WKAA Secretary Patrick Archer and his dad Mike joined me last night for an observing session at the Golden Pond Observatory. We were a little worried about clouds and possible rain initially but it turned out to be a really good night. The humidity was low, the temps were comfortably cool, and there was a nice gentle breeze to help keep any mosquitos at bay. A few clouds drifted through occasionally but most of the sky was pretty clear. Seeing was fairly decent. (We could split Epsilon Lyrae, the double-double readily.) After the opening views of Saturn and a few of the brighter double stars it had gotten dark enough to start going after the Messiers.
I have been so intent lately on going after really faint galaxy clusters with my 18” Dob, I have neglected viewing the Messiers. With Patrick viewing many for the first time I figured it would be a good opportunity for me to revisit them. I don’t remember the exact order but our list ran more-or-less as follows:
M13 – Spectacular as always.
M57 – One of Patrick’s favorites, I think.
M51 – It was dark/clear enough to just see the spiral arms through Patrick’s 10”. Even more visible through the 18”.
M97 – The Owl nebula. Very cloudlike. I compared views through the OIII and UHC filters with the UHC coming out on top. The “eye” spots were visible.
M81/82 – I spotted a star very near M82 that I didn’t remember being there. We thought we might have a supernova until I found a photograph that clearly showed the star. Rats.
M101 – Bright core but dim halo. I thought briefly about using a recent Sky & Tel article to chase down detail in this galaxy but figured it would take too long.
M63, M64, & M94 – I did not look for these galaxies in my 18”. (I was busy scrutinizing M101.) Patrick, however, picked them off in short order.
M4 – A pleasing view of this globular through the 18” after an earlier twilight view that was not so pleasing. Looks like some kind of bug w/ long legs.
M27 – The Dumbell. It always surprises me at how large and bright this planetary is.
M22 – We moved into the Sagittarius region with a fantastic view of this large cluster. This is one of my favorite globulars. Patrick seemed to like it, too.
M28 – Another smaller globular near M22.
M6/M7 – Big and bright open clusters. M6 definitely looked like a butterfly to all of us.
M8 – The Lagoon Nebula & star cluster. Bright and detailed. As impressive, I think, as the Orion Nebula.
M20 – The Trifid. Not as big or impressive as M8 but you can still easily see the dark lanes dividing the nebula into three or more parts.
M24 – Star Cloud. An extremely dense star field. I think Patrick got all slack jawed over this one. I remember at least one or two “colorful metaphors” coming from the direction of his scope.
M17 – The Swan Nebula. Another nebula that surprises me with its size and brightness.
M16 – The Eagle Nebula. Telescopic views do not compare well with images of this nebula. It shows a background nebulosity and a sparse open cluster. I forgot to try the filters on this one as it was getting late. Next time.
Palomar 10 – After Patrick and his dad left around midnight, I tried to find this challenging globular cluster but could not spot it. Need a locating image.
Moonrise – Time to pack up and go home.
One of the best viewing nights I’ve had in weeks. Thanks to my friends Mike and Patrick Archer for the great company. Let’s do it again soon.
