Lake Sonoma quickies 3/1-3/2-08

Carter Scholz

1 Mar 2008. Lake Sonoma, 12.5" Dob. Another short night in between dropping off and picking up my daughter. The drive up promised a worse night than Thursday, with a hash of cirrus obscuring the north and west, and even a visible fogbank, and dusk was windy in the parking lot -- but it turned out better than that. Seeing was mediocre, but the prediction was for worse, the clouds were gone after dark, and the wind was never too bad. Humidity was as high as 90%, temps down to 37F. SQL 21.20. Matt Marcus and Bob Waltenspiel (and his dad and wife) were there with, respectively, a Celestron 8 and an Orion 8" Dob. We traded views and chat. Fruitlessly chased Abell 194 down into what was left of the cloud, got nothing. Wasted more time looking too low for dim stuff in CMa and Pup too close to Santa Rosa's light dome. Finally I started in on Abell 262. 8mm EP. 708 visible first, with awareness of others nearby. Then 703 became definite, and 704. Generous hints of 705, but nothing solid. No sign of 710. Didn't look for 714, should have. Took a shot at Abell 569, in the last 15 minutes. I had the right starfield for 2340, but nothing. Found 2344 somewhat south, faint, round. Back in Berkeley, the sky looked better than usual, and SQL meter confirmed 19.2. Eyeballing the ZLM in Lynx, 4.6 was solid, and even a few mag 5.4 stars showed up averted.

2 Mar 2008. Lake Sonoma, 12.5". With Steve Gottlieb. A nicer night than yesterday, cloudless from the start. Zodiacal light halfway to zenith. Again went after a few remaining southern objects in my "consolidated" list of lists. Mostly 8mm (200x): 2298: GC, mod brt, small, somewhat irregular, elong N-S, between 2 mag 10 stars (previously observed 2/8/08 Del Valle). 2359: EN, smallish, N-S elongated patch 4:1, involved with a line of 4 brighter stars at the N, thinning to the S and widening again around a brighter star at the S edge 2243: OC, faint, rich, 3 brighter stars at W edge, plus 2 more widely-spaced stars to E enclose it in a rhombus. 2546: OC, very loose, very large (22mm EP), >100 stars, elongated 2:1 NE-SW, brightest 2 stars at each end, includes an embedded small (<10') NW-SE elongated concentration of about 15 brighter stars. 1808/1792: two galaxies 40' apart, both almost identical in appearance: bright, 3:1 elong NE-SW. (A third is in line with them, 1827, and should have been visible, but it's not in Pocket Sky Atlas. Have to try again.) Revisited Abell 779. Previously logged galaxies were a little easier now, either due to better transparency or more familiarity. Added 2334, and separated 2831 from 2832. Tried Abell 569 again. This is a toughie. Galaxies spread out over 3 degrees in a very ambiguous starfield in the winter Milky Way. Found 2340, direct vision, and nearby 2330, averted. No luck with 2320 or any nearby. After much searching finally found 2329, at the SW tip of a slightly elongated 15' equilateral triangle made with two mag 9/10 field stars. Also nearby U3696. Ended about 11:30. SQL 21.27. A few clouds had been visible in the Santa Rosa light dome to the south, and had begun to move overhead. Less than 5% cover but an OK time to quit.