From: Collin Smith [mailto:CollinofAlabama@cox.net]
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 7:47 PM
Subject: last Friday of November
Folks,
Been a LONG time since I last wrote up an astronomical observing report.  Let's see, how does this go?  Hmm, well, it took me a lot longer to get ready and get there -- even than normal.  I had genuinely wanted to arrive just after sunset, being worried about Cygnus setting too soon to get a good look at the Veil through my new Celestron O-III filter.  I say "new", bloody ordered the thing at the end of September!  Oh well, to everything, turn, turn, turn.
Friday night around 9 PM found me turning left into the familiar Rancho Tommy & Shirley Stevens' Gott Observatory place.  Stan had ALREADY called me wondering, "Hey, are you coming?"  I was just getting on the Loop and had essentially the entire trip from my house just east of the Mall to there, but I assured him I was on the way.  Be there in a minute (or, uh, maybe 15).  But nine PM found Stan shining a red light and me just to the south of that blessed Dome, where Friday visual petitions are placed to the heavenly bodies that grace our much better than average West Texan skies.  What better way to really get into the Sabbath?  I know;  I know, Tevia.  I drove a LOT more than the Orthodox would sanction.  Sometimes it pays to be a goy Episcopalian.  Kyrie Eleison.
Not nearly as cold as I'd thought it would be, I was very prepared but didn't have to zip up my full length down, Iowa-hardened coat till the last 30 minutes of observing.  The relative lack of a breeze Friday night was a blessing indeed.
Anywho, I don't have a picture of Stan and his Meade 6" F/8 achromatic refractor.  This is one beautiful scope, folks.  Make sure you check it out (and don't forget your camera) if you get the chance.  I had my trusty 6" Russian mirrored F/6 dob.  Of course, like any dob, I was set up in no time flat.  Stan was STILL getting his set up and I lent a hand (I know, Advent, not Lent)   Good to know Stan hadn't missed anything on account of me.  We balanced the long scope on his enormous EQ mount.  First thing I saw was Polaris' double in Stan's scope.  Quite an easy split.
We caught a few meteors Friday night, though never at the same time.  Seems like Stan was fiddling with his mount or I was fiddling with eyepieces when one would burst out overhead, but at least we each got a good blast of star-fire.
To my delight Cygnus was still rather high up in the sky at 9 PM in late November on the South Plains.  Great!  Stan was involved with his GoTo, so I screwed the O-III onto my GSO SuperView 30mm 2" eyepiece and -- beautiful nebular cloud bands.  The Veil, NGC 6992/6960, was a wispy wonder to behold.  It was STILL too large to fit into the FOV of my scope at a mere 30 power, but man, did it look good!  As would be expected, the 'bottom' was definitely more defined than the star-containing 'top', but the whole thing was magnificent, well worth the $90-odd bucks the filter cost from Adorama.  Heck of a value in my book.  Of course, after looking at the Veil in a 20" Obsession, this isn't the same kind of view.  I could get half of the Veil in one FOV, but it wasn't noticeably connected like a big aperture dob can show.  Can't wait to try this filter out on Don's 12½"  Stan walked over and checked it out, but went back to fussing with his AutoStar.  I quickly snuck a peak of M42 with the filter, but knew I'd be back without it.
I decided to grab the Dumbbell, M27, as fast as I could, low in the sky with clouds advancing from the northeast.  This also was a pretty sight, but after only a few minutes, clouds blurred down the previously nice, contrasty view.  Off to the East, still glistening and clear.
Just for the heck of it, I looked at Mintaka in Orion's belt.  A wide double, it was easily split, even with my 2" 30mm.  I searched about Alnitak on the other side of Orion's belt in vain for the Flame.  I did grab a rather unimpressive M78, and then, of course, off to that gem of the night sky, M42.  I prefer the view, by far, sans filter -- always a show-stopper, and Stan enjoyed it, too.  Yes, the Orion Nebula is a must-see on any late Fall/Winter/early Spring night out.
Around this time Stan was getting pretty frustrated with his AutoStar.  It kept finding Polaris, then trying to go to 'Diphda'? (Beta Ceti), but seemed to have trouble.  We weren't sure that semi-bright star in the Lubbock-washed-out southern skies of the Gott Observatory even WAS Diphda.  Stan decided the heck with the AutoStar, strapped a nice, powerful laser pointer to his mount, and he was moving.  Stan's first effort was the beautiful Pleiades, just so nicely framed in the big refractor with his 2" 32mm Nagler.  Then, we both decided to check out Mars.  I had already tried Mars earlier, but my inability to up the magnification had made me think my mirror hadn't cooled off.  Were it so simple.  The upper atmosphere Friday night was turbulent, no doubt a presage to the blustery Saturday that was heading our way.  The best consistent view I could get of Mars was a 50 power one through my 18mm Celestron Ultima.  I could get momentary, higher power views through my 15mm TeleVue, but the image, even at 60 power, was wobbling in and out of clarity.  Upper atmosphere -- all the rage.
After this Stan turned to M42 and wow! there sure is something about unobstructed contrast.  I've read also on Cloudy Nights that refractors tend to perform best when the atmosphere is finicky, and Stan's Meade was putting on a high contrast show.  Our next target, M1 the Crab Nebula, was even more three dimensional than my dob, which had a very good image of it, too.
After this, I decided to turn to three old friends I hadn't visited since last Spring, the Taurus/Auriga trio of open clusters -- M37, 36 & 38.  M37 was its usual self, a central red giant star with hundreds of smaller bluish attendant sols.  All Soul's Night?  Then it was off to spidery M36.  But the definite winner is M38 with the faint cotton-y 'neighbor' cluster NGC 1907.  On a cluster theme, the must-see dive to Perseus rendered the Double Cluster (NGC 689/884).  All these, again, showed up particularly well in Stan's refractor.  They looked quite good in my scope, but the refractor gave a high contrast view -- the background sky looked even blacker.
We made our way to M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.  Of course, brilliant, star-like M32 was quite noticeable, but even M110 showed up nicely in both scopes.  Stan experimented with views from his 80mm eyepiece (too much eye relief!) and 50mm eyepiece.  The 50mm did a very nice job of framing things.  We were awestruck by Andromeda and satellites.
Finally, I decided to try after the Triangulum Galaxy, M33, on the other side of Mirach.  A nice cigar shaped object appeared and I began to direct Stan there with my laser pointer.  He was having problems, so I looked back into my eyepiece to make sure I was still on it and -- uh, oh -- the view had deteriorated dramatically.  Laughing, I told him to forget it.  He'd never find it as high clouds were blurring my M33 into obscurity.  Stan took a good look around at the night sky and said, "That's it" and I had to agree.  The previously crystalline night had turned to a murky soup.  We could soon barely make out the Great Square.  Time to pack up.  I asked Stan to put up a poster for the Lubbock Chorale's Messiah concert this December the 10th, helped him get the last few items packed away, and we were off.
Finished the evening with a friend entertaining guests from Germany at O'Reily's Irish pub.  Nothing like a black and tan (Bass Ale/Guinness) for a nightcap, and a great finish for a great evening.
Ciao amigos,
CDS