I was up by shingletown today, I was wondering if anyone knew what the
usage policy is for people wanting to take their scopes to the
airport.  Thanx in advance.

RATCRAWL,   I tried to contact you through the "send e-mail" link about
your previous posting.  I don't think it went through, and I would like
to discuss observing sites with you.  As for Shingletown Airport, I
seem to recall Robert Thompson of our local astronomy club mentioning
that we could no longer use the airport.  If you contact him, I am sure
he could tell you.  Thanks Gary

--- In tac-shasta@yahoogroups.com, "ratcrawl" <hstarboy@...> wrote:
>
> I was up by shingletown today, I was wondering if anyone knew what
the
> usage policy is for people wanting to take their scopes to the
> airport.  Thanx in advance.
>

On 3/2/07, ratcrawl wrote:
> I was up by shingletown today, I was wondering if anyone knew what the
> usage policy is for people wanting to take their scopes to the
> airport.  Thanx in advance.

You might want to contact Jim Ster (notsosirius1 at gmail dot com or
sterjf at ecs dot csus dot edu) or Shneor Sherman (shneor at dcn dot
davis dot ca dot us), both of whom live in the Sacramento area, but
use the airport at least semi-regularly for observing.  They would
know access details.

You're welcome to use the airport for observing as long as you don't
block the entrance gate or impeed access to the helicopter landing
pad, which is located straigh across the runway from the entrance
gate.  The helipad is used for the local life flight air ambulance.

There is a lock on the gate, but don't let it fool you. It actually
takes two locks to lock it.  You can still pull the locking pin out
and open the gate.

Clear Skies,
Jim Ster





--- In tac-shasta@yahoogroups.com, "ratcrawl" <hstarboy@...> wrote:
>
> I was up by shingletown today, I was wondering if anyone knew what
the
> usage policy is for people wanting to take their scopes to the
> airport.  Thanx in advance.
>

Come join us at the 2007 Shingletown Star party from July 9 -16, 2007!
Located on an unused airstrip at an altitude of 4,000 feet in Northern
California, this site is in the gray on the light pollution map, and
usually has skies to at least mag 7. There is room for more than 300
telescopes along the airstrip (and the area could be expanded if
needed). Horizons are excellent all around, and the site boasts a
superb daytime view of Mt. Lassen. You can camp out in a tent, bring
your RV, or rent a nearby cabin. You can leave your equipment set up
for the entire week. Shower facilities are available (and included in
the registration fee), and there are many daytime activities to enjoy
in the area. Over the past few years we have had a number of observers
from foreign countries as well as amateurs from all over the US. If
you register early, the fee is only $40 for the entire week.

We expect a number of vendors to attend SSP - check the vendor list
after April 10.

For all the details, and to register, check our our web site:
http://www.shingletownstarparty.net

SSP is also pleased to announce that GSSP attendees are welcome to
visit SSP during the daytime hours and can walk through the gate on
presentation of their GSSP badge.

Clear skies,

Shneor Sherman
for the SSP Organizing Committee

Today is the last day to register for Shingletown Star Party 2007 at
the low $40 early registration rate. Tomorrow, May 1, registration
goes up to $50 for the July 9-16 star party.

Register at http://www.shingletownstarparty.net

Shneor Sherman
for the SSP 2007 Organizing Committee

Come join us at the 7th Annual Shingletown Star party from June 30 -
July 7 2008!
Located on an unused airstrip at an altitude of 4,000 feet in Northern
California, this site is in the gray on the light pollution map, and
usually has skies to at least mag 7. There is room for more than 300
telescopes along the airstrip (and the area could be expanded if
needed). Horizons are excellent all around, and the site boasts a
superb daytime view of Mt. Lassen. You can camp out in a tent, bring
your RV, or rent a nearby cabin. You can leave your equipment set up
for the entire week. Shower facilities are available (and included in
the registration fee), and there are many daytime activities to enjoy
in the area. Imagers - we provide power for your equipment. We also
boast a dinner delivery service to your telescope, and a cafe where
you  can get a sno-cone to help you cool off in the daytime, as well
as freshly brewed coffee at 2 am. Over the past few years we have
hosted observers from foreign countries as well as amateurs from all
over the US. If you register early, the fee is only $40 for the entire
week.

We expect a number of vendors to attend SSP - check the vendor list
after April 10.

For all the details, and to register, go to our web site:
http://www.shingletownstarparty.net

Clear skies,

Shneor Sherman

Greetings Fellow Astronomers!

The Astronomy Connection (TAC) organizations of the San Francisco Bay
Area, the Sacramento Area, and Southern California are pleased to
announce The 2008 Golden State Star Party. This year's event will be
held July 2 through July 6; four nights at our new site near Adin,
California.

Ever since our first Lassen Star Party in 1994, we have searched for
the perfect site with ink black skies and no intrusive light domes,
360 degree horizons, minimal dust problems, and an area large enough
to fully accommodate a large group of avid astronomers and their gear.

Our 2008 location is truly the place we've been looking for. GSSP is
one of the premier Star Parties in California featuring the darkest
skies, plenty of room and accommodations for camping and RVs, on-site
food services, showers, sanitary facilities, ice, and water.

Off-site accommodations and services are also available in the nearby
towns of Adin and Bieber. Astronomers will have the convenience of
leaving their equipment set up for the duration of the event. TAC has
along history of excellent Star Parties, but this year's summer event
promises to be the best ever.

Registration opens January 1, 2008. For more information, visit our
website at http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org or contact
info@...

Clear Skies! Hope to see you at GSSP 2008!

-- The GSSP 2008 Organizing Committee

Just a quick reminder that Early Registration Period for the Golden
State Star Party ends tomorrow, Tuesday, April 15th at midnight.

If you've decided to attend, now's the time to take advantage of the
discounted early registration fee of only $45 for all four nights. If
you haven't decided yet, there will be open on-line registration until
June 25, but the registration fee goes up to $55 after April 15.

Visit the official GSSP 2008 Website at goldenstatestarparty.org to
register, and to see all that this great star party has to offer.

Clear skies,
Jane Smith

Saturday night I joined Steve Gottlieb for an observing session hosted by Kevin
Ritschel at his
property at Willow Springs.  The drive down was a snap, very little traffic,
just the occasional
Sunday Driver going too slow (for me) on the two lane roads.  Spring was just
starting to pass
"peak" as the green grasses carpeting the hills was just beginning to brown.  It
was still a
spectacular ride, well worth the hour and forty minutes from downtown San Jose. 
I was a bit
concerned about wind, as it was blowing hard in Morgan Hill when I stopped to
top off the gas
tank.  But it was quite calm, and in the low 80's when I arrived just before 7
p.m.  Conditions
looked great.

The first view of the night was Saturn.  I used it to align my finders, enjoying
the confusion
having it next to Regulus causes.  Saturn looks just slightly brighter the
Regulus, and the color
differences between the two is easily seen.  I was also confused by Mars being
up in Gemini.
Having not been out much over the last few months, the planets really throw a
monkey-wrench into
the sky, as I know it.  The view of Saturn was very steady and showed lots of
detail.  Mars was
lower and softer, although I felt at times I could "feel" a whiter area on it.

I had a list of objects that included some Herschel 400 and 400-II, Arp, Abell
planetary and
Hickson targets.  I did not get through most of them, as my (stinking) laptop
once again crapped
out.... I think the adapter is flaky.  I resorted to Uranometria and SA2000, but
it is awkward
after years of star hopping in the eyepiece, which is a luxury the computer as
an atlas provides.
  So instead, I teamed up with Steve, letting the GoTo on his Starmaster find the
targets, and I'd
then look through his Telrad.  We selected targets off my list that appeared
interesting.

Additionally, we enjoyed some very good views through Kevin's behemoth 33.25"
f/5 Dob.

Views of the night....

Kevin pulled in the NGC 2686 group in Ursa Major.  At first just the brightest
"3" galaxies were
seen.  But given some time for the dimmer ones to start popping, a total of 8
were seen.  Of
those, 7 are part of the group.  How this one is not a Hickson is hard to
understand.   Look at
your planetarium program to see how tight this group is. Observed NGC 2684,
2686A and B, 2687A and
B, 2688, 2689 and MAC 0855+4906.  Only the MAC was not seen in an 18".

The Ringtail Galaxy, NGCs 4038 and 4039, were also quite interesting in the 33. 
This is the first
time I've seen 4038 as annular, and 4039 clearly trailing away.  The "shrimp"
shape of 4038 was
obvious, and the darkened inner portion looked rough, or scalloped.  The best
I'd ever seen on
this pair before was the typical hazy glow that most galaxies exhibit.  Aperture
rules!

Views of M99, M51 and M83 through the 33 also revealed outstanding detail. 
M99's odd shape and
the sharp turned back arms off M83's big bar were very cool.

In the 18's, I think the most rewarding views were of:

NGC 5308 - 12mm - bright compact core with nearly stellar nucleus, long extended
edge-on arms e/w.
NGC 5322 - 12mm - bright compact core with nearly stellar nucleus, slightly
elongated e/w but
mostly roundish, star overlaying outer halo on south edge.
NGC 5430 - odd, almost bifurcated on the south side of a north/south elongation.
Disrupted
galaxy.  Perhaps two cores, brighter but not bright, with averted vision.

As the night wore on, I kept noticing an aroma I could not identify.  Spearmint?
Wintergreen?  It
was everywhere, and pungent.  I was really pleasing, and lent an "aroma therapy"
feel to the
evening...   I eventually asked Kevin what was going on.  Well, the Spring
carpet underfoot turned
out to be Camomile.  Like in the tea, good for relaxing, supposedly helps with
insomnia.  I
absolutely felt all mellowed out... kind of a sleepy time observing session...

A few other views....

NGC 5585 - 12mm - bright, large, diffuse.  Had a  bright middle but no distinct
core.   Possibly a
face on spiral.
NGC 5631 - small, bright, had a non-stellar core centered in a diffuse roundish
halo. NGC
5480/5481- 5480 is elongated NW/SE with a large bright core, no nucleus, and
surrounded by a small
dimmer outer halo.  5481 in contrast has almost no core, but a bright stellar
nucleus.  It is
slightly smaller than 5480, and seems dimmer as its round outer halo makes up
much more of the
galaxy.
NGC 5485 - bright and round with a bright non-stellar core.  There are other
galaxies close by to
the N, SSE and further to the WSW.
NGC 5474 - what an odd galaxy!  Large, but at first I only noticed a brighter
and dimmer "half".
Turned out the dimmer part was much larger than I initially thought.  There is a
bright "core" on
the north side of this one, with the larger dim "oval" extending away to the
south.  Worth a look!

The last object I looked at was NGC5395, aka Arp 84.  This is another unusual
object.  I sketched
it and Steve showed me a photo in the Night Sky Observers Guide, which was
virtually identical to
my drawing.  The main galaxy, 5395, is largish, but seems to have a central
brighter section
offset along its major axis.  The dimmer part of the galaxy appeared to "splay"
away from the
brighter section, possibly interacting with the smaller and dimmer NGC 5394. 
The splay off the
bigger brighter galaxy appeared to contact the smaller one.  It was a very
interesting object.

We looked at other targets as well, but by about 1 a.m. or so the sky was
getting pretty well
clouded over, and we were all certain that even the "clear" sections were
actually covered by thin
cloud.  So, we called it a night.

It was well worth the trip time down to Willow.  Good company, a huge scope, and
fun target list.
By the time I climbed into my truck to grab some sleep, the Camomile had done
its job.  I hadn't
had such a good night's sleep in ages!

Looking forward to the Golden State Star Party this summer up in your neck of
the woods...
http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org

Clear skies,

Mark Wagner

In case anyone is interested in observing targets for this new moon cycle, I'd
like to remind you
about TAC's Observing Reports Archives:

http://observers.org/reports/

For several years TAC-SAC's Randy Muller was the archivist, and is responsible
for their format
and structure.  If you like how they look (or hate it), let Randy know, I'm just
the labor.  ;-)

I'll also mention an exchange between Steve Gottlieb and me from Saturday
evening, pertinent to
the observing report archives.  We were picking objects off a list I put
together, and Steve
commented that the description I had included sounded rather familiar.  Many of
us know what an
observing monster Steve is, responsible in great part for descriptions in such
references as The
Night Sky Observers Guide, and the mammoth NGC-IC project (www.ncgic.org - but
here's Steve's
contributions - http://www.ngcic.org/gottlieb/default.htm ).  So, when Steve
commented, I had to
admit it was his description.  But I also mentioned where and how I get
descriptions...

First I look in TAC's Observing Reports Archives.   I told Steve I did this in
order to have
variety in the types of descriptions, otherwise, they'd all be his!  I then
said, next I go to the
NGC-IC Project, which almost invariably turns out to be his descriptions.  But,
it turns out many
of the descriptions in TAC's OR Archives are also Steve's (when I do a search of
the archives for
a particular object).  So, the truth is, a good majority of the descriptions I
use, and that we'll
find out in the Internet ether, probably belong to our fellow TACo!

Still, there are others I include. Muller, Huey, Johnston, my own, Dillon,
Jardine... variety
makes it more interesting.  So.... send in your OR's. They get archived (OMG!
Back to 1995!). And
do go to a good use - people all over the Internet read 'em.  And don't think
"beginner" reports
are unwanted, fact is, those are the ones that get more people out observing!

Mark

Greetings!

My name is Randy Muller, and I am from Roseville, CA, and I am the
founder of TAC-SAC (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/tac-sac/).  I
was one of the original members here, back when this list was created
in 2002.

Today I was invited to help clean up the spam here, and implement some
anti-spam protective measures, like we have on TAC-SAC.  There are now
3 list co-owners here:  Michael Huster, Professor of Science at
Simpson University in Redding, Mark Wagner, founder of TAC
(http://observers.org/) and me.  Our goal is to clear the spam, revive
the list and re-focus on observing.

I believe we have eliminated all the spammers and have removed the spam.

If you have been afraid to post because of the spam, worry no longer!
  We want this to be a safe place to discuss visual observational
astronomy and learn from each other.

Please encourage your friends who might be interested in visual
observational astronomy to join here and discuss observing plans.  If
you know people who have left because of them spam, or for any other
reason, encourage them to come back.

A new moon weekend is coming up!

HI, Randy,

I am so glad this list has been cleaned up and revitalized. I actually didn't
know it existed
until a few days ago and when I first checked the messages I was very
disappointed to
see all the spam. I live in Redding and am very interested in finding people to
go
observing with. I don't really want to go out by myself. And, if possible, at
least at first, I
would like to accompany someone, in other words, let someone else drive. Right
not I
don't like driving at night especially when I don't know where I am going. My
equiipment
is small and I also enjoy browsing/scanning with my binoculars. I am very new to
amateur
astronomy and really want to do more observing where it is dark. My local area
(my
house) is not good because of: trees blocking the sky, street lights, porch
lights plus
general Redding light pollution.

Guess that's enough for now. Thanks for rejuvenating this group.
Dorothy



--- In tac-shasta@yahoogroups.com, "Randy Muller" <randygmuller@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings!
>
> My name is Randy Muller, and I am from Roseville, CA, and I am the
> founder of TAC-SAC (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/tac-sac/).  I
> was one of the original members here, back when this list was created
> in 2002.
>
> Today I was invited to help clean up the spam here, and implement some
> anti-spam protective measures, like we have on TAC-SAC.  There are now
> 3 list co-owners here:  Michael Huster, Professor of Science at
> Simpson University in Redding, Mark Wagner, founder of TAC
> (http://observers.org/) and me.  Our goal is to clear the spam, revive
> the list and re-focus on observing.
>
> I believe we have eliminated all the spammers and have removed the spam.
>
> If you have been afraid to post because of the spam, worry no longer!
>  We want this to be a safe place to discuss visual observational
> astronomy and learn from each other.
>
> Please encourage your friends who might be interested in visual
> observational astronomy to join here and discuss observing plans.  If
> you know people who have left because of them spam, or for any other
> reason, encourage them to come back.
>
> A new moon weekend is coming up!
>

If you are interested in what equipment is expected at GSSP this year, a
web-page showing it has
been added to the web-site:

http://goldenstatestarparty.blogspot.com/2008/02/telescopes-anticipated-at-gssp-\
2008.html

Looks like a fun time!

Mark

I'm thankful Mark and Randy initiated the revival of TAC-Shasta. I
told them I owe them an observing report since it so happened I took
my astronomy class (2 students + 1 friend) to the Devastated Area in
Lassen Volcanic National Park on Thursday night.

BACKGROUND
I teach physics and astronomy at Simpson University in Redding, CA.
For six years I've been taking my fall astronomy class to Shasta Mine
Trail parking lot at Whiskeytown Lake. Most of the students have never
been under a dark sky with someone to point objects out to them. I set
up the school's two 8" Meades (2001 vintage LX-200 & 2005 LX-90) and
my Celestron 9x63 binoculars on a tripod. A lot of students cite this
as being the most memorable experience of the course. Two years ago I
added a trip to Bumpass Hell at Lassen. Seven students, one telescope,
binoculars and I crowded into my GMC Safari and went up for a
spectacular evening. Last year I had more students and several friends
in a car pool. We arrived early enough to hike to the mud pots (the
peak was closed due to possible lightning) and then enjoy a night
under the dark skies. Right now I am teaching a three week summer
course for which I've planned in trips last Thursday and next Thursday.

1 MAY, 2008
The plan was to leave campus at 7:00 and arrive just at sunset. When I
called the Ranger station in the late afternoon the ranger told me
they had just opened the road from the south entrance from the Sulpher
Works to Bumpass Hell. I was tempted, but didn't have time to change
plans. Besides, I'd never observed from the Devastated Area. We left
at 7:00 and arrived at the Devastated Area about 8:10, right after
sunset. On the way up I had the students look over their SkyMap
(skymaps.com) and What's Up from universetoday.com and plan some
targets. We arrived and I set up the 8" LX-90 in the twilight. I could
tell it was going to be a gloriously dark night. Wind - nothing. Very
still. There were two empty pickups in the parking lot, and another
with a 78 year old waiting until early morning to start a ski around
the base of the mountain. We invited him to join us, but he said his
eyes were too bad for telescopes.

We looked at Mar & Saturn. They were washed out by the atmosphere.
Possibly a sighting of Mercury, in between trees. I am reluctant to
call it because I couldn't see any other stars. The students were able
to spot Mel 11, M44, and M35 with binos, even in the twilight. As the
sky darkened I showed them Castor & Mizar. (Castor was hard to split,
so I think the scope need collimation.)

They were awed by M36, 37, & 38, but I knew as it got darker they
would be even more amazed by the globulars.

Finally around 9:30 twilight was nearly gone and the sky was pitch
black, the darkest I remember ever seeing it. Easy mag 6 based on the
Little Dipper.

We looked at M51, M81 & 82. The spiral arms in 51 were clearly visible
as was the dark splotches in M82.

I remembered the double cluster in Perseus, and we caught it before it
set.

We turned to M3 in the east and the students got their first look at a
globular against a very dark sky. Hundreds of stars, it seemed popping
out. After that we turned to M13.

Then we turned to the Virgo cluster. M84 & 86 and their friends were
very easy to spot. I let the students look and see 5 or 6 easy-to-see
galaxies fill the eyepiece.

Epsilon Lyra was hard to split confirming the scope needs collimation.

It was close to 11:00 and students (all of us are men) had endured the
cold with just a little foot stomping and sprints across the parking
lot. But I had promised we'd get back by 1:00 AM. One tried to light
the camp stove to make hot chocolate as we broke down, but couldn't
get the stove to pump up. I wondered if they had had too much, but one
said, "So we're coming back out next Thursday?" I hope they're hooked!
I know this report may not wow the serious observers out there, but I
have some very engaged student right now!

Next week we'll head to Bumpass Hell early enough to see the sunset
and spot Mercury.

Carpe Noctem!

Michael Huster

Very nice report, Michael.

It reminds me of a time long ago and a place far away:

In 1974, I was taking courses at the College of Marin, preparing to
study physics at UC.  I was interested in astronomy, and had done some
observing from my backyard with a 50mm refractor and a 4" newtonian
reflector.

I took the only astronomy course offered, which was designed for
non-science majors.  In fact, the teacher was my differential
equations teacher!  We both knew I didn't really belong there, and
when I came in he looked at me both smiling and accusingly, and asked
me what I was doing there.  I replied that I loved astronomy.

The most memorable experience of the course, narually, was our trip to
a dark site.  Not as dark as Whiskeytown Lake or Devastated, but as
dark as I had ever been to at that time.  We didn't even have
telescopes.  We were just looking at the constellations and the Milky
Way.  It was overwhelming.

For all those interested in observing reports, and especially for those unaware
of this resource,
TAC's Observing Reports Archive has been updated with content from this past new
moon weekend.

Here is where to find it:

http://observers.org/reports/

Some good reading in there.

Reports are being archived from TAC, TAC-SAC, TAC-Shasta, and TAC-South (if
anyone submits one!).

Clear skies!

Mark

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:  [TAC] OR: Sat May 3, 2008. A Fremont Peak night to remember.
Date:  Mon, 05 May 2008 10:30:16 -0700
From:  Mark Johnston <mark@...>
Reply-To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
To:  Tac Mailing List <sf-bay-tac@...>



OR: Fremont Peak Saturday May 3, 2008
Observations using Jamies 11" (felix) and mostly I used my 18" dob and
17mm,9mm Naglers.

Drawn by a change in plans combined with the Sat images showing cloud
cover combined with the elevation of the clouds clearly below the peak
on the KSBW webcam http://www.ksbw.com/wxcam/811980/detail.html .
I'll try to present another view than Jamies already posted great OR.

Present as stated by Jamie were 5 scopes total with Jamie, Rich
Neuschafer, Denis Lefebvre, Rod Norden and myself with still new big-dob.

I had spent the entire day doing a nasty under-the-house plumbing job
from hell (Where was GregLF when I needed him? LOL)  combined with a
very busy work week before so the Peak was the Medicine I badly needed
and it delivered. Haze was extending fairly high as the Astro-Van
climbed the Peak and even near the SW lot some haze was clearly at that
level but the muck was clearly very low and below the peak from San Juan
Bautista view.  Normally I look for the Peak from 101 south near Coe but
haze was covering that view.

The night was from a Bootes star counts 6.0 or perhaps better later on.
And although some people think SQM is garbage, I like it as 'one more
indicator'  so will state that the peak pulled out at best around 2am a
21.5 mag/ArcSec darkness reading which was best I have measured there.

Logged 23 objects and re-visited tons more mostly mentioned in
highlights below.

Highlights:

Milky way was absolutely amazing at 3am and naked eye gazing was
perfectly acceptable.   Jamie, Rich, and I  stood there gazing at the
bands with clear seperation.  By 3am it was high and darkness on both
sides ... stunning.   Did some random wide-field gazing near gamma CYG
as well.

Earlier in the night several of my objects were from the TAC Eye Candy
list which I had converted to MegaStar and had went through in detail
last week to come up with a list of the 8 or so I had not yet observed
from earlier sessions.  Also browsed a few goodies while at it.
Notable eye candy that stood out were the stacked galaxies of 5985 (at
the base) then eliptical 5982 and edge on 5981 on top.  Now I see above
that is a 4th little guy 'on top' 5976 so I'll revisit next time.

Another fantastic area wad on and by M106 which was absolutely stunning
and loaded with detail.
I logged a large number of galaxies there and loved it.  I am sure I had
seen several before but just was having so much fun ... kept going.

Jamie has mentioned the area he called me over to see which was 3 and
soon to be found 4 galaxies forming the tips of a cross and 2 more we
discovered in the general areas just outside FOV.  Cross was (in sign of
cross form) a fairly diffuse 3:1 elongated E-W 4424 on top, the largest
on bottom elongated in same direction was 4442 and to the left (in dob
eyepiece) was edge-on 3:1 elongated at 45deg slant 4417 and finally off
to the right (east) was the very dim (mag 13.7) elongated E-W 4445.  The
last two off to the S-E were 4451 and 4483 which were smaller.  What was
missed was 4380 but then again there are so many all about because 4442
is truely dead center in 'Downtown Virgo' you could go on forever ...

After 3AM, had a great time in Sag Star cloud, thanks Jamie for view
through Felix-the-wonder-scope).  I gotta say Felix has one heck of a
fine mirror with excellent contrast.  After seeing CAS rising over the
trees pulled in 7789 with my new toy and even though low, it was great
to see this favorite once again and with much detail.  Also visited down
south the Lagoon, Trifed, Eagle, and Swan all with 17mm nag and O-III
filter and all stunning.  Very near the Lagoon was a discovery of a huge
blinking Red-giant ... oh wait, that was the radio tower's light ...

Lastly we saw our old buddy Jupiter up high enough to catch a nice
pre-season view.

All in all the night was amazing

--
Are you attending GSSP? http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org
Add to TAC's Flickr Group! http://www.flickr.com/groups/tac/
Mailing list preferences: http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tac

Greeting TACos far and wide...

A new e-mail address has been configured to use only for sending the
various TAC's each other's observing reports. This was just tested on
TAC-SAC and TAC-Shasta, with a posting of Mark Johnston's report from
sf-bay-tac:

OR: Sat May 3, 2008.  A Fremont Peak night to remember.

The idea is to let people across the state know what others are
observing, be able to easily see the reports, get to know who in the
state is getting out, and encourage others to observe and post reports.
Reports will be culled from four TAC's across California:

TAC (SF bay area)
TAC-SAC (Sacramento great area)
TAC-South (San Diego and southland)
TAC-Shasta (Redding and surrounding area)

Clear skies!

Subject:   [TAC] OR: Losing Ten Inches Ain't Fun!
Date:  Mon, 05 May 2008 17:36:27 -0700
From:  Mark Wagner <mark.wagner@...>
Reply-To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
To:  tac <sf-bay-tac@...>


Last Saturday Richard Navarrete convinced me to ignore my instincts, and
meet him at Henry Coe State Park with our 18" Dobs.  The plan was to see
how it went, prepare to stay the night, but be ready to bail out if
conditions were poor.

Well, they were.  Driving down 101 looking toward Fremont Peak from
around the Coyote Valley, well, there was no Fremont Peak.  A low mucky
haze covered everything.  If I didn't know better, I'd swear we were
back in fire season, it looked like we were smoked out.  I arrived at
Coe before Richard, and was pleased to see Jim Collins there.  Hadn't
seen him in ages, as he had moved to Chico a year back.  Good to see you
Jim!  At the time, a stiff wind was a worry.  It was chilly too.  And,
did I say it was mucky looking?   Well, it was mucky looking.  Richard
arrived, his usual upbeat self.  I had a hard time remaining glum about
the prospects.

Sunset was spectacular.  It was then that I realized a good observing
night is a great thing, but even getting out and seeing a view like that
sunset was worth the drive.  I was feeling good again.  Thanks Richard!
I hope those reading this looked at the photo Richard posted on the TAC
Flickr account, quite good, giving a nice feel for what it was like there.

Reading the other observing reports that have come in, the few of them,
its clear that it wasn't, clear.  The only place that oddly did well was
Fremont Peak - and there's Jamie popping his buttons about it.  Phooey
Jamie.  I'm happy for you, and Rich, and my long lost bud Rod, but it
didn't help me feel better ;-)   When I read your report, I could only
think of one of my favorite lines in "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" - - -
when Clooney can't get his Dapper Dan, and tells the store owner that
his place is some sort of geographical oddity - its 2 weeks from
everywhere!  Well, that was Fremont Peak I guess.  The oddity of
observing sites last Saturday - a good one!  I do see Steve got in some
good observing too.  Well, not me.

As Richard stated, our 18's were more like 8's out there.   For sure,
losing ten inches ain't fun.  What frustration!  But I did log some
targets, and had fun with the rest of the gang there.  Hawley had
brought a new imaging gizmo, which looked quite slick.  I met Marcel and
Janet (is that right, Janet?).  Scott Baker was fun to be set up by.  He
took my imaging ribbing right in stride.  Anyway, all in all, it was
fun, even with the frustration.  We packed up and headed home about
12:30.  Enough rest to enjoy the Lakers game and not enjoy the Sharks
game (marathon) on Sunday.

By the way, Richard and I took a short hike to pay our fees at the
ranger station at Coe.  Very nice little hike.  A few wildflower,
mosses, lichens, all sorts of cool stuff to look at, and a bit of
exercise.  Try it next time!

Here are the few raw notes I logged from Saturday.  You'll get the idea:

N5585 Uma GX 6.1'x3.8' 11.2B 14 19 47 56 43 45
Very large, very dim, elongated n/s.  No detail in bad sky.

N5443 Uma GX 3.2'x1.2' 13.1P 14 02 11 55 48 56
Nice elongated galaxy ne/sw, appears mottled or ragged, almost as if
there is a double core, 7mm, poor transparency. Actual core is large,
fat, and has hint of stellar nucleus.

N5485 Uma GX 2.4'x1.8' 11.4V 14 07 11 55 00 05
Round galaxy, fairly small, dim halo with smallish brighter core and dim
stellar nucleus, 12mm.  With 7mm, hints of elongation n/s and some
mottling, possible spiral structure noted to N of core.

NGC 5473 Uma GX 2.3'x1.8' 12.4B 14 04 43 54 53 35
Round disk of a possible small face on spiral, dim halo, small brighter
core with bright stellar nucleus popping in averted.

N5687 Boo GX 2.4'x1.6' 12.6B 14 34 52 54 28 35
Small, elongated wwnw/eese, dim, brightish core, potentially a dim
stellar nucleus.  Nice galaxy with foreground stars embedded in leading
edge.

NGC 5474 Uma GX 4.7'x4.7' 11.3B 14 05 01 53 39 38
Roundish or slightly irregular, mottled appearance, little to no
detail?  Offset core?

After a while, I began losing interest.  Fortunately, Judy (Julie?)
asked me to show her some constellations.  Scott had a green laser
(woooo!) that he lent me, so I was off and running, drawing lines in the
sky.  Hawley came over saying he was shooting wide-field where I had
just begun to move too, so I put gave the laser back and we moved to the
eyepiece.

M13 was way muted, but Julie and Marcel enjoyed it anyway.  Same for
M92.  The one surprise of the night was M51, with a 12 Nagler, up high.
Decent detail.

I think that's what I closed the night with.  I don't know if others
stayed much later, but the Clear Sky "Charts"  indicated a worsening of
transparency around 1 a.m., and I just wasn't into seeing how correct it
might be.

Looking forward to next time.  I can only get better, and I'd dearly
love those ten inches back!

Mark
--
Are you attending GSSP? http://www.goldenstatestarparty.org
Add to TAC's Flickr Group! http://www.flickr.com/groups/tac/
Mailing list preferences: http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tac

Subject:   Re: [TAC] OR: Losing Ten Inches Ain't Fun!
Date:  Mon, 5 May 2008 17:44:44 -0700
From:  Matthew Marcus
Reply-To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
References:  <481FA80B.1000206@...>



So you were down to 8", huh?  Welcome to my world :-)

Anyway, I was helping out with public observing at Lawrence Hall of Science,
which is why I wasn't at Lake Sonoma.  It was mucky,
the seeing was bad,
and we only had a couple of customers.  All we could show was Saturn, Mars (a
blurry orange disk), M44 and M36.  Considering that we
had an 8" Dob,
an 11" Dob and a refractor (~4"?), we had a lot more scope than sky.  The fog
rolled in around 10, which by that time felt a bit
like being on jury duty and
being told that the call is over; go home.  The few customers we had were duly
appreciative of even the poor views of Saturn and the
star clusters.  It is
refreshing to see this stuff, vicariously, through new eyes.
    mam

Subject:   [TAC] Fremont Peak Saturday Observing
Date:  Mon, 5 May 2008 19:40:16 -0700 (PDT)
From:  David Cooper <david.cooper@...>
Reply-To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
To:  TAC <sf-bay-tac@...>



Sorry to hear that the folks that went to Coe had an
aperture-reducing experience (having only a 6" scope,
I have this experience every time I go out).  I almost
went to Coe based on the Clear-Sky clock, but decided
while on the freeway to push on to the peak and, if
necessary, take my lumps.  I (for once) lucked out.
By sunset the skies were reasonably clear and Saturn
was beautiful with steady seeing and much detail
observable through my AP155.  Got to log off about 15
H400 objects and other eye candy objects.  It was nice
to visit with Rich N. and catch up on refractor lore,
but I didn't get a chance to get over to the SW lot to
say hello to Jamie and others.  By midnight the sky
was really clear with a nice summer Milky Way rising
and looking very promising.  Unfortunately I had to
leave at around 1:30 AM because my wife signed me up
for a Sunday "family" event in San Jose.  I almost had
enough energy at the end of the day to catch all of
the Sharks game - but only made it through the second
overtime before tanking (Glad I slept through the rest
of the game).

Looking forward to GSSP!

Dave

Subject:   [TAC] OR, MB, 5/5 - 5/6: 2008 B.C.N. #1!
Date:  Tue, 6 May 2008 01:44:45 -0700
From:  Marek Cichanski
Reply-To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
To:  sf-bay-tac@...



Well, the subject line says it all, if somewhat cryptically.

I just got back from Montebello, and I managed to experience the first Black
Cloud Night of 2008. Sadly, there was some high cirrus that kept it from
being a true 'B.C.N.' experience, but it reaffirmed my faith in the marine
layer.

I called the MROSD rangers around 2 pm, having decided that an impromptu
Montebello night was in order. The sat loops and forecast discussions made
it sound like it was going to be a classic case of 'OI Poker', in which it
could go either way - it could either be a big 'ol fog-out, or a decent
night. A little bell also rang in the back of my head, reminding me that
these were the sorts of conditions that sometimes lead to Black Cloud
Nights.

For anyone who doesn't know, a Black Cloud Night is when 'marine layer'
clouds cover most or all of the Bay Area's lights, or at least those that
you'd normally be able to see directly from your chosen observing site. The
sky won't necessarily get fully dark in such a situation, because there are
usually at least some lights still exposed here and there, and some of the
light pollution comes up through even fairly thick clouds, but it can
dramatically improve the sky all the same.

When I arrived at Montebello shortly before sunset, it looked rather grim.
Fog was pouring over the ridgeline to the north, and fog had pushed through
the notch to the south in a big way. Cold wind was blowing from the south,
too. Not good. I was ready to pack it in without even setting up, since I
didn't have any dew heaters.

After strolling around for a while, though, I noticed something strange...
the fog to the south had pulled back! The wind had largely died, too, and it
had gotten noticeably warmer and drier. Aha! The night might be salvageable
after all!

As it turned out, conditions were somewhat variable. It never got below
about 50 F, but it wasn't really a warm shirtsleeve night, either. Breeze
from the south was variable, never too bad, but never really gone. Hat,
gloves, warm boots, coupla jackets. It was basically a somewhat cold night.
But not horribly so.

Around midnight, I was thinking of packing up, and I strolled over to the
gate, only to notice... black clouds below! Woo hoo! Unfortunately, there
had been some high cirrus all night, which rather spoiled the effect. There
was plenty of clearing in the south, and I'd been able to observe quite a
bit, but the cirrus reflected back such light pollution as was making it
through the clouds, rather nullifying the BCN effect. But, the extra
darkness was quite noticeable in some areas. The south got really good. Any
hint of Santa Cruz light was gone, daddy, gone. I saw Omega Centauri
naked-eye, albeit with averted vision. M3 and M5 were very nice and
contrasty in my 10" f/5 scope with a 13mm t6 Nagler.

I had spent a lot of the evening touring around Downtown Virgo using the
closeup chart in Pocket Sky Atlas. This made for a very nice tour, and I
noticed for the first time that you can extend Markarian's Chain into a big
'circlet' that passes through M91, M90, M89, M87, and back to the M84/86
triangle. I was also pleasantly surprised by what a nice edge-on galaxy NGC
4762 is! This is probably one of those fun objects that we always forget
about and discover anew. I'll bet a dollar to holding a donut that it's on
the TAC Eye Candy list.

I snagged one of those Orion waist packs today, and spent a few minutes
getting it kitted out before I headed up the hill. Now my easy-up scope is
fully set, no big toolbox or eyepiece case to schlep around. Just a few
collimation tools, a 24 Pan, a 13 Nagler, a 7 Nagler, an eyepatch, and a
coupla filters. I managed to remember to make my spectroscope eyepiece part
of the package, and I had some fun looking at stellar spectra for the first
time in a while. I think that my favorite sight of the night - aside from M3
and M5 - was the spectrum of Arcturus. It has so much detail in it, it's
like observing the Moon or a planet. I also got a big kick out of the strong
dark hydrogen lines in Vega, and the funky molecular bands in Antares.
Always neat to see.

I packed up around 12:30, after deciding that the cirrus was going to keep
me from really enjoying the full benefits of the Black Cloud Night. But it
was still very nice to have the marine layer treat me kindly, and I'm glad
that I got out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can have more Black
Cloud Nights this summer, with good transparency and seeing overhead.

Marek

Subject:   [tac-sac] OR: 05-03-08 Blue Canyon
Date:  Tue, 6 May 2008 23:06:48 -0700
From:  Alvin Huey <alvin@...>
Reply-To:  tac-sac@yahoogroups.com
To:  <tac-sac@yahoogroups.com>



Marsha and I've decided to observe at Blue Canyon, SVAS's regular site.
The clubs regularly scheduled star party also occurred this evening.
There were about 20 people and I'm surprised that more folks didn't come
as it a very nice night.  We met a number of folks; Stuart Schultz
(former Observatory director), Stuart's friend, Don Lee, Davin Enigl
(current observatory director), Liam and about 15 others.

I've decided to observe a bunch of galaxy trios from the AL list and
other lists (forget the source of the top of my head).  I used my 22"
f/4 reflector with the 20mm Pentax XW, 10, 7.5 and 5mm Tak LE's
eyepieces.  No Paracorr and no I did not use the Ethos.

NGC 5141 group
NGC 5141 - bright and round. 45" across.  Much brighter center with a
stellar core.  NGC 5142 lies about 3' NE and is slightly smaller (30"
long), but even surface brightness with a stellar core.  NGC 5143 lies
about 3' north of N 5142.  It is a faint 2:1 elongated even surface
brightness patch.  PA = 90 and about 20" long.

NGC 5351 group
NGC 5351 is very bright 2:1 elongated patch with a brighter center. 1.2"
across.  PA = 90.  With magnification, a slightly brighter ring could be
made out, but not entirely around the galaxy.  The south part of the
ring could not be made out.  NGC 5349 lies about 4' SW and a bright even
surface brightness 2:1 elongated patch.  45" long.  PA = 90.  NGC 5341
lies quite a ways to the WSW, about 9' from NGC 5349.  NGC 5341 is a
bright 2:1 even surface brightness patch.  PA = 150 and 30" long.

NGC 2872 group
This group is a fairly compact trio that fits in a 2' circle.  NGC 2872
is a bright 3:1 elongated patch with a brighter center.  PA = 45 and
2.2' across.  NGC 2872 is about 2' NW and is a bright round patch (45"
across) with a brighter center.  NGC 2873 is a very faint small round
patch (10" across).  It sits about 2' north off the NE end of NGC 2872.

NGC 2929 group
Nice N-S string of moderately bright galaxies about 3' apart.  The
southernmost object, NGC 2929, is a 3:1 elongated even surface
brightness patch.  PA = 135 and 1' long.  Next one up north is NGC 2930,
which is a slightly brighter small round patch, 15" across.  The
northernmost object, NGC 2931, is about equal in brightness and size as
NGC 2930, but slightly elongated.  PA = 60.

NGC 2991 group
A pair is about 30" apart and the third is about 8' to the NE.  NGC
2991, a bright round patch (30" across) with a stellar core forms a pair
with its western companion, NGC 2998, a faint 3:1 elongated even surface
brightness patch of about 30" long.  PA = 45.  NGC 2994 is a bright
slightly elongated patch with a brighter center.  PA = 120 and 40"
across.

NGC 2964 group
This trio is in a collinear NE-SW string of galaxies separated by about
6' between each galaxy.  NGC 2964 showed remarkable detail.  The north
and south edges have significantly brighter arcs.  On the east end,
there is a small round knot visible.  The core is distinct, but not
stellar.  PA = 90 and 120x45".  Working to the NE lies NGC 2968, which
is a very bright slightly elongated patch with a much brighter center
cumulating with a stellar core.  PA = 45 and 60x45".  Next object to the
NW is NGC 2970, which is a small bright round patch.  About 15" across.

IC 613 group
This trio of faint galaxies is arranged in a rough 30-60-right triangle.
A very faint MAC galaxy is detected within the triangle.  IC 613, the
southern most galaxy, is a small faint round patch with a stellar core.
About 20" across.  IC 612 sits 2.7' north is a small slightly elongated
patch with a stellar core.  PA = 0 and 20x10" in size.  IC 615 lies 4.3'
ENE is the faintest of the three.  Even surface brightness and 45x15".
PA = 150.  MAC 1027+1101 is a very faint, very small round patch.  It
lies about 1' NE of IC 613

NGC 3434 group
This group was getting pretty low over the SW horizon, and into the
Sacramento skyglow.  NGC 3434 was a round patch with a slightly brighter
center.  About 1' across.  The other two members, CGCG 38-37 and CGCG
38-35 were not detected.

NGC 3988 group
This trio forms a E-W string of galaxies.  The westernmost member, NGC
3988 is a bright round patch with a brighter center.  About 20" across.
IC 2982 lies about 6'east is a bright slightly elongated patch.  PA = 70
and 15x10" across.  Sitting 3.2 further east lies NGC 4004.  It
immediately showed an abnormal shape with the core being an irregular
2:1 elongated patch with a brighter core.  A faint arm extends about 30"
to the south of the core.  Core is about 30x20" across.  PA = 0.

NGC 3169 group
Pretty low over the skyglow.  NGC 3169 is an even surface brightness
elongated patch.  PA = 60 and 2x1'.  NGC 3166 is slightly fainter than
NGC 3169, which lies about 7' ENE.  2x1' across and PA = 90.  NGC 3165
is a very faint elongated patch.  PA = 0 and 30" long.

NGC 5504 group
Compact trio of three different appearing galaxies.  The brightest, NGC
5504 is a low surface brightness round patch with a slightly brighter
center.  About 40" across.  MCG+3-36-79 lies 1.7' NNW of NGC 5504.  It
is a small round patch with a brighter center.  About 15" across. IC
4383 is an extremely faint round patch.  It lies 50" NE of the MCG.  A
16th magnitude star lies near the two latter galaxies.

NGC 5614 group
This group has one big elliptical with two little guys.  NGC 5614 is a
very bright round patch with a nearly stellar core.  NGC 5609 lies 4'
west of NGC 5614.  A bright small round patch.  About 10" across.  NGC
5614 lies 2' north of NGC 5614 and is a bright small round patch and is
slightly larger than NGC 5609.

UGC 9233 group
This trio of three UGC galaxies is pretty tight. UGC 9233 is a fairly
faint elongated patch with a stellar core. About 45 x 15" across.  P =
135.  UGC 9235 lies 1.5' SE of UGC 9233.  It is about the same
brightness as UGC 9233.  PA = 80 and 35x 20" across.  UGC 9238 is a low
surface brightness elongated patch.  PA = 130 and 10x15" across.  Two
the nearby galaxies were detected;  MCG+6-32-25 is a small fairly faint
patch.  It sits 4'  SW of UGC 9233.  The other companion is MAC 457+644
shows a slightly elongated patch.

I'll write the rest of the OR for the following groups next time I have
time.

NGC 5648 group

NGC 5888 group

NGC 4278 group

NGC 4615 group

NGC 4168 group

MCG+2-31-50 group

NGC 4339 group

IC 3481 group

NGC 4716 group

--
Party time! GSSP is over 250 attendees:
http://www.goldenstatestarparty.blogspot.com
Observing Intents:  http://observers.org/OI-calendar/
Observing Reports:  http://observers.org/reports/

If anyone is interested:

---------------------------------------- Original Message
----------------------------------------
Subject: Calif. & Hawaii Telescopes/Astronomical Conferences!
From:    "Russ or Cheryl Genet" <galileoslegacy@...>
Date:    Wed, May 7, 2008 3:14 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
------------------


President,
The Astronomy Connection (TAC)

Dear President,

It is my pleasure to invite you and members of your club to attend the Small
Telescope &
Astronomical Research (STAR) Conference, June 19 - 22, 2008, which will be held
in historic San
Luis Obispo on California’s scenic central coast.  You are also invited to
attend Galileo’s
Legacy, December 31, 2008 - January 5, 2009, at the Makaha Resort, Waianae,
Hawaii.  Please see
either www.STARConference.org or www.GalileosLegacy.org for details.  You are
welcome to be a
panel discussion member, present a poster, or just attend and enjoy (and there
are still a few
speaker slots open).  Attached is a flyer to assist you in bringing these
conference opportunities
to the attention of your club members.

These two conferences will not only explore the development of smaller
telescopes and their
instruments, but the many areas of scientific research by both amateur and
professional
astronomers where small telescopes excel.  These conferences will also consider
how astronomical
research by undergraduate students—even high school students—provides,
simultaneously, a unique
scientific education, a career boost, and modest contributions to the
advancement of science,
making these conferences of particular interest to students and educators alike.
Conference
proceedings, included in the registration, will be published by the Collins
Foundation Press as
two affordable books available by way of advanced orders at reduced prices for
those unable to
attend the conferences.

All participants, including speakers, pay their own registration and other
costs, although funds
are being raised for several high school student scholarships.  California’s
central coast
features pleasant weather in June, as does the leeward side of Oahu in January,
so I encourage you
to bring your family or friends for a vacation on or near the California or
Hawaii beaches.
Conference schedules are relaxed, with plenty of time off to spend with your
family (or talk
telescopes or astronomy with your colleagues).  Guests are welcome at all the
conference social
events and evening talks.  The California conference features a mid-conference
tour of the Central
California Coast and Hearst Castle, while the Hawaii conference features a
mid-conference day off
with an evening luau and a post conference tour of the Big Island and the
telescopes on Mauna Kea.

I would welcome a call from you to discuss your participation in the STAR
Conference or Galileo’s
Legacy.  I hope to see you at the STAR Conference in California this coming
June, at Galileo’s
Legacy in Hawaii the following New Year’s Eve, or at both!

With warmest regards (and aloha),

Russ

Russell M. Genet, PhD
Research Scholar in Residence,  California Polytechnic State UniversityAdjunct
Professor of
Astronomy, Cuesta CollegePhone (805) 438-3305, Fax (805)
438-3355russmgenet@...,
www.orionobservatory.org

President,

The Astronomy Connection (TAC)

Dear President,

It is my pleasure to invite you and members of your club to attend the Small Telescope & Astronomical Research (STAR) Conference, June 19 - 22, 2008, which will be held in historic San Luis Obispo on California’s scenic central coast.  You are also invited to attend Galileo’s Legacy, December 31, 2008 - January 5, 2009, at the Makaha Resort, Waianae, Hawaii.  Please see either www.STARConference.org or www.GalileosLegacy.org for details.  You are welcome to be a panel discussion member, present a poster, or just attend and enjoy (and there are still a few speaker slots open).  Attached is a flyer to assist you in bringing these conference opportunities to the attention of your club members.

These two conferences will not only explore the development of smaller telescopes and their instruments, but the many areas of scientific research by both amateur and professional astronomers where small telescopes excel.  These conferences will also consider how astronomical research by undergraduate students—even high school students—provides, simultaneously, a unique scientific education, a career boost, and modest contributions to the advancement of science, making these conferences of particular interest to students and educators alike.  Conference proceedings, included in the registration, will be published by the Collins Foundation Press as two affordable books available by way of advanced orders at reduced prices for those unable to attend the confere nces.

All participants, including speakers, pay their own registration and other costs, although funds are being raised for several high school student scholarships.  California’s central coast features pleasant weather in June, as does the leeward side of Oahu in January, so I encourage you to bring your family or friends for a vacation on or near the California or Hawaii beaches.  Conference schedules are relaxed, with plenty of time off to spend with your family (or talk telescopes or astronomy with your colleagues).  Guests are welcome at all the conference social events and evening talks .  The California conference features a mid-conference tour of the Central California Coast and Hearst Castle, while the Hawaii conference features a mid-conference day off with an evening luau and a post conference tour of the Big Island and the telescopes on Mauna Kea.

I would welcome a call from you to discuss your participation in the STAR Conference or Galileo’s Legacy.  I hope to see you at the STAR Conference in California this coming June, at Galileo’s Legacy in Hawaii the following New Year’s Eve, or at both!

With warmest regards (and aloha),

Russ

Russell M. Genet, PhD

Research Scholar in Residence,
  California Polytechnic State University
Adjunct Professor of Astronomy, Cuesta College
Phone (805) 438-3305, Fax (805) 438-3355
russmgenet@..., www.orionobservatory.org

Hello, everybody

I just wanted to let you know about the new Volunteers page on the
GSSP site, please have look if your are so inclined.

Thanks and CS,

Rich Girard
GSSP Volunteer Coordinator


http://goldenstatestarparty.blogspot.com/2008/02/volunteering.html

Subject:   [TAC] OR: 05-03-08 Blue Canyon Part 2 of 3
Date:  Thu, 8 May 2008 17:38:12 -0700
From:  Alvin Huey <alvin@...>
Reply-To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
To:  'The Astronomy Connection' <sf-bay-tac@...>


Well, here is part 2 of 3.  I'll write more when I get to it.

NGC 5648 group
This group contains two bright NGC's and one extremely faint MAC galaxy.
NGC 5648 appeared bright and slightly elongated.  Its surface is
slightly mottled.  PA = 0 and 40x30".  NGC 5655 is bright and round with
a slightly off-centered core towards the SE. About 40" across.  A pair
of 13.5 magnitude stars lies on each side of it (NW and SE). It lies
5.6' SE from NGC 5648.  MAC 1431+1400 is an extremely faint, very small
round patch, less than 10" across.  It sits about 3' NE of NGC 5655.

NGC 5888 group
Trio of three NGC's; two bright and one very faint with a "bright" 9th
magnitude star in the field.  NGC 5888 appears elongated with irregular
edges.  Slightly mottled and slightly brighter center.  PA = 150 and
45x30".  A very faint star is on the SE edge.  NGC 5886 has high surface
brightness and is 2:1 elongated and small.  PA = 90 and 30x15".  A 15
magnitude star lies less than 10" N.  NGC 5886 lies 4.5'WSW of NGC 5888.
NGC 5889 is very faint and 2:1 elongated.  PA = 45 and 20x10"

NGC 4278 group
A very bright sting of galaxies with increasing brightness from the NE
to SW.  NGC 4278 is by far the brightest galaxy that is round and a much
brighter center.  About 1.5' across.  About 3.3' NE lies NGC 4283.  It
is much smaller, but bright and round with a brighter center.  About 45"
across.  The faintest of the trio, NGC 4286, lies 5.2' NE of NGC 4283.
It appears slightly elongated with low surface brightness throughout.
PA = 150 and 40x30" across.

NGC 4615 group
This relatively compact trio consists of an interesting asymmetrical
spiral accompanied by two smaller galaxies.  NGC 4615 appears as a
spiral galaxy with one obvious arm and a much fainter opposite arm.  The
brighter arm curves counter-clockwise to the SE and is visible with
direct vision.  It extends for about 40". At high power, 458x, a very
faint knot is detected at the tip of this arm.  The opposite arm is
detected only with averted vision and extends for about 20".  NGC 4614
lies 2.3 SW of NGC 4615.  It appears elongated and bright with a
brighter center.  At high powers, a very faint halo extending up to
40x20" is detected with averted vision.  PA = 135 and the bright part is
30x15".  NGC 4613 lies 2.2 ENE of NGC 4615.  It appears faint, round
with even surface brightness throughout.  About 15" across.

NGC 4168 group
This trio of 3 NGC of widely differing brightness.  A MAC galaxy is in
the mix.  A 10th magnitude star is in the field.   NGC 4168 appears very
bright, featureless and round with a much brighter center.  1.3' across.
NGC 4164 lies 3' W appears small, round with a brighter center.  About
10" across.  A 15.2 magnitude star lies about 30" SE.  NGC 4165 lies 3'
NW of NGC 4168.  It is a faint, 2:1 elongated even surface brightness
patch.  At high power, 458x, MAC 1212+1316, appears as an extremely
faint round patch sitting less than 10" north off the north edge of NGC
4165.  A knot off the east edge is also detected with averted vision.

MCG+2-31-60 group
This string of galaxies actually consists of four galaxies equidistant
from each other.  They are about 1' apart and form a N-S line.  Three
MCG's and one MAC galaxy.  MCG+2-31-60 is the most obvious of the three
MCG's and lies at the southern end.  It appears very faint, very small
and round.  MCG+2-31-59 and MCG+2-31-58 are a little fainter than -60
and round.  All are less than 10" across.  While examining this chain at
high powers, 458 and 575x, I noticed something fuzzy 1' north of
MCG+2-31-58 popping in and out.  Consulting MegasStar it turns out to be
MAC 1214+1300.

NGC 4339 group
This is a relatively easy trio forming a squashed isosceles triangle.
NGC 4339 appears very bright and round.  Much brighter towards the
middle and edges are pretty diffuse.  1.3' across.  NGC 4333 lies 4.2'
SW and is a bright, 2:1 elongated patch with a slightly brighter round
center.  PA = 90 and 30x15" across.  NGC 4326 lies 3.2' NW of NGC 4333
and 6' W of NGC 4339.  It is a bright round patch with a brighter core.
Very diffuse edges.  Total size is 45" across and the core is 10"
across.

IC 3481 group
This trio forms a string strattling NW to SE.  IC 3481 appears bright
and round. 20" across.  Next one down, IC 3481A, lies 1.6' SE of IC
3481, appears very faint and round.  Even surface brightness.  Less than
10".  IC 3483 lies 4.3' SE of IC 3481A and is a faint round patch.  It
is almost lost in the glare of the 9.9 magnitude star, which sits about
1' NE.


NGC 4716 group




And I'll write up these I observed during the third quarter moon weekend
(Friday, not Saturday)

NGC 2684 group

NGC 2820 group

NGC 2857 group
NGC 3010 group

NGC 3202 group

NGC 3545 group

MCG+9-19-25 group

NGC 3786 group

NGC 3921 group

NGC 3995 group

NGC 5485 group



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Subject:   [TAC] OR Fremont Peak Wed 7May08: Deep south paydirt and
Comet Boattini
Date:  Thu, 08 May 2008 23:24:48 -0700
From:  Mark Johnston <mark@...>
Reply-To:  The Astronomy Connection <sf-bay-tac@...>
To:  Tac Mailing List <sf-bay-tac@...>



Observed at Fremont peak Wed May 7, 2008 and the 'wishlist of
desparation' paid in full

Good old Fremont Peak changes with the breeze.   Got there and visited
the SW lot to eat the Togo's sandwich and perhaps take a quick hike.
Took a nice video with handheld camera of light fog rolling over the
ridge 50 yards from the SW lot on both sides.  I like the way it looks
but was a bit worried as to how it may impact observing.  Started out on
my hike to the peak and as I hit the rocky corner on the right near the
back heard some rustling 100 feet away and thinking it was dear peered
off into the light fog and felt that the solitary deer I saw was fairly
stocky and low and had rather thick legs.  I decided to retreat slowly
and made grunting and aggressive sounds as I slowly walked back to the
lot. Did not really want to try to see exactly what it was, not worth it.

Back at the pads fog obscured all but the peaks of the far off
south-east highest close peaks.
By 9pm clouds had dropped a few degrees and were at 0 or lower and later
dropped maybe a degree more.

I'll mention right off the bat that I was armed with Comet Boattini
charts and that one is very obvious in the eyepiece at this time and an
fairly easy find off of mU Hydra last night a few degrees below. I only
used the scope and my guess would be you may not be able to pick it out
with binoculars due to moon glow in the general area, maybe.  There are
others but I found a nice chart at http://tomsastroblog.com/?p=1509

So the night was ok and the best part was to bag some extremely low
targets, lowest of which was NGC5286 confirmed by extremely near
forground bright star and a very near doublish star just north and a
very careful star hop which included at times using trees in the
viewfinder to move a few degrees as they were more plentiful than bright
enough stars.  What a riot.
I will say that the observation was very poor at that but indeed present.

Other targets down south were finally NGC4945, a fairly elongated object
that was getting close to the lights so really had to coax it and wait
for it.  This would be the 3rd attempt this month to catch that one so I
was very happy to finally get a definite 30% with averted type look.

Two objects that stand out in my mind were planitary IC4406 which is
greater than 2:1 EW elongated shape which was very unusual for a
planitary and a very nice glob later in NGC5986.

Many students were up there earlier and so I helped out a bit offering
views of things on their lists.

Very grateful to the gods of the Peak for that gift of the deep south
last night.

Mark

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Jeff Gortatowski

It is pretty much a running joke and/or folklore in TAC South that I
have said I am going to go observe at Little Blair Valley (LBV) in the
Anza Borrego SP for… oh… years. The lore goes there is no end to the
excuses I have come up with to actually avoid going. "I have to work",
"I am not feeling well", "the weather looks iffy" (pretty lame in the
Southern California desert), "I have to clean the telescope pad I own
out near Palomar of weeds", "my cats need flossing" (a never ending job
with 6 cats) etc. You get the idea.

Fact is all were true at the time - okay the cat thing is not. Fact is I
needed and wanted little other motivation to come up with excuses.
Occasionally I was simply unashamed to say, "I have a pad with
electricity, nearby running water and bathrooms, and I pay club dues for
the luxury." So why would I drive another hour farther to observe at a
site that does not have all the creature comforts? Okay, that is
probably my best excuse. Allow me to elborate.

LBV at 2+ hours drive pretty much requires a commitment to staying the
whole night. I am *big* lover of 3rd quarter observing. Why? Well much
of the year I can observe for hours and still have the perfect excuse to
pack up and leave when the moon rises. From the club site I am home in
90 minutes and can still have almost a full day the next day to frolick.
Whereas staying the night pretty much means part of the next day is
screwed driving back or napping. Also new moon tends to bring out more
people. More people means more commotion kibitzing, etc... and I am all
about getting some specific observing done.

Well Saturday May 3rd 2008 saw the end of the lore. I had to drop off
some equipment my friend had lent me. He lives in northern San Diego
county. Since it was new moon weekend, and I had a tour guide to take me
there, I sort of ran out of excuses.

Little Blair Valley is in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. It’s a
short but 'interesting' drive off San Diego County road S22. The road in
is a single lane dirt road. Not impassible (obviously) by any means,
certainly not by a 4x4, and almost anything could make it in. Of course
it was dry. However it is narrow with vegetation close in on either side
in spots. It dawned on me more than once that meeting someone driving
out while I was on the way in, or vice verse, was going to be
problematic in certain areas. However that never happen. Despite good
instructions, I think I benefited first time from a guide and from
arriving in daylight. IMO of course. LBV is a somewhat sheltered valley.
If it’s a dry lake bed it has more vegetation on it than any other dry
lake beds I have been on. Not my mental image of a dry lake bed given my
prior *experience*. All the dry lake beds I have been on were in the
high deserts of Southern California (Anza is considered low desert) and
were completely lifeless dirt.

Parking just off the north side of the road, as is I gather the rules
for the state park, I counted maybe 10 or 15 others. Later friends would
join us with their 25 inch dob, eclectic music, and wine - the best
friends! The highlight of setting up my 18 inch dob was dropping the
UTA. Not far, and nothing was damaged except my ego, but the collimation
was, as you might guess, screwed. I did the best I could to get it all
squared and center correctly under the focuser, but noticed it took more
turns of the mirror screws to collimate than it should have, so I have
to work on that in the next few days to make sure it all is correct.
Dropping it was a first, hopefully a last.

Conditions start off ‘ok’. Dry and comfortable temps all night long IMO.
There was some wind in the 5 to 10 mph range. But there were also long
stretches of almost calm. Seeing was very variable. It start off poor
and got somewhat better as the night went on. The site is darker all
around than the club site I use, with far more ‘useable’ sky.
Nonetheless light domes from I gather the coast to the west and El
Centro / Imperial in the east are visible. The transparency was good up
until a lenticular cloud took up residence. Things got progressively
worse until at about 2am, there was very little sky left that was not
cloudy or hazy. That would be a very odd occurrence at my club’s site,
but perhaps not so for LBV. My observing program was the Hershel 400
objects. Or more to the point the Springtime H400 objects which is where
I have been ‘stuck’ for years. Obviously having 112 objects (still) left
to observe, and having this go on for years, and knowing they are all
Springtime galaxies, pretty much shows my commitment to Springtime
observing. Or lack thereof.

Also you will note some long gaps in the times below. Another fallout of
observing with good friends. It’s just irresistible when your friends
have wine and a 25 inch dob to not wander over and have a go at it... oh
and observe... There is no greater force in nature. Before you know it,
an hour has passed.

Aside from the items below I also had a great view of Omega Centauri
through my 15x45 Canon IS binoculars I picked up on eBay for about $450.
Also some stupendous views of M101 and M51 through a friend’s 25 inch
f/5 dob with a borrowed 13mm Ethos. Wow! So without further adieux my
notes. Please note I corrected some errors at home, but not all. I leave
mistakes as instructive to myself and others that my observations are
far far from perfect and get progressively worse as my eyes grow older
(IMO). Note times are in PDT. Sometimes I nail it. Sometimes I get nailed.

Here’s a link to a few pictures
http://fototime.com/inv/0F996972FDBD5E0

Location: Little Blair Valley – Anza Borrego State Park, California 33N
116.3W
Telescope: 45cm f/4.5 Litebox Dobsonian
Eyepieces: 31mm Nagler (75x), 12mm Nagler (195x) both used with a
Paracorr (1.15x)
Date: 04-May-08 from about 03:00UT to 08:00UT

NGC 3945 20:04 31mm with Paracorr – Big, bright, round fuzzy patch of
fuzzy light. Fairly concentrated central area. There are a couple of
field stars that precede it to the west. One being brighter than other.

12mm + Paracorr – Definitely round and much bright central nucleus area.
Hard to tell with bad seeing any other detail. Seeing is only about a 3
or 4 on 1 to 10 scale. There is a bright field star that precedes it to
the west. Then a dimmer field star to the Southeast and yet another
about the same magnitude as the second one but twice the distance to
Northwest. I get the idea it is a face-on galaxy but hard to tell.
Definitely some narrower and dimmer fuzziness in a circular pattern
around a bright but decidedly non-stellar core.

NGC 4036 and NGC 4041 20:13
31mm + Paracorr – Just an obvious and beautiful edge on galaxy.
Definitely a hint of a dark lane even at this low magnification. Highly
elongated with a flying source like shape. NGC 4041 is round with a
distinctive bright middle but not stellar. Beautiful pairing. Probably
separated by 1/3 of degree.

12mm + Paracorr – 4036 Wonderful edge-on galaxy with a quite a bit
brighter nucleus . It is elongated 3 or 4 to 1. I get the Distinct
impression there might be a dust lane but it was more obvious at low
power. It could be the seeing at higher power washes it out. The galaxy
seems like it might be a bit tilted towards us. It has a PA of about 70
or 80. A beautiful very easy to see edge-on. If had to be pinned down to
where I saw the dust lane I’d say running east to west and off center to
the south.

12mm + Paracorr – 4041 - Just fits in the same field of view as 4036.
Again this is giving a good idea they are about 1/3 of degree apart . It
is dimmer than 4036, round and therefore hard to make out any PA. Very
uniform brightness in the nucleus. A good 1/3 of the entire area is the
nucleus area. Definitely not stellar like. With averted vision there
seems to be about twice as much material surrounding the central area
and there doubling the size of the galaxy. No other distinctive features
can be make out. I do get the impression there might be a bit of a
brighter area to the East Southeast and to the South but it is just an
impression as I move it around the eyepiece.

NGC 3982 NGC 3998 NGC 3972 NGC 3977 NGC 3990 – 21:42
3998 12mm + Paracorr Fairly stellar-like core. Has a little bit of
nebulous material around the nucleus. Difficult to make out any PA as
it’s pretty round and the seeing is still probably still only a 5 out of
10. Interesting thing is it has a galaxy NGC 3990 about 10 arc-min to
its west. This is a smaller and somewhat dimmer edge-on with a slightly
brighter middle and a PA of maybe 35 or 45. But it’s smaller than 3998
and just happen to be quite noticeable in the 12mm Nagler’s FOV. I keep
my maps solely displaying the H400 target objects so this object is not
plotted but now I know it to be NGC 3990.

Moving only 1/2 degree to the Southwest of 3998 you come to a very
obvious slash of light that is NGC 3972. An obvious edge-on that again
is not part of the H400. Not as bright as NGC 3998 by any means but
still very obvious and quite big. Elongated about 4 to 1. Very little or
almost no defined nucleus with a PA of about 120 or 130. This object
also has a smaller dimmer companion NGC 3977 about 10 arc-min away to
the N/NE. I just noticed it. Round and relatively a small. Indeed quite
a bit smaller than it’s nearby edge-on with just a little mottling and a
slightly brighter nucleus. No PA that I can make out as its nearly round
as far as I can tell.

Moving to 3982 is in the same FOV as the large edge on NGC 3972. Has two
prominent set of field stars 7 to 10 arc-min to the south of it in an
East to West line. A little bit of mottling but is mostly uniform in
brightness. A little bit of dimmer material especially to the west
southwest. No PA cause its round. Very interesting little area with all
these galaxies and there are more. An area to revisit for sure.

NGC 3953 – 22:02
31mm + Paracorr Really big and bright easy to see. Elongated 4 to 1.
About 5 or 6 arc-min long with a PA about 20 or 30. Almost stellar like
core with a lot of mottling near the center. And there is some variation
in lightness on the North and South lobes of the edge on disc. Followed
by line of 4 stars that are basically running North South with one of
those 4 being almost directly East of core. Also has two somewhat bright
stars close to each other to the North of the galaxy. Very obvious.

12mm + Para – This galaxy is maybe 10 arc-mins in size. Quite big.
Somewhat stellar core. Dim field star right above of the nucleus to the
West. PA of about 25 or 30. Definitely some structure on the North and
South side of the core. And some definite variation or structure in
lobes to the north and south. Even some sort of hint of structure or lanes.

NGC 4102 – 22:19
12mm + Paracorr - Very obvious bright galaxy. Elongated galaxy probably
2 or 3 to 1. Not as elongated as some of the prior ‘edge-on’ galaxies
I’ve seen tonight. Preceded by a field to the west as well as a dimmer
one at twice that distance to the East. Core seem elongated as well with
a somewhat stellar nucleus. Lots of material in the lobes that are
Northeast to Southwest. A PA of about 60 to 70. Probably more like 75
(actually more like 30 according to references). Does not seem to be
symmetrical from one side of the nucleus to the other. The Northeast
side is longer than the Southwest. That could be an illusion because of
the brighter field star on that side.

STT 244 – 22:24
While observing NGC 4102 I noticed a nice double star to the Northwest
both in the 12mm and then on the chart. It’s a white primary with a
light gold secondary. PA of about 300 (324 in 1991 and a separation of
3.2”). Nice little binary and not as easy as one might think with the
bit of breeze that kicks up (5 to 10 mph I’d say – but sometimes calm as
well). And seeing only being ‘moderate’ – maybe 5 or so on a 1 to 10 scale.

NGC 5322 – 22:45
12mm Nagler + ParaCorr This is a pretty bright galaxy with a very bright
stellar like nucleus with a quite bright halo as well. Some close in
field stars. Especially close one is to the South. Galaxy is elongated
maybe 2 to 1 with a PA probably around 90. Definitely almost East West.
Little field star close in the nucleus to the South and then another
field star right on the edge of what I can see of the galaxy to the East
of nucleus some 3 or 4 times further than the Southern close in field
star. Gives the impression of being longer on the Eastern side than the
Western. Could be that field star effect again.

NGC 5474 – 23:01
12mm + ParaCorr – This is sort of in the shadow of M101 which I first
‘stumbled’ upon mistaking it for 5474. At the time I was elated that
such a wonderful object is virtually unknown and included in the H400!
That was of course M101. But not before blurting out, “ Gee. Reminds me
of M101!” which I had just seen in Paul A’s 25 inch dob using a borrowed
Televue Ethos.

But of course NGC 5474 is a wee bit Southeast of M101 about a ‘Nagler or
two’ field of views from the Southeast of M101. Call it 1,5 degrees to
the Southeast. This object is nowhere near as grand and majestic as
M101! It’s round and quite mottled in the core area. Not a stellar
nucleus at all but there is a field star superimposed and slightly
offset from the core to the east. Quite uniform in brightness but there
is mottling that suggests a spiral structure. The field star I mentioned
gives the illusion that the nucleus of offset to the east rather than
being centered. No PA I can discern being quite round.

NGC 5473 – 23:11
12mm + ParaCorr This galaxy is a degree or so NE of M101. Embedded in
ZigZag chain of four stars. Fairly small. Quit bight, high surface
brightness. It appears to make a fifth component of the ZigZag. With
that addition the asterism becomes like a small flattened Cassiopeia.
The ‘W’ opens to the Southeast. Not very easy to make out a PA as it is
fairly small galaxy with stellar like nucleus. Seeing does not really
support going to the 9mm Nagler and I am not sure it would tease more
out of this object. Especially with the bit of a breeze. Looks like it
has a very dim field star is trailing it to the East. A little haziness
surrounding an obvious and bright core. Not much else to say.

NGC 5676 – 23:31
31mm + ParaCorr Very bright obvious edge-on. Situated in the center of a
triangle of bright field stars that fit in a circle of perhaps ¾ of
degree. The brightest star of the triangle is in the East and is a
beautiful golden or orange color. The galaxy has a somewhat brighter
middle. Just a bit of fuzz to the west.

12mm + ParaCorr PA of about 160 or 170 (actually 40 or so??). Definitely
no really bright core or stellar core. Perhaps a very small slightly
brighter core. Fairly evenly lit across the entire surface. It is
elongated about 3 to 1. At low power I thought I glimpsed or got the
impression of a dust lane. But I said nothing figuring it would be more
prominent with more magnification. However at higher power I don’t get
that impression as strongly. Perhaps there is a bit of mottling towards
the Southern side. But I can only guess that if it has a lane it is
toward the Northern edge even though the mottling I mention is towards
the Southern edge. That is to say the Northern side seems to have the
sharper light cutoff.

STT 283 – 23:43
12mm + ParaCorr Noticed this while looking at NGC 5676. Nice white
primary with a small gold or orange secondary with a PA of about 100 or
110 (129 actually in 1991)

NGC 5689 – 23:47 12mm Nagler + Paracorr Pretty obvious edge-on thought a
bit dimmer than some I have seen tonight. Elongated 4 to 1 and quite
needle like. Very bright central nucleus. Very delicate looking. Very
difficult to observe any extensions as it is so thin. Seems like a PA of
about 90. Very classic looking edge-on with maybe a hint of a dust lane
bisecting the disk to the south of the ‘equator’. Followed to the East
Northeast by two small field stars that make sort of a diagonal line
Northwest to Southeast.

NGC 5631 – 00:01
12mm Nagler Paracorr – Very small but with a high surface brightness.
Very bright stellar like core. Very little material showing around it
the nucleus area that I can discern. Very round and no discernable PA.
Nor do I see much detail to it.

NGC 5982 – 01:05
31mm Nagler + Paracorr Very dim round fuzzy. Took me a bit to find it.
Guess I used to hunting brighter quarry (bright in the 45cm scope
anyway). At this low magnification all I can see is a fuzzy patch with a
bright middle. Maybe a field star near the nucleus or maybe a real
stellar like core.

12mm Nagler + Paracorr The extra magnification does not help much. Still
pretty small, round with a stellar like core. No discernable PA. High
surface brightness because I assume, it is so small.

---------------------------------------
Jeffrey D. Gortatowsky
Fullerton, California

by Greg LaFlamme

My wife and I just got back from a wonderful vacation to our mountain
property above and 20 miles East of Kingman AZ. The weather was perfect
(we love it there in May) and as usual, I planned the trip around New
moon. We have a half acre up there @ 6200' in a beautiful and fragrant
ponderosa pine forest. We're in a sorta "half-bowl" flanked by
7000-8500' peaks to my West and North. A short drive up the road, I can
get great horizons but frankly it wasn't necessary if I timed my
observing sessions right. Its a huge black sky filled with stars. I
worked Mark Wagner's April / May lists in conjunction with Urano Metria
and that proved a great combo. Those AGC's are not for wimps! In many
cases I could only see little shimmers and slashes of light with averted
vision! I love my 15" f5 but those AGC's and HCG's had me hankering for
more aperture,,,, a 40" f/4 should do the trick;-) Having said that, I
was surprised at the amount of detail that could be seen in many
galaxies. Mottling, dark rifts and sometimes spiral arms. M99 had a full
set and the view of NGC 4051 with its hooked bar still has me twitching!
Two of my new favorites and I took some time to sketch them. One night I
did a little astrophotography. A minimal effort was made because
"visual" is my game and I hated not being at the eyepiece. This link
works for most but not for all, just let me know if there is an issue.

http://greglaflamme.fototime.com/Hualapia%20astronomy

I had six outta seven dark usable nights, seeing suffered at times but
overall it was my best and most productive astronomy experience to date.
I was organized big time. Every night around 8:00, I would roll my scope
out into the cool night air, remove the covers then take an hour nap.
Bout 9:30 I'd head out, roll the scope to the N. end of the lot, do a
two-star alignment, engage the drives and knock around the big
Messier's. M51 and 101 are incredible!!!!! The thing I love the most
about M51 is the huge "fan" of stars strune into space as the tip of the
great outer arm fades South into the blackness. Richard Crisp captured
it very well in his images from last week. M101 is an observing session
all to itself. SQM readings @ 10:00 were 21.51 then around midnight
ranged from 21.61 @ zenith to 21.83 @ the East and South. With great
lists and Urano Metria set up on my music stand very little squeaked by
me. In fact, I even found a couple GX's not listed in UM (so I drew them
in;-) Something about the altitude I guess, those dim MGC's and UGC's
really popped out. Very entertaining stuff. Who says chasing faint
fuzzies isn't fun, I had a blast and could easily gone out every night
for a year straight between Luna's and one day I'll do just that.

The summer Milky way is here! I did my best to avoid working anything
East of Scorp as I'm saving that for Bumpass/Adin but I did use my 77mm
Miyauchi binocs to brows the Barnard's along our galactic arms.
Incredible wisps of smoke and gas shown in great detail @ 20x
magnification. The added contrast from the small aperture binos really
brings them out and even my wife was in awe. I did use a 26 Nag/OIII to
look at the Veil and Crescent but can you blame me? I went after them
like an angry bass! I'm not listing a bunch of objects, too daunting.
I'll just take the easy way out and say that I logged around 350
objects, most of them new to me. I'll have an exact count once I get
them all entered and complete my follow-ups. I loved the OR's posted by
all this last new moon, they are so well written. I'm happy to read that
Fremont peak got so dark. I'm a huge fan of the squirrel meter when used
properly and Mark J knows how to wield one masterfully. We get similar
readings with a +/- delta of 0.05:-) MJ, you the man! Great work down
South! By the way, you can always hit me on the cell for plumbing advice
and thanks for taking over the list for my while I was on the miserable
dial-up;-) I didn't even read TAC until I got home and had a mess of
catching up to do. Tonight I face Sky tools with a stack of paper and
yellow highlighter...

GML