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Well, the CSC looked better earler, but right now, the sky looks terrific.
I'm going to join the die hards at Eagle Bluff for a late session.
So count me in!
I just got done looking at the KTTC weather map. Not good. I'm going to pass on Eagle Bluff tonight. I can see lightning off to the NW.
It's a good thing that we postponed the Star B-Q, but I didn't expect two bad nights in a row.
I got my telescope out today to show Betty's daycare kids the Sun. (14 of the cute little buggers)
Sadly, no sunpots. It was as bare as a billiard ball.
They still liked it a lot, well, most of them. One little boy said, "What, no flames?"
I think I've just gotta get a Coronado!
I plan to head out to Keller tonight, take the new scope out on its first road trip.. for me anyway. 🙂
Moon rises at 9:07, Jupiter at 8:49. So, there will be quite a bit of light.
Come on out you're not busy. 🙂Jeff
Hello astronomy fans! I got out last night for four hours. A sun observation, one nice sunspot visible, Venus is now a fat waning cresent, I'm pretty sure I saw the ISS pass over at 8:22 p.m., and was looking at Epsilon Lyra when Christian Myrah and his son Noah rolled in.
They have a beautiful four inch Celestron refractor. Noah is 12 or 13 years old and is a whiz at math. He is also VERY interested in astronomy. We spent the rest of the evening training him in on how to polar align and use their scope and he recorded his first three Messier object last night. M6, M7 and M8.
Then the Moon came up and we looked at Jupiter and the Moon to finish off the evening. It was a terrific night, but seemed way too short. Noah was very reluctant to leave the Flatin Farm hayfield. You will all get to meet him at the third annual Star B-Q, and you'll find that he is a very sharp, enthusiastic young kid.
The Flatin Farm, now that it is mowed, is just simply beautiful. Ed left a few patches of goldenrod here and there and the strip along the north side of the driveway is postcard pretty perfect.
If the weather co-operates, it will be a fabulous weekend for astronomy.Clear skies to all!
Hi everybody! I got out for 3 hours tonight. It was really breezy, (REALLY breezy), but the sky was clear and I just had to go.
I got 5 Herschel 400's, finally making some more progress in that direction. All galaxies in Ursa Major, NGC's 3898, 3938, 3945, 3949 and 3953. The two most interesting were NGC's 3938 and 3945. 3938 is BIG, but it is a ghost! It is a very large, diffuse patch of faint light through an 8 inch SCT. 3945 is small and diffuse, starlike, but sits in a pretty starfield.
Jupiter was the icing on the cake tonight. Once the Moon rose at 10:16 p.m. CDT, I turned my attention to the King of planets. At first I could only see 3 moons because the breeze was making the scope shake. Then I could make out a bump on the eastern limb. Then, in moments that the scope would steady, I could see a small dark dot on the cloud tops! Cool! I think I was seeing an Io shadow transit. I followed that until 11:30 when the clouds rolled in and I had to pack up.
The Moon was pretty, too, but I have covered all the Lunar II targets at this phase and couldn't find any new ones to journal. I guess that's good, in a way.
It was A Glorious Night For Astronomy!
Hello everybody! I just got through talking with Sheila at Eagle Bluff and they don't have anything going on this weekend.
The weather looks good for Saturday night. Anyone interested?
I kind of figured that people were busy with family and end of the summer stuff.
Well, I got out there for eight hours last night. It was unbelieveably good conditions. I set up and was observing by 7 p.m. and had a family of four out of the back stop and look at the Sun. The big spot is nearly behind the limb with a rash of little spots following it to the NW. Then I did something I've never done in my life. I spotted Venus during daylight with the Sun still above the horizon. I knew about where it would be and found it through binoculars. Then it took me six minutes to pick it out naked eye. The Sun touched the horizon five minutes later.
I found Epsilon Lyra to kill some time, then polar aligned my scope and started in on the Herschel 400 list. I got NGC's 6118 in Serpens (very tough galaxy to spot), 6569 – globular cluster in Sagittarius, 3982, 3998, 4036 and 4041-all galaxies in Ursa Major. 4036 and 4041 are a Herschel 400 "2 for 1". You can see them both in the same FOV.
Then I got more company. Bruce and Betty Bergsgaard and another couple with 2 teenage daughters stopped and I showed them M22, M8, M31/32, M45, Albireo and Jupiter. They were very impressed, but not being dressed for the cold, they didn't last more than half an hour. After that I looked at the Helix and the Veil through my Ultrahigh Contrast filter (Thanks Jerome!)
Then it was binocular time for old Dean-o. The Fall sky was coming on like gangbusters and I sat in my chair and looked at- The Alpha Persei Association, Perseus Double Cluster, Algol and M34,The Andromeda Galaxy again, M33 in Triangulum, The Helix Nebula and Jupiter. I switched back to my scope and got a long look at Jupiter. Wow! More detail in the atmosphere than I've ever seen before. I found Asteroid 6 Hebe in Cetus, did some more binocular stuff, spotted a 1st mag meteor in Orion and finished with Moonrise at 3 a.m. AGNFA!That sounds like a good time Dean! I just got back into town now, but I did get out briefly Friday night at home. The north breeze really cleared the sky with transparency at a summer time high. Tweeking the EVO with a few adjustments, and it now working quite nicely. Disappointed it looks cloudy for tonight. Hoping for a clear skies next weekend!
Speaking of that, and I know it's a little early, anybody have an inkling on how Friday and Saturday are going to shape up weather-wise?
Friday: 🙁 Rain or cloudy Saturday looks to be the much better viewing (if you can trust the weather predictions out 3 days).
Friday night 10pm-7am
Temp: 59/Dew 57
Cloud cover 92-95%
Precipation: 76%
Winds 5-8mph, SESaturday night (7pm+) (1am ? 7am)
Temp: 65/Dew 54 54/52
Cloud cover 16% 6%
Precipation: 22% 6%
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