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Dean,
What was the galaxy who asked me to look at that night that we we're able to faintly see? I would like to try and image it this weekend. Was it M104?
Hey gang,
My first star party was an absolute blast! Great fun and interesting conversations. I've had a scope for only a couple weeks and finally got to see M42 which almost made me fall over. Big thanks to Dean for sticking around so late, showing us a huge number of wonderful objects, and sharing his enthusiasm. I'll look forward to the next new moon.
Attached is a photo of John Preston with his icy LX200, checking out M42.
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The very faint galaxy that we saw (and tried to find on both the Sept./Oct Eagle Bluff sessions) was NGC 891. It is commonly called Caroline Herschel's Galaxy, but it was actually a discovery of her more famous brother, Sir William Herschel, the discoverer of the Planet Uranus.
But no matter. Caroline Herschel was a very accomplished, famous astronomer in her own right.
I really enjoyed everyone at Eagle Bluff last Saturday night. Getting to spend the last hours with John and Roger were very special. The conversations and astronomical extpertise that everyone had was absolutely inspiring. The RAC is so lucky to have SO MANY people that are just a joy to be around.
And we're getting more all the time!
Last night (Monday) was finally able to get the telescope out and did some viewing and a little imaging but unfortunately the dew point hit right after I started but got a very rough capture of NGC891. That's right Dean, I captured this so you could see it again, but as I said dew was all over the lens so it is not by far my better or best work but wanted to share it.
This one is tough as I cannot see it live on the imager and took some time trying to locate it, a few times it was right in front but until I ran a 45 second exposure I couldn't see it. I did these at 60 seconds and tried to capture 20 images but only 6-7 was worth stacking. Future attempts will require at least 120-150 seconds of exposure. Guess I better get my autoguiding up and running.
John P.
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Very good, John! Even though you only stacked two images, I can still see the center dust lane and the faint extensions out to PA 350 and 170.
Very well done!
I really want to get together with you some night that would be super awesome for imaging. I want to see the objects that I can only see faint hints of clearly resolved in front of my eyes with your setup. That would be tremendous.
Of course Dean the best nights will be dead calm and cold, gotta love it! I will be working on getting the autoguiding system up and running by this weekend if weather permits.
I'm working on my portable power pack for off-site use, purchased a 105ah battery to power the telescope, both imagers, powered USB hub, autoguiding system, dew heaters, and laptop. Had way too many cords going everywhere and had to find a way to clean them up.
Come Nov. 6th I will down in Florida doing some cave diving and won't be back until the 16th. Knowing my luck it will probably be some of the better viewing nights in a long time.
If I'm scheduled to tend bar Nov. 6th, it'll probably be a beautiful night.
Good luck and have fun diving in Florida, John. Jeff, you'll have to lead the charge outside if I'm at the Legion.
Hello astronomy fans. Right now, Friday does not look good for Eagle Bluff.
Saturday may work. Anyone interested?
Hello everybody. The CSC is looking so-so and the KTTC weather says it is SUPPOSED to clear up, but right now it is tough to say just what the heck is going to happen.
If I don't hear any interest in Eagle Bluff, I'm heading out to the Flatin Farm. I've gotta get some telescope time in.
Since wunderground.com says it will be rainy & cloudy all night, and since Eagle Bluff is a 100-mile drive for me, I'll wait until a better forecast on the next dark sky night. (It would be hard to top the last one.)
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