My FOC (Faithfull Observing Companion) , Jessie and I decided to roll out the dob Friday night after the winds quit scouring the top of the ridge on which we live. Transparency was above average, but after an extra warm and humid day the seeing was just marginal. I am also amazed at how late the sky stays bright. Before taking up astronomy I would go outside after 'dark' in the summer and see the stars and never realize just how much leftover light is still bounding around up there. At 10 PM here in the southeast corner of Iowa the night sky is beautiful and well dusted with stars, but as a DSO observer I've come to realize that the very faint stuff, the large difuse nebulae like the North America, and the distant faint galaxies, are not going to show well -- if at all -- before the witching hour.
I made a poor choice to start my night's observing . . . hold on just a moment . . . "Yes, I will tell them." Pardon me for the interuption, but Jessie insists that I tell you that she had suggested that I wait until later in the summer before trying to see all the faint nebulosity in the Rho Ophiuchi region of Scorpius. I thought that part of the sky would be high enough above the horizon to let my OIII and UHC filters do their jobs, but it was not he case. Since I started my observing session about 10PM CDT I think the sky brightness mentioned above was also a huge factor. I did see a bit of the reflection nebula IC 4604 around Rho itself, but found nothing else. I spent a fair amount of time looking, because Jessie get insufferably smug when she's right.
Eventually, though I did give up on the nebulae (later, when Scorpius had risen further and the sky was darker I did see the Barnard 44, the dark nebula above Antares with my 15 X 70 Skymasters), and started looking at the globular clusters. By barlowing my 8mm Stratus eyepiece to get 300X, I ha dthe impression of looking through M4 and seeing the darkness of empty space. That was a neat experience. At the same magnification I resolved a few stars in the dim cluster NGC 6144 NE of Antares. M80 was best viewed at 150X.
Since I was in a globular mood, I made the short jaunt into Ophiucius and found M19, and two NGC clusters north of it whose numbers I don't have in front of me right now. I would tell you what they are but my log book is upstairs and I'm too tired to go and get it, and while Jessie is well skilled at bringing in the morning paper she is rather lazy about running other errands.
I was getting ready to put my equipment away when I looked to the west and saw Melotte 111 high overhead. I decided to take a quick look and see if I could find any of the galaxies that reside there. I centered my Telrad on the east side of the cluster and began to slowly pan around the area at 50X with my 24mm ep. I quickly found NGC 4494, a tight little spiral with a very bright core and just hints of stubby arms. Sliding a bit further east I found the treasure of the night -- NGC 4565 the Silver Needle Galaxy. This is an awesome galaxy in a 10" scope. Long and thin with a bright yet small central bulge, and the thin mottled dark lane running just slightly off center. I was surprised at the detail I could make out in an edge-on galaxy.
So, my FOC can be as smug as she wants about my earlier failures, I got my Needle in the end.
Clear Skies to you all.
Correction (6-9-08): Upon further research I find that I was wrong in calling NGC 4494 "a tight little spiral . . . with stubby arms", oh, the tricks our eyes can play. NGC 4494 is actually an eliptical galaxy, and hence would have no arms, stubby or otherwise.