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We (Chris & Julie) will be observing tonight, either keller or eagle bluff. Curious who else is going and where. Will check back in around 9:30pm. Really like to use our new Skyview 150 — a Christmas present that has barely been out of the box.
Keller sounds good if nothing else because we were up late last night. We're not as young as we used to be. The all nighters are harder to take.
Looking for a good report from EB to help make up our mind.
I'm going to head to Keller. Just don't feel like driving as far as Eagle Bluff. See some cloud tops down to the SE, but I don't know how much they are or how far away. If anything, I expect Eagle Bluff to clear up, but don't have any idea when, maybe already is??
Jeff
I agree. Conditions around are just too iffy. I would recommend LOCAL OBSERVING only.
For those of you that go out, I hope you have AGNFA!
Sorry to hear that Dean. I'm sure it'll clear up later for you. Right now, very clear here. I'll be heading to Keller shortly. See you all there. ISS over at 9:09, a few minutes. -3.3 mag, coming from NW straight overhead to the SE.
Jeff
Ack! No wonder I missed it. I just finally dug out the printout I had, thought it was at 9:35, nope, 9:35 July 25th. :-/
After nearly two months of zero observing time, I finally managed to get out last night for 90 minutes in the back yard. I had a pair of new UO HD Orthoscopics (9mm and 12mm) to test out. I started around 10:10, before it was really dark, and checked out Alberio and Eta Lyrae. Alberio looked marvelous. The double double split at 133X (9mm) but not at 100X (12mm.) I also checked out M13, M92, and another globular in Hercules that I'd seen before but was written up in the July/August SkyNews (NGC 6229). Compared to the first two, it was a dud, but still wanted to check it out. I also revisited NGC6210, a planetary in Hercules that I checked off my Urban list with my 4.5". It was obviously a planetary in the 10", with a pale blue-green color, but no real detail was visible. I spotted Jupiter low in the east and checked it out. Three bands visible, but the planet itself was swimming from average seeing and a very low altitude. The four moons were spread evenly, 2 on each side. I hunted a couple of globulars in Ophiuchus, but the light pollution was poor, and they were past culmination. I finished up the night with a pair of double stars in Aquila, 11 and 15. 15 had some very nice color contrast, the primary appearing green to me and the secondary a pale yellow. Hopefully it will not be two months before I get to use my telescope again. As the days get shorter, the opportunities will undoubtably increase.
The skies were clear for me, except around 10:30 when an enormous cloud rolled overhead (right after I found M92.) It covered 60% of the sky, but passed completely in about 5 minutes. It was truly incredible how bright the yard became with reflected light. I could easily see colors with no additional illumination. Some day, we'll see the end of this crazy light pollution and Rochester will go from Bortle White/Red to Yellow/Green…
We did go out to Keller last night. It wasn't too bad out there. We saw the ISS/shuttle at home and then left for Keller. ISS was quite the sight. Must have been the -3.3 mag that they advertised. Very bright and I think you could even see some shape to it with the binoculars and even naked eye.
We got to Keller while the moon and Saturn were still up. Took a look at them. Swimming quite a bit in the murk as the moon set at 10:01 and Saturn at 10:48. A little after 10, Luka and Ann showed up. So there was four of us out there, them, me and Gerarda. Somewhat cool, nice little breeze, no skeeters. Luka left after 11:00, we left at almost midnight. Looking at Messiers mainly: M57, M27, M4, M5, M80, M22, M28, M17, M11, M26, M71, M81, M82, M51, M63, Albireo, Cor Caroli, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon. A definite Milky Way.
We saw the cloud that went over Scott. It went east of us and did not really affect us. It was very bright, big bright cloud while over Rochester.Jeff
Anyone interested in going out to Keller tonight? We'll check back around 9:30.
Sorry we missed everyone at Keller last night. We have some navigational issues (wrong road). By the time we located Keller, it as well after 12. Stayed until about 2am. We have both agree that we want to either get a clock drive ($80) or Go-To ($500) for the telescope. Given the economy, guess which one will like win.
We really need to work with some experienced people. We were feeling really green last night.
Enjoyed the evening, none the less. Saw M20 and possible M8. Sure helps when you know what to look for.
Orion is currently offering the clock driven SkyView Pro mount that I use for $379. I really like it.
Sorry I couldn't make it last night. I tended bar instead of observing. Usually I have the dark sky weekends free, but us forestry boys didn't go to the woods last week.
We have some jobs pending, but the landowners because of the economy have been reluctant to give us the final go ahead to start work. Things are getting tough out here and picking up any work is neccesary, even if it means sacrificing telescope time.Keep at it Astromom. You'll get better every time you go out.
AstroMom, (Chris and Julie) Sorry we didn't stay long enough to meet you Keller. We don't stay out too late, Luka usually hangs around for quite awhile, but he didn't last Friday. Keller may not be the easiest to find (even if you're on the right road), nothing really marking it. 🙂 I've been there enough times so I can find it. Did you find any other place to observe while you were driving around? 🙂
Maybe we'll meet another time.Jeff
One way to find Keller is when you're on County 15, look for County 126. Then continue pretty much exactly 1/2 mile.
I look forward to seeing you out there sometime, and I do usually stay later, but I had to be up and ready early-ish on Saturday.
That said, I'll be a little scarce until the StarBQ.Hello astronomy fans. Since I don't have to work until 3 p.m. today (I picked up a couple of extra bartending shifts) I went out last night for five hours.
I got crater Cauchy and lava domes Cauchy Omega and Cauchy Tau (Sea of Tranquillity) and crater Censorinus for my Lunar II observations. Then I polar aligned the G8, and checked the "Double double" Epsilon Lyra to test seeing. I could split it easily at 80X, so I'd rate last night as very good. I did binocular observing of Alcor and Mizar (I could split Mizar A&B in my binocs!), open cluster IC 4665 in Ophiuchus, Antares and M4, Globulars M19 and M63 in Scorpius, M8, M20, M22, M24 and M17 in Sagittarius, M5 in Serpens, and Jupiter. Then I watched the Moon set at 10:44 to 10:47. It was beautiful.
Then I nabbed four Herschel 400 objects, all galaxies. NGC 4485 and NGC 4490 in Canes Venatici are easy to see (4490 is anyway) and both in the same FOV. They are easy to find and I recommend these two highly. NGC 4449 and NGC 4258 are also in Canes Venatici and fairly easy to find. A lot of you know NGC 4258 as M106.
Then it was binocular time again, this time checking out a lot of objects in the Fall sky. Mirfak and Alpha Persei Association, the Perseus Double Cluster, Algol and nearby M34, M31 in Andromeda with M32 and M33 in Triangulum.
I turned my telescope on Jupiter and was just in time to see one of the Galilean moons come out from behind the planet. I could actually see the moon's light thru the edge of Jupiter's atmosphere. That was pretty cool.
I turned my binocs on what should be the starfield of asteroid 16 Psyche. This is a little bit west of Jupiter above Theta Capricornus. I'll have to check this again in a couple nights to see if one of those "stars" has moved. If I can find it, 16 Psyche will be a good object to follow this late summer and autumn.
I finished by looking for meteors (one faint one) and turned my binocs on the Veil Supernova remnant. I could see the left cresent of it, but not the "Witches Broom" near 52 Cygni.
Then it got real dewy about 1:30 a.m. and I called it a night. AGNFA!
Astromom, Julie, I have been using a monthly Messier site to help me plan evenings out. They list Messier objects by month so it doesn't seem so overwhelming to find what to look for. My tool bar crashed recently and I had to start over but if you google "monthly Messier" you get lots of sites.
Give me a call (250-2947) if you have a chance to go to Keller and I will meet you there. Clear skies! R Bomgaars
Hi AstroMom and Starbie! (Now there's two nice nicknames!) Tonight looks pretty good according to the CSC. I think there's a Galilean moon transit on Jupiter's cloudtops tonight to make things even more interesting. Good luck if you go.
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