On Fri, 27 Nov 2009, Joe Bauman wrote:
Nice observing report! What time did you set up? And how long did you stay at it to accomplish so much? Thanks, Joe
Thanks. Mostly I wanted to share with anyone who hasn't gone there that Rockport isn't so bad a place. I set up at about 3:30, maybe a little earlier. I started observing right away, without letting the mirror cool. The first objects were a little fuzzy because of that, and maybe that's why I couldn't find M98 on my first try (also, I hadn't looked to see that it was edge-on, so I think I was looking for a different shape). I was out about 2 hours. The session was sort of smash-and-grab. Sometime when it's a little warmer I'd like to spend more time examining the galaxies. I spent a little time trying to see the lane in M104, but I can't say for sure that I did. If I had had the finder with me, I would have stayed a little longer. The double cluster and the beehive were naked eye, so I would have liked to look, but pointing was tedious. Anyway, for such a short drive, I'll just go back sometime. For being on the shore of a lake, with moderate humidity and low temperature, dew and frost were not a problem. ---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu