A group of dedicated deep-sky observers from ASH and CAS met at a nearby dark site two Fridays ago. We had a fine time despite very windy conditions, a factor that the local forecasts had seemed to miss completely. There were eight telescopes ranging in size from 80mm to 20 inches on the mountain top that night. Here's a brief report on some of the things I saw.
The bright type Ia supernova SN 2007gi in NGC 4036 (for further information click on http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2007/sn2007gi.html ) was fairly easy to detect through my friend Tony Donnangelo's 14.5" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob. We also looked at two novae, V5558 Sgr and N Vul 07 (see http://www.aavso.org/publications/specialnotice/57.shtml ), both of which exhibited ruddy hues. Pluto was quite a bit closer to home and much fainter through Tony's scope.
Tony and I conducted a filter comparison between a Meade narrowband filter that I had been given, an Orion UltraBlock narrowband filter, and a Tele Vue Bandmate OIII line filter using his filter slide. The Bandmate appeared to be the best of the three. Afterwards, we compared the Bandmate with Lumicon Deep Sky broadband (just for the heck of it) and Lumicon OIII line filters. The Lumicon OIII was clearly superior as was expected. The target objects were NGC 6992 (the eastern segment of the Cygnus Loop or the Veil Nebula) and M27.
My 101mm Tele Vue refractor provided a good filtered view of NGC 7000, the North American Nebula. NGC 6960 and NGC 6992, the two major components of the Veil Nebula, were visible simultaneously. A bit later NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) and NGC 1499 (the California Nebula) were easy targets through the refractor and the appropriate filters. After viewing NGC 7814 (see http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n7814.html ), an interesting 10.5 magnitude edge-on spiral galaxy in Pegasus, first through Tony's 14.5" reflector and then Bob Pody's 80mm Stellarvue achromat, I decided to have a look at it through my Tele Vue. NGC 7814 was a bit easier to see with the additional 21mm of aperture and was not a particularly difficult observation.
Bob Werkman and Karl Krasley were working at some very high magnifications that night. At one point they were comparing views of NGC 6826 (the Blinking Nebula - http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n6826.html ) at well over 900x through Bob's 18" Obsession Dob and more than 500x through Karl's 8" TMB achromat. I had some excellent views of quite a few other DSOs through both scopes as well as Lou Berman's 17.5" and Ed Kane's 20" Dobs. Especially memorable were M17, the Double Cluster through Bob's 30mm Leitz ocular, M33, NGC 6946 in Cepheus, and at the very end of the night, NGC 1023 in Perseus. Bob's Denkemeier binoviewer was really cooking that night and Karl's large refractor excelled at pushing the limits of eight inches of aperture, particularly on galaxies.
I also really enjoyed seeing the 15th magnitude disrupted galaxy UGC 10214, the Tadpole Galaxy (browse http://jumk.de/astronomie/galaxies/arp-188.shtml ), in Draco through Ed Kane's 20" scope. This faint galaxy is some 420 million light years distant.
Dave Mitsky
The bright type Ia supernova SN 2007gi in NGC 4036 (for further information click on http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2007/sn2007gi.html ) was fairly easy to detect through my friend Tony Donnangelo's 14.5" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob. We also looked at two novae, V5558 Sgr and N Vul 07 (see http://www.aavso.org/publications/specialnotice/57.shtml ), both of which exhibited ruddy hues. Pluto was quite a bit closer to home and much fainter through Tony's scope.
Tony and I conducted a filter comparison between a Meade narrowband filter that I had been given, an Orion UltraBlock narrowband filter, and a Tele Vue Bandmate OIII line filter using his filter slide. The Bandmate appeared to be the best of the three. Afterwards, we compared the Bandmate with Lumicon Deep Sky broadband (just for the heck of it) and Lumicon OIII line filters. The Lumicon OIII was clearly superior as was expected. The target objects were NGC 6992 (the eastern segment of the Cygnus Loop or the Veil Nebula) and M27.
My 101mm Tele Vue refractor provided a good filtered view of NGC 7000, the North American Nebula. NGC 6960 and NGC 6992, the two major components of the Veil Nebula, were visible simultaneously. A bit later NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) and NGC 1499 (the California Nebula) were easy targets through the refractor and the appropriate filters. After viewing NGC 7814 (see http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n7814.html ), an interesting 10.5 magnitude edge-on spiral galaxy in Pegasus, first through Tony's 14.5" reflector and then Bob Pody's 80mm Stellarvue achromat, I decided to have a look at it through my Tele Vue. NGC 7814 was a bit easier to see with the additional 21mm of aperture and was not a particularly difficult observation.
Bob Werkman and Karl Krasley were working at some very high magnifications that night. At one point they were comparing views of NGC 6826 (the Blinking Nebula - http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n6826.html ) at well over 900x through Bob's 18" Obsession Dob and more than 500x through Karl's 8" TMB achromat. I had some excellent views of quite a few other DSOs through both scopes as well as Lou Berman's 17.5" and Ed Kane's 20" Dobs. Especially memorable were M17, the Double Cluster through Bob's 30mm Leitz ocular, M33, NGC 6946 in Cepheus, and at the very end of the night, NGC 1023 in Perseus. Bob's Denkemeier binoviewer was really cooking that night and Karl's large refractor excelled at pushing the limits of eight inches of aperture, particularly on galaxies.
I also really enjoyed seeing the 15th magnitude disrupted galaxy UGC 10214, the Tadpole Galaxy (browse http://jumk.de/astronomie/galaxies/arp-188.shtml ), in Draco through Ed Kane's 20" scope. This faint galaxy is some 420 million light years distant.
Dave Mitsky
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
