- This topic has 2,639 replies, 51 voices, and was last updated 3 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
AGNFA!! What a night! The sky just kept getting better the closer I got to Eagle Bluff. All told, ten of us gathered for a spirited run at the Messier Marathon. Jeff and Garrarda, Starbie, Ellenvega and Mike Rowlands were already there, then me, Jerome & Jillissa Taubel arrived with Julie G, and finally Luka rolled in. Lots of good equiptment, Jeff's new Dob, Mike had his 16" Dob, the girls had their trusty 8" Dobs, Luka brought two pairs of binoculars, (the 22X85's were simply amazing!) And Jerome had his 11" Celestron back on line (until I stepped on the power cord at 11p.m.) Jerome's greatest accomplishment, however, was his wonderful COVERED, WARM, and red light LIT table that we used to battle the dew that lurked in the early evening and grew more menacing with each passing hour. It HAS to be the subject of a future RAC newsletter article.
Barb (Ellenvega) and I were the last to leave at 5:30 a.m. As bad as the dew was, she wasn't going to pull the pin until we set a new RAC record, and we did, ending up the night with 79 or 80 Messiers (I have to do a careful recount) beating the old RAC record by 4 or 5.
The sky was fabulous. If not for the dew, we'd have easily hit the 100 mark. (But that leaves plenty of room for a future Messier Marathon!)
I got out for two and a half hours tonight. I wanted to wait for the Moon to set so I could hunt Herschels, but I would've needed a nap for the that and the house was just too busy. So Lunar II objects were the focus of the night.
I warmed up on the planets. Jupiter is getting into the murk, but still showed 3 moons. Venus is now a fat waning cresent and getting closer to the Pleadies. Not fitting into a binocular FOV with it yet, though. I had my best look at Mars this conjunction. Thank you clear sky, no wind and dry air. A southern polar cap, lots of dark markings and a curious bright spot on the western limb of the planet.
The Moon yielded three Lunar II objects, Mare Undarum, Mare Spumans (just south of Mare Crisium) and Lacus Mortis (between craters Atlas and Hercules). The Mare's are scattered patches of smooth lunar surfaces broken up by bright highland features. Lacus Mortis is a neat area boasting lots of different lunar landforms.
I got a nice look at Saturn before packing up. It was a great night, but I didn't see anything as unusual as what Randy witnessed tonight. (Check out 'Hey' elsewhere in the forums). Next time out I pass the 1500 hour mark of observing with my Celestron G8.
I went out on the deck tonight for two hours and recorded 4 Lunar II targets. Tycho at Lunar sunrise, Crater Stadius and Stadius catanae, crater Mosting A and crater Davy Y. Tycho was very dramatic, its' central peak had just come into full sun, the eastern third of the crater floor was still in shadow. Stadius is a "submerged" or flooded crater between Eratothsenes and Copernicus and the catanae is a string of interesting little craters extending north from the NW corner of Stadius. Other craters have catanae and these must be a series or strings of meteors that travel along in space and when they hit a larger body they leave a long trail of hits. They are pretty cool and I really hadn't paid much attention to them until I took these Lunar observing lists on.
Mosting A and Davy Y are not real exciting. In fact Davy Y is in the Lunar 100, I think. Only four to go to wrap Lunar II up. I should get one more tomorrow night.
Very glad to get out, but it wasn't the best night. The dew was appalling. Still, it was very enjoyable and the trip home can't get any shorter!
First off, I want to say "Nice images!" by Mike Corrigan. We need more of that posted to the forum.
2d, remember that tonight and tomorrow night (April 2 & 3) are the nights that Venus clips the southern edge of M45, the Pleadies. Try to get out there with binoculars if nothing else, and I sure hope someone from the RAC gets an image of it. The weather looks iffy for both nights, but I'm going to try and view it.
3rd, I got out again last night and was able to observe Rimae Hesodius in Paulus Epidemiarum (south of crater Bulliardus). That means I now have only three observations to go for Lunar II. Bygius A at Lunar sunrise and Lunar midday and Rimae Tresnicker a week from Friday during Last Quarter moon phase. If I get lucky with the weather, I'll get the 3 in two observations.
See you on the 10th at Randy's!
Dean, be sure to check it out again tonight. Sweet.. 🙂
If anyone checks the forum tonight, grab your binoculars and take a look. Venus looks like an ornament hanging off the end, handle, of Pleiades.Jeff
Added bonus for me, finally getting a little definition on Mars. I think with the moon dulling it down a bit, it's not so bright. Checking Mars out from the front walkway.
I did get the binocs out to view Venus just inside the Pleiades. That was a fun first. It Has been good fun to watch Venus and Jupiter move in the western sky the last several weeks. With the introduction of Mars, the month of March was a good month to observe the sky with the unaided eye, which included the auroras.
Happy Trails
Rick
I did check out the Venus Pleadies conjunction on the night of the 3rd, and even brought my binocs along to the Fest Bldg. when our Legion helped pack up the Bloodmobile. The Red Cross workers liked the sight, but they liked the Moon better and one lady from the RC kept asking me about the "alignment". (The Mayan Doomsday thing again.) Sheeesh!
Jeff is right about Mars being better to view. I too, have been getting better reslution on the Red Planet. For me, I think it has been due to the winds. The air seems to be more stable. Watch the movement of Mars with regards to Regulus and Gamma Leonis. The western retrograde movement of Mars is nearly done and it will soon resume its march to the east.
I nailed down Byrgius A for my Lunar II observations last night. It was not hard to find at all even at 80X. I wonder why I hadn't observed this before? Byrgius A is a relatively fresh crater on the eastern edge of its larger and older namesake Byrgius. B-A has that nice splash of bright sub-surface material that was picked up from the impact.
Last night was the 'Byrgius A at Lunar sunrise' observation, now all I need is 'Byrgius A at Lunar midday' and Rimae Tresnecker. I can get them both in one shot sometime next week. Maybe at Randy's? 8)
Mars was beautiful last night. The combination of bright moonlight to cut down Mars' glare and an absence of wind made for very steady seeing. A nice polar cap and lots of dark markings. What I wouldn't have given for double the magnification and having Mars nearly twice as close! June of 2018 will be a 'Red Planet letter' date on my calendar. Until then, we'll have to lobby for a 30" EVO peek. ;D
Hello astronomy fans! I got out for a few hours on Sunday night. While waiting for the Virgo group of galaxies to rise high enough to hunt Herschel 400's, I just took the time to look at all the Obvious Stuff and just enoy the nice night. Clear sky, no wind, decent temperatures. It was simply wonderful. Lots of binocular looks.
When the Herschel's showed, there wasn't too much time before Moonrise, but I did manage to get NGC 4666 and M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. The Sombrero most of you are familiar with, but 4666 is worth a look, too. As far as H-400's go, it is easy to see, a nice thin sliver of light in a decent starfield. 51 to go.
I finished off the night by watching Moonrise. I hadn't done that in a while, I followed it up a good long ways past the horizon before I packed up and went home.
No observing last night, too windy. I am going to find a spot tonight and go out. See you all at Randy's tomorrow night.
It's starting to look good for tonight, astronomy fans.
Eagle Bluff and Lyrid meteor shower, anyone? ???
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.