Montebello 4/18

by Pentti Kanerva


Rob already related the need for warmer, calmer weather to attract more guests. At least we were not bothered by clouds although could see some on the ocean side of the ridge.

I was out with Orion's 5" Mak-Cas and used almost exclusively 62X with a .77 degree field. I had prepared to look for the comet 2P Encke but it set before the sky got dark enough.

I guess the atmosphere is suboptimal when Sirius splits in five ways. But that seems not to matter in hunting down galaxies and such. With a small scope cannot see any detail in them anyway. So I tried a few by memory: M1, NGC2903, M42/43, M57/NGC5195, M98; failed on M101. Then used charts to find the Messier galaxies of Leo. They all came out easier than before so I was encouraged to go for more, adding NGC #s 3628, 3384, 3377 and 3607 into my catch, all in Leo. Anything fainter must wait for a larger mirror, darker skies, or younger eyes.

The last three of us left at midnight. The temperature was 37F (+3C, 276K), the wind still blowing, the car coated with dew. On the way down saw a cat crossing the road (to get to the other side).

Pentti


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Adin, CA

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