Observing Report 02/22/04 - 02/29/04
Equipment: Heep ('umble 4.5" DS Newtonian on EQ mount, 900mm, f/8)
Eyepeices: 20mm, 10mm, 6.7mm Meade Plossls, 2x Orion Shorty Barlow
Location: Newmarket, Ont.
=======================================================
What a week! Started at by brother-in-law's home in a semi-rural area boasting very dark skies. Observing notes posted here last week. A whole week of cloudless skies ... thought I'd died and gone to Heaven! Here are the highlights:
Every night the seeing was better than the last. Jupiter and Saturn were rock-solid at 180x. My new barlow is definitely getting a workout. Got a very good view of GRS for the first time this season. Darker than last year, but no hint of colour. The GRS was clearly defined, preceded by a white bow-wave churning up the SEB. Noticed several rounded dents taken out of the NEB towards the equator, almost like little bites taken out of a cob of corn.
Likewise, views of Saturn were the very best I've had. Surface detail was abundant, and faint colour differences on the planet's surface. The "C" ring was clearly seen at 135x and 180x. Also, for the very first time, subtle colour differences in the "B" ring itself were seen, especially on the edge bordering the Cassini Division.
Got serveral amazing views of the moon last week as well. One of the highlights was seeing a huge, long escarpment on the five-day-old moon. First time I'd really noticed it, but at 180x, it just jumped out at me. Like a long, sinuous, two hundred mile long cliff. Very interesting.
The highlight of the week was finally nailing NGC 2392, the Clown-Face nebula. I had tried to locate this several times before, but it's difficult to home in on when the brightest guide star is 4th magnitude and completely washed out by streetlights afflicting my front lawn. According to Turn Left, it's a couple of degrees from Wazat in Gemini. Sounds like an Abbot and Costello skit, doesn't it?
Lou: "That star up there, Wazat?"
Bud: "Exactly."
Lou: "That's what I'm askin' you! Wazat?"
Bud: "And I'm telling you: You're absolutely right."
And so on...
But I digress: This planetary has been called one of the brightest in the sky in TLAO, but maybe because I was viewing from my light-bathed front yard, it didn't look very bright. It certainly didn't seem to be as bright as M57. At 90x, I could detect a very bright core and a rather ragged outer shell. This is in contrast to M57, which has a dark core and a smooth outer shell. Well, maybe from a dark site it looks better.
Ended the week where I started: At my brother-in-law's place, celebrating another birthday. Showed my six year old neice Saturn and Clavius at 180x. Clavius was huge, showing crumbling, terraced walls and about a dozen craterlets. Boy, magnification does wonders on the moon. My neice was thrilled. That's one of the real rewards of this hobby, watching a child get that excited.
Clear nights ... dark sites,
Darren
Equipment: Heep ('umble 4.5" DS Newtonian on EQ mount, 900mm, f/8)
Eyepeices: 20mm, 10mm, 6.7mm Meade Plossls, 2x Orion Shorty Barlow
Location: Newmarket, Ont.
=======================================================
What a week! Started at by brother-in-law's home in a semi-rural area boasting very dark skies. Observing notes posted here last week. A whole week of cloudless skies ... thought I'd died and gone to Heaven! Here are the highlights:
Every night the seeing was better than the last. Jupiter and Saturn were rock-solid at 180x. My new barlow is definitely getting a workout. Got a very good view of GRS for the first time this season. Darker than last year, but no hint of colour. The GRS was clearly defined, preceded by a white bow-wave churning up the SEB. Noticed several rounded dents taken out of the NEB towards the equator, almost like little bites taken out of a cob of corn.
Likewise, views of Saturn were the very best I've had. Surface detail was abundant, and faint colour differences on the planet's surface. The "C" ring was clearly seen at 135x and 180x. Also, for the very first time, subtle colour differences in the "B" ring itself were seen, especially on the edge bordering the Cassini Division.
Got serveral amazing views of the moon last week as well. One of the highlights was seeing a huge, long escarpment on the five-day-old moon. First time I'd really noticed it, but at 180x, it just jumped out at me. Like a long, sinuous, two hundred mile long cliff. Very interesting.
The highlight of the week was finally nailing NGC 2392, the Clown-Face nebula. I had tried to locate this several times before, but it's difficult to home in on when the brightest guide star is 4th magnitude and completely washed out by streetlights afflicting my front lawn. According to Turn Left, it's a couple of degrees from Wazat in Gemini. Sounds like an Abbot and Costello skit, doesn't it?
Lou: "That star up there, Wazat?"
Bud: "Exactly."
Lou: "That's what I'm askin' you! Wazat?"
Bud: "And I'm telling you: You're absolutely right."
And so on...
But I digress: This planetary has been called one of the brightest in the sky in TLAO, but maybe because I was viewing from my light-bathed front yard, it didn't look very bright. It certainly didn't seem to be as bright as M57. At 90x, I could detect a very bright core and a rather ragged outer shell. This is in contrast to M57, which has a dark core and a smooth outer shell. Well, maybe from a dark site it looks better.
Ended the week where I started: At my brother-in-law's place, celebrating another birthday. Showed my six year old neice Saturn and Clavius at 180x. Clavius was huge, showing crumbling, terraced walls and about a dozen craterlets. Boy, magnification does wonders on the moon. My neice was thrilled. That's one of the real rewards of this hobby, watching a child get that excited.
Clear nights ... dark sites,
Darren
