2011 in review

Looking back, it was a pretty good year, astronomically speaking.

close and near

In terms of solar system objects, I viewed a lot. Of course I looked at the Moon on a few occasions, naked eye, with binoculars, and through telescopes. Enjoyed seeing the shadow of the Straight Wall on a couple of occasions. Didn't get Lunar X though.

I viewed every planet in the system, Mercury through Neptune. Enjoyed seeing Mars again near the end of the year. I was particularly pleased to see an ice cap. Jupiter and Saturn were the big draws. Had some stunning views of Jupiter, in fact. Saw Jovian, Saturnian, and Uranian moons. Saw a number of moon shadows on Jupiter. A highlight was finding Uranus naked eye while at Mew Lake. I also took in small worlds, including Pluto (a career first), Vesta, Pallas, and Ceres. Various meteors, of course. Seeing Jupiter in the day time was pretty cool too.

Comet Garradd C/2009 P1 was spectacular in the summer. What a treat. It was particularly neat watching in move in the course of an evening.

Mustn't forget the Sun (viewed in full spectrum, Hydrogen-alpha, Calcium-K line). Saw sunspots, sundogs, and parahelic circles.

The most frustrating aspect of the hobby was asteroid occultations. After another 5 or 6 attempts, even with video recording equipment, I threw in the towel. Just not having fun. I stopped following and monitoring occultations. Returned Denis's occultation gear in the summer. Good riddance.

Saw a great number of man-made objects. Countless satellites. Deliberately looked for a few Iridiums. Watched many flyovers of the International Space Station, sometimes when a shuttle was approaching or departing.

Caught an early morning ISS flyover telescopically and was astounded by the wonderful sunrise colours washing quickly over the complex. Successfully tracking and viewing the ISS in day light was another coup. A crowd pleaser!

far

I viewed a great number of deep sky targets: 31 Messiers catalog objects, 25 NGCs, and 3 IC objects. Saw the Muscle Man Cluster, Kemble's Cascade, the Veil Nebula (on a few occasions), the Basel 1 open cluster, and the Little Queen. Took in 67 double-star or multi-star systems including the incredible Burnham 1 system with 9 stars! Few measurements were taken this year although I did try video recording Car Caroli and κ Her to analyse with Ed's BinStar program. Enjoyed a number of very colourful stars: Hind's Crimson Star, La Superba, V Aquilae, R Cygni, Garnet Star, and Yed Prior.

very far

It was pretty cool to have not one but two supernovae spark up for us in the northern half during the summer. Viewed SN 2011dh and, as it wound down, SN 2011fe. 23 and 28 million light years away, respectively. Individual stars, super bright mind you, but individual stars nonetheless.

The furthest object viewed? Way far. The mag 15.90 quasar HS 1603+3829 at 3.9 giga light years! [ed: Correction!] 9.4 giga light years! That was pretty exciting! Thanks, Ian.

I also pushed myself in terms of seeing deeper. At Mew lake, I did a detailed naked eye chart and saw down to mag 6.9. Very happy with that. I was surprised inside city limits to get down to 12.4 with the 8".

imaging

Was fortunate to play with a lot of imaging and video gear over the year. Learned and used Denis's black and white StellaCam. Used and repaired the centre's colour MallinCam. In fact, I implemented remote control for the MallinCam and prepared to deliver NSN broadcasts. Started learning the centre's black and white SKYnyx. Helped Manuel with his planetary cameras. I tried out SLOOH on cloudy nights in Canada.

Imaged or recorded the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, comet Garradd C/2009 P1, the Sun (with sunspots), Castor, M42, M43, M81, M82, M3, the Running Man, M51, SN 2011dh, the International Space Station. Was very lucky to capture noctilucent clouds.

Viewed a NSN broadcast of asteroid 2005 YU55 during its close approach.

I made a Bahtinov mask for the 8".

Launched my photo gallery.

Catching the ISS cross in front of the Moon, near the end of the year... still boggles my mind. It was so much fun. And a big part of that was sharing the experience with other RASC members. Way up there... Wow!

locations

Observed from a variety of locations again. But not as wide ranging as 2010. All in Ontario, in fact.

Hurontario and Eglinton, Mississauga; six different sites in Toronto; countless times at the CAO in the Blue Mountains; the Long Sault Conservation Area; King; along Grey Rd 2 near Ravenna; at the Farmer's Pantry orchard in Beaver Valley (near Clarksburg); at Mew Lake camp ground in Algonquin Park; and from the David Dunlap Observatory, of course.

good times

There were a few other notable events in the year...

I had fun during winter observing from new porch. While not as roomy as the previous back yard, I had much more control over stray light. I particularly enjoyed leaving gear outside and ready for back-to-back clear nights. The 5-night run in March was fantastic (and exhausting)! The 6-night run in October, despite the leaves on the trees, was amazing!

Finished my custom deep red LED headlight. A little heavy and bulky but it works great and the colour is perfect.

I made and ran a custom Stellarium introductory course with handout for RASC members. And everyone liked it too!

Connecting SkyTools 3 Professional to the Paramount ME and driving it was very exciting. It will change how I observe.

Watching my blog go over 1,000 entries was kind of weird! That meant an increase of over 150% from 2010. Wow.

One of the most precious moments in 2011 though was observing with Bob Chapman, someone we all look up to. We had a lot of fun at Mew Lake. It was an honour being able to use his 'scope and help him find a supernova. Humbling, when the Master expresses his thanks.

I can only say, thank you.