I just wanted to take a moment and let you know that I haven't had time lately to publish any of the material that I have because I have been really sick. About two weeks ago, right after the mirror test, I started coughing and that cough became very hard and deep quickly. By that Friday I was coughing up blood and had pneumonia. I have been on two antibiotics for it, and finally, the cough has left, I am able to sleep and things are returning to "normal." I am still very tired so no observing of late. The weather isn't normal for late May here in northern Utah. Cloudy, cool and lots of rain. Flooding is something that could become common place when the weather warms up. I am hoping to get out next week for a couple of nights of great observing.
I have a review of the Herschel book that Cambridge put out, and a review of a couple of other Atlases that I have received. I have some more apps to review and to update some of the ones I've done. So hopefully, as I feel rested this weekend, and am thinking a little more clear, I'll make some posts. Keep looking up and equally important, share the views.
5/16/2011
Observing Session May 12th and 13th XT10 with Carl Zambuto Mirror
This link to CloudyNights will provide you with the information of this loaner program for the 10 inch mirror that Carl Zambuto has offered.
I was at home, and everyone was gone to activities or such and so I plugged down to CloudyNights and began reading in the reflecting forum. I had been reading about how Carl Zambuto was offering replacement mirrors for Chinese made dobs, mainly the Orion series of scopes. That got my interest because I have an Orion XT10 along with an Orion XX14i and a 20" Obsession that was purchased used.
I followed this thread for several days and then watched as Carl himself signed on and offered to send otu a test mirror for people to try. He stated in his post that it would be a 250mm mirror. Well, that would work in my XT10 so I followed the thread until life got in the way between work, family and other obligations. I thought about putting my name on the list for viewing with the 250mm mirror and putting it in the XT10 to see how well the mirror was. Then I noticed that there were four or five people ahead of me and I thought I had better rethink this as it could be fall before I see the mirror.
Carl then posted and mentioned that Steve Dodds of Nova Optical was doing the coating and Steve only lives and has his shop ten minutes from where I live. So a thought occurred to me. Why not offer to test the mirror over that weekend since the forecast was decent and then ship it to the first person on the list, CityKid or Phil on Monday? I posted that, and Carl thought it was a good idea to get the mirror out and a review done as long as everyone on the list in front of me agreed. Graciously they did agree so I picked p the mirror on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 from Steve at his shop next to his home. I took it home knowing that Thursday looked very promising and it was the second day after a storm had gone through. Typically the second day after a storm in the fall, winter and spring brings really great conditions to northern Utah.
NOTE: I sketch and I do not claim to be a terrific sketcher or to capture everything perfectly. Errors are mine and mine alone in terms of star placement or any other error. I use my sketches as visual reminders of my experience. All sketches here are not corrected except for the background. I used GIMP and the curves feature to try and capture what I was seeing in terms of the background and contrast. Everything else on the sketch remains as it was sketched.
Also, when referring to the XT10 in this rest of this article, I will mean the XT10 with a Zambuto ten-inch mirror in it.
INSTALLATION
On Thursday, May 12th, 2011, I have to admit that I anxiously waited for the last bell of school in order to get done with my work obligations and to have a quick exit. I completed my teaching duties and was out the door and on the way home by 4:00p.m. At 5:00p.m. I had the XT10 tube out, and had undone the base screws holding the primary cell in the tube. I have to say, that I had to replace the Orion stock screws about two years ago because I found they stripped far too easily when one had to remove the mirror cell for some maintenance in the tube. I put steel screws in and they work much better and don't strip though they are silver. Anyway the mirror cell cell came out quick enough, and it was on to the clip screws. There are two screws in the clips and you have to remove them to get the mirror out. Watch out for flaking of the black paint off the screw as you take them out. Not an major issue though, just thought I would point that out in case you see it.The XT10 stock mirror came out easily enough and then I opened up the box that holds the 255mm Zambuto mirror. The mirror has a cover and it is held in place by blue painters tape to protect the top of the mirror. To remove the top simply undo the tape carefully and then the top will just lift right off. Installing the Zambuto 10 inch mirror was a breeze and within ten minutes the scope was back together and ready to go less a good collimation.
I used my backyard for this task since the moon was a nice 66% plus, waxing gibbous and I figured a dark site wasn't going to help in those conditions. Plus there is this thing called work the next day and by using using the backyard this night meant more time viewing with the scope and mirror since I wouldn't have the drive back and the unloading.
The box the mirror arrived in and was shipped to the next trial user in.
The mirror with its cover on.
The stock mirror is on the left, the Zambuto mirror is on the right.
The Scopes: Night 1
Orion XT10
Zambuto 10 inch mirror
Stock secondary mirror.
Stock focuser
9x50 RACI Finder; Telrad
Orion XX14i
Stock Primary; Enhanced Secondary
9x50 RACI Finder, Telrad, Shroud
That is my son in front of the XX14i.
Eyepieces and Equipment
27mm Panoptic, 22mm Panoptic; 14mm, 10mm, 7mm Pentax XW; 6mm TV Radian;
Filter: Orion Ultrablock on Ghost of Jupiter PN; 13% Neutral Density Filter (for the moon);
27mm TV Panoptic, 22mm Panoptic; 14mm, 10mm, 7mm Pentax XW; 6mm TV Radian;
Filter: Orion Ultrablock Filter , 13% Neutral Density Filter (for the moon);
Breakdown of Eyepiece magnification by Scope:
EP XT10 XX14i
Panoptic 27mm 61x
Panoptic 22mm 55x
Pentax XW 14mm 86x 118x
Pentax XW 10mm 120x 165x
Pentax XW 7mm 171x 236x
Radian 6mm 200x 275x
In using eyepieces we really tried to stick with these and to use magnifications that are similar. The field of view was the same with the Pentax, while 68 degrees in the Radian. For example in the Pentax XW 14mm was used in the XX14i at 118x so the Pentax XW 10mm in the XT10 gave us 120x, close enough for a comparison.
May 12th, 2011
Location: Herriman, Utah
Time: 03:00 UT on May 13th, 2011, or 09:00p.m. MDT. Session lasted until around 3:45a.m. MDT or 09:45 UT on May 13, 2011.
Seeing: Antoniadi II
NELM: est. at 5.5 at the beginning and moving to about 6.0 according to Polaris.
I used the XX14i first and used the 14mm Pentax XW. The images were sharp, clear and the seeing tonight was wonderful. It is the second day after a storm and as I previously mentioned, that usually means excellent conditions for observing in terms of seeing and transparency. Tonight, for the whole night, seeing conditions were excellent and transparency was very good. My friend and fellow observing companion, Mat Hutchings was observing this night with me. Mat has made both his own mirrors with exceptional results and has made his own ATM projects for sometime now, having learned the craft from Jeff Baldwin over in the Stockton (CA) Astronomical Society.
Before Mat arrived I had the opportunity to do some lunar observing in the XT10 using my favorite eyepiece, the 10mm Pentax XW. Copernicus was just wonderful and I enjoyed viewing Reinhold and Lansberg as well. The craters showed a terrific contrast between the light and shadows. My reaction was this is the best I have seen the moon and I thought my XX14i did a really outstanding job as did my Obsession 20 inch. In terms of contrast, this mirror was just making me goody for anticipation. I settled down as I didn't want to just buy in right away without testing and observing for the night. On my audio I did give the contrasts available on the Zambuto refurbished mirror a big wow at this moment. About this time, around 45 minutes into my lunar observing Mat showed up and it was game on. Mat asked me what I was doing. I told him to observe the moon in the XX14i giving him the craters and to pick a few items of his own, and then to compare it in the XT10. At this point I really wished I had spent more time practicing and doing lunar observing. I really need to be more consistent with this aspect of my observing. It would add another week to observing.
We both felt that the XT10 with the Zambuto mirror had jut a wonderful contrast between the shades of white, gray and black. The rays from the ejecta from the craters actually seemed to show a variation to their coloring, and it was just terrific to see the black shadows transit through a gray to a white color. The XX14i performed quite well here, actually, it was excellent if not outstanding but the edge in contrast is definitely to the XT10 with the Zambuto mirror in it. Some of this has to be given to the amount of light the 14 inch is gathering over the 10 inch.
STAR TEST REGULUS
Now that Mat was here we decided to do a star test using Regulus and a 6mm Radian. The star test shows, to quote Mat, "A phenomenal mirror with phenomenal smoothness." Mat told me while we were comparing notes on the test that the smoothness of the mirror is perhaps the best he has seen, and he crafted an eight-inch mirror that is just outstanding, and that Steve told him was one of the best he has seen. The eight would go head to head the next night.
Messier 51/ NGC 5194 & NGC 5195 (Sketched)
We next decided to let our eyes undo from the moon and waiting for about twenty minutes to begin to recover. I did a sky hop on both scopes to go and check out Messier 51 in a very moon dominated sky. Here the XX14i showed a brighter inner core area, with some fuzziness around the core with some brightening toward NGC 5195. The XX14i was also not near as dark in its background contrast, but some of that would have to be accounted for from the increased aperture and the increase amount of sky glow from being in an LP area and especially with the moon being so bright. In the XX14i NGC 5195 showed a bright inner core with a hint of fuzziness around it, and it was relatively small. My sketch here doesn't do a good job of showing that detail, and I brightened the fuzziness of M51 to try and convey what we were seeing.
Having said all this, the XT10 had a very, very dark black background that allowed the galaxy to really stick out. There is definitely a hint of structure there that Mat observed first, since he was at the XT10 while I was still viewing the XX14i which he had finished viewing through. With my turn at the XT10 and when we conferred our observations, we both felt that we could distinguish a spiral arm. Also, NGC 5195 in the XT10 was much larger and the core brighter, and the shape was easily distinguished. The XT10 here had the advantage here and that was due to the contrast. The XX14i performed quite well, outstanding again, but could not match the contrast of the XT10. The contrast allowed more details to be observed in the XT10. Again, this has to be a factor of aperture in the given conditions because the 14 is bringing in so much more light. Eyepieces used in this trial were the 14mm Pentax XW in the XX14i, and the 10mm Pentax XW in the XT10. The 10mm Pentax XW was also used in the XX14i and the 7mm Pentax in the XT10. Conditions continues to allow for around 200x to 250x without an issue.
In my sketches here, I attempted to show a darker sky with the XT10 versus the XX14i and the details that reveals. You can decide if they enhance or detract from my observation.
XX14i Sketch
XT10 Sketch
Messier 13, Globular Cluster in Hercules (No Sketch, time)
By now the constellation Hercules was well up into the eastern sky and heading up toward Dobson's Hole. The night continued to be pretty steady so we did a quick Telrad to M13, used the finder to center and then used the 14mm Pentax XW in the XX14i and the 10mm Pentax XW (best views were with the 10mm Pentax XW) and the XT10 used the 10mm Pentax XW and the 7mm Pentax XW.
The XX14i showed a wonderful view of easily defined tendrils and stars showing up through the FOV. The contrast here was terrific and for being such a moon lite night, the globular looked reasonable (not as good at a dark site on a great night). In the XT10 the background again was darker than the XX14i, but it was harder for some reason to view as many stars as in the XX14i, and the detail seen in the tendrils was not as much as in the XX14i. For this object both Mat and I felt that the XX14i got the edge. Perhaps aperture was a deciding factor here?
Epsilion Lyra: The Double Double (No Sketch)
We decided to take a look up in Lyra which had arise and was decently up in the night sky by 12:30 a.m. MDT on May 13th, 2011 or 06:30 UT. The star hope was easy using the Telrad on each scope and we used the 10mm Pentax XW on the XX14i, the 7mm Pentax XW on the XT10 and then the 6mm Radian on each scope for fun. Both scopes split the Double Double easily enough, and did so nicely. However, the XT10 with the Zambuto mirror had a nice dark edge and the black in between the doubles was cleaner. Edge to the XT10 with the Zambuto on this one because the contrast was darker. The XX14i again did an outstanding job just all the LP and the Lunar light is hampering the views I believe.
Saturn (Sketched but I'm not a good planetary sketcher at all so no post)
We now went to Saturn and took a gander at a planet. Saturn showed a wonderful view in both scopes. We used the 7mm Pentax XW on the XX14i and the 6mm Radian on the XT10. Both scopes showed the first northern band and one southern band. The Cassini division was visible as was the A and B rings. The XT10 performed wonderfully here but so did the XX14i. Perhaps fatigue was beginning to set in as we observed Saturn for over an hour to capture as much detail as possible. In the end, the overall view of the XX14i was better, but the contrast of the XT10 showed through also.
Herriman, Utah
Antoniadi IV to III (what conditions moved to)
Tonight Mat brought over two eight inch scopes that he had built, both the mirror and the dob. The F3.6 (I believe) 8 inch he just finished with his 12 year old daughter and he just finished it a few months ago and it was coated by Steve Dodds. It has an excellent to outstanding mirror in it. So we decided to include that scope with the XX14i. My regret. My friend with a Z12 and another with a Z10 couldn't show. For the first two hours we all did a lot of lunar observing and observing of Saturn because the clouds just came flying in. Clear Sky Clock stated that the clouds would go away around 11:00p.m. and they did. I will state that during this time my 17 year old son who has been observing for about 3 years now, told us that quite frankly, after viewing the Moon and Saturn that "This mirror is much better than the one I have in there normally." I asked why he felt that way and he stated "You can see far more details. . ." Leave it to younger eyes I guess.
Here are a couple of photos of what we called Dob Row that night.
Looking west south-west with several houses in the distance.
Looking south with two light shields which are not needed after 10:00p.m. when the neighborhood goes pretty well dark. You can see the clouds we fought for the first part of this session.
Mat's two ATM 8 inch scopes.
Gamma Virginis (Sketched)
After the clouds cleared out, Mat suggested that we try to split Porrima or Gamma Virginis. This is a tight split of around 1.7 seconds I believe right now and a good test of the scopes. We used the 6mm Radian in the XT10 and the 7mm Pentax in the XX14i. Both scopes split the pair, but the XT10 again had the finer split and showed more of both a black area between the stars and a gap in the split. This to me was due to contrast yet again and the light impacting the 14. We next compared the XT10 to the 8 inch portaball that Mat had made recently. Again the Zambuto mirror in the XT10 won, but not by much. The 8 inch gave the 10 inch a good run for its money.
NGC 3242 The Ghost of Jupiter
I wanted to observe a planetary nebula, one of my favorite objects to view and I knew that The Ghost of Jupiter was still up, and bright enough to view. So both the XX14i and the XT10 and the 8 inch star hopped over to The Ghost, which was relatively easy. Without a filter in all three scopes, the planetary stood out, even in the poor conditions. Conditions would hurt detail though I believe. The XT10 showed a better contrast but the color was better in the XX14i without the filter in. With the filter, both did fine and all it really did in this situation was increase the size of the object. Overall the 14 did a better job on this one. I did not pull out my OIII filter at this time. We observed a little more and did so for the enjoyment and I let others have a go with the scopes now that the weather cleared. I spent some time observing and interacting with my kids/teens, observing and going through the sky with them. The mirror in the XT10 was just outstanding, but man, I tell you, spending time with my kids, with the sky, is just magical. I truly hope it is something we enjoy together til the end of my days because it is what I call, a magical moment. Actually the last two days had been magical in may ways and a terrific learning experience.
So what is my conclusion after spending two nights with my XT10 with a Zambuto mirror? That as I stated it was a wonderful experience, an outstanding learning experience, just wonderful. The biggest takeaway for me is the amount of contrast in the mirror. That contrast allows an experience observer to see more detail and thus gleam more from their experience. No one will go wrong buying that mirror or one like it, or any Zambuto mirror. Regrets? Yep, that I would have loved to have it for a dark sky trip to Notch Peak (one of the darkest areas in the continental U.S.A.) for a two night observing trip, with no moon and excellent conditions.
To be honest, if you buy the mirror its not that it is a huge WOW factor, but it is a major subtle factor. Also, don't expect to perhaps glean details unless your experience observer. It takes time to achieve this and one thing I've learned in this hobby is to be able to really gleam details it takes experience and that means time. When you purchase a mirror like this your buying into your future as an observer and committing to it. An experience eye will see a just a tad more detail with the Zambuto mirror than with their stock primary and the contrast is what helps you to do that. What else? It confirmed to me as Mat and a couple others have that I have an excellent mirror in the XX14i, and I could be very happy observing with it. I will state that as soon as I can get the money together, if Carl is willing, I want a Carl Zambuto in my 14. My brother in law wants to buy me out of the 20" Obsession and I now have a reason to let him buy me out, and I enjoy my 20" views in an observatory in southern Utah! My XT10 mirror is just average, there is no doubt about that. It is a good scope and I'll keep it but it also at some point will have a Zambuto mirror put in there. Not all at once Carl, the 14 is my preferred scope so that is the priority! I also know to give this some time as the wow reaction to the mirror is such that I have to make sure I am thinking through everything here.
Whether it is worth it to buy a mirror like this will be up to each observer and owner of a scope. For me, I will upgrade as soon as I can bring the money together and there is an urgency for me to do so because I have seen the difference. It is subtle but it exists. The 10 inch wasn't that much better than my current 14, but enough that for me, I believe that I want the upgrade. However, it is for everyone? Much like Jason D. at CloudyNights, I am not sure if it is for every user right away. I will not regret spending the money. Conditions will always play a role in viewing and it is up to each observer to determine if the upgrade is the correct thing for them. I could be happy staying with my stock 14 primary, yet on those nights when the seeing and transparency are excellent, a difference would be seen. I guess I'll pay for that opportunity as soon as I can. If fiances warranted that I had to keep the 14 as is, I could do that or I could look to reconfigure but as Mat told me, your mirror is "well configured, both tests and visually we've seen that." An outstanding done 14 will increase the performance but only you can decide if a mirror that is almost equal to the cost of the scope is worth it. Guess I'll strive to get that money together and to upgrade, not because the scope is terrible or I have a terrible mirror, but because I want that opportunity. So if you doubt, get on the list over at CloudyNights by PMing CityKid/Phil and take a test drive. Beware though, it may just wet your appetite for more. The link is at the top of the post.
Thanks to Carl Zambuto and to Phil and others who allowed me to sneak in front of them. It is an incredible opportunity, what in business we once called "The Opportunity of a Lifetime" for some and I encourage you to take advantage of it. Please feel to ask questions or to contact Carl at his website located here. Simply go to contacts or go to Carl's Yahoo group to ask more questions or to CloudyNights.I am in no way employed by Carl or receiving any incentive for the report that I have written. Tests were done willingly and to the best of our ability. I am sure Mat and others would alter some of what I have written based on their experience and views.
5/08/2011
Observing Session May 6th, 2011 Notch Peak Utah
I am literally exhausted today. On Friday after I had done my prep and grading for last week, I left school at 3:20p.m. and headed home. I loaded up the Pathfinder and then my friend Mat came over and we drove 3 hours to Notch Peak. This Wikipedia article will give you some background information and an idea where it is located, about an hour west of Delta, Utah. This is an article you can read about hiking Notch Peak so you can observe at night, then do the hike the next day if you want. Check out the video clip on hiking Notch Peak. So if your into observing and hiking, and perhaps have someone who will stay with the scopes, you can observe and do a wonderful hike while here.
Getting there is relatively easy. There are two ways. You can drive down I-15 to Nephi and then take State Hwy 132 over to State Hwy 6 and head south to Delta. Stay on State Hwy 6 which is also State Hwy 50 and go west. Near milepost 46, turn north on a graded dirt road (on the map on the link I provide it is the turn after the Amasa) turn right and then left and then left again to head up East Sawtooth Canyon. We observed about half way up the canyon before the ridge to the south came into play. At the end of East Sawtooth Canyon is a parking area and that is probably the ideal place to set up but the southern horizon is impacted by about 5-10 degrees but who looks that low? Usually I don't, tonight I did. In the future though, I think this is where I will set up unless I am wanting to get low into Scorpius or Sagittarius in the summer. Here is a map that shows the area: Map of Notch Peak Area. It comes from this site.
Here are a couple images showing the landscape as your drive west from Delta, Utah.
That very flat looking object in the distance is Lake Sevier. It is a lake, usually quite dry but because of all the moisture from the last few years, it is retaining water. It has no outlet and it does lead to a fun time with mosquitos in the early evening. So make sure you have bug repellent. I used Thermacell and 40% deet and the deet took care of me that night with no bites. If I hadn't had protection, they would have eaten me up. You'll see more of Lake Sevier in a moment.
Here is the target of your destination. Notch Peak as seen from afar and from closer up.
From the distance through my bug hit windshield. It is to the far left in this shot (click on the image, last high point to the left to expand it).
Closer Up
Let me state, this is a rough area. Your car will get extremely dusty if your following someone in. It will get dirty no matter what. On the edge of the road and sometimes in the road are large boulders so beware. The main dirt roads are fine though.
For setting up if you don't set up in the parking area at the end of East Sawtooth Canyon, you can park to the side of the road and set up off the road. This is what we did. Here are some more images:
This shows you the dirt road we came in on and about where we observed from.
This shows the west view from the Parking Area I said may serve as the best observing site:
A bad picture of the Notch from the Parking Area (looking west, south-west)
A final image of Lake Sevier from where we observed off the road.
You can see in this image why you park off the road and then set up off from there. Very rugged land. I could have taken my Pathfinder off with someone guiding me to make sure I didn't hit a large rock or drive over it. My friend Mat had a minivan and that would not go off the road period. The site is about 1 hour east of Great Basin National Park. My friend Mat who has been to Great Basin and who says the skies are outstanding there, says that Notch Peak is slightly better because there is no ambient light from a city (Baker, NV) and other points coming up.
In terms of darkness, this is the darkness site I have ever been too. The Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude had to be around 7.0 to 7.5, a true Bortle 2 site as the clouds in the sky are visible only as dark holes or voids in the starry background. We could also see our telescope and surroundings only vaguely, except where they project against the sky. Many of the Messier globular clusters are distinct naked-eye objects. I left my SQM at home but I am sure it would come in at around 22.0. There is NO visible white light except for a car on Hwy 6 /50 or if one comes up the canyon (we had one early in the evening), or ours when we broke down. There was no breaking down without at least a red light. The clouds that came in later that evening were as black as coal. It would have been a wonderful experience except that the clouds, which were not suppose to come in, came in anyway around 12:30a.m. So we only got a short observing session in, but once the moon was down, wow! I got to see Omega Centauri and a Herschel and then was going to sketch my dark site objects but that never came about. Next new moon I am going back with Mat and extend an invitation to anyone who wants to come, to join us. Here is my sketch of Omega Centauri. I'll post the UMa galaxy pair later.
It was huge in the Pan. 27mm but no details of stars. It was slightly brighter near center but the sketch here seems too bright. I may have to adjust that.
Last, if you go to this site, DO NOT go alone. You can get a flat, or vehicle issue or health issue and you are in the middle of no where. Delta is an hour to the east, Baker NV and Great Basin Natl Park are an hour to the west and few people come out here. Bring plenty of water and food to eat just in case. DO NOT go if there is a threat of rain. It would be easy in the mud for even a 4WD to get stuck. Wonderful site though. Truly it has to be one of the darkest sites in the continental U.S. Edit: A few more thoughts. First, humidity is very low because your up several thousand feet above the surrounding valley floor (around 6000 to 7000 feet). I felt the low humidity while observing and then felt it really increase as we got back on the highway around 1:00a.m. Next, if you pull off the road, and set up, be careful of all the prickly cactus that are around. They are small and have nasty thorns on them. Finally, as I looked around there was plenty of deer and antelope scat and some other creatures. One, a Horny Lizard is in this image. Can you see him or at least part of him? Look for his ring tail.
EDIT:
My friend and observing partner Mat emailed me the directions for this site and I would like to include them here:
Right turn onto a dirt road off Highway 50 immediately after mile marker
48 (N39.07182 W113.21832).
Left at the Miller Canyon sign (N39.11218 W113.22034). Note that the
sign is very hard to read, but is the first sign you come to.
At this point we just parked on the side of the road where there was a
very low southern horizon. But there are many roads in the area that
take you into higher country. Maybe next time we go, we can explore
some of them so we can get to higher elevations. It should be fairly
easy to get up to around 6500' or maybe even 7000'. Higher than that
would probably require hiking and my 16" does not backpack well.
Rather, I do not backpack well while carrying the scope!
Exploring is fun, a blast and I like new areas! Looking forward to new moon in May!
A few items for fun from the SLASS Star Party at Stansbury Park: A club member bought a 13.1 Coulter and took out the mirror and made the following Truss Dob that saw first light last night. The Truss Poles are made out of wood and though we didn't have much to look at, the moon looked good through it. A very nice first ATM project! Way to go Mark!
Here is Mark (sitting) with his new creation! Anyone know the object at the bottom of the rocker box? It took me a minute but it is a Messier object.
Here is a picture of his cover with Saturn being the handle to his cover. We tried really hard to convince Mark that he could make money with this copyrighted item. To see more images please go to SLAS member Daniel Turner's gallery located here and take a look.
Finally, another side of Jay. My mother-in-law wanted to go to Thanksgiving Point, which is a golf course, a place for children and families to go to look at farm animals and to tour their wonderful garden. Every spring, and spring has come quite late to Utah this year, they have a Tulip Festival. Usually it runs in early to mid-April but with this patch of bad weather were in, the Tulips were delayed until late April and the festival ended yesterday. Here are some images I took of the site. I really enjoy going there, it is very large and very relaxing, even with all the kids running around and especially rolling down a 100 yard hill. There is much beauty above, but I think it is also important to recognize and adore the beauty down here. Nature amazes me. The diversity and beauty that is all around is truly a wonder to behold.
First up, "The Bear Statue." Why, because Bears are my favorite animals, and I in many ways, am like them. My daughter says she tells her friends I may look like a grizzly bear at times, but in reality, I'm just a big Teddy Bear when you get to know me.
Yes, it is a Tulip Festival.
A pond with Tulips.
Red Tulips!
Even the trees are getting into the act (now just the weather needs to!).
Getting there is relatively easy. There are two ways. You can drive down I-15 to Nephi and then take State Hwy 132 over to State Hwy 6 and head south to Delta. Stay on State Hwy 6 which is also State Hwy 50 and go west. Near milepost 46, turn north on a graded dirt road (on the map on the link I provide it is the turn after the Amasa) turn right and then left and then left again to head up East Sawtooth Canyon. We observed about half way up the canyon before the ridge to the south came into play. At the end of East Sawtooth Canyon is a parking area and that is probably the ideal place to set up but the southern horizon is impacted by about 5-10 degrees but who looks that low? Usually I don't, tonight I did. In the future though, I think this is where I will set up unless I am wanting to get low into Scorpius or Sagittarius in the summer. Here is a map that shows the area: Map of Notch Peak Area. It comes from this site.
Here are a couple images showing the landscape as your drive west from Delta, Utah.
That very flat looking object in the distance is Lake Sevier. It is a lake, usually quite dry but because of all the moisture from the last few years, it is retaining water. It has no outlet and it does lead to a fun time with mosquitos in the early evening. So make sure you have bug repellent. I used Thermacell and 40% deet and the deet took care of me that night with no bites. If I hadn't had protection, they would have eaten me up. You'll see more of Lake Sevier in a moment.
Here is the target of your destination. Notch Peak as seen from afar and from closer up.
From the distance through my bug hit windshield. It is to the far left in this shot (click on the image, last high point to the left to expand it).
Closer Up
Let me state, this is a rough area. Your car will get extremely dusty if your following someone in. It will get dirty no matter what. On the edge of the road and sometimes in the road are large boulders so beware. The main dirt roads are fine though.
For setting up if you don't set up in the parking area at the end of East Sawtooth Canyon, you can park to the side of the road and set up off the road. This is what we did. Here are some more images:
This shows you the dirt road we came in on and about where we observed from.
This shows the west view from the Parking Area I said may serve as the best observing site:
A bad picture of the Notch from the Parking Area (looking west, south-west)
A final image of Lake Sevier from where we observed off the road.
You can see in this image why you park off the road and then set up off from there. Very rugged land. I could have taken my Pathfinder off with someone guiding me to make sure I didn't hit a large rock or drive over it. My friend Mat had a minivan and that would not go off the road period. The site is about 1 hour east of Great Basin National Park. My friend Mat who has been to Great Basin and who says the skies are outstanding there, says that Notch Peak is slightly better because there is no ambient light from a city (Baker, NV) and other points coming up.
In terms of darkness, this is the darkness site I have ever been too. The Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude had to be around 7.0 to 7.5, a true Bortle 2 site as the clouds in the sky are visible only as dark holes or voids in the starry background. We could also see our telescope and surroundings only vaguely, except where they project against the sky. Many of the Messier globular clusters are distinct naked-eye objects. I left my SQM at home but I am sure it would come in at around 22.0. There is NO visible white light except for a car on Hwy 6 /50 or if one comes up the canyon (we had one early in the evening), or ours when we broke down. There was no breaking down without at least a red light. The clouds that came in later that evening were as black as coal. It would have been a wonderful experience except that the clouds, which were not suppose to come in, came in anyway around 12:30a.m. So we only got a short observing session in, but once the moon was down, wow! I got to see Omega Centauri and a Herschel and then was going to sketch my dark site objects but that never came about. Next new moon I am going back with Mat and extend an invitation to anyone who wants to come, to join us. Here is my sketch of Omega Centauri. I'll post the UMa galaxy pair later.
It was huge in the Pan. 27mm but no details of stars. It was slightly brighter near center but the sketch here seems too bright. I may have to adjust that.
Last, if you go to this site, DO NOT go alone. You can get a flat, or vehicle issue or health issue and you are in the middle of no where. Delta is an hour to the east, Baker NV and Great Basin Natl Park are an hour to the west and few people come out here. Bring plenty of water and food to eat just in case. DO NOT go if there is a threat of rain. It would be easy in the mud for even a 4WD to get stuck. Wonderful site though. Truly it has to be one of the darkest sites in the continental U.S. Edit: A few more thoughts. First, humidity is very low because your up several thousand feet above the surrounding valley floor (around 6000 to 7000 feet). I felt the low humidity while observing and then felt it really increase as we got back on the highway around 1:00a.m. Next, if you pull off the road, and set up, be careful of all the prickly cactus that are around. They are small and have nasty thorns on them. Finally, as I looked around there was plenty of deer and antelope scat and some other creatures. One, a Horny Lizard is in this image. Can you see him or at least part of him? Look for his ring tail.
EDIT:
My friend and observing partner Mat emailed me the directions for this site and I would like to include them here:
Right turn onto a dirt road off Highway 50 immediately after mile marker
48 (N39.07182 W113.21832).
Left at the Miller Canyon sign (N39.11218 W113.22034). Note that the
sign is very hard to read, but is the first sign you come to.
At this point we just parked on the side of the road where there was a
very low southern horizon. But there are many roads in the area that
take you into higher country. Maybe next time we go, we can explore
some of them so we can get to higher elevations. It should be fairly
easy to get up to around 6500' or maybe even 7000'. Higher than that
would probably require hiking and my 16" does not backpack well.
Rather, I do not backpack well while carrying the scope!
Exploring is fun, a blast and I like new areas! Looking forward to new moon in May!
A few items for fun from the SLASS Star Party at Stansbury Park: A club member bought a 13.1 Coulter and took out the mirror and made the following Truss Dob that saw first light last night. The Truss Poles are made out of wood and though we didn't have much to look at, the moon looked good through it. A very nice first ATM project! Way to go Mark!
Here is Mark (sitting) with his new creation! Anyone know the object at the bottom of the rocker box? It took me a minute but it is a Messier object.
Here is a picture of his cover with Saturn being the handle to his cover. We tried really hard to convince Mark that he could make money with this copyrighted item. To see more images please go to SLAS member Daniel Turner's gallery located here and take a look.
Finally, another side of Jay. My mother-in-law wanted to go to Thanksgiving Point, which is a golf course, a place for children and families to go to look at farm animals and to tour their wonderful garden. Every spring, and spring has come quite late to Utah this year, they have a Tulip Festival. Usually it runs in early to mid-April but with this patch of bad weather were in, the Tulips were delayed until late April and the festival ended yesterday. Here are some images I took of the site. I really enjoy going there, it is very large and very relaxing, even with all the kids running around and especially rolling down a 100 yard hill. There is much beauty above, but I think it is also important to recognize and adore the beauty down here. Nature amazes me. The diversity and beauty that is all around is truly a wonder to behold.
First up, "The Bear Statue." Why, because Bears are my favorite animals, and I in many ways, am like them. My daughter says she tells her friends I may look like a grizzly bear at times, but in reality, I'm just a big Teddy Bear when you get to know me.
Yes, it is a Tulip Festival.
A pond with Tulips.
Red Tulips!
Even the trees are getting into the act (now just the weather needs to!).
5/01/2011
Quick Observing Session April 30th, 2011
Well, the skies were clear and I wanted to go to a dark site but decided that the backyard was better. It has been a long time since I seriously went after any of the H400 from my backyard using the 14" but I decided to try it. Not to be this night. Too much light pollution and I was tired so I didn't stay up after 12:00a.m. when the skies and light pollution fade off. For that matter my SQM was 20.2 for most of the session. After tearing down, and putting up the equipment it was at 20.5, improving. Oh well. One other curse. The weather is clearing and tomorrow I go back to work! Go figure.
So after trying for some Herschel galaxies and just basically striking out, I decided to get going on a project I have had in mind for some time. I noticed that in checking the alignment of my intelliscope that the Messier galaxies were viewable. So I decided to sketch these galaxies using the new technique that I am working to develop some skill on, to capture what these galaxies look like under light pollution. Next dark sky trip next weekend, I will sketch them under some of the darkest skies in the United States. Then people who are in light pollution observing can examine the sketches, my notes and determine why observing from a dark site is so helpful. I tend to do this with three to five objects from each season. There won't be a ton of information on these objects like when I post up my Herschel 400 objects. One item though, NGC 5195, the companion to NGC 5194/Messier 51 is an Herschel object so I did technically get that object down.
Messier 65 & 66 in Leo.
Messier 65 was rather bright, bright inner core region though no nucleus was visible. Messier 66 was fainter and is just discernible in the sketch.
Messier 84 & 86
Messier 84 (I believe on the left) is brighter and has a brighter inner core area. Messier 86 was smaller and it also had a brighter inner core region, but not as stellar as Messier 84.
NGC 5194/Messier 51 & NGC 5195 (the companion).
Messier 51 had a bright core region but no stellar nucleus. A fainter halo was barely detectable. Someone who has experience looking at faint galaxies would notice the faint halo, while a newbie may not. No spiral structure was evident.
NGC 5195 was much smaller, also had some faint halo/diffusion with a stellar nucleus. No hint of the bridge could be seen and again, no other details.
My point is not that one should not observe in light polluted areas. For many, there is no option. I did that for the first two years of getting into this hobby and I believe, that it made me a better observer when I started going to dark sites. By learning to sketch and look for details in a LP zone, I gleaned skills that helped me to pull out whatever detail is there. Now at a dark site, these same skills serve me extremely well. So, when I sketch this anew at a dark site, it will be to show how location can really improve the amount of details one sees. I'll talk in detail then about some of these skills. Hope this helps or interests others. If you want to have your sketches included on these objects from similar SQM sites, please contact me and send me a link to your sketch and I'll upload for others to see what these objects look like for others in LP areas, and at a dark site. I really believe that this would be helpful for both newbies in the hobby, and those who may not be able to get to a dark site all that often. Best.
Jay
So after trying for some Herschel galaxies and just basically striking out, I decided to get going on a project I have had in mind for some time. I noticed that in checking the alignment of my intelliscope that the Messier galaxies were viewable. So I decided to sketch these galaxies using the new technique that I am working to develop some skill on, to capture what these galaxies look like under light pollution. Next dark sky trip next weekend, I will sketch them under some of the darkest skies in the United States. Then people who are in light pollution observing can examine the sketches, my notes and determine why observing from a dark site is so helpful. I tend to do this with three to five objects from each season. There won't be a ton of information on these objects like when I post up my Herschel 400 objects. One item though, NGC 5195, the companion to NGC 5194/Messier 51 is an Herschel object so I did technically get that object down.
Messier 65 & 66 in Leo.
Messier 65 was rather bright, bright inner core region though no nucleus was visible. Messier 66 was fainter and is just discernible in the sketch.
Messier 84 & 86
Messier 84 (I believe on the left) is brighter and has a brighter inner core area. Messier 86 was smaller and it also had a brighter inner core region, but not as stellar as Messier 84.
NGC 5194/Messier 51 & NGC 5195 (the companion).
Messier 51 had a bright core region but no stellar nucleus. A fainter halo was barely detectable. Someone who has experience looking at faint galaxies would notice the faint halo, while a newbie may not. No spiral structure was evident.
NGC 5195 was much smaller, also had some faint halo/diffusion with a stellar nucleus. No hint of the bridge could be seen and again, no other details.
My point is not that one should not observe in light polluted areas. For many, there is no option. I did that for the first two years of getting into this hobby and I believe, that it made me a better observer when I started going to dark sites. By learning to sketch and look for details in a LP zone, I gleaned skills that helped me to pull out whatever detail is there. Now at a dark site, these same skills serve me extremely well. So, when I sketch this anew at a dark site, it will be to show how location can really improve the amount of details one sees. I'll talk in detail then about some of these skills. Hope this helps or interests others. If you want to have your sketches included on these objects from similar SQM sites, please contact me and send me a link to your sketch and I'll upload for others to see what these objects look like for others in LP areas, and at a dark site. I really believe that this would be helpful for both newbies in the hobby, and those who may not be able to get to a dark site all that often. Best.
Jay
4/29/2011
Observing Report, Night of April 27th and 28th, 2011; New Sketching Method and Testing of some Apps
Well the clouds parted for me on April 27th and it was a beautiful day. I went out to my local site that is 45 minutes away . . . I got there in 40 minutes this night but luckily wasn't speed when I passed two police SUV's parked on the side of the road in a community called Eagle Mountain. I had a local friend show up, Mark and Mark had a newbie friend (both Mark and his friend are older than me). I set up the XX14i and got it collimated before dark and then just set up the rest of my stuff. In the field this night I tried out several new things, the 27mm Panoptic got its first light; I tested several Apps this night and I tried out the new sketching method based on Scott Mellish method as shared by Alex that I had in an earlier post.
First, the items I observed and the new sketches.
Here's a copy of some notes I have on the session:
It was a wonderful night out there. Mark and his friend showed up and we
looked at several galaxies over in Virgo including M87 and M84 and
Markarian's chain of galaxies. We also looked at Saturn and it was always
neat to hear someone knew just really begin to comprehend how far away these
objects are.
Mark and his friend left around 10:00p.m. and I went to work on my list for
that night. I observed and sketched the following items (using the Scott
Mellish Sketching Technique which is using white and gray pastel on black
paper, applying the pastel in layers with various paint brushes. This method
gives a much improved realistic look in my opinion). I found 165x to 235x
worked really well this night. The seeing wasn't quite good enough for 330x
except for moments of clarity. Antoniadi II this night at zenith.
1. Object:NGC 4361 Planetary Nebula in Corvus. 4/28/2011, 05:26 UT; Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, Clear, Cool to Cold; Size: 1.9'x1.9' Mag. 10.2; XX14i, 10mm & 14mm Pentax XW; Narrowband Filter:
Both with a narrowband filter and w/o the filter this PN was rather large, easily viable and looked almost like a galaxy in the EP. 13th mag central star was easily visible at 165x. Nice
object to view but I love PN's. Seems somewhat irregular in shape, roundish to irregular perhaps, or the edge is not defined well, yes, edge is not defined well. At first only a grayish color, then a tinge hint of green with it.
2. Object: NGC 4027 Barred Spiral Galaxy in Corvus. Date: 4/28/11; Time 06:00 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear and cold; Size: 3.8'x2.3'; Mag. 11.2; Instrument: XX14i; EP: 10mm Pentax XW, 7mm Pentax XW;
Wonderful object! Large barred spiral galaxy with a bright inner core, almost stellar; the bar is evident here. A large spiral arm is off the northern edge going to the east, very easily seen with mixture of averted and direct vision. The sketch I made really captures what I was able to see with time, apply visual basics like averted vision and breathing techniques. Just had a blast with this one.
3. Object: NGC 3729 SG in Ursa Major; Date: 04/28/11; Time: 03:48 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear and cool; Size: 3.1'x2.2'; Mag. 11.4; Instrument: XX14i, Eyepiece: 27mm Panoptic as finder; 10mm Pentax XW for details;
Faint stellar core with a brighter halo surrounding it. Elongated north to south. A 11th magnitude star is nearby as is NGC 3718.
4. Object: NGC 3619 SP in Ursa Major; Date: 4/28/11; Time: 04:29UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear and cold; Size: 3.7'x2.8'; Instrument: XX14i; EP: 27mm Panoptic and 10mm Pentax XW.
Bright stellar core with a bright halo surrounding it, and the halo is diffused. Appears face on. NGC 3625 is nearby and included in the sketch.
5. Object: NGC 4038/39 BSG/Irregular Galaxies in Corvus. Date: 4/28/11; Time: 06:27 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Size: 11.2'x5.9'; Mag. 10.5; Instrument: XX14i, EP: 10mm Pentax XW.
NGC 4038 is the H400 object, but the galaxies are merging here. They are Irregular Barred Spiral Galaxy for NGC 4038. Wonderful pair of interacting galaxies also known as The Antenna due to the tails they form in photographs. Very evident interacting with each other.
NGC 4039 looked like a kidney shaped galaxy, or better yet a shrimp like
shape with NGC 4038 being irregular (both are irregular). Brightening at the center, though no nucleus is discern. At the eastern end I can see where the galaxies connect with a faint hint of a tail at the eastern end, perhaps going south, though I am not positive of that. Very able to discern a lane of darkness between them where they are not joined. Wonderful pair and with NGC 4027 would be two excellent and close targets to image for someone wanting that.
6. NGC 3962 Elliptical Galaxy in Crater. I need to find my notes and sketch on this one, so I will update this posting.
7. NGC 4594 Spiral Galaxy edge on in Virgo; Date: 4/28/11; Time: 07:00 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear & cold; Size: 7.1'x4.4'; Mag. 8; Instrument: XX14i; EP: 10mm Pentax XW.
Also known as Messier 104 or the Sombrero Galaxy. As always, wonderful object and the dust lane really snapped out in the 10mm and 7mm Pentax XW. Core is brightening near the center. Wonderful view in the XX14i and the Pentax XW 7mm & 10mm. I already have this for the H400 but I wanted to end on it again and resketch it. I need to process the sketch and then I'll add the new sketch here.
8. Object: NGC 4856 Barred Spiral Galaxy in Virgo. I will add the details and sketch, its tucked away and I won't be able to get to it for a few days.
This ended my Herschel 400 hunt for the night. Here are some other areas I observed:
Saturn: Wonderful as always. I would love to see Saturn in the Refractor at
SPOC using the 10mm Pentax XW. I'll hopefully do that soon.
M13 in Hercules. Hercules was well up by the time 2:20a.m. came around so
I went and took in a tremendous look at 165x and 330x. I saw more stars and
chains of stars than I remember this night. Wonderful detail and again the
detail just snapped out. I can't wait to sketch this one using the new sketching method!
M65, M66 and NGC 3628 in Leo. I showed these to Mark and his friend and now
came back to them. I was trying out the Panoptic 27mm I had received and all
I can say is WOW! I've seen all 3 in the same FOV but the 27mm Pan. just had
them all there with a gorgeous view. Glad I went with the 27mm over the 24mm
because of the improved eye relief and slightly larger field of view (not
much). I used it as my finder all night and then just popped in the 1 1/4
adapter with the Pentax XW I was using and it worked like a charm.
Antares: Double Star in Scorpius.
Messier 4 in Scorpius; Globular Cluster Fun as always, wonderful detail and
reminds me how close we are getting to summer. Here is a sketch of M4:
Messier 80 or NGC 6093 Globular Cluster in Scorpius
Messier 107 Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus
Now it was late, and it was just starting to show some signs of frost so I
packed up and got home around 3:30a.m. Just a tremendous night and a good
one to be out. Now if I can get a few more like that before the moon gets
in the way.
Reviews:
Panoptic 27mm. I have and used the 24mm Panoptic from my brother-in-law but I am so glad I ordered the 27mm Panoptic. Just a nudge more in FOV though the eye relief was perfect for me with my prescription with eye glasses. Beautiful contrast, and stars were pretty good except perhaps in the last 5 percent to 10 percent on the edge. A Paracorr will clear that up and its not the eyepieces fault. This is a keeper and my finder eyepiece.
Apps I tried with Mark and his friend on the iPad. We used StarmapPro and Star Walk. Both programs in their night vision mode (which was still bright) worked well in the twilight as the darkness deepened at the observing site. Using the compass feature allowed us to know where stars were going to pop out and provided good information. Mark's friend was able to use it to view where some objects would be, including Saturn. I tried to use the App iPushTo but because I did not have the iPad linked to the wireless network, it did not work in the field. If I had the azmuith and altitude readings, I could have found objects that way. After Mark and his friend left, I enjoyed the silence of the evening and then in the early morning, feeling a little lonely, I turn on C10 Astronomy out of UC Berkeley by Alex Filippenko and his TA's from a couple of years ago. I enjoyed the company of the podcast as I continued to work into the evening. When it was time to clean up, Alex went off and Rush came on, starting with Tom Sawyer and going on to their other hits.
Well, you can judge for yourself on the new sketching method. I personally, REALLY like it. I still have some things to work on, but overall I am very pleased. I need to get a stiffer brush for detail with a sharper point and I need to figure out how to make the lightening work. My red light was almost too dim for this method but that is an easy fix. Also, I noticed that gray did not brush on very well. because it is very hard to see under a red light. I am sure these are just more experience in doing the process, but I am very happy with the result. Thus I haven't made a digital sketch of these.
Well, I have some more posts over the next day or to, one being a reviewed of the Cambridge Atlas of the Herschel Objects and then another Atlas. I'll try to get to that. I should have a couple of sessions over the next week as well. I am very excited about that IF the weather will clear, warm up and hold. Congrats to Prince William and his bride Catherine. I hope they have a happier life than his parents did. That's up to them I guess.
First, the items I observed and the new sketches.
Here's a copy of some notes I have on the session:
It was a wonderful night out there. Mark and his friend showed up and we
looked at several galaxies over in Virgo including M87 and M84 and
Markarian's chain of galaxies. We also looked at Saturn and it was always
neat to hear someone knew just really begin to comprehend how far away these
objects are.
Mark and his friend left around 10:00p.m. and I went to work on my list for
that night. I observed and sketched the following items (using the Scott
Mellish Sketching Technique which is using white and gray pastel on black
paper, applying the pastel in layers with various paint brushes. This method
gives a much improved realistic look in my opinion). I found 165x to 235x
worked really well this night. The seeing wasn't quite good enough for 330x
except for moments of clarity. Antoniadi II this night at zenith.
1. Object:NGC 4361 Planetary Nebula in Corvus. 4/28/2011, 05:26 UT; Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, Clear, Cool to Cold; Size: 1.9'x1.9' Mag. 10.2; XX14i, 10mm & 14mm Pentax XW; Narrowband Filter:
Both with a narrowband filter and w/o the filter this PN was rather large, easily viable and looked almost like a galaxy in the EP. 13th mag central star was easily visible at 165x. Nice
object to view but I love PN's. Seems somewhat irregular in shape, roundish to irregular perhaps, or the edge is not defined well, yes, edge is not defined well. At first only a grayish color, then a tinge hint of green with it.
2. Object: NGC 4027 Barred Spiral Galaxy in Corvus. Date: 4/28/11; Time 06:00 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear and cold; Size: 3.8'x2.3'; Mag. 11.2; Instrument: XX14i; EP: 10mm Pentax XW, 7mm Pentax XW;
Wonderful object! Large barred spiral galaxy with a bright inner core, almost stellar; the bar is evident here. A large spiral arm is off the northern edge going to the east, very easily seen with mixture of averted and direct vision. The sketch I made really captures what I was able to see with time, apply visual basics like averted vision and breathing techniques. Just had a blast with this one.
3. Object: NGC 3729 SG in Ursa Major; Date: 04/28/11; Time: 03:48 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear and cool; Size: 3.1'x2.2'; Mag. 11.4; Instrument: XX14i, Eyepiece: 27mm Panoptic as finder; 10mm Pentax XW for details;
Faint stellar core with a brighter halo surrounding it. Elongated north to south. A 11th magnitude star is nearby as is NGC 3718.
4. Object: NGC 3619 SP in Ursa Major; Date: 4/28/11; Time: 04:29UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear and cold; Size: 3.7'x2.8'; Instrument: XX14i; EP: 27mm Panoptic and 10mm Pentax XW.
Bright stellar core with a bright halo surrounding it, and the halo is diffused. Appears face on. NGC 3625 is nearby and included in the sketch.
5. Object: NGC 4038/39 BSG/Irregular Galaxies in Corvus. Date: 4/28/11; Time: 06:27 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Size: 11.2'x5.9'; Mag. 10.5; Instrument: XX14i, EP: 10mm Pentax XW.
NGC 4038 is the H400 object, but the galaxies are merging here. They are Irregular Barred Spiral Galaxy for NGC 4038. Wonderful pair of interacting galaxies also known as The Antenna due to the tails they form in photographs. Very evident interacting with each other.
NGC 4039 looked like a kidney shaped galaxy, or better yet a shrimp like
shape with NGC 4038 being irregular (both are irregular). Brightening at the center, though no nucleus is discern. At the eastern end I can see where the galaxies connect with a faint hint of a tail at the eastern end, perhaps going south, though I am not positive of that. Very able to discern a lane of darkness between them where they are not joined. Wonderful pair and with NGC 4027 would be two excellent and close targets to image for someone wanting that.
6. NGC 3962 Elliptical Galaxy in Crater. I need to find my notes and sketch on this one, so I will update this posting.
7. NGC 4594 Spiral Galaxy edge on in Virgo; Date: 4/28/11; Time: 07:00 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah; Antoniadi II, clear & cold; Size: 7.1'x4.4'; Mag. 8; Instrument: XX14i; EP: 10mm Pentax XW.
Also known as Messier 104 or the Sombrero Galaxy. As always, wonderful object and the dust lane really snapped out in the 10mm and 7mm Pentax XW. Core is brightening near the center. Wonderful view in the XX14i and the Pentax XW 7mm & 10mm. I already have this for the H400 but I wanted to end on it again and resketch it. I need to process the sketch and then I'll add the new sketch here.
8. Object: NGC 4856 Barred Spiral Galaxy in Virgo. I will add the details and sketch, its tucked away and I won't be able to get to it for a few days.
This ended my Herschel 400 hunt for the night. Here are some other areas I observed:
Saturn: Wonderful as always. I would love to see Saturn in the Refractor at
SPOC using the 10mm Pentax XW. I'll hopefully do that soon.
M13 in Hercules. Hercules was well up by the time 2:20a.m. came around so
I went and took in a tremendous look at 165x and 330x. I saw more stars and
chains of stars than I remember this night. Wonderful detail and again the
detail just snapped out. I can't wait to sketch this one using the new sketching method!
M65, M66 and NGC 3628 in Leo. I showed these to Mark and his friend and now
came back to them. I was trying out the Panoptic 27mm I had received and all
I can say is WOW! I've seen all 3 in the same FOV but the 27mm Pan. just had
them all there with a gorgeous view. Glad I went with the 27mm over the 24mm
because of the improved eye relief and slightly larger field of view (not
much). I used it as my finder all night and then just popped in the 1 1/4
adapter with the Pentax XW I was using and it worked like a charm.
Antares: Double Star in Scorpius.
Messier 4 in Scorpius; Globular Cluster Fun as always, wonderful detail and
reminds me how close we are getting to summer. Here is a sketch of M4:
Messier 80 or NGC 6093 Globular Cluster in Scorpius
Messier 107 Globular Cluster in Ophiuchus
Now it was late, and it was just starting to show some signs of frost so I
packed up and got home around 3:30a.m. Just a tremendous night and a good
one to be out. Now if I can get a few more like that before the moon gets
in the way.
Reviews:
Panoptic 27mm. I have and used the 24mm Panoptic from my brother-in-law but I am so glad I ordered the 27mm Panoptic. Just a nudge more in FOV though the eye relief was perfect for me with my prescription with eye glasses. Beautiful contrast, and stars were pretty good except perhaps in the last 5 percent to 10 percent on the edge. A Paracorr will clear that up and its not the eyepieces fault. This is a keeper and my finder eyepiece.
Apps I tried with Mark and his friend on the iPad. We used StarmapPro and Star Walk. Both programs in their night vision mode (which was still bright) worked well in the twilight as the darkness deepened at the observing site. Using the compass feature allowed us to know where stars were going to pop out and provided good information. Mark's friend was able to use it to view where some objects would be, including Saturn. I tried to use the App iPushTo but because I did not have the iPad linked to the wireless network, it did not work in the field. If I had the azmuith and altitude readings, I could have found objects that way. After Mark and his friend left, I enjoyed the silence of the evening and then in the early morning, feeling a little lonely, I turn on C10 Astronomy out of UC Berkeley by Alex Filippenko and his TA's from a couple of years ago. I enjoyed the company of the podcast as I continued to work into the evening. When it was time to clean up, Alex went off and Rush came on, starting with Tom Sawyer and going on to their other hits.
Well, you can judge for yourself on the new sketching method. I personally, REALLY like it. I still have some things to work on, but overall I am very pleased. I need to get a stiffer brush for detail with a sharper point and I need to figure out how to make the lightening work. My red light was almost too dim for this method but that is an easy fix. Also, I noticed that gray did not brush on very well. because it is very hard to see under a red light. I am sure these are just more experience in doing the process, but I am very happy with the result. Thus I haven't made a digital sketch of these.
Well, I have some more posts over the next day or to, one being a reviewed of the Cambridge Atlas of the Herschel Objects and then another Atlas. I'll try to get to that. I should have a couple of sessions over the next week as well. I am very excited about that IF the weather will clear, warm up and hold. Congrats to Prince William and his bride Catherine. I hope they have a happier life than his parents did. That's up to them I guess.
4/22/2011
New Eyepiece 27mm Panoptic
Well, I took advantage of the Televue sale and I went for the 27mm Panoptic. It arrived today at the house in wonderful condition. The first thing I can say about this eyepiece is that it is heavy. It seems to weigh a lot more than my Pentax XW eyepieces and is probably the heaviest eyepiece in the set. Next, the eyepiece itself arrived in pristine condition and now I just need the weather to stay clear for several days so I can try it out. My purpose in purchasing this eyepiece is that I like the eye relief it offers and I really feel it will serve its purpose as a wide field and finder eyepiece. I had the 24mm and though I really enjoyed it, when observing with my glasses I find that I needed just a tad more eye relief, and thus the 27mm. This was confirmed in a conversation on the phone with someone who answered my call at Astronomics.
Here are a couple of images of the 27 Panoptic compared to other eyepieces. Going from left to right you have:
32mm Sirius Plossl; Pentax XW 10mm; Panoptic 27mm; 21mm Orion Stratus; 25mm Sirius Plossl.
So now it comes to decision time. I have the eyepieces I feel for now, that I want in the 5mm, 7mm, 10mm and 14mm Pentax XW; the 27mm Panoptic. Do I keep the Status eyepieces, the 13mm, 17mm, 21mm, and the 5mm Hyperion or do I see them? I have the Stratus EP's for sale locally but I haven't tried to unload them. Part of me says sell them and then perhaps pick up the 19mm Panoptic or the 20mm Pentax XW (IF I can still find one around and yes, I know about the field curvature). Thoughts anyone? I know which way I am leaning right now.
I'll give a full review when I have the opportunity to use it. For now I am moving my premium EP's to their own eyepiece case and the keep the Plossls and the Stratus/Hyperion in their own case.
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