Home Forums RAC Main Forum General Discussion Observing tonight?

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  • #11192
    Randy H
    Participant

      Was out tonight with the Evo and Mallicam. Got some nice pics of M100, 64, and 87 with it's jet.
      Friday night looks favorable for Cherry Grove. It is still a "go" on their website. Will post a map tomorrow if it still looks good.
      I'll be going!

      Randy

      #11193
      Dean Johnson
      Participant

        Last night Steve Remick and I got out. I got in 4 and a half hours. We went through the planet routine again, then I pointed out Gamma Leonis in Leo and he got his first double. He couldn't split it with his 25mm lense, but when he popped on his 2X barlow he split it easily. He was fascinated with his first double. Then I used my laser pointer to show him the area that M81/M82 reside in and he found it pretty easy. You should have heard the excitment in his voice! They both fit into the FOV better in his 8" Dob than my G8. Then I had him go after M13 in Hercules and he had a tougher time with this. He had his scope riding too high. I told him to drop a little and he got his first globular. It sure brought back memories…

        He left at 11 p.m. and then I collared 6 more Herschel 400's. NGC's 4665, 4753, 4754, 4762, 4845 and 4900. They were all very pleasing to look at, but the best were the pair of 4754 and 4762 which reside in the same FOV. NGC 4900 finished the night, and it has a very bright star right in the little cloud of nebulousity, and I was reminded of the night at Eagle Bluff when we saw the bright star in M53 that one night a few years ago in July. I hit the 70 hour mark for the year last night.

        I'm going to finish it this year! I feel like that actor on those USA prime credit commercials after he talks to the Chicago Blackhawks player Patrick Kane and then scores a goal on his little hockey game table. "Peggy, Peggy, Peggy!" Have AGNFA at Cherry Grove tomorrow, I wish I could be there, but the timing wasn't right.

        #11194
        Luka B
        Participant

          Looking at the pictures, there does seem to be a foreground star near NGC4900. There was a faint supernova there in 1999.

          #11195
          Dean Johnson
          Participant

            Hello astronomy fans! I'm going out tonight, it looks fabulous.

            By the wee hours of the morning I'll either be a single digit midget, or else finish the Herschel 400.

            Either way, it's going DOWN! (I sure wish I could have been with you folks to see the Moon take a bite out of the Sun.)

            Scott Bingham and I are going to do an outreach event tomorrow night for the SG Public School system. We are also going to co-operate on the June 5th Venus transit. I think I need 100 educational handouts. Possible to get them here?

            Best wishes to all, I hope you get out tonight!

            #11196
            Jerome Taubel
            Participant

              Thoughts on Eagle Bluff over the Memorial Weekend?  Friday, Saturday or Sunday night?

              #11197
              Jeff Newland
              Participant

                Dean,  I think I'll give Keller a go tonight to.  Looks nice out there.  I'll probably just be out for an hour or two though, probably until 10:30-11:00, have to work tomorrow.  Anyone checking in, head on out to Keller for a little visit tonight.  🙂

                Jeff

                #11198
                Dean Johnson
                Participant

                  Tonight was one of those nights where you wish you could never leave your observing spot. I hope you had an awesome time, Jeff.

                  Unfortunately for me, I went back on the Herschel hunt and saw faint fuzzies that astronomers would scare little children with. Thank God for the Messier List (a.k.a.the Obvious Stuff), otherwise we would simply drive people out of this hobby. An observer has to be really dedicated to see what I saw tonight and now I know what kind of effort William Herschel had to do to complete the first all sky telescopic survey. I tip my hat to that man.

                  The good news is that I am a single digit midget. 6 to go. I had to finish with a long look at 61 Cygni (my favorite double star) to recover. I also saw a very nice 4th mag.meteor cruise through Ophiuchus.

                  Tonight's sky was simply amazing. God bless any of our beloved RAC that made it out there. AGNFA!

                  #11199
                  Jeff Newland
                  Participant

                    Dean,  yes it really got nice out there last night.  At first I was wondering if I would have to go home before it got dark enough to see things.  I got there early and checked out the planets, but it was hard to even make out stars it was so light out.  I think it was around 9:45 before I could almost make out M65 and M66 in Leo.  Still needed a few more minutes.  Things really picked up after 10 as stars really started to pop out.  I only stayed until 11:00.  Mainly I was finally trying to work through the Virgo Cluster.  Man, there are just so many galaxies up there, hard to keep track.  I think I may have had too much magnification, so I'll have to try less mag and a wider field next time.  I sure wished I didn't have to work the next day!  AGNFA for sure. 

                    #11200
                    Jeff Newland
                    Participant

                      Not sure about Eagle Bluff or not.  Moon sets at 12:12AM on Friday night and 12:42 on Saturday night.  If it is clear, I think I will try to hit at least Keller one of those nights.  Not sure if I want to get home so late if I go to Eagle Bluff.
                      If others decide to head down there, I'll have to think about it.

                      #11201
                      Dean Johnson
                      Participant

                        Good for you for getting out there, Jeff. I know what you mean by lot of galaxies in Virgo. Before astronomers knew that they were "island universes", they referred to this part of the sky as "The Realm of the Nebula."

                        Last night we had an outreach event at the wayside rest just west of Spring Grove for the kids in Mrs. Kapplinger's science class. There were about 20 people out there and Steve Remick and myself were able to keep them busy with our scopes and binocs. The skies were iffy with hit and miss clouds and a high haze, but Venus, the Moon, Mars and Saturn were viewed and liked, Alcor and Mizar put in an appearance and finished with M13.

                        There was a lot of laser pointing going on, constellation identification, satellite watching, 1st magnitude star I.D. and just general discussion of astronomy. The folks were very interested in all of it. If it had gone off the night before we could have shown them a lot more.

                        #11202
                        ellenvega
                        Participant

                          Hey Dean, do you know any details about when/where the StarBBQ might be this year?

                          #11203
                          Dean Johnson
                          Participant

                            Yes. The Flatin Farm Hayfield is not totally a cornfield this year. On each side of the driveway, that will be organic corn, but below them Ed and Matthew left a nice wide haystrip we can use IF they harvest it shortly before Aug. 10/11. (I've been using it. It's great.) The Bistro Bar B-Q Boxelder  area is big enough for our group to use for the meal purposes.

                            Barb, if we can't use the Flatin Farm, you live on a farm, do you not? Any chance of that for a possible backup if needed?

                            Also I need assistance from anyone that was at the March Messier Marathon. I just finished totalling up the tally and came up with a total of 78 Messier's. But we should have seen M33 in Triangulum early on in the evening. I just don't have it in my notes. Does anyone remember looking at that?

                            A quick reply would be great because I'd like to write up an article on the event for the newsletter if anyone hasn't already done so. Thanks!

                            #11204
                            ellenvega
                            Participant

                              I do live on a farm.  I'll have to check around the high-ground, unobstructed-view areas though.  Most of the fields are in corn this year.

                              78 Messiers?  I thought we'd reached 80 for sure….I'll have to check my notebook.  I didn't see M33, but I thought maybe someone mentioned seeing it, right at the beginning.

                              #11205
                              Dean Johnson
                              Participant

                                I have been writing them down on a separate sheet of paper in number order. I checked again and found that I missed M22. That gives us 79. If we can get a confirm on M33, that will make 80. I hope Jerome, Jeff, Starbie, Julie and Luka check this. I'll email Mike Rowlands.

                                #11206
                                Dean Johnson
                                Participant

                                  Barb, did we look at M6 and M7? That would have been towards the end about 5 a.m. If we looked at objects in Sagittarius, we certainly should have check out those two open clusters. Both of those without M33 would put us at 81. I don't have them written down, though. I was pretty tired at that point.

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