- This topic has 2,640 replies, 51 voices, and was last updated 3 weeks, 1 day ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Well, it's 4:07 p.m. Not much interest yet. The forecast looks good except for the temperatures, which will be single digits. I'll check this again at 6 p.m., but right now, it looks like it is going to be LOCAL OBSERVING ONLY.
Tonight will probably be a night where if a person got in two hours, they'd be doing darn good.
Steve and I went out to the Flatin Farm tonight. Io's shadow started to transit at 6:30, and I caught sight of the shadow one minute later. The shadow stayed in the SEB all the way across the planet. Io exited Jupiter at 7:31 and the transit ended at 8:11. I also watched Mercury set through my binoculars. That was pretty fun, I had never seen that before.
Steve nabbed NGC 2232 in Orion, and was trying to find the Messier objects in Monoceros. He was having a little trouble and after watching him, I said, "Just tilt your head a little bit." He did and the orientation just clicked. He found M50, M47, M46, M48 and M93. He was pumped.
I kept on watching the transit and did some binocular observing of Orion's sword and other easy Messier objects. We stayed out for 2 and a half hours, then packed up. It was really chilly by then.
What a beautiful sky. Finished with a superb look at the Moon. I believe the two big craters to the north were Altas and Eudoxus. AGNFA!
If anyone is reading this, you should stop and go look to the west.
Here in Spring Grove I saw two of the most brilliant parhelia (Sun Dogs) I have ever seen in my life.
Visible in Rochester or elsewhere?
Good for you, Jeff. It sounds like yours were very colorful, as were mine.
I'm not sure if I've ever seen any as bright as these.
Took me a bit to realize MM meant Messier Marathon. Since I'm just a newbie and not well versed in these things, I looked up a some info about the best order to find the Messier objects during a marathon. Here's a site that shows a pic of each one along with a common name and what constellation to find it in.
http://messier.seds.org/xtra/marathon/marath3.html
If anyone has any other resources or advice to share on getting prepared for the marathon, I'd like to hear about it.
Thanks,
— DaveHello astronomy fans! I talked to Cheryl at Eagle Bluff. They do have a group there for dinner both Fri and Sat nights. I asked about the parking lot lights and she (at first) said "I think they'll have to be on until 9 p.m." I told her that for us to do a proper Messier Marathon, it would have to be dark from sunset on. "Maybe we'll have to find a different spot."
She said "Hold on. Is sunset at 6:30 that night?" I said yes and she replied "Then we can have them off because the dinner starts at 6". 8)
I asked about the lights coming on automatically a 5 a.m. and she said that she'll check with the maintenance guy and they can squash that, too. She will email me tomorrow about all this.
Randy will have his trailer for heat, Ellenvega will print the list and call the objects, I will do the recording, and we can all have at finding the 110 Messier's. The record to beat is 82. All we need now is for the weather to co-operate.
Hi Dean, you're talking about a week from now, March 8th and 9th, not this weekend, correct? Or both weekends?
Not this weekend. I have in my notes from the last RAC meeting that both March 8/9 and the 15/16 would work. Looking at the calendar, March 8/9 would give us an early dark sky with only a very thin waning cresent.
March 15/16 gives us a 4 or 5 day old waning cresent, but plenty of dark on the back end. My inquiries to EB were about the 15/16. I will call again tomorrow about the 8/9 weekend.
Not sure of my schedule for that weekend, though. Anybody else's thoughts on March 8/9?
More tomorrow.
I just received an email from Cheryl at Eagle Bluff. The weekend of March 8/9 is open. The quilters will be there, but they are a small group. (They've also looked through our scopes before. I think we've seen them twice.)
Anybody for a March 8/9 Messier Marathon?
Hi Dean, you bet, March 8/9 sounds good. I guess I was sort of thinking it was originally being scheduled for 8/9 with 15/16 as a backup. Hey, I'm up for both weekends!
The other thing, there is the Quarry Hill event on the 15/16 weekend, can't remember which day. So that may also attract some of the astronomers.
Good point, Jeff. March 8/9 would give us a darker sky, weather providing.
March 15 with the Quarry Hill get together is going to be important as well. It'll be good training for the Salem Glen Winery/Observatory session. Everyone can work on their pinky extension. You know how those high falutin' wine drinkers are.
I may also be able to come down for part of the night (depending on if it is the 8th or 9th) as well. I have been a bit frustrated with the weather lately, and am chomping at the bit to get out and learn the constellations(being green and all…). Judging by the few times I have been out, it would be more enjoyable if a have some veterans nearby to guide me.
Dean, I will be lobbying hard at the dinner table tonight for the o.k to get that orion finder scope we discussed ;DSomebody should get ahold of Earl Kyle if possible. Comet Siding Spring 2013 A1 will pass within 65,000 miles of Mars in October 2014 and currently has a 1 in 10,000 chance of hitting the planet.
If it does, the nucleus is estimated to be 30 to 40 miles across. That would mean a BIG hole in the Red Planet.
More info is available on the Sky&Telescope website.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.