June 26, 2009: IHOP

Bill Porte

I observed last night at IHOP with Rich Girard. It was a good night. Moon set at around 10:30-11:00. Not too cold or humid, but there were intermittent warm air breezes that were probably one factor affecting seeing. Seeing was only average ranging from 3-4/5, transparency was 4-5/5, and overall the skies were about mag 6.5+. We worked together on Rich's project, the Deep Map 600. I have previously completed this project, but it was fun working as a team to star hop the objects again. We enjoyed the Bug Nebula in the tail of Scorpius, and surveyed the open and globular clusters in Scorpius. We couldn't leave the Southern Skies without looking at the Eagle, Swan, Lagoon and Triffid Nebulae, and several of the Ophiuchus globulars. I also spent some time in Draco and Pegasis touring a sampling of galaxies. The edge-on 5907 was a great sight to behold, and there were a number of other dimmer galaxies to tease out nearby. I had a nice view of ARP 13, and clearly identified its detached segment. I revisited NGC 7331 and her companions, and had an easy view of Stephen's Quintet. Couldn't resist my Cygnus favorites including a long look at the veil in all its glory, the Crescent Nebula, and the strange little Blinking Planetary. Rich owns my old scope, the Porte-a-ball, so I had fun taking her for a spin or two again. We actually were able to find and see the 15-16th magnitude IC galaxy near M13 with the P-ball--those Zambuto's are amazing mirrors! Time passed quickly, and before we knew it, we saw Mars and Venus rising in the east. We left IHOP at about 4:15 AM. Before I left, I took a look at the remarkable sight of Jupiter (and moons) and Neptune in the same wide field view--very nice! With a very enjoyable free-form session last night and a great GSSP under my belt, I think I've had enough ancient photons to last me until next month!