IDSSP Report (Friday night / Saturday Morning)

Well, I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but everything worked out as far as my retirement from the military, so I packed up the truck and headed off to Jim Edgar Panther Creek Park for the Sangamon Astronomical Society's annual Illinois Dark Sky Star Party.

First off, the weather was cold and cloudy as I drove the 2 hours up to the site. Both the Clear Sky Clock and Weather Channel were saying that it was going to break, so I took the chance. Upon arriving I found about 100 people were registered (close enough since was #96 according to my registration tag), all of whom were heavily bundled against the cold. After looking over the sites, I was still undecided about where to pitch the tent, until I was approached by a member of the St Louis Astronomical Society who asked me to join their group. This worked out well and we were able to swap stories, views through scopes, technical expertise, and I even got to try some of their filters and EP's. The SLAS group sure knows how to welcome people.

Well, the weather continued to be cold and cloudy, but many of us dutifully set up our scopes in hopes of clearing weather. Shortly after twilight, we caught a break and the skies began clearing. It wasn't enough though, and by about 2200, we were totally clouded in again. I continued swapping stories with the SLAS crew until about 2300 when I decided to pack it in for the night. I wasn't too sure about being able to sleep due to the cold, and the 5 cups of coffee I'd had trying to stay warm, but it was the best option available.

Shortly after 0200 in the morning the cold, and those 5 cups of coffee had me crawling back out of the sleeping bag, as I prepared to trek to the nearest outhouse. Unzipping my tent, I was greeted with the Mecca of every stargazer; cold, clear pristine skies. Since my tent faced east, my old friend Orion cheerfully greeted my sleepy eyes in all his glory. Well, needless to say after a quick trek to the aforementioned outhouse, I was hastily assembling my scope again. By 0300, I was up and observing.

Since Orion had greeted me so well, I made him my target. M42/M43 were incredible, I was able to detect the main filaments from edge to edge in my widest EP, well over 1 degree in width. The Trapezium stood out clearly at low power. In addtion, I was able to detect NGC1977 forming a strong halo just to the N of M42. Well naturally, this left me feeling a bit gutsy, and I thought I'd see just how much detail I could squeeze out of the N8i, so I swung on up to Zeta Orionis and B33. Well, I'm pleased to say that the Burning Bush (NGC2024) was very clear. I was able to make out at least 3 distinct dark lanes running through the nebula. And even better, IC434 was visible as a distinct streamer to the S of Zeta. So I settled in and tried upping the magnification, and moving Zeta out of the field of view. Unfortunately, with each EP change, IC434 appeared to be getting dimmer. After much frustration, I finally stood up and checked my scope. Naturally in my haste to get set-up, I'd forgotten to hook up the dew heater, and my corrector plate was pretty well coated. I took this (and my cold toes) as a sign that I should wait until the next night. The Horsehead would have to wait.

I'll give you the write-up on Saturday night tomorrow.

Nice write-up, Joe. I can certainly relate to the "natural" effects of too much coffee and the struggles of sleeping bags while suppressing the "urge". But, as you noted, the process makes for a dependable alarm clock - desired or not.

Napping early in the evening and waking in the (hopefully) clear calm before dawn is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the night sky.

Looking forward to the next installment.
Jeff

Nice write up. That evening was frustrating, and I was about to go to bed at around midnight, hoping for a good night the next night, but as I was talking with others before turning in the skies opened up. When the skies cleared they really cleared. I trained my 16" scope on many small galaxies and star clusters. While dew did pose a problem the dew heaters helped keep it at bay. The Horsehead has always been frustrating, and this was no exception. I thought that I could see some nebulosity south of Zeta Orionis, but I did not see the signature notch. The burning bush, on the other hand appeared in all its glory. NGC 253 was a spectacular site to the south, along with globular cluster NGC 288. Both of these objects are so underrated. Look for them in Sculptor, they are worth the effort. This night saw me launch my new quest for a Herschel List certificate.
Saturday night was clear all night, but the south wasn't quite as good as the previous night, so I looked north through Pegasus, Cassiopea, and Andromeda. I found quite a number of beautiful Herschel objects along the way. I thought that I would conk out before midnight that night because I stayed up to almost 4AM the previous night, but I ended up going to about 1AM.
IDSSP skies can be glorious. This is a worthwhile event for deep sky observing. The only significant light pollution is in the southeast from Springfield, along with a couple of minor light domes in the south. Come out and enjoy, but be sure to dress warmly. It can get quite cold in October.