The Moon and 4 Wise Men

[Don Quixote]

October 7, 2019
Penfield, Illinois
October 7-8
2200-0415

AR152 f/6.5
12.5mm Docter
22mm Tv Pan
7mm XW
6mm KK Ortho

Moon 80% illuminated

Transparency Very Good
Seeing Very Good

Although sky conditions were very good the lunar brightness extinguished much of the Milky Way to the naked eye untill about 0230.

Time on the moon consisted in views with the EP listed above. At no time did I have any purple fringe on the lunar views. I did observe a transient, pencil thin yellow line on the sunny rim of the moon. This color phenomenon was evident to equal extent with all the EP employed.

A cell phone snapshot that I posted in Luner Astrophotography sub forum did show a tiny bit of greenish/blur hue in the rim of the brightest craters as well as bathed the entire view in a pale powder blue hue which I did not observe visually. This surprised me.

I enjoyed the lunar view with the various EP until about 0030 at which time I crawled into my van for a nap untill the moon set at 0230.

Hankmeister3 had been on the quatro in these first 2 hours. He also crawled into his car for a nap.

At 0230 and we were both up and the moon was down. The Milky Way was well defined. Seeing and Transparency held a high standard and we were off to the races.

I had taken many quick views by 0250. But I spent a lot of my time on M42 teasing out the E and F stars in the trapizium. The best view was with the 12.5 Docter.
The E star was relatively easy, but the F star was transient as the C star was quite bright. I never made a clean split, but I could discern a bulge In the C star.

At about 0300 a car drove into our area. 4 young men piled out and came toward us.

I learned quickly that these folks had driven from Champaign Illinois where they are all Doctoral students working on PhDs in Statistics at the UofI.
Their home is India.
Having read of this dark site they had come with a camera to photograph the meteors.
I am not sure where each was from in India but at least one was from Calcutta.

When they realized what Henry and I were up to they were very excited. They asked me about 7 sisters and could I show them. I pointed with my green lazer and asked if the would like to view. We had a nice conversation about the naming of the celestial objects and the cultural roots therein.

They told me this was the first time they had been in the countryside to look at the stars. In the city, at home, they told me they can see none.

Throughout the remainder of our time which ended at 0415 I was involved with conducting a short tour of the stars. These young men were interested in why I did this activity. We found common ground in the spiritual experience and exchanged many ideas and sentiments about the stars and the order in the universe. From a statistical point of view they all had concluded that this must have been the product of intelligence. I agreed completely.

We viewed Andromeda, Hyades, Orion, several clusters and a few other galaxies. They all enjoyed the telescope and the 8.5X43 binoculars.

The Double Clusters in Perseus and Pleiades in Taurus were particularly exciting to them. While viewing was going on at my telescope Henry was explaining to another young man his imaging rig. He showed all of them his capture that evening of the Horse Head Nebula and I pointed it out in the sky with the lazer. In fact every view in glass was accompanied with a naked eye view directed by the lazer.

During this time they were also treated to a fine showing of meteors. One of the young men also set up their DSLR and took some shots of the Milky way. In the end he commented that he was disappointed that he had caught no meteors with his camera. I smiled.

By 0415 I was spent. They were all thanking us and shaking hands.
And then they packed into their small car drove back to Champaign.

Henry and I packed up and did the same.

We will most likely never meet those young men again. But I believe they may remember the two old rustics and the stars they met in the dark fields of Central Illinois.

Clear skies to all !

[Juno16]

Sounds like a great time sharing the sky with new friends.

It’s really a kick to show someone sights in the night sky.

Sounds like a fine evening!

Thanks,
Jim

[Voyageur]

What a great night!

[helicon]

What a great evening of outreach. I hope you have made some converts, and it sounds like you have Mark with these 4 gentlemen. Congrats.

[kt4hx]

A very heartwarming narrative Mark. Sounds like you made their evening, and in turn, perhaps they made yours as well. I think you sold yourself and Henry short though - it should be six wise men. Made all the wiser by their chance meeting under a dark country sky.

[Don Quixote]

A very heartwarming narrative Mark. Sounds like you made their evening, and in turn, perhaps they made yours as well. I think you sold yourself and Henry short though - it s3hould be six wise men. Made all the wiser by their chance meeting under a dark country sky.

Thank you Alan.
You are most certainly correct.
This spontaneous meeting with these young men made the evening for me.
Their sharp minds and vigor of interest were refreshing.

[Bigzmey]

What a nice outreach Mark! I always enjoy sharing my love for the skies with willing folks.

[John Baars]

Great outreach with unexpected quests. They will remember you as the two pillars of practical astronomical wisdom for the rest of their lives.

[Don Quixote]

Great outreach with unexpected quests. They will remember you as the two pillars of practical astronomical wisdom for the rest of their lives.

Thank you John.

What do you think about the thin yellow line if color I was seeing on the moon?

[Don Quixote]

Well I just figured out why the cell phone lunar shot I took on this outing has a powder blue tone.

I just discovered that the white balance was set at 2400 K....oopsy

[John Baars]

Thank you John.
What do you think about the thin yellow line if color I was seeing on the moon?

Well, I think that is the typical CA of a f/6.5 telescope.
When you look in the telescope at a certain angle you will see the orange / red rim. Look at another angle and you will see a more bluish one.
A close look at the detail in the image will reveal a bluish hue around the orange rim as well.

The cellphone you used could be responsible for a part of it, but I think just the simple CA of a f/6.5 Fraunhofer is the main cause.

[Don Quixote]

Thank you John.
What do you think about the thin yellow line if color I was seeing on the moon?

Well, I think that is the typical CA of a f/6.5 telescope.
When you look in the telescope at a certain angle you will see the orange / red rim. Look at another angle and you will see a more bluish one.
A close look at the detail in the image will reveal a bluish hue around the orange rim as well.

The cellphone you used could be responsible for a part of it, but I think just the simple CA of a f/6.5 Fraunhofer is the main cause.

Thank you John.

[bladekeeper]

Wonderful night out, Mark!

Reminds me of an outreach event in the spring of 2018. I was one of the last off the field as I had picked up 4 younger gentlemen from India, all very inquisitive and asking lots of great questions. We had a mini sky tour there. It was a fun experience.