OBSERVING REPORTS
ASGH
Saturday night, May 3, 2003, 5 ASGH members went to Arunah Hill for what
turned out to be the best astronomy/observing night in years. Carl Koplan,
Dan Wickles, Bruce Sparrow, Tom Hoffelder with son Chris, and Dick Parker
arrived at Arunah Hill at just about sunset. Carl brought his 12 inch Meade,
Dan his 6 inch Russian Mac-Newt, Bruce his Tele-vue 4 inch refractor, Tom his
14 inch Celestron, and Dick Parker his 12.5 inch f/20 Cassegrain. Interesting
that going to Arunah Hill was a second to going to Cherry Springs. The Cherry
Springs trip was cancelled due to unfavorable weather forcasts.
The night was completely clear with no haze, clouds, or moisture in the
atmosphere. The moon was only a new sliver that set in the West before
astronomical twilight. The sky was an absolute canopy of celestial objects to
observe. Tom Hoffelder was showing his son Chris how to find objects using
the Right Angle Sweep method. Tom was using his list of edge on galaxies.
Carl was going through the Messier objects with his newly fixed LX200. Dick
was using his Cassegrain with the newly refigured secondary (3rd time). We
all found and looked at many galaxies and "M" objects. Notably M5 and M13
were nothing short of spectacular at magnifications as high as 270X. At that
magnification these clusters filled the eyepiece with bright sparkles against
a velvet black sky. The sky was dark enough that all of these objects were as
spectacular in Dan and Bruces smaller apertures as the larger ones. It serves
as a reminder that in days before light pollution a 6 inch telescope worked
fine. Dick's f/20 showed that f/20's do make spectacular deep sky instruments
and dismissed any old wives tales that a Cassegrain does not have contrast.
The night was an excellent send off for Dan Wickles. As some of you know, Dan
is moving to Florida within the next two weeks. Dan is originally from
Florida and came to Connecticut as a result of Pratt & Whitney consolidating
some of Florida Engineering activity. Dan joined ASGH rather soon after
moving to Ct and has been a regular participator at club meetings and at
almost every star party ASGH has been involved with for the past several
years. The evening at Arunah Hill was a nice way for Dan to remember
Astronomy in Connecticut and with ASGH.
Dick Parker
Southington: The DePaolo
Middle School,
ASGH star party for parents and
students was a great success!
November 7, 2002.
Diamonds on velvet, as many said as they looked through our telescopes at the
beautiful Double Cluster in Perseus. This event was even a bigger encore
than our previous school star party. We have been invited back in the spring. Jointly
organized by ASGH member, Julian Shull and DePaulo Middle School teacher,
Patricia Kenefick,
the event started with an inside talk and was followed by an evening of
observing. We had 5 telescopes and a binocular trapezium staffed by 5 ASGH
members. We
viewed the Andromeda Galaxy, M15, M27, M51, M45, the Double Cluster in Perseus
and Saturn. The
event was featured in the Friday, November 8, 2002 Meriden Record-Journal with a
page one photo and a story in the local section.
Many
thanks to the Record-Journal for their continued support of astronomy and dark
sky educational efforts!
See
http://www.record-journal.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/November/07-2966-01Local.txt
Saturday May 18th, Goodwin State Forest - Dick Parker
Saturday May 18th turned out to be a good observing night at
Goodwin State Forest. ASGH members Carl Koplin, Bruce Sparrow, Richard Haley,
and Dick Parker arrived at Goodwin at just about sunset. It had rained all day
but the weathermen had been predicting that the skies would clear starting at
sunset and improving through out the night. The forecasters called this one bang
on. The sun set at approximately 8:00 and the moon and planets were visible by
8:30. There were periods of clouds and clear sky until about 11:30, after which
the skies were mostly clear.
We entertained a local Boy Scout troop with views of the moon and Jupiter until
approximately 10:00. They were quite interested and many had never looked
through a telescope before. After the Scouts retired, and the skies really
cleared at 11:30 some real serious observing began. Carl Koplan calibrated his
newly repaired LX200 on the equatorial wedge. Dick Parker was practicing
finding objects from the Herschel 400 list using coordinates rather than star
hopping, Bruce was clicking off objects and double stars with coordinates in his
refractor, and Rich Haley was chasing his favorite Messier objects. We looked
at: the moon, the comet, Jupiter, M82, M101, M27, M57, M13, M92, M104 to name a
few. Of the Herschel 400 we looked at NGC5466, NGC5866, NGC5907, NGC5982,
NGC6229, NGC6543. There were a few others but can't remember them the day after
the night before. The sidereal time of our observing session ranged from (all
approximate) 11:30 (at 8:30 pm local) to 17:30 (2:30 am local), therefore the
prime RA for objects ranged (accounting for the moon also) from 14 hrs to 18
hrs. We broke up at 2:30 due to heavy dew and FROST. Yes ice was on our stuff
when we quit. As we were breaking down, for a last hoorah we all saw an
incredible fireball of a meteor fall from high in the sky almost to the
horizon.
Till next time.
Dick Parker
Winter Star Party, Marathon Keys,
Florida, February 2002 - John Sillasen
How long
does it take to get home from the Florida Keys, (site of the Winter Star Party)
you ask? 22 CD's......I drove down a week early for a training class in
Orlando. Jay Harder & Dick Parker joined me one week later.
Had a fabulous opportunity to see many Dob's made by manufacturer's that we
don't see regularly up here. Of course, we've all heard of Obsession. Even some
of my parts on my 16" came from Obsession. Many have used Astro-Systems spiders
and secondary holders, but has anyone seen their Telekit?
I've never seen a StarMaster let alone learning that almost all of them have the
alt/az tracking system. Then their is Techtron, makers of the famous "Yard
Scope." That's 36" of aperture at the bottom of a cannon that would make the
military proud. They also make plenty of 'normal' size scopes as well.
I know that many of us are telescope makers and even mirror makers. Whether you
are or not, these scopes can either house your mirror or can be purchased or
assembled with others optics.
Fine instruments all of them. It's very nice to know that there are other
manufacturers out there making great quality instruments. If you're still in the
market for a large aperture Newtonian or Dob type, check out these scopes. Me? I
spent a great deal of time with 20" scopes this past week. Aperture envy strikes
again.
This star party is located on a site of a girl scout camp right on Route 1 in the midst of the Florida Keys. Great view of the Atlantic on one side and Florida Route 1 behind us. The air is so still that the planetary viewing is the best I've ever seen. Getting a clear sky takes a week to get a few good days. Many of the participants are retired and can take the week to wait for a few good days. On the other hand, the Florida Keys in February is not too tough to take. Jay & Dick even went snorkeling.