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11/2/2019-Did an evening of observing from home. Good friends of ours, Terri and Steve came over from Norfolk. We grilled out and lit a fire in the fire pit. I had the Obsession set up earlier to have everything dialed in. The DSC required a reboot to get it to align correctly. I'm not sure what was up with it but a reboot got it working. Soon word got out and we had a number of neighbors and kids showing up. This cut down the list of targets to look at since everyone wanted at least one view of each object. It was worth it for the community enjoyment.
M30-Glob Cluster. I actually can cross it off my Messier list. The Moon and light pollution drowned it out, some, but it was there.
M15-Glob Cluster. Nice and bright! It amazed the neighbors.
M39-Open star cluster. Very beautiful! It blew the neighbors away!
Andromeda Galaxy....never disappoints.
Uranus-A few jokes about the name but very bright and blue.
Vega-Blue hint. very bright.
Three shooting stars in the SE sky.
Good for you Patrick, sounds like a fun time with a big scope! Always fun to see the expressions on peoples faces
Nice you got out and all the best,
Mark
"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4, AZ-EQ5 and SolarQuest mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.
Solar:
H/A - PST stage 2 mod with a Baader 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D. Member of the RASC
It was a fun evening. It’s funny how most folks have only experienced small dept store scopes and when they see objects through a decent sized scope, their whole perception changes.
Very nice outreach session with neighbors and friends Pat, from the comforts of home.
But yeah, must have been a thrill for some with the big 15" scope. I have some bigger scopes which I've bought a while back but never used; need to get those out for some urban observing.
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
A few quick hours logged this evening from around 1730-2000. I was not able to log any new Messier objects but I did get to revisit some old ones I last saw with the Zhumell 10. Williamsburg is a Bortle 5, whereas Gloucester is a class 4 so the sky is a bit lighter. Also, I have more trees to contend with, limiting access to the sky. I'm glad I can make occasional trips back to Gloucester to use my parent's yard so I'm darker and more open.
M31-Visible but M32 and M110 didn't want to join the party. Perhaps if I could have stayed out later, they would have shown up under possibly darker skies. In Gloucester they were always visibile. I was using a TV 22mm.
M15-Pegasus Cluster was best seen with my Zhumell Planetary 14.5 119X, which allowed individual stars to appear.
M2-Globular cluster. This was also best seen at 119X.
I attempted, but failed, to see M1, M45, NGC7000, NGC1499, M33, M13, and M92. Trees and the house were mostly the issue. I'm still learning the sky at the new house. Having a smaller area to explore may allow me to actually learn the sky better. Also, I really enjoy having some neighbors who are interested in coming down to use the scope. I never had this opportunity at the old place. There's nothing like lighting up the fire pit and enjoying a night under the stars.
