Pinecrest OR

by Greg Claytor

I didn't observe Friday night. We left later than I had hoped and by the time the family was comfortable the moon was up.

I spent some time Saturday compiling a list of objects that I wished to observe from the beach on the south end of Pinecrest Lake (it'll always be Strawberry Lake to me). I had a view from northwest, north and northeast. Everything south was obscured by the tree line. My wishful thinking list included 19 objects. I set up in the dark so as not to draw attention and set out to put an object in the eyepiece as quickly as possible. I wanted Joey to see several before he knocked out after a full day of swimming.

First up was M51. It was located at the furthest northwest of my viewing area just my side of the tree line. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see it. I had no TACo, SJAAer or BGL to help me this time. I found it using a 20mm Expanse, and dropped sequentially to 15mm, 9mm and 6mm. The 6mm was too much, so I stepped back up to a 9mm and stayed there the rest of the evening. I couldn't make out any spiral structure, but there it was nonetheless!

Next up was M31. Hey, I know these are easy, but I was warming up. This was a little east of dead north and looked spectacular to me in the 9mm. It's brightness and density were spectacular. No spiral structure either, but it filled a good part of the eyepiece.

Next was Joey's favorite and our adopted astronomy mascot: M57 - The Ring Nebula. It was almost straight overhead. Again, the 6mm couldn't resolve it on this evening, so back to the 9mm at 133 X. We might have seen a little blue. Joey said he could see some. I couldn't.

Next up was NGC 869 and 884. This is where I ran into trouble. I had the location right the first time I tried to locate it, but couldn't see it. I second guessed myself, changed location and found a cluster, but it wasn't the double... looked interesting though. I referred to star chart later and I'm sure it was M103 instead. Doh.

Then it happened. All of the the sudden I could hear people approaching. Two groups from two different directions. They converged on me like locusts, with flashlights. A star party had suddenly erupted and I guess since the equipment was mine I was voted host. The questions started immediately and they were relentless. Here's a sample of some of the more notable ones:

Is that a Hubble?

Where is Virgo?

Do you think there are aliens on earth?

Do you think we really landed on the moon?

Where is Virgo?

Where is Jupiter?

Why is your computer and flashlight red? Are you a sniper?

Where is Virgo?

I can't see! (click, hand torch ignition complete) Can you see better now mister?

That telescope is huge! Did it cost $5,000?

Have you ever been to that big telescope store in San Francisco?

Are you a real astronomer?

Do you think Pluto is a planet or not?

Where is Virgo?

My intended observing was over. Cherie headed back to the RV to put Joey to bed and shouted in a cheerie voice "Enjoy yourself!" At first I was frustrated. Then I started to feel inadequate when I began to struggle with some of the good questions.

I though about some of you TACos and SJAAers who've been so patient with me. I decided to swallow my feelings, follow your examples, be a good ambassador of the hobby and began answering as best I could. Yes, even those silly questions too. The one's I couldn't answer I researched. Virgo, it turned out, was well below the horizon to the south... I think.

I went back to M31, M57 and tried again to find NGC 869 and 884 giving the crowd a chance to sneak peeks. I had to keep putting the objects back in the center because at 133 X they kept drifting very quickly. No one was that excited about seeing big galaxies though. this surprised me because I find those the most exciting. By this time the moon was coming up and fast. As I attempted to answer more questions it rose until it lit the lake up like the Las Vegas strip. Bye bye Greg's wishful thinking list of 19 objects.

I dropped the 20mm back in, swung the XT8 over to the moon, put it in the eyepiece and asked if anyone wanted to see it. Of course, everyone did. This got more ooh and aahs than anything else. They really liked the moon, but were a little disappointed when I explained, in answer to another question, that we wouldn't be able to see any Apollo equipment. When I looked the moon's edges were absolutely boiling. My guess is atmosphere. The primary had more than two hours to cools down by this time.

Finally, the crowd thanked me and began to wonder off into the tree line. I sighed a sigh of relief that I'd survived and began packing. I kept wondering what the heck had just happened. I'd not anticipated that in my wildest imagination. I think I have a new respect for astronomers who want to do...astronomy. Still, it was fun to see people hungry for knowledge.

Sunday night there was a castle revolt. I was informed that there would be no astronomy, that we would be going to the amphitheater to see Ratatouille instead. I was sitting on the bench looking straight up and said "Hey Joey, there's Vega!". He responded " There's those two stars too. The Ring Nebula is right between em". We're both learning.