Observing report for Thursday 27/28 April from Rush Valley
A few (5) of us showed up last evening at the Rush Valley "Pit 'n Pole" site. High cirrus and some breeze at times were bothersome, but after 11:30 or so the clouds were all gone and the breeze died down. A productive night for me, I logged 26 more Herschel-400 galaxies, most in Virgo. Only 53 objects to go(!), and of course the vast majority of these are Spring galaxies. Two more nights like last night and I'll be done. Tyler Allred was there imaging, so expect some new and lovely photos posted soon. Higlights for me included "The Whale" and "The Crowbar" pair of galaxies in Canes Ven., NGC 4631 and 4656 (Tyler was imaging this pair when I left at 1:45); several other galaxy pairings, including NGC 4762/4754, and NGC 5363/5364. There are others I sketched that I need to go back and identify (faint companions to the target galaxy). These are always fun surprises, and I'm reminded that wandering around this part of the sky, it's very easy to get "lost"; detailed star charts and/or accurate DSC's are a must. The dew was just starting to form on the car roofs about 1:30, but had not been a problem at the scopes. The sky looked very nice as I was leaving (reluctantly). -Rich __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Rich, I set up in my back yard last night for a while not until 1:30 though. My daughter and I found the Great Hercules Globular Cluster what a sight, it was the first time to see that one. We also spent some time on the comet, Saturn and Jupiter. My friend Tom Howells and I are going out tonight and you are invited but I doubt you want to drive to Vernal. You mention a DSC, what is that? Thanks, Clark Hall -----Original Message----- From: uvaa-bounces+pilot=ubtanet.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:uvaa-bounces+pilot=ubtanet.com@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Richard Tenney Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 11:46 AM To: Utah-Astronomy; UVAA Subject: [UVAA] Observing report for Thursday 27/28 April from Rush Valley A few (5) of us showed up last evening at the Rush Valley "Pit 'n Pole" site. High cirrus and some breeze at times were bothersome, but after 11:30 or so the clouds were all gone and the breeze died down. A productive night for me, I logged 26 more Herschel-400 galaxies, most in Virgo. Only 53 objects to go(!), and of course the vast majority of these are Spring galaxies. Two more nights like last night and I'll be done. Tyler Allred was there imaging, so expect some new and lovely photos posted soon. Higlights for me included "The Whale" and "The Crowbar" pair of galaxies in Canes Ven., NGC 4631 and 4656 (Tyler was imaging this pair when I left at 1:45); several other galaxy pairings, including NGC 4762/4754, and NGC 5363/5364. There are others I sketched that I need to go back and identify (faint companions to the target galaxy). These are always fun surprises, and I'm reminded that wandering around this part of the sky, it's very easy to get "lost"; detailed star charts and/or accurate DSC's are a must. The dew was just starting to form on the car roofs about 1:30, but had not been a problem at the scopes. The sky looked very nice as I was leaving (reluctantly). -Rich __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ UVAA mailing list UVAA@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uvaa -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.1/326 - Release Date: 4/27/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.1/326 - Release Date: 4/27/2006
Clark, Yeah, Vernal is a bit far... ;o) I never get tired of looking at M13 (and the more aperture you throw at it, the more amazing it looks). DSCs = Digital Setting Circles. It consists of two optical encoders that are mounted on each axis of your telescope mount that feed data to a small (2"x4") "computer" (via RS232 connectors) that contains stored positional data for stars, the planets (you can easily find pluto for example), and thousands of deep-sky fare (the one I use, Sky Commander, has the entire NGC, Messier and IC catalogs, along with a few others). All you need to do is give it the current date, provide a two-star alignment setup, and it then knows where to point you. I'm totally hooked on this little beast. I think I paid about $400 for it a few years back, FWIW. Wishing you clear skies this weekend! Rich --- Clark Hall <pilot@ubtanet.com> wrote:
Rich, I set up in my back yard last night for a while not until 1:30 though. My daughter and I found the Great Hercules Globular Cluster what a sight, it was the first time to see that one. We also spent some time on the comet, Saturn and Jupiter. My friend Tom Howells and I are going out tonight and you are invited but I doubt you want to drive to Vernal.
You mention a DSC, what is that?
Thanks, Clark Hall
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participants (2)
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Clark Hall -
Richard Tenney