: An edge-on galaxy in Cetus.

NGC584: Another edge-on galaxy in Cetus.

NGC7331: Beautiful edge on galaxy in Pegasus, with the dark cloud band visible in my 10". At this point, I wanted to find the nearby Stephen's Quartet, and enlisted the help of Jamie Dillon. He was extremely helpful in finding these unimpressive little buggers. I was able to convince myself that I could just make out two or three of them, but I may have been deceiving myself. Someday I'll try to attack these in a larger scope.

NGC246: Planetary nebula in Cetus. This was a recommendation of Jamie's, and was an interesting sight. The surrounding stars were a nice treat, too.

NGC1528: Open cluster in Perseus.

NGC1545: Nearby OC in Perseus.

M33: Pinwheel Galaxy. Spiral structure visible. Always a treat.

NGC772: Faint face-on galaxy in Aries.

NGC1499: California Nebula. Just purchased an H-beta filter, and had to give it a try. I could just make out the edge of this faint nebula.

NGC1232: Face-on spiral in Eridanus. Couldn't make out any structure. Perhaps next time.

Great Orion Nebula (and surrounding areas). I could spend hours here. But with new things to see, I moved on...

NGC1647: Open Cluster in Taurus.

M79: Globular Cluster in Lepus. I only have 4 Messier objects left! Horsehead and Flame Nebulas: Orion was high enough that I could start attempting this with my H-beta. The flame was straight forward, but I was having trouble with the Horsehead. I could overhear Greg Laflamme showing this object to others, so walked over to take a peek. After he showed what it was "supposed" to look like on his computer, then looking at it through the eyepiece (was that a 15" Plettstone?) I had no trouble seeing it. Finally, I went back over to my telescope and could see it in my 10". Thanks, Greg! Couldn't have done it without you.

NGC7479: A barred spiral, at the suggestion of Greg. Another nice treat. I saw it in his scope, and then mine later.

Finally, topped the evening off with the Pleades at a wide FOV, the Orion again, and then ruined by night vision for good with Mars.

A great night!

Larry McGovern