I just got back today from the Twin Lakes Star Party held at Pennyrile State Forest Park in Kentucky. Our club, the West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers, puts on the star party here each fall, so I came both to help out with the event and to do some observing. I was only able to attend for three nights this year (last Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) as well as today. There were several truss type Dobs on the field…
… including my “new” one.
My wife and I stayed at the Pennyrile State Park Lodge about a mile up the road and “commuted” back and forth to the observing field each day. The park around the lodge is very scenic, especially this time of the year when the leaves are beginning to turn. One morning we woke up to a beautiful sight of mist wafting along the lake…
Monday night was the only night that was clear enough to do much observing while I was there. I did GG&C galaxy trio #45, in Pegasus, that night (a fairly easy little group) as well as some sightseeing of familiar deep sky objects. It was very humid and dew became a problem as the evening progressed, forcing most people (including me) to pack it in early. The last quarter Moon rose a little after 12:30 a.m. so it would not have been a late night for faint fuzzies anyway.
Back at home on Tuesday and Wednesday nights it was very clear so I was able to pick off Trios 44 and 46, neither of which I had seen before. #44, in Andromeda, was pretty faint with an additional very faint MAC (Mitchell Anonymous Catalog) galaxy that I could only see with averted vision about 25% of the time. #46, in Pisces, was a little difficult to find as there are no bright field stars close by to orient with. Averted vision sweeps eventually picked them out. There are also several more very small and faint galaxies in this field but they were too faint for me to see. As I was sketching this galaxy group, a group of nearby coyotes cut loose with their yip-yip-yip calls and howls. It only lasted a few minutes before both they and I were done for the evening.
