April 18, 2009: Dinosaur Pt.

David Cooper

In terms of the overall viewing conditions, this was certainly one of the better outings I have had in recent memory. The sky transparency coupled with the warm temperatures and steady seeing made it an exceptional night. I was observing next to Mark Wagner and Rob Enns. I had a great time chasing down Herschel 400 objects with my AP155, focusing on objects in Leo and Ursa Major. Some memorable views included the nice galaxy grouping of 3608/3607/3605 and 3599 in Leo. All four galaxies were in the same 0.63 degree field at 103x in my 10.5mm Pentax eyepiece - a beautiful sight. Saturn was superb at 209x and 355x with cloud bands visible in both hemispheres and 4 pinpoint moons. I could even discern the small shadow of the planet on the nearly edge-on rings. In addition to the H400 I spiced things up with some eye candy objects. M5 in particular was simply stunning at 103x and 209x - beautiful pinpoint stars with a distinctly blue dense core. At the end of the evening I got an incredible view of M51 through Mark's 18" Dob. The spiral arms were distinct and sharp. The core revealed some spiral structure as well and the bridge to 5195 was readily apparent. A stunning view - probably one of the best views I've ever had of this object. Altogether a wonderful night.