My SSP 2007 report

by Darrell Lee

The weather was the biggest factor, and it didn't cooperate for this off-site participant. Tuesday stayed cloudy until nightfall, so Renato and I didn't even return to the airport in the evening. The skies cleared by 2 a.m., so I got out my binoculars and did some viewing from our rental cabin. I had left my red flashlight and Sky Quality Meter at home, so I counted stars inside Hercules' torso and the Great Square of Pegasus to estimate the sky magnitude. Near as my eyes can see, the NELM was about 6.3.

On Wednesday, the sky cleared by 7 p.m., and we joined the group on the runway. There were a lot more scopes than on Tuesday, and even more on Thursday. Since I had set up Tuesday afternoon, we were at the 2000' mark on the runway, between David, with his 12" Lightbridge, and Michal, who was imaging with an 8" f/4 Vixen RSS on an Orion Atlas mount. Across from us was Graham, with a 12.5" Portaball, just like Renato's. I didn't get a chance to meet the other folks surrounding us, as we didn't stay on the airstrip during the day, and only showed up in the evenings.

Viewing was pretty good on Wednesday until about 1 a.m., when the transparency shut down and turned to poor. Seeing was still good, as Renato split the Double-Double easily at 150 X in his 12.5" Portaball. But the poor transparency muddied the akies, lowering contrast enough that I couldn't separate the M8, M24, or M17 areas from the rest of the Milky Way. Renato's co-worker Caroline had joined us with the 8" f/7 Dob she'd built under the guidance of her former neighbor, John Dobson. I spent a lot of time showing Caroline the summer eye candy. and then we each spent the rest of the evening looking at our own lists. After the transparency dropped, we each dozed off for an hour or so, regrouping about 2:30 to chat and watch for sucker holes for viewing. We were trapped by the imagers, so we couldn't start our cars and drive home until 4:00 a.m., when the skies brightened up.

On Thursday, we moved our gear and set up at the bottom of the runway, so we could drive back to the cabin easily and without disturbing anyone, if the viewing turned bad. Sure enough, the transparency dropped by 10:30 p.m. We waited and watched as portions of the sky would clear, while the majority of it stayed in the haze. At times we couldn't see Sagittarius, or Scorpius, or the Big Dipper, or Cassiopeia. We gave up about 11:30 p.m., as the skies were teasing us all night.

The highlight of my night came when a lady brought her daughter and niece. Stacy was a hot blonde Harley-Davidson rider, and she'd just gained custody of her niece, Courtney (about 7 or 8). She'd also brought her roughly 11 year-old daughter Lindsay. Well, she'd read about the star party in the newspaper, and came on out to see what it was all about, not realizing the public night was later in the week. Naturally, we extended the hospitality that all astronomers seem to give to newcomers, and showed them a good representation of night sky objects, starting with Jupiter. Saturn and Venus were already obscured by clouds, a portent of the rest of the evening. Then I showed them the Lagoon and Swan Nebulae, Albireo, and the Owl or ET Cluster (NGC 457). I had to stay with low objects, as Courtney wasn't tall enough to see through the eyepiece for Albireo. I had to steady my observing chair while she kneeled on it. Renato and I began switching off. He showed them M22 and I showed them M81/M82. He showed them another object and I showed them Brocchi's Cluster (the Coathanger). I asked him to find M11, the Wild Duck Cluster, and he said he couldn't find it. Sure enough, it was obscured by poor transparency. I suggested the Dumbell Nebula, and again it was obscured. Lindsay got tired, and Stacy and the kids departed. After working at a job (Food and Drug Investigator and Compliance Officer) where people avoided me for 30+ years, I love astronomy outreach, where people appreciate my assistance.

We drove back to our cabin about midnight, looked up, and naturally the sky looked great at zenith. The sky teased us all night on Thursday, with some areas looking great, and the majority looking hazy.

Darrell

Hopefully the best nights are still to come at SSP and GSSP.