The forecast was very promising for excellent seeing and transparency, but heat and humidity made the reality a little hazier. Still, with the exception of some early thin cloud cover, the skies were good. Tonight I was viewing with the Oberwerk 20x80 binoculars, working on the Binocular Messier Club list of the Astronomical League. While I had hopes of catching some of the galaxies in the Coma Berenices they turned out to be too low in the sky for tonight's conditions, so instead I concentrated on Ursa Major.

First order of business was to take a gander at Saturn whose rings are still at a very shallow tilt, though not absolutely edge-on as they were in March. In the binoculars, Saturn is tiny but clear. I can see the rings clearly and there was one moon out to the side.

So, on to the Messier objects. First up was M51 right out by the end of the Big Dipper's handle (Alkaid). This galaxy was pretty easy to locate and didn't look like much in the binoculars. At this point the clouds were just beginning to dissipate but there was just enough haziness that M51 tended to blend into the background. A bit of relaxing and averted vision did the trick, though. Next, a short hop Southwards where M94 is about halfway between, and just to the side of, the path between the two stars that make up Canis Venatici. No real detail was visible, but it was certainly clearer than M51. Next I moved down toward the body of Ursa Major, viewing M106 and then M109.

At this point I took a break to view the Iridium flares that some of the other guys were excited about. I'd never seen one of these events, which occurs when the sun reflects off of the large antenna of an Iridium communications satellite, causing the satellite to brighten significantly for a few seconds. We saw the first one at about 11:15pm and then the second about 4 minutes later. Then, a few minutes later, we saw an unexpected third satellite pass over in the same path.

I continued my search in the body of the great bear, locating M108 with a good bit of difficulty. This galaxy is edge-on and obscured by a good bit of dust. It was a short hairline in the binoculars and I wouldn't believe I was seeing it until I got a look through one of the telescopes. Then I found the galaxies M81 and M82 just above the bear's tail toward Polaris. After this I spent a bit of time looking at some other objects and generally browsing about rich star fields. In the end it was a good night, with good company.

Astronomical League Binocular Messier Club

Iridium Flare on Wikipedia

Not much to report this month. I was attempting to bag some of the galaxies in the rich fields between the Coma Berenices, Virgo and Leo to add to my list of successful viewings for the Astronomical League's Messier Club certification. Especially because these objects hang in the West and are only viewable for a couple of sessions each year - during the Southeast's rainy season.

What I discovered is that this is a tough group to work with. They are all galaxies and they are literally piled one on top of the other. I believe that I observed M58, M59, M60, M84, M86, M87, M88, M89, M90 and M91. But I am not at all certain I have them correctly identified. For instance, I'm not sure that when I thought I was observing M58 that I was not actually observing M89 or M90. In short, I was not really prepared to try and sift through all of these galaxies. So I'm going to work on filling in other corners of the list in the coming months and hopefully next early Spring I'll have clear skies and a better plan.

Astronomical League Messier Club

When things get too far out of kilter, there's bound to be upheaval while balance is restored. Humankind's intelligence gives us the tools to prepare for such times, but our ability to prepare is only as good as information or insight will allow. An even better trait is our tenacity which allows us to ride out adversity and, in the end, prevail. Out of chaos comes opportunity and I'm hoping this current storm, whether it will soon be over or if the worst is yet to come, will end not just in restored balance, but in a refreshed and renewed balance - one with a better perspective.

I also hope every evening on a new Moon is clear and dry.

Not a bad night for observing, although the dewfall was relentless. My scope is bare-bones - a simple dobsonian-mounted newtonian reflector without any fancy gadgets or electronics. I do think that I might have to get a power inverter and one of those tiny blowdryers, though. Early in the evening the coyotes were restless - a lot of coyotes from the sound of it - and a couple of dogs were answering out of either annoyance or some instinctive longing.

The first thing to appear in the sky, around 8:00 PM, was Jupiter and it looked wonderful despite being low in the SouthWest and up before even good dark. The bands were very clear with the 15mm eyepiece. I could see 3 moons to one side. Using the 20mm eyepiece I caught another moon pretty far away on the other side. Venus appeared next, but looked pretty much like a really bright star in my scope. Vega was the first star visible, as usual, and I spent some time looking over the charts I'd printed out. I won't have an opportunity to finish up the Messier catalog until late Spring next year, so I've started on the Herschel catalog - and there are so many things to be seen in the Winter skies. It's been a while since I've hunted new objects and my skills are a bit rusty. The humidity fogging up my finder was a hindrance. I may consider, as an auxiliary, building a primitive finder site that has no lens to fog up.

I located M30, a small globular cluster, fairly easily. The other Messier object up this night, M74, eluded me. For Herschel objects, I concentrated on those near Cassiopeia, successfully observing NGC 7789, 7790, 129, 136, 225, 381, 436, 559, 637, 654, and 659 over around two hours time. I made unsuccessful attempts to track down NGC 185, 287 and 40 but by this time my mirrors were also fogging up a bit. Andromeda was striking visible to the naked eye, and looked excellent in the scope along with the companion galaxy. I was winding down around 11:30 PM. Orion was just striding up on the Eastern Horizon, showing a shoulder, a foot and his belt of 3 stars. I casually gazed at the Pleiades with the 25mm eyepiece for some minutes and then began packing my sodden gear. I knew that on arriving home, I'd have to unpack it all and set it up in the garage to dry out.

A few images of the observing site and some of my fellow observers is on flickr.

Wanting a way to use my red LED flashlight both at the lens and on the worktable, I cast about the shop for some scrap materials that might work as a simple stand. A Tazo tea canister, scrap of aluminum bar, a bit of self-adhesive velcro (fuzzy half), a couple of machine screws and a handful of pea gravel (for ballast in the canister) and viola! I used the canister as a form to hand bend the aluminum bar into an S shape. The velcro provides some thickness for the flashlight's clip to grab onto and protects the light from scratches. Full size image is here.

The forecast was for clear skies last night so I headed up to Ron and Bev's farm in Northwest Georgia hoping to polish off a few more items on the Messier Catalog. Unfortunately this goal was thwarted by the treeline, the waxing moon and a bit of haziness in the West. I have not yet observed several objects near the Coma Berenices (M83 - M91, M98, M99, M100). These objects are best observed in June, but the weather and my schedule have both been generally uncooperative with observing. Ah, well - I'll just have to wait for next year.

On the positive side, I enjoyed viewing Jupiter and 3 of its moons, combing the Milky Way and observing a number of objects in its span. This was the first night out at the farm with the new telescope, and it validated the design and general quality.

Finally . . . it cleared up enough for me to give the telescope a second test. But just barely. The afternoon was clear as a bell, but the early evening brought wispy clouds.

I first pointed the scope at a hole in the clouds and made sure I could get clear, pinpoint stars with the 25mm eyepiece. I'm pleased with the position of the focuser now (had to adjust it slightly to get focus nearer the midpoint of the focuser travel), but there is a little more spikiness than I recall having before. I may need to revisit the spider design.

I noticed Mars was nearly right overhead, so I got it in the field of view and focused very clearly. I observed with the 15mm eyepiece and then the 9mm eyepiece, and it looked better and better. There was another planet low in the East, so I slewed over and found Saturn. It resolved very nicely with the 9mm. I could see a bit of contrast in the planet but not the gap in the ring. Last, I turned the scope on the Orion Nebula. By then the entire sky was covered and only the brightest stars and planets could be seen. Even so, I was able to view the nebula, which was faint but exceptionally clear given the poor conditions.

Overall, I'm satisfied. It will be good to get this scope out to the field for some real observing.