What an amazing week. We had 6 absolutely clear nights and tons of fun. Roughly 250-300 people had shown up by the end.
I think our club's setup had a big impact on the fun factor. We had a central scope area where we could conveniently talk, compare views, share equipment, etc. while observing. Our tents were setup around the scope area. Having that well-defined perimeter helped us keep an eye on each other's stuff and have a bit of privacy.
The big accomplishment for me this week was learning what my scope can do. This was my first time using it anywhere besides Farrington, and the difference was remarkable. I had an opportunity to compare it to a Starmaster 24 made around the same time and with a mirror from the same maker. The 24's views were a bit brighter, but there was no overwhelming difference. I looked at a handful of objects, and I didn't notice much more detail in the 24. Comparing views alone, I don't think you would ever guess that one had 78% more light gathering ability. Based on what I've been told, I think the limiting factor is the sky conditions in NC. It seems that the 18 really is at the edge where diminishing returns really kick in. In any case, the 18 exceeded my expectations and performed really well all week long.
Speaking of equipment, I learned that I need active dew prevention. I was fairly successful at preventing dew by keeping caps on everything until the moment I looked through, but it still became a problem each night around 1-2am. I will invest in something like a Dew Buster soon to heat the secondary, finder, and eyepiece.
I counted three vendors (including Big Bang and SE Camera), none of which set up shop before Thursday. I managed to leave them with only $40 of my money, which got me a head-mounted red light and the S&T Pocket Sky Atlas. I can't say enough good things about that atlas. I had previously been primarily using the finder charts in the Night Sky Observer's Guide, but those are small and often too cluttered to compare with the naked-eye sky. Now I look things up in the NSOG, but then use the atlas to actually find them. It is very handy to fold the atlas backward and carry it up the stepladder, using it to navigate right at the finder. This is how I hopped around the galaxies in Pegasus quickly and easily. I will try to remember to bring my copy to the CHAOS meeting on 11/11/08.
After seeing the Horsehead, I think Robert and I are both in the market for a Hydrogen-Beta filter. Otherwise, I left quite satisfied with my equipment situation, save the dew prevention. I had an opportunity to compare a couple of other Pentax XW eyepieces, but didn't feel very strongly about them. I think my 10mm might be the best one in the line, and hits that sweet spot of 200X for my scope.
It was a bummer not having on-site food service, but I think we did fine without it. There was a nightly club outing at 5pm to get food at a local establishment (usually Carolina Fried Chicken). I brought a bunch of snacks plus 6 burritos of varying types, and generally downed a burrito as a late meal around 11pm each night. It was nice to take a short break and warm up inside the building while getting some food.
In general, we mostly stayed in our own area at night. Robert and I were both too distracted with our new toys to spend too much time browsing the views in other people's scopes. I think most of us wanted to take advantage of the great conditions to put in some good time on our own equipment. Plus, we had enough heavy artillery in-house to provide variety at very high quality. In particular, Robert's Tak and my Starmaster complement each other very well, each excelling in different areas. Our eyepiece collections are also very complementary.
I was surprised by how much fun we had with two wide-field Orion 4" F/5 refractors. I didn't realize how well they could perform under reasonably dark skies. We got the entire Veil into one field of view, which was breath-taking! The only problem we had was dealing with the weight of a big diagonal and big wide-field eyepiece.
I am so glad that I went to MASP, and I can't wait for the next star party. We have a really great group of folks who are an absolute pleasure to observe with. I learned a lot, saw tons of amazing views, and left completely satisfied.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
MASP day 6
Six clear nights in a row. Wow! My girlfriend came down for the evening, so we toured a lot of the highlights from the week. After 5 nights of hunting down obscure and often faint objects, I was happy to take a mental break and go for the tourist traps. I did manage to get in a couple of weird objects though toward the end, as I took my first tour through Auriga with the Starmaster.
The public came out in large numbers. For a while, there was an out-right crowd waiting to see Jupiter and other things through our scopes. It died down quickly though, so we got to go after more interesting things. All told, I think we had 9 CHAOS members tonight, making 10 for the week (Mark having left on Thursday).
Today I purchased my own copy of the Pocket Sky Atlas and a red light to strap on my head. Both made the evening far more pleasant.
I met a member of RAC, Chris Waldrup, because I saw him driving a Honda Fit (I recently bought a 2009 Fit specifically to haul my Starmaster around). It turned out that we was a member of RAC, and was seriously considering buying a Starmaster 16 or 18, but wasn't sure if either would fit in the Fit. I described how I fit my stuff in my Fit, and later shared some views through my scope. By the time we were done, I think he was pretty sold on the 18.
Robert's scope has been attracting lots of attention all week. The steady parade of admirers continued this evening with all sorts of gawking and the usual questions, followed by high compliments on the views. It was actually quite nice for me, because I think a lot of the attention my scope might normally have gotten from passers-by was diverted to Robert's Tak, leaving me relatively undisturbed.
It was 2:30 or 3am when the last of us finally turned in. As with most nights, my secondary mirror eventually dewed over, which I took as the sign to hit the sack. I think we were the only group still doing serious observation past midnight.
My list:
M13
Ring Nebula
Dumbell
M71
Veil
Triangulum Galaxy
Andomeda Galaxy and friends
Crab Nebula (very tough to see any sort of crab shape, although an OIII filter brought out internal structure)
M36
M37
M38 (stunning open cluster, especially being right next to NGC 1907)
NGC 1907 (small but very nice open cluster)
NGC 1931 (very small planetary nebula with bright central star)
Barnard 26-28 (a fairly large dark region in an otherwise dense star field)
Pegasus I Galaxy Group (a dozen or more tiny and faint galaxies in one field of view, at 121X)
Orion Nebula
Flame Nebula
The public came out in large numbers. For a while, there was an out-right crowd waiting to see Jupiter and other things through our scopes. It died down quickly though, so we got to go after more interesting things. All told, I think we had 9 CHAOS members tonight, making 10 for the week (Mark having left on Thursday).
Today I purchased my own copy of the Pocket Sky Atlas and a red light to strap on my head. Both made the evening far more pleasant.
I met a member of RAC, Chris Waldrup, because I saw him driving a Honda Fit (I recently bought a 2009 Fit specifically to haul my Starmaster around). It turned out that we was a member of RAC, and was seriously considering buying a Starmaster 16 or 18, but wasn't sure if either would fit in the Fit. I described how I fit my stuff in my Fit, and later shared some views through my scope. By the time we were done, I think he was pretty sold on the 18.
Robert's scope has been attracting lots of attention all week. The steady parade of admirers continued this evening with all sorts of gawking and the usual questions, followed by high compliments on the views. It was actually quite nice for me, because I think a lot of the attention my scope might normally have gotten from passers-by was diverted to Robert's Tak, leaving me relatively undisturbed.
It was 2:30 or 3am when the last of us finally turned in. As with most nights, my secondary mirror eventually dewed over, which I took as the sign to hit the sack. I think we were the only group still doing serious observation past midnight.
My list:
M13
Ring Nebula
Dumbell
M71
Veil
Triangulum Galaxy
Andomeda Galaxy and friends
Crab Nebula (very tough to see any sort of crab shape, although an OIII filter brought out internal structure)
M36
M37
M38 (stunning open cluster, especially being right next to NGC 1907)
NGC 1907 (small but very nice open cluster)
NGC 1931 (very small planetary nebula with bright central star)
Barnard 26-28 (a fairly large dark region in an otherwise dense star field)
Pegasus I Galaxy Group (a dozen or more tiny and faint galaxies in one field of view, at 121X)
Orion Nebula
Flame Nebula
MASP day 5
What a great evening. I borrowed a copy of the S&T Pocket Sky Atlas and cruised Pegasus and Eridanus for galaxies, especially in pairs. I also spent a bit of time hitting the highlights of Aquila.
There were a lot more people on-site, being the weekend finally. Some Boy Scouts came through early in the evening, but didn't linger. After a marathon evening the night before, staying up past 4am, I decided to turn in a bit earlier (1:30) to prepare for a long final night. Keep in mind that I've been getting up early every morning to go play with the NC Symphony, so sleep deprivation is becoming a real problem.
I did most of my observing tonight with my Pentax 10XW, which puts me at 205X magnification. Under these skies, it seems to be a sweet spot of contrast and detail, especially on these small objects. Other than that, the vast majority of my observing is with a Nagler 17 T4, which comes out to 121X. It's been pretty easy to hop around with my finder and the star atlas, landing right on objects and thus being able to keep the high power in all the time.
It wasn't quite as cold as the past 4 nights, which is a welcome change!
My list:
M13
Ring Nebula
M92
NGC 6772 (planetary nebula)
NGC 6781 (planetary nebula)
NGC 6760 (small but nice globular)
Veil Nebula
Dumbell Nebula
NGC 6940 (open cluster)
NGC 7339/7332 (very nice edge-on galaxy pair)
NGC 7789 (open cluster)
NGC 7448 (galaxy)
NGC 7454 (galaxy)
NGC 7436, 7437, 7438 (galaxy group)
NGC 7469 / IC 5283 (galaxy pair)
NGC 663 (my favorite small open cluster- highly recommended for scopes of any size)
NGC 7479 (face-on spiral galaxy)
NGC 7625 (galaxy)
NGC 1535 (small, bright planetary nebula)
NGC 1232 (face-on spiral galaxy)
NGC 1325/1332 (galaxy pair)
NGC 1400/1407 (galaxy pair)
Sculptor Galaxy (lots of detail to be seen, and very expansive- the view is almost 3D, as if looking down at an angle at the face of the galaxy)
There were a lot more people on-site, being the weekend finally. Some Boy Scouts came through early in the evening, but didn't linger. After a marathon evening the night before, staying up past 4am, I decided to turn in a bit earlier (1:30) to prepare for a long final night. Keep in mind that I've been getting up early every morning to go play with the NC Symphony, so sleep deprivation is becoming a real problem.
I did most of my observing tonight with my Pentax 10XW, which puts me at 205X magnification. Under these skies, it seems to be a sweet spot of contrast and detail, especially on these small objects. Other than that, the vast majority of my observing is with a Nagler 17 T4, which comes out to 121X. It's been pretty easy to hop around with my finder and the star atlas, landing right on objects and thus being able to keep the high power in all the time.
It wasn't quite as cold as the past 4 nights, which is a welcome change!
My list:
M13
Ring Nebula
M92
NGC 6772 (planetary nebula)
NGC 6781 (planetary nebula)
NGC 6760 (small but nice globular)
Veil Nebula
Dumbell Nebula
NGC 6940 (open cluster)
NGC 7339/7332 (very nice edge-on galaxy pair)
NGC 7789 (open cluster)
NGC 7448 (galaxy)
NGC 7454 (galaxy)
NGC 7436, 7437, 7438 (galaxy group)
NGC 7469 / IC 5283 (galaxy pair)
NGC 663 (my favorite small open cluster- highly recommended for scopes of any size)
NGC 7479 (face-on spiral galaxy)
NGC 7625 (galaxy)
NGC 1535 (small, bright planetary nebula)
NGC 1232 (face-on spiral galaxy)
NGC 1325/1332 (galaxy pair)
NGC 1400/1407 (galaxy pair)
Sculptor Galaxy (lots of detail to be seen, and very expansive- the view is almost 3D, as if looking down at an angle at the face of the galaxy)
Friday, October 31, 2008
MASP day 4
We saw the horsehead! With an OIII filter, it looked like a slight darkening in the area where we knew the horsehead should be. Upon borrowing a hydrogen-beta filter, the horsehead jumped out clearly.
The Dynascope was a lot of fun. Even with only so-so collimation, it performed beautifully on many objects. I was particularly impressed with the view if the Veil. The scope didn't draw as much attention as I expected, but perhaps that will change after people have more of a chance to see it during he day.
I went after a lot of obscure objects. Conditions were truly ideal, so what better time for some faint fuzzies? However, around 1:30, dew became a serious problem. Everything on the field got covered in a hefty layer of frost, which looked particularly wintry when I got up at 7:30 the next morning. I finally turned in when my secondary frosted over.
My list:
M13
Ring Nebula
NGC 6894
Crescent Nebula (saw the entire ellipse!)
Veil Nebula
NGC 6891 (small planetary nebula)
Blue Flash Nebula
NGC 6956 (small galaxy)
NGC 147 (large, faint galaxy with small but very dense nucleus)
NGC 185 (small but fairly bright galaxy)
NGC 252 (small galaxy)
NGC 404 (beautiful view of a galaxy next to mag 2.1 yellow star)
NCG 6939 (open cluster)
Triangulum Galaxy
Flame Nebula
Horsehead
Abel 262 Galaxy Group
NGC 759 (small galaxy)
The Dynascope was a lot of fun. Even with only so-so collimation, it performed beautifully on many objects. I was particularly impressed with the view if the Veil. The scope didn't draw as much attention as I expected, but perhaps that will change after people have more of a chance to see it during he day.
I went after a lot of obscure objects. Conditions were truly ideal, so what better time for some faint fuzzies? However, around 1:30, dew became a serious problem. Everything on the field got covered in a hefty layer of frost, which looked particularly wintry when I got up at 7:30 the next morning. I finally turned in when my secondary frosted over.
My list:
M13
Ring Nebula
NGC 6894
Crescent Nebula (saw the entire ellipse!)
Veil Nebula
NGC 6891 (small planetary nebula)
Blue Flash Nebula
NGC 6956 (small galaxy)
NGC 147 (large, faint galaxy with small but very dense nucleus)
NGC 185 (small but fairly bright galaxy)
NGC 252 (small galaxy)
NGC 404 (beautiful view of a galaxy next to mag 2.1 yellow star)
NCG 6939 (open cluster)
Triangulum Galaxy
Flame Nebula
Horsehead
Abel 262 Galaxy Group
NGC 759 (small galaxy)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Criterion Dynascope arrives
looks brand new, mirror included, after an extensive refurbish. I
can't wait to see what it can do tonight!
MASP day 3
This was another great night of observing. We checked out the Veil and North American nebulas through Mark's widefield refractor (102mm F/5), which was stunning. It's rare to see all three parts of the Veil in one field of view! When I put my scope on the Veil, it was exceptionally bright. I was able to follow a stream of nebulosity from the middle section all the way through the center area, up to the top of the fork! In addition, when I just scanned the area, I could find lots of small nebula pieces that aren't attached to the main three and usually go unnoticed.
Just after the Andromeda galaxy passed the zenith, I checked it out with my Nagler 17; unbelievable! Incredible contrast. The first dust lane practically beat me over the head with it's presence. The outer dust lane was also very prominent. The companion NGC 205 looked incredible by itself. The view of this group was described by one observer as a religious experience.
Now the really cool part: extra-galactic globulars! We found G73, G244, and G286; all members of the Andromeda group. Incredible!
My list:
NGC 7331
Stephen's Quintet
M2
M52
NGC 772
NGC 246
Andromeda galaxy with both comapions and globulars G73, G244, and G286.
NGC 1023, which showed a clear dust lane at almost 300X.
At about 1am, frost became a problem. My secondary frosted over around 1:15, so I called it a night.
Just after the Andromeda galaxy passed the zenith, I checked it out with my Nagler 17; unbelievable! Incredible contrast. The first dust lane practically beat me over the head with it's presence. The outer dust lane was also very prominent. The companion NGC 205 looked incredible by itself. The view of this group was described by one observer as a religious experience.
Now the really cool part: extra-galactic globulars! We found G73, G244, and G286; all members of the Andromeda group. Incredible!
My list:
NGC 7331
Stephen's Quintet
M2
M52
NGC 772
NGC 246
Andromeda galaxy with both comapions and globulars G73, G244, and G286.
NGC 1023, which showed a clear dust lane at almost 300X.
At about 1am, frost became a problem. My secondary frosted over around 1:15, so I called it a night.
MASP day 2
Clear skies all evening. The veil nebula was seriously mind-blowing! IIt far exceeded my expectations, even having seen it the night before. With my Panoptic 35, it was incredible, although you could still only get half of the claw section into one field of view. The triangular section in the middle, between the fork and claw, showed lots of detail.
I bumped up to my Nagler 17, and the details just popped out! Structures seem to go on forever. On the fork section, you could clearly see dense streams running along each side, with nebulosity in between. The claw was unbelievable. The middle section showed a distinctive knot region along the inward-facing wisp.
Robert and I spent a long time looking at the Cat's Eye with different eyepieces and filters, and comparing our two scopes. The central star is illusive, but once you start to detect it, it just pops out. Then you can hardly imagine how you could have missed it. Three of us had this experience.
My list:
M13
Cat's Eye
NGC 6503
Saturn Nebula (nodes clearly visible)
M77
NGC 1055
Little Dumbbell
Veil
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
MASP first morning
I got up early to play a couple of education concerts with the North Carolina Symphony. The guys got a real kick out of the suit and started taking pictures.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
MASP day 1
We had a great first day and evening. Mark, Robert and I have a
reasonable plot with our scopes centrally located between our three
tents.
reasonable plot with our scopes centrally located between our three
tents.
The sky was very clear, and some great observing was done. Here is my
list:
Blue snow ball
Veil nebula
Ring nebula
Helix nebula
Pegasus galaxy cluster
M15
Sculptor galaxy
NGC 246 (planetary nebula set on a beautiful star field)
NGC 210 (galaxy)
Crab nebula
Orion nebula
Double cluster
Pleiades (lots of nebulosity)
Triangulum galaxy
NGC 672 (galaxy)
Andromeda galaxy and friends
Stephen's Quintet
The Statmaster 18 is performing exceptionally well. This is my first
time taking it anywhere besides Farrington, and I couldn't be happier.
Robert's new scope is also amazing. The contrast is through the roof,
so it pulls in detail that larger reflectors struggle with. He worked
out some operational kinks last night, so tonight should be even more
fun!
There are about 50 people here I think, with some very impressive
equipment. No vendors yet. Also, there is no longer on-site food
service.
I am very excited to find some obscure gems tonight!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Up to Speed
I got into amateur astronomy in the summer of 2007 at my girlfriend's suggestion. I joined the Chapel Hill Astronomical Observation Society, did a lot of reading, and ended up buying a used Orion 8" Dobsonian made in the late 90s, when Orion was still outsourcing them to Discovery in the US. For me, it was the perfect first scope.
I had a blast right off the bat and got more involved. I learned a ton from other club members and became very inspired by what they were doing. A mere 9 months after getting started, I purchased a used Starmaster 18. I love this scope and have been blown away by what I've seen. Next week at MASP, I will have my first opportunity to use it from a good dark site, which should be very exciting.
I had a blast right off the bat and got more involved. I learned a ton from other club members and became very inspired by what they were doing. A mere 9 months after getting started, I purchased a used Starmaster 18. I love this scope and have been blown away by what I've seen. Next week at MASP, I will have my first opportunity to use it from a good dark site, which should be very exciting.
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