Another Bumpass OR

Richard Navarrete

Since I couldn't make it to GSSP this year, I asked Mark Wagner if he'd be willing to go to Lassen Volcanic?National Park?at the end of July?to observe at Bumpass Hell parking lot for a few days. He jumped at the chance and brought along his daughter and her boyfriend. I also mentioned it to Greg LaFlamme and he told a few of his observing friends. I posted my intention on TAC in late June. We ended up with seven hardy observers dubbed the "Bumpass Gang" by Greg.

Mark and I decided to carpool in his giant Suburban and ended up taking four scopes. Two 18" Obsessions, a TV 101 and Gibralter mount, and a 10" XT 10 with FirstBase for his daughter Mimi to use. Even with all that and the camping gear, we still could have jammed more gear in there. Suburban's are massive!

The drive by went quickly with only a food stop and a Walmart stop so I could buy a folding chair to use at the campsite. I'd forgotten mine at home. :-( We had reservations at South Summit Lake, set-up, and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. It was beautiful weather and it was wonderful just to sit and chat.

The first night, July 30, saw just Mark, Mimi (the newbie boyfriend) and I set up. It was weird being up there with only a few people as I'm usually there with an almost full lot. The horizons looked smokey, and we even had clouds move over us at near sunset. We set up anyway and luckily the clouds moved out in a few minutes and we had glorious skies the rest of the night. It was probably the best night I'd ever had up there, and I've been observing there for over 10 years. The skies were steady and transparent, and it was DARK. I'm terrible at star counts. I blame my progressive lenses, but Mark got mag 7.5 skies.

My main targets were all from the Herschel 2500 list, and we brought the TV 101 for dark nebulae and just scanning the Milky Way. If you've never observed with a good refractor you're missing some stunning views. The stars are small and sharp, and the contrast is wonderful. It even made Mark remark at one point that maybe he should look into getting a small refractor. I'm sure it was only a momentary lapse in judgement since he usually calls refractors finder scopes. Just imagine fitting the entire veil nebulae in the field of view, or having the eyepiece full of pinpoint stars as you scan the heart of Sagittarius. Anyway, good fun, and probably the most beatiful views I had over the course of three days.

As I mentioned, my targets were from the Herschel 2500 list. The list is?all the observations of William Herschel and have NGC designations. There are over 6000 NGC's in total. Most of my notes after the first night were on the order of ?'dim, small, round.'? Fun to find, but it doesn't feed the soul with beauty. As we were?eating an ice cream cone in front of the Manzanita Lake store two days later, we were chatting about observing lists, and I asked Mark who put together the H2500 list. He just looked at me and laughed and said 'William Herschel!'? Doh! I knew that, but at the moment I had been thinking of the entire NGC list, and was thinking that the H2500 was culled from the whole list. Just keeps one humble when you do stuff like that.

The second night Greg L., Greg Claytor, Scott Baker?and Bob Jardine showed up and we had a real star party on our hands. Steve Gottlieb joined us the following night. Mark and I were there for three nights and enjoyed terrific skies, companionship?and weather. I think I looked through every telescope at?some point as everyone was finding fun and beautiful objects. That's the way a star party should be. Sharing fun, food, and views.

Below are my observing notes. I didn't recored everything I observed, just the new stuff that I found?by star hopping. 52 new objects.

Richard Navarrete

NGC 6434
Draco
Galaxy
13
Elongated. Next to mag 7.6 star.

NGC 6283
Hercules
Galaxy
13
Round, not too small, not too bright.

NGC 6646
Lyra
Galaxy
13
Brightish. A bit elongated. Fainter outer area with a brighter center.

NGC 6647
Sagittarius
OC
?
Nothing obvious at this position. A real stinker.

NGC 5163
Ursa Major
Galaxy
15
Small, very faint, round.

NGC 5164
Ursa Major
Galaxy
15
Face on? Dim, very round.

NGC 5201
Ursa Major
Galaxy
14
Faint, round, small.

NGC 5205
Ursa Major
Galaxy
13.2
Faint, small.

NGC 5216
Ursa Major
Galaxy
13.6
Brightest in group. Round with close companion.

NGC 5218
Ursa Major
Galaxy
13.1
Next to 5216. Bright and round.

NGC 5225
Ursa Major
Galaxy
14.5
Small, round, bright core.

NGC 5250
Ursa Major
Galaxy
14
Very small. Round, obvious, but not too bright. Brighter core.

NGC 7081
Aquarius
Galaxy
13
Very faint and small, round. Mag 14 star on south end.

NGC 7077
Aquarius
Galaxy
14.1
Extremely faint, extremely small.

NGC 7725
Aquarius
Galaxy
13.1
Extremely faint. Very small and round.

NGC 6978
Aquarius
Galaxy
14.1
Hickson 88. Linear trio with 6977 and 6976. Faint, small, elongated.

NGC 6977
Aquarius
Galaxy
14.1
Faint and small. Little extended.

NGC 6976
Aquarius
Galaxy
14.8
Faint small and round. Same as NGC 6975.

MCG 01-53-014
Aquarius
Galaxy
15.8
Very faint. Small and round. Faintest in group.

NGC 6837
Aquila
OC
?
Nothing special. Looked like your average Milky Way star field.
NGC 6840
Aquila
OC
?
Small sprinkling of stars.

NGC 6926
Aquila
Galaxy
12.6
Obvious. Large and elongated. Small, close companion.

NGC 6929
Aquila
Galaxy
14.7
Faint, small companion to 6926.

NGC 7013
Cygnus
Galaxy
12
Elongated haze with a brighter core. Pretty bright.

NGC 6742
Draco
PN
15
Round and small. Best with NPB filter. Visible with no filter. Ultrablock not much help.

NGC 7046
Equuleus
Galaxy
14
Faint, round with a brighter middle. IC 1365 nearby.

IC 1365
Equuleus
Galaxy
14.7
Very faint, small and round.

NGC 7197
Lacerta
Galaxy
13.7
Small, very faint, extended.

UGC 11897
Lacerta
Galaxy
13.5
Very faint, small, round.

NGC 7223
Lacerta
Galaxy
13
Faint, mottled galaxy. A bit extended. Set in a beautiful star field at 103x.

UGC 11927
Lacerta
Galaxy
14.4
Very faint, round.

B 108
Scutum
DN
?
Long black patch near M11.

NGC 7052
Vulpecula
Galaxy
12
Small, dim. At 229x edge on with a brighter core.

NGC 7246
Aquarius
Galaxy
15.4
Very faint, very small, very elongated. Next to trio of mag 12 stars. Viewed at 229x.

NGC 7252
Aquarius
Galaxy
13
Faint, very small.

NGC 7284
Aquarius
Galaxy
13
Not too faint, small, elongated. Interacting with 7285.

NGC 7285
Aquarius
Galaxy
12.8
Paired with 7284. Small, elongated, a bit dim.

NGC 7443
Aquarius
Galaxy
14.5
Faint, smallish, paired with 7444 at 103x.

NGC 7444
Aquarius
Galaxy
14.4
Faint, small.

NGC 7450
Aquarius
Galaxy
14
?

NGC 6079
Draco
Galaxy
12.8
Very faint, extremely small. Stellar core, faint halo.

NGC 6088
Draco
Galaxy
14
Extremely dim, extremely small. Set within a triangle of mag 13+ stars.

NGC 6143
Draco
Galaxy
14
Not too bright, Irregularly round even glow.

NGC 6140
Draco
Galaxy
11.6
Large, elongated galaxy at 229x. Brighter core, but not stellar.

NGC 6182
Draco
Galaxy
14
Extremely small, very dim. Brighter center.

NGC 7231
Lacerta
Galaxy
14
Small, dim, slightly elongated.

NGC 6251
Ursa Major
Galaxy
13.6
Not too faint, round, stellar core. Close companion.

NGC 6252
Ursa Major
Galaxy
15.2
Companion to 6251. Faint, irregularly round.

NGC 6324
Ursa Major
Galaxy
13
Small, faint, extended.
NGC 0103
Cassiopeia
OC
9.8
OK.? Many bright members

NGC 0133
Cassiopeia
OC
9
Chain of 5+ mag stars.? Pretty