s e a n w i L L s o n

illinois dark skies star party

Feb 4

SeanAstronomy & Space Astronomy, Observing, Star Party Comments Off

i made it out this weekend to the illinois dark skies star party in southern illinois. while the weather didn’t cooperate 100% it did allow for some better than average observing. the weekend started out with the 3.5 hours drive to the site which was really nice. the grounds were clean, buildings were all new, and the shower area was clean. we couldn’t have asked for a nicer location in terms of amenities.

the seeing the first night greeted us with some clouds early on and the seeing was only decent. since i was overly tired i only got a few hours of observing in before i decided to cut my losses and hit the hay. i restricted most of my observing that first night to objects near the zenith because of the clouds on the horizon.

the seeing on the second night was more of the same clouds but the seeing was improved and we were able to get more observing in. i managed about 4 hours of observing before i tossed the towel in. i spent a lot of time in sagittarius and lyra. it cleared up later that night but i forgot to put in a standing wake-up request in to be woken on clear skies, another lesson learned. a bunch of people were up till the wee hours of the morning observing and star hopping though.

the observing on the third and final night was hit and miss at first. we were bouncing around in between the pockets of clouds. finally around midnight the clouds receded from everywhere but the horizons. there were a few occasional wisps but they weren’t too obstructive. i watched a lot of the moon as it set, jumped around in sagittarius and lyra some more and took in a ton of messier objects. i was galaxy and glob hopping in camelopardalis and most of the constellations near cassiopeia. i stayed awake until saturn popped out of the horizon haze and and orion was just about 40° above the horizon. the seeing that low on the horizon was too unsteady to put any power into saturn but it was still pleasant to see it again.

except for the first night the dew was great the whole time and i wasn’t plagued with the dew problems from my last excursion out. the temperatures also didn’t get as low though either so i have yet to see if the antidew really remains a problem.

overall i liked the observing site and the star party. i honestly thought that the turnout was going to be bigger than it was. i guess the turnout was larger than years past but it wasn’t what i expected. i was also a bit surprised that they were advertising this location as one of the darkest locations in illinois as well. there was some serious sky glow from nearby springfield and other near towns, obviously more prominent with the clouds. we were still able to see the milky way and most of stuff everyone planned on seeing so it wasn’t that bad, and it definitely wasn’t as bad as the seeing at the astrofest location. it definitely wasn’t one of the best in the state however.

i saw a ton of objects this time out and since we were bouncing around a lot i’m not sure that i’ll make a posting about everything i saw but i’ll try to cover the highlights in a future post. i’m still up in the air about returning to the star party next year but we’ll cross that bridge later. in summary though the site was nice and clean with good facilities, the food was very good and much better than years past (from what others said), and the seeing was average though maybe a little above average.

wildcat observing report

Feb 4

SeanAstronomy & Space Astronomy, Observing, Star Party 1 Comment

Well I finally finished my observing log for my Wildcat trip. After all is said and done I think I was able to find about 60 – 70% of the objects that we viewed, but I know I missed a number of important ones. I may edit this later as people remind me of some of the things we saw.

The seeing was good on all three nights but the transparency was clearer on the third night than the first two. The first two nights were also very dewy and wreaked havoc on my telescope as there was a problem with my Antidew system. I’m still trying to diagnose exactly what the problem was. I thought I knew but after talking to Mag1 I think I was wrong.

While I was observing I took it upon myself to master a few constellations while I was up there. I chose to master Cygnus the Swan and Ophiuchus the Serpent Holder. They both had quite a few Messier and NGC (New General Catalogue) objects. Ophiuchus was low on the horizon and I had to wait for it to rise each night but I had plenty to do with Cygnus near the Zenith.

I’m trying something a little different this time. I’m giving links to various online websites to all of the objects I viewed. I’m also telling you the common name, where available, the constellation it’s located in with a link to more information, and finally the type of object that was viewed. I’m trying to be a bit more detailed in my logs and want to refine them even more as time goes on. Anyhow, here’s the log for the weekend.

• Uranus — [ Aquarius • Planet ] — I was able to find Uranus pretty quickly in my 35 mm Panoptic. There were 3 stars in the field of view when comparing it to the finder chart I printed out and the only one that wasn’t twinkling was the planet in question. As confirmation I pumped up the power with my 9mm and 5mm Naglers. It was near colorless but the sphere was pronounced at high power. I didn’t print out any finder charts with the location of the moons so I couldn’t tell if any of the fainter star like objects were moons.
• Neptune & Pluto — [ Capricornus & Serpens Cauda • Planet ] — I had the charts printed out for both of these object but wasn’t able to distinguish them from the surrounding stars. I thought Neptune would be easier to find due to color or lack of twinkle (planets don’t twinkle) but I wasn’t able to pick it out of the lineup, maybe next time. As for Pluto, that’s definitely an object you need to view over time and take note of changes in the field of view.
• IC 4665 — [ Ophiuchus • Open Cluster ] — I tackled this cluster as part of my mastering of Ophiuchus. It easily fit within my 35mm and 24mm Panoptics. The stars aren’t very tight but their colors are interesting. You can make out a beautiful red star just east of the heart of the cluster.
• M2 — [ Aquarius • Globular Cluster ] — This is a tight little globular cluster with about 100,000 stars (I counted them all, honest). It frames well in my 24 mm and my 9 mm is a bit much. I really need to get a mid range 13 or 16 mm eyepiece to fill my gap. It had a really bright center that was hard to make out individual stars but around the edges it is much softer and I was able to easily make out the stars at higher power.
• M10 — [ Ophiuchus • Globular Cluster ] — This is a small tight globular that was really hard to resolve at low powers. Pumping up the power brought more stars into the field but the seeing tore up the field. I wasn’t able to resolve many stars at the periphery, perhaps under better seeing I would be able to resolve more.
• M12 — [ Gumball Globular • Ophiuchus • Globular Cluster ] — Another very faint cluster that was part of my mastering of Ophiuchus. I only used my 24 mm on this object and was barely able to make it out. The seeing on M10 led me to not even try pushing up the power on this one.
• M13 — [ Hercules Cluster • Hercules • Globular Cluster ] — When you ask someone if they’ve ever seen a globular, 9 times out of 10 if they have it’ll likely have been this one. It was at the top of the sky not to far from zenith most of the night. I had a few opportunities to cycle through all of my eyepieces on this one. From 35 mm to 5 mm this one pleased at every level. Heck, it was easily distinguishable to the naked eye using averted vision. Stars were resolvable into the center where they were replaced by a dense cloud of light. This is truly an amazing site and recommended for any amateur observer who wants to wow their family with just about any aperture telescope.
• M15 — [ Pegasus Cluster • Pegasus • Globular Cluster ] — Another amazing cluster that was really bright at it’s core and quickly faded to a faint halo. I wasn’t able to resolve many of the stars in the halo at higher magnitude.
• M20 — [ Trifid Nebula • Sagittarius • Cluster with Nebulosity ] — I didn’t get a chance to look at this one through my telescope. I viewed it in a 22 mm through a 11.5” newtonian. I think I was able to make out the faint color differences between the different segments but it could have been my minds eye playing tricks on me. No matter though as it looked amazing. I should have tried for this one in my telescope but never got around to it.
• M22 — [ Sagittarius Cluster • Sagittarius • Globular Cluster ] — I hunted this beauty down with the help of a friend. It popped out from behind the trees for long enough to spin the Portaball around and gobble up this glob. A little known bit of trivia about M22 is that it’s the third brightest globular in the sky. Once I knew where it was I could make it out using averted vision with the naked eye.
• M27 — [ Dumbbell Nebula • Vulpecula • Planetary Nebula ] — I spent more time with my telescope pointed at this object than any other object. Not only could I not get over how clear and defined it was without a filter but I used this object during the public observing session on Saturday. I spent most of my time using my 24 mm but I did throw in my 9 mm for a while. It was definitely a softer view but still quite enjoyable. I tried using my narrow band filter but thought it made the image seem too faded and I couldn’t make out any additional details. I thought I could sense some colorization but I honestly wouldn’t bet the farm on it. I wasn’t able to discern the central star, maybe next time perhaps under steady skies.
• M29 — [ Cooling Tower • Cygnus • Open Cluster ] — A nice quick open cluster on the way to the Veil and North American Nebula. It wasn’t much to look at and I don’t quite understand how it got it’s nickname of the Cooling Tower.
• M31, M32, M110 — [ Andromeda Galaxy Cluster • Andromeda • 3 Galaxies ] — To me this was the biggest wow factor of the weekend. I’ve always seen the pictures in magazines and books of these three galaxies together and thought to myself what they must look like under really clear skies. Well I finally got the opportunity and while they don’t quite look like the pictures they are still quite breathtaking. With my lowest power widest view eyepiece (35 mm with 68° FOV) I still wasn’t able to fit all of M31 into the field. Only when I borrowed some Canon 10×30 IS Binoculars was I able to see the complete glory of Andromeda in the field, that is after I picked up my jaw of the floor. Those binoculars are on my short list of must haves.
• M33 — [ Triangulum Pinwheel Galaxy • Triangulum • Galaxy ] — In my 24 mm this was a quite enjoyable galaxy though it is pretty faint and can easily be passed over. After staring at it a while and scanning the field I was starting to make out some details.
• M34 — [ Spiral Cluster • Perseus • Open Cluster ] — A nice cluster that is visible to the naked eye if you know where to look. It was best framed in my 24 mm and I think it was one of the better open clusters I saw this weekend. I’m not quite sure why it’s categorized as a Spiral Cluster though.
• M39 — [ Cygnus • Open Cluster ] — This was another one of those open clusters that I passed over a few times and didn’t know what I was looking for. Only after I dropped my 35 mm in did I see it, as faint as it was. I think this would be a nice binocular object, now if I only had a pair.
• M51 & NGC 5195 — [ Whirlpool Galaxy • Canes Venatici • Galaxy ] — Another classic object that was quite amazing in dark skies. In my 24 mm it was pleasing to the eye and you could clearly make out the two galaxies. With averted vision you could barely make out a few arms. Under higher power at a neighboring telescope I could make out more details though the background was muted a bit and definitely made it more difficult to see details. I didn’t think to drop in my 9 mm or 5 mm unfortunately, maybe next time.
• M52 — [ The Scorpion • Cassiopeia • Open Cluster ] — A decent cluster that took way to long to locate. Once I found it though I could easily jump right to it. I’m always amazed how once I find something and pick out a pattern I can jump straight to it. I enjoy finding patterns and trying to find the easiest way to find an object in the sky. The simple hint for this one is to draw a line from Schedar to Caph in Cassiopeia and follow it the same distance upward. Once there scan a little further on the same path and then boom, your right on top of it.
• M56 — [ Lyra • Globular Cluster ] — A nice small globular midway between Albireo in Cygnus and Sulafat in Lyra. I was’t able to resolve many stars at low power and at higher power the view fell apart and turned very soft.
• M57 — [ Ring Nebula • Lyra • Planetary Nebula ] — Yet another classic object that looked great under clear skies. I again cycled through all of my eyepieces and each was better than the previous. A bunch of us tried to make out the central star with my 5 mm but weren’t able to declare it as visable. Another reason to buy a barlow I guess.
• M71 — [ Sagitta • Globular Cluster ] — A nice little cluster near the Dumbbell Nebula that was clearly resolved in my 24 mm. I wasn’t able to discern the nebulosity that is supposed to be in the background, maybe with a narrow band or OIII filter.
• M76 — [ Little Dumbbell Nebula • Perseus • Planetary Nebula ] — A very cool little nebula that looks a lot like a mini M27. I wanted to pump up the power on this one with my 9 mm and 5 mm but got sidetracked never to return. In the 24 mm it was easily seen and I could make out some detail but I wanted to see more in my telescope. I saw more traces of similarity to M27 in another newtonian but it wasn’t the same as seeing it in my telescope.
• M103 — [ Cassiopeia • Open Cluster ] — A very colorful open cluster at 8 o’clock off of Ruchbah. Some people say it looks like a christmas tree but I don’t see it. Regardless it still is quite pretty in my 24 mm eyepiece.
• NGC 457 — [ Owl Cluster • Cassiopeia • Open Cluster ] — A fun open cluster that when viewed through a wide field eyepiece resembles an owl. The two brightest stars are the eyes and the rest of the cluster is the torso and outstretched wings of the owl. Some people think that it resembles E.T. but I don’t see it. Next time there’s a star party I’m going to show this object, it’s quite fun.
• NGC 869 & NGC 884 — [ Perseus Double Cluster • Perseus • Open Cluster ] — This pair of open clusters takes up the entire field of view in my 35 mm, it also frames quite nicely in my 24 mm. I actually mistook this pair of objects with my naked eye as Andromeda. Only after I spun the Portaball around and peeked in the eyepiece did I realize what I was looking at.
• NGC 6384 — [ Ophiuchus • Galaxy ] — Another object that was part of my mastering of Ophiuchus. This was fairly easy to see and I was able to easily make out the surrounding stars with the naked eye. I wasn’t able to make out any arms but the core was bright and defined.
• NGC 6960 & NGC 6992 — [ Veil Nebula • Cygnus • Diffuse Nebula ] — While Andromeda was a high point of the weekend this object had to be the peak. I had never seen the Veil from any of my observing sites. I had it on my list of things to view while at Wildcat so I knew I would see it, what I didn’t know was how amazing it was going to look. The nebulus strands and filaments had so many details. I borrowed a friends OIII filter (I have to get me one of these) and it I almost fell over. No, it wasn’t because the eyepiece was so heavy but instead because in my 35 mm this 2” filter made the Veil appear almost 3D. The fingers and filaments of the Veil Nebula West (NGC 6960) were remarkable. Seeing 52 Cygni framed with the Veil around it with two huge filaments branching off to the side from the main body was fantastic. To the east was the Veil Nebula East (NGC 6992) also known as the Network Nebula because it appears as a network of filaments in the sky. Even with the wide field of view and 2” eyepiece you still have to scan around to capture the full effect of this nebula. I swear that the more I scanned the more I saw, it was almost as if it never ended. I’ve never see such a detailed object that was this enormous. I also took some time to view this object in a few other telescopes and can honestly say that none of them did it as much justice as mine. The background was darker and the filaments were much more defined in the Portaball. This is my new favorite object in the sky.
• NGC 7000 — [ North American Nebula • Cygnus • Diffuse Nebula ] — I wasn’t as impressed with this object as I thought I was going to be. I think it was because I really couldn’t grasp where it was I was looking. I also didn’t get a chance to view this one through my telescope. I viewed it through a 11.5” and 16” dobsonian. Each of them looked good but I just couldn’t make out the Gulf of Mexico which is what I was supposed to be seeing. It was getting late and I think the transparency was degrading, either that or I was just blind. I was expecting it to be as defined as the Veil and it wasn’t.
• NGC 7331 — [ Pegasus • Galaxy ] — A very nice 9.5 magnitude galaxy with quite few visible companions. There were a few that I wasn’t able to see but with better seeing I bet we could have seen them. I thought I was able to discern some structure to the spiral, but I thought that a few times this weekend. I think I am getting better and breathing steadily and using my averted vision more to see details. Anyhow, this was a fairly bright galaxy and was semi edge-on.
• NGC 7789 — [ Cassiopeia • Open Cluster ] — Yet another open cluster in Cassiopeia. It’s one of those that you easily miss if you don’t have a wide field of view or if your in a hurry. Once you find it though you see a ton of stars with a rich range of colors and brightnesses. I bet this would look pretty amazing in binoculars. I used my 35 mm and felt that it hadn’t done it justice.

I realized a few things while I was out this time. The first is that I needed a better field almanac, the SkyAtlas 2000.0 desktop color version that I was using got way too damp and that made me not want to use it. While I was there I used a friends black background with white stars SkyAtlas and really liked it so I’m going to pick that up. I also really liked his companion guide for finding more details about each object as well as quickly seeing if I was wasting my time trying to find something that was way to faint. Another thing I realized was that my observing table was way too small for my papers, eyepieces, tools and everything else. I need to get a long fold up table that can safely hold everything. That’s on the short list of must haves for my next outing. Finally I found a huge hole in my eyepiece collection between my 9 mm and 24 mm. I thought I could ease through it but it was noticeably sparse when I tried to turn it up a bit but not quite to 9 mm worth of power. I need to pick up the 13 mm Nagler T6 and/or the 16 mm Nagler T6 to fill the gap a bit. I also wouldn’t mind checking out the 14 mm Pentax XW or any of the Pentax line. I haven’t had the opportunity to view through any of these. And finally, the other thing I realized is that I need a nice pair of binoculars. No, not a huge pair for thousands of dollars just a nice pair of all around lenses to use during downtime when I am sitting and just staring at the stars, which I found myself doing quite often. There were so many stars out that you couldn’t help just look up with your jaw wide open. Luckily there were no bugs to collect in it since the temperatures were in the low 40’s.

In summary, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend of observing or camaraderie. I had a great time and am looking forward to my trip next month to another star party. Clear skies to everyone!

rain rain go away

Feb 4

SeanAstronomy & Space, Personal Astronomy, Observing, Star Party Comments Off

well, camping this weekend was a bust of sorts. we still had a good time sleeping in the tent, hanging out with people, and seeing some beautiful sites. the state parks in wisconsin are really nice. i’ll admit that i haven’t been camping in a while but the showers were nice, clean, and even the outhouses were well kept and clean. heck they even had toilet paper.

we arrived late on friday after driving through heavy downpours. we set the new tent up with help from some party members. after hanging out and chatting for most of the evening the rain came in around 9:30 pm. about that time we all called it a night, we didn’t think it was going to clear up enough to see stars. the rain came down nonstop until about 5 am and was pretty rough most of the evening. needless to say we didn’t sleep that well. i could hardly sleep at all, my imagination kept wandering to mud slides and rain pouring into our tent. no worries though, we were perfectly dry, it was merely my mind playing tricks on me. we did get a bit wet though as we didn’t seal the seams. nothing a bunch of rags and a towel couldn’t handle though.

after talking it over we called an end to our weekend. we both really wanted to camp, do some astronomy, and we didn’t want to leave but at the same time we didn’t want to endure another evening of rain hell. it wasn’t supposed to clear up until monday night so we chanced missing some clear skies and drove home.

we learned a lot about what we need for future camping expeditions and we had a great time with everyone. next time we’ll have more camping tools (axe, hammer, etc), more tarps, more towels, a nice little stove, rope, and a few other odds and ends. i’m looking forward to doing some other astrocamping later this year. maybe next time we’ll have some clear skies.