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Location: Museum Outreach Star Party at the Rafter M Ranch, 12 miles east of Post Tom Heisey: TeleVue 4”
APO refractor, Coronado hAlpha filter, mooncam with 2x & 3x barlows Conditions: from hazy, humid clear to completely overcast and all phases in between; slightly cool (small pull over only), mosquitoes were present but not overwhelming Tom Heisey and I had determined to do the Outreach Star Party for Patrice Fay who was tied up Memorial Day weekend hosting visiting family. Don Fritz, though originally planning to be out of town that weekend, had a change of plans and wanted to come, too. That was nice, since I wondered if just Tom and I would be enough. Of course, a much bigger concern was the absolutely terrible forecast for Friday night, and the fact that I awoke to rain Friday morning before heading off to work. I even emailed our host contact, Angela Medlock, to let her know we could easily get clouded/rained out. But once we arrived in Post about 7 PM, the clouds had parted enough to let a lot of sunshine through. As we drove up to the ranch, we noticed the “Medlock” name and realized Angela was more than just a contact. She is, in fact, Mr. Medlock’s daughter. The Llamas as we entered let us know this was no average Outreach Star Party. We were greeted by Kay Medlock, the ranch owner’s wife and, after checking out the lay of the place, decided to set up in the back yard on the eastern side. Probably the most foolish thing I did was not to snap off a picture of the picturesque view. The house is on the side of a ledge, no doubt a remnant of the Caprock, overlooking a rolling valley of ranchland below. With all the rains we’ve had, the local ponds were full, surrounded by greenery, flowers, cattle, deer and antelope. In short, a western paradise. In this idyllic setting, Tom set up the TeleVue brass 4” refractor with Coronado h-Alpha filter on the Losmandy mount for some views of the Sun’s corona before slipping below the horizon. Tom was set up most south easterly on the highest ground to give him a longer shot at sunlight. But before long the sun set. Don used the twilight to collimate his 12/5” truss dob, which I helped him finalize. He was satisfied with the job done and it was off… “to the moon, Alice!” Of course, the just past First Quarter moon made an easy target with nothing else visible in the sky yet. Using a very nice compass Tom had, I roughly polar aligned and hoped it would be close enough to track relatively well. I was not disappointed. The mount made the star party more manageable. Before long Venus peaked out, so we put Don’s big gun on our nearest planetary neighbor, and Venus revealed a half full image, not very different than a featureless Luna. Everyone took their turn to look. Almost on queue, all clouds cleared and we watched the blue sky fade to black with only distant clouds on the horizon. Later, Mercury showed up and looked very similar to Venus, also at about half full, only smaller. The moon showed herself a worthy target, with people (and myself) taking Don’s dob on a tour as though circling in a spaceship. That’s pretty easy to do with a 12.5” dob and 10mm Antares Elite Plossl. The moon at 150 power with that much light gathering muscle is a majestic sight. In particular, the sunrise on Copernicus with its many adjacent geological features about its base, Carpathian Mountains et alia, was quite stunning. The sheer starkness of the Straight Wall, its shadow long upon the surface on this evening, was amazing -- a thick, black bristle of a painter’s brush placed on Luna’s white face by the Celestial Artist. However, the evening show stealer, as he almost always is, was Saturn, the last of the Titans and Jove’s own father. I put Saturn in Don’s scope early on, and even with the baby blue background of the still twilight sky, Saturn was impressive, Cassini Division, shadow of the rings on the globe and Titan already visible. Everyone gathered about to look at Saturn in the 16mm UWAN. An impressive site already at 95 power. But the best came later once the sun was completely down. Here, of course, the atmosphere set the limits of magnification, as it always does. Saturn looked pretty good in my AT80ED at 69 power with the BO/TMB 8mm, but when we put Don’s new 10mm Antares Elite Plossl in the focuser, we got just the right mix. The details were stunning and consistent. We tried going higher, when Don put the 7mm UWAN in, and even though one could get moments of clarity and detail, more often than not the view was more muddled than the 10mm. The skies were indeed a bit hazy, the earlier cloud cover not completely removed. The Cassini Division, various cloud bands along the globe, the crepe ring, the shadow of the rings, and the darkened southern pole all clearly visible. VERY nice and large. After everyone had their fill of celestial delights, it was time for all of us to come inside and taste some of the wonderful dishes Angela had prepared for us. Fortunately, she had already made some VERY delicious jalapeño poppers, filled with brie and another white cheese that were a fiery delicacy, indeed -- one best chased down with a Corona. There were two Hispanic couples at the Ranch this evening, and it just so happens Don, Tom and I were seated by Dr. Jose Cruz and his wife Nora (from Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, respectively). Dr. Cruz was a very good observer, noticing many features on the moon and Saturn. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get him, his wife, and their children out some future evening. No discussion of the dinner would be complete, however, without praising Angela’s excellent cooking. In particular, her absolutely award winning 3 (or four or five?) fruit cobbler was incomparably good. Man, for a Star Party, we were treated like royalty! After dinner, we went outside to see almost completely overcast skies. We got some sucker holes to look at Jupiter, but the sky wasn’t the same. We observed Jupiter first, then later the moon and Saturn with my 20mm Plossl in Don’s big dob for what we could get. Actually, they all looked pretty good under the circumstances, at 75 power. Although it’s possible my objective had dewed over, I think this is where the extra light gathering power of a 12.5” mirror really shines when compared to the 80mm lens in my refractor. Using my 12.5mm ortho eyepiece, Jupiter was a pale, washed out blob, drowned in the clouds with a thick veil of humidity, unable to be rescued. My little fold up seat was soaking wet from all the dew, as was my telescope. I had hoped putting in my 15mm TeleVue Plossl would make things better, betting the eyelens on the ortho was also wet. It helped slightly, but the 80mm objective just didn’t have enough gun to put light into the eyepiece to make the view very interesting. Don’s dob at 75 power would have to do. And we had one couple who had arrived late just at dinnertime that appreciated the views they got. They weren’t as stunning as the images earlier, as the other guests noticed, but they were still impressive compared to nothing. Early in the evening I put M44, the Beehive Cluster, into the eyepiece with my big 32mm Optiluxe. I split Iota Cancri with my 20mm TV Plossl. Don’s dob made a nice, tight but clean split of Castor with the 16mm UWAN (95x), and M57 & M13 both looked great through his dob. We pointed out the Big and Little Dippers early in the evening and identified Mizar and Alcor, stars that Melissa & Angela had mentioned. Tom’s laser pointer impressed and was useful again. We finished about 12:30, loaded up, and hit the road. Tom noticed it was 1 AM just as we got up on the Caprock. I tried to stay awake and cheer him on, but mostly fell asleep as the work week, late hour, and hypnotic effects of the car ride took their toll. We made it back safe and sound. Had to lay open all my equipment that night to get everything to dry off, telescope and eyepieces, but what a great night! Another nice evening under the stars (even the part under a roof!) Many thanks to Patrice Fay for getting us in place to experience this and Angela Medlock for her delicious food and coordination of the event on the ground. Kay and Mr. Medlock were as nice and hospitable as West Texans can be. CDS
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