Observing reports

Re: The KDSO: 2 nights in 4 days???!

StarNerd — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:58:22 GMT

cyberpatzer:
Sometimes you've gotta know when to fold 'em...

How very true!

Re: The KDSO: 2 nights in 4 days???!

cyberpatzer — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:35:31 GMT

I wish you luck catching some clear skies!

I had a shot at it last night, but the wife was giving me the evil eye as I pulled back the window curtains, looking longingly skyward...

Sometimes you've gotta know when to fold 'em...

Re: The KDSO: 2 nights in 4 days???!

StarNerd — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:51:37 GMT

Glad to hear you're getting some observing time. Unfortunately, I think I squandered a good night here. We had clear skies last night, but it had rained earlier and it was cloudy up until sunset, so I never bothered to put the scope out to cool down. After about midnight, I noticed it was clear. I got a nice eyeball view of Jupiter around 2am.

cyberpatzer:
The night ended on a high note with a view of M11, the Wild Duck cluster, which offered a fine view at 190x.

That turned out to be one of the highlights of my viewing last summer when I viewed it last. I have yet to see what it looks like through the Z12. I can't wait. Alas, it is raining again tonight.

The KDSO: 2 nights in 4 days???!

cyberpatzer — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:46:45 GMT

I got a second crack at observing on Friday, and after waiting out fireworks, a cloudy patch, and search lights (!?!), had 3 hours of good observing with decent seeing (7/10) from 11:15-2am.

Objects: M5 (wonderful), M53 (faint), revist of M57, a first time visit to planetaries NGC 6826/Caldwell 15 (Cygnus(a must see...It really does "blink" at low powers), and NGC 6572 (oph--intense green/blue coloration), and views of the rather underwhelming clusters Stephenson I, NGC 6709 (Aquila), and NGC 6633 (oph).

The night ended on a high note with a view of M11, the Wild Duck cluster, which offered a fine view at 190x.

I'm getting into the planetary hunting/obseving, which is a good thing with my rather limited observing options. The list is proving its worth and making my observing sessions more efficient and enjoyable (the cursing ratio has gone down significantly).

If I can get 5-6 more session like the last two in before October, I will be happy. For now--6 days of rain! I'm glad I made the effort...

Reading another post by Jeff- I guess I also was a witness to a meteor from the Bootids shower while looking at M5. An added bonus....