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Mixed bag night
Last post 07-04-2008 02:11 PM by zachsdad. 1 replies.
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  • 07-03-2008 02:56 PM

    Mixed bag night

    6/2/2008 10:15pm EDT Wednesday Night

    Equipment: 130mm f/8 long tube reflector, 26mm, 9.7mm and 6.4mm plossl (39x, 105x, and 159x, respectively) and 2x barlow (78x, 210x, and 319x respectively).  Naked-eye seeing approx mag 4.3 around zenith.

    ngc2438, thanks for that link to GRS Transit times.  There was a transit at 10:53pm last night, the sky was clear, so I got the 'scope out and set it all up.  Jupiter is still low in the South and I got it centered in the 'scope at 159x.  I could see the 2 major equatorial cloud belts, but still couldn't make out the GRS.  I watched for about 5 minutes or so as the cloud belts cleared and fuzzed due to the atmosphere.  I tried the barlow and 6.4mm EP (319x) which was way too blurry - I couldn't get focus.  I tried the barlow and 9.7mm EP (210x) and I still couldn't get focus.  159x seems the best I could do.  I'm skeptical as to whether I can see the GRS due to it being so low in the South all the time.  Watching the cloud belts come in and out of focus I realize how much atmosphere there is at that low angle.

    ngc2438, I took a stab at NGC 7027 and got lost trying to star-hop to it.  I know I would probably be better off with different software or an actual star atlas, but, for better or for worse (worse in this case) I was using Meade AutoStar Suite as my software star atlas.  Using 58 nu Cyg as my starting point (because I could see it), I started star-hopping North-East to SAO 50301 (small magnitude 7.1 red star) to SAO 50342 to SAO 50409/50407 (I don't know if this is a binary or optical double, but these 2 stars are very close, magnitude 6.3 and 9.0 respectively).  I was right there!!!  There are a couple other dim stars that make the letter "V" opening out to the west with SAO 50409/50407 at the tip.  But Meade AutoStar shows two more magnitude 6.3 stars beneath the "V" which form more like the letter "X".  I did not see this in my 'scope.  I thought that since they are magnitude 6.3 they should be pretty bright, but there was nothing in my 'scope in that area - just black sky.  It was getting late and I figured I was lost so I gave it up.

    Today, as I was writing this up, I went back and started verifying Meade AutoStar Suite with Google Sky and found that Google Sky did not show these two strange 6.3 magnitude stars either!  Then, I clicked on those stars in Meade Autostar Suite and the info window shows them both as "SAO 0"!!!  I think Meade AutoStar Suite is showing bogus stars!  It wasn't me going insane after all!!!  And I was only 50 arc-minutes away!!!

    I did check on Jupiter one last time at about 11:30pm it was higher up in the south (about 25 deg. Alt).  I looked for the GRS again - still no luck.  The atmosphere must have gotten worse, actually, because the cloud belts kept appearing and disappearing every few seconds (not just fuzzing in and out like before).  I thought about exploring Sagittarius, but then realized I have to do the "go to work" thing in the morning.  So, I packed it in and went to bed.  There will be other nights. 

    -StarNerd

  • 07-04-2008 02:11 PM In reply to

    Re: Mixed bag night

    Nice report, StarNerd.  One of these nights you'll bag the GRS.  I looked many time before I finally spotted it.  Now it is much easier to see since I know what to look for.  It is much paler than I originally thought.  Good luck.

    Signature
    Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. -- Albert Einstein
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