Earlier I had put the NexStar 11 GPS was on the Observing Pad. For Sharmin. And the Dobsonian for Lucy. And my eyepieces for whomever wanted to use them.
Hanning visited me in the Geoff Brown Observatory. I asked what he wanted to look at.
Coyotes! [ed: No, he didn't want to look at coyotes; we heard some.]
9:46 PM, Sunday, August 4, 2013. Psion alarm went off.
Everyone was looking at Saturn.
Sharmin visited me. Headed to the observatory floor.
Risa said the KP-index was 5 tonight. Oh.
In SkyTools 3 Pro we checked the moon positions. I had seen Iapetus (at magnitude 11), well away. Rhea (10.0) and Dione (10.7) straddling the planet. Titan, obvious, was about 4 or 5 ring widths away. I thought Tethys (10.7) might be visible but it was very close to the rings. Usually that makes it tough in the glare. Risa said, "It's blurry in here; clear out there."
9:55 PM. Got it! Got Tethys in the C14. Five moons! Could not see Enceladus at mag 12. Really close.
Risa said she saw 5 moons. Tethys with averted.
Tony asked for help. He said the collimation of their 'scope was terrible. Stars looked like comets. I was not surprised. Offered to help. But after 10:45, after the ISS flyover.
Risa asked me if I wanted coffee. Oh. Yes.
Millie popped in. "Nobody's here!"
Nick dropped by. "What's the plan?" Whatever you want, man! Told him that Saturn was in the field of view. They enjoyed the planet, its rings, the moons. Told them to come back, with some targets.
Risa returned with java. Not in the proper mug. But hey. She told me her computer names, including Enceladus. I shared the names of my Windows and Macintosh computers, inspired by Buckaroo Banzai. She was very happy that it took her half-a-second to polar align.
10:16. Weida dropped in. Happy that I was still on Saturn. "My favourite." Big 'scope.
Lei visited. Said more spicy snacks are on the way.
Asked Risa about rigging up the camera. So to prep. And get the focus done. We installed the photo-extension tube.
10:25. 12 minutes to go. I set a new 3 minute warning.
10:31. 6 minutes to go. Risa headed out for a fix. I advised the people on the Observing Pad where it would start.
10:34. 3 minutes to go. There were reports of aurora. I slewed to a spot near where the satellite would rise. Lurked. Knox and Joe popped by. Joe was going to try to tune in with his radio.
Risa started recording, video and audio, on her DSLR.
People saw a good meteor outside. Whoop!
10:37. I set the Paramount to start tracking the Space Station even though it was below our artificial horizon. It caught up.
Above the horizon. 2000 kilometres away. 1900 kms away. Steve was in the observatory. Risa saw something on the camera LCD. Wild! 1200 kms away. Started drifting.
I lost it. Risa said it was not on screen. I started a spiral search. 800 kms away. Started tracking again. The ISS was heading toward Lyra and the Paramount dove into the meridian. The software crashed. It was bad. I couldn't unbrick it.
10:46. No joy. As the ISS left Andromeda, I reset the Paramount. Homed. Thanked Risa for her help. The next pass would be just after midnight.
10:56. Tore down the camera. Reconfigured the computers.
11:02. Looked at RY Draco. A C-class star. Mag 7. Good solid orange colour.
Headed outside to see how everyone was doing.
11:12. Checked in with Sharmin. The N11 was working OK. But we refined the go-to a bit.
Reviewed Marfik's (or Marfic) details. In Ophiuchus. A tight double. Fast-mover list (129 years), S&T summer doubles, in one of my colourful doubles lists. Actually a quad. Slewed.
[ed: Also known as λ (lambda) Oph, 10 Oph, STF 2055. West was down during this viewing.]
They were boisterous out on the Pad.
AB very close, touching, in the C14, with the 27mm. Similar colours. Blue-white stars? Same colour? ST3P says A-class. Each star appears to have the same mag, 3.8, when selected individually in ST3P. Headed back to the ocular to coax out the other stars.
11:18. I noted the wide pair HD 148784 and SAO 121650 off to the right [ed: i.e. south].
I was seeing stars not being shown in the software. Zoomed in into the Context Viewer. Yep. I saw the split in a north-east to south-west orientation. A star was to the right, slightly brighter. ST3P said they were the same brightness.
[ed: Hovering at the stars in the chart shows mag 3.8 for each but in the Object Information box, A is 3.8 and B is 5.2. A is to the right or south and B is left/north.]
Tony reported they collimated their 'scope perfectly. Yeh! But other technical issues had come up. Boo! Something had happened to the SkyShed POD door and they couldn't open it! Would have to climb the wall to get it. What?! Jammed. Elaine was very upset. He asked to borrow an eyepiece for the 'scope on the Pad. Sure!
Hanning, King, and Weida visited. Asked what they'd like to look at. Ruoqing was thinking of something, a star, but couldn't remember, for a time. Finally, I realised what he was considering: Betelgeuse. Sorry, a winter star.
King spotted the Campbell's Hydrogen Star on my list. So we headed to the small planetary nebula.
Risa checked on her camera. That we had shut it off. She had spotted some aurora. Asked if I wanted more real coffee.
Asked if people wanted to view the Ring Nebula.
11:33. The software got messed up. Totally messed up. And the pointing was completely off.
Lei breezed through. King said Hanning was in bed.
Ruoqing was leaning so far over the counter I couldn't see the computer screen. Then he knocked over my recorder. Asked him to move back a bit. Then he started saying that things were "to my disadvantage." The door, the telescope position, the eyepiece position. I asked if he'd not say that. He apologised. I reminded him that we were doing the best that we could.
King really wanted to see Vega. OK.
Tony returned the eyepiece. It helped a lot. "Whoa!" Tony spotted a good meteor. He thought Vega blinding.
Risa brought me some coffee. Thanks!
"Oh my Lord that's a lot of stars," Ruoqing said. Yes.
We headed to the Ring Nebula. He called Messier 57 (M57) a "cosmic donut." Smoky cosmic donut. He thought the colour was white. I asked him if it was round. He said, "Mostly round." I showed him some photos. He asked if nebulae were "short-lived." Nope. Thousands or tens of thousands of years. I showed him the Crab Nebula. "Like a cosmic sponge." Chinese astronomers saw it blow up 1000 years ago. They don't end per se; they fade out. He wanted to see the Crab. Sorry. Another winter target.
He asked to see the Star Queen and the Messier 16 (M16) nebula.
King headed to the house for hot chocolate. I asked Weida if there was anything he wanted to look at.
SkyTools suggested Messier 56 (M56). Up high. We slewed to it. A globular cluster. It looks small and compact. It's far away. 32000 to 42000 ly away.
Showed Weida the application Where Is M13? Pointed out it was free software.
Pulled up M56 in relation to us. "Outside the galaxy," he observed. Yep. Above and below the arms of the Milky Way. Most globulars are in the halo. Part of a galaxy. Then showed him where M31 was in relation. He was amazed. 2.3 million! And then The Ring? It's 1500 ly away. Very close.
We talked open clusters. That the stars were members of the system. Gravitationally bound together. We slewed to the Wild Duck. We put the two stars below at the 5 o'clock position in the software. A double or multiple star system in the middle. Henry Draper 174512, primary is mag 8.5, and it has 6 elements. One of the elements was measure in 1915. One hundred years! Wow.
12:14 AM, Monday, August 5, 2013. We returned to the eyepiece to try to split some of the tight elements.
Tony strolled in. Asked where the line ups were. Said hello to Elaine. Heard that she was "struggling." Door jammed. Then lost the power to the focuser. Wow. They took a look at Messier 11 (M11).
Ruoqing asked if I could zoom out in the software. He correctly surmised that stars would merge together.
I suggested another open cluster. Messier 26 (M26). It was a short hop.
Weida gave me more spicy peanuts. These were a bit hotter.
I suggested some galaxies. Off to Messier 102 (M102). Nice edge on galaxy. I warned they were usually much fainter.
12:22 AM. Asked Weida if he recalled how far away the globular was: +/- 40000. The galaxy: 47 000 000 ly away. King said, "That's super faint."
Knox and Joe said good bye. Joe said he was expecting a old shack with a light bulb and a fireplace. He was very impressed. Knox said he'd be back soon.
Sharmin asked for a hair dryer. The NexStar is all dewed up. Suggested she unplug the N11, clear the corrector of water, put the cap on, then we'd redo the alignment. I think we should get a dew shield for it...
I suggested to Ruoqing he was looking at the wrong thing. Encouraged him to look through the eyepiece; not an LCD panel.
Sharmin returned. She was too far from the post. Recommended an orange extension cord from the work room.
Considered another edge on galaxy, NGC 4565. But learned it had just set... Darn.
Messier 101 (M101). Another galaxy high in the sky. This one was brighter. Asked Weida his impression. He could see it. Agreed it was big.
King asked what "slew" meant. Good question.
Lora provided a spiked hot chocolate. Tasty.
Risa was tired. But wondering about what to do. Doubles? From the Observer's Handbook? I said I didn't wanna hear any complaints.
Decided on the Cat's Eye Nebula. Another planetary nebula. Different.
12:44. Asked if Lei or Weida could see any colour. Weida said bluish. I thought it blue-green. He agreed. 3000 light years away. Lei said "it's like a little gem." Not round; more almond shaped. Weida agreed.
I returned to the eyepiece. I saw the star in the middle. Didn't see it at first. Encouraged people to look closely, take their time.
David Sr. popped in. He said Jr. is 3 years old.
Steve reported faint aurora. We took a look.
12:49. Weida said he could not see the star. I encouraged him to look a bit off to the side. And reminded him to focus for his eye.
Noted NGC 6949, a galaxy, was right overhead in Cygnus. Headed to it.
"Gonna go to bed now," Risa said. She sounded really tired.
1:02. Lei, Weida, and Ruoqing dropped into the warm room but I wasn't around.
Did some piggyback photography...
3:35. Was feeling chilled.
3:36. Returned to SkyTools. Considered a dark sky target.
3:41. Weather conditions. As of 3:37. 10 min wind average: 0. Current: 0. High wind: 11.3. Direction: WNW. Humidity: 90. Air pressure 101.8. Temp: 12.1. Indoor temp: 19.7.
Sharmin popped by. Viewed Neptune (magnitude 11.8). Triton is a good ways away (13.5). She wanted to know if I wanted some coffee. I declined.
3:52. Then Uranus. Triangle of stars above. TYC 00014 0872 1 mag 11.6. Saw Oberon, 14.2.
Ostap said he was heading off. His T-Point didn't work. Later!
Cold.
4:06. Looked for LINEAR again. No joy.
Weird. Lora came in the warm room. Ostap's departing car woke her.
Viewed the other comet. Right beside a double star.
I spotted a bunch of double stars in the atlas. As I headed to the telescope, Lora exited stage left.
4:14. Confirmed Comet C/2012 F6 (Lemmon). It was appearing in the correct location now, tonight, in SkyTools. Near PPM 10870 and a pair of stars further to the east and between a little arc or curve of stars, from mag 13 to 15.
Saw the double H5 28B. Could not see the A. Ah. Wait. Very far apart. A was the one in the middle.
Saw the triple to the east of Alfirk.
Saw Jupiter rising. And Aldebaran.
Right where it is supposed to be. Comet was oval shape. Bright centre. Soft and fuzzy. Almost lost in the glare of Alfirk.
4:21. Saw the supernova SN 2013ej in Pisces. As bright as a star to the north-east, a magnitude 12.6 star. Similar to a closer star, 12.6.
Last one...
Hi! Sharmin said hello.
NGC 1502. In Camel. All those stars...
4:35. I decided this would be good to revisit. A huge, complex system of stars. Merits sketching. Or accurate notes. Too tired to do it now.
Sharmin requested 61 Cygni. A triple star system.
Steve was still up.
4:46. Started to park the 'scope. Remembered to disconnect SkyTools first. It took 3 or 4 presses of the roof drive button to get it to work properly.
Told Sharmin that I had put an end cap in the mirror of the N11.
4:51. All done.
Tony reported they collimated their 'scope perfectly. Yeh! But other technical issues had come up. Boo! Something had happened to the SkyShed POD door and they couldn't open it! Would have to climb the wall to get it. What?! Jammed. Elaine was very upset. He asked to borrow an eyepiece for the 'scope on the Pad. Sure!
Hanning, King, and Weida visited. Asked what they'd like to look at. Ruoqing was thinking of something, a star, but couldn't remember, for a time. Finally, I realised what he was considering: Betelgeuse. Sorry, a winter star.
King spotted the Campbell's Hydrogen Star on my list. So we headed to the small planetary nebula.
Risa checked on her camera. That we had shut it off. She had spotted some aurora. Asked if I wanted more real coffee.
Asked if people wanted to view the Ring Nebula.
11:33. The software got messed up. Totally messed up. And the pointing was completely off.
Lei breezed through. King said Hanning was in bed.
Ruoqing was leaning so far over the counter I couldn't see the computer screen. Then he knocked over my recorder. Asked him to move back a bit. Then he started saying that things were "to my disadvantage." The door, the telescope position, the eyepiece position. I asked if he'd not say that. He apologised. I reminded him that we were doing the best that we could.
King really wanted to see Vega. OK.
Tony returned the eyepiece. It helped a lot. "Whoa!" Tony spotted a good meteor. He thought Vega blinding.
Risa brought me some coffee. Thanks!
"Oh my Lord that's a lot of stars," Ruoqing said. Yes.
We headed to the Ring Nebula. He called Messier 57 (M57) a "cosmic donut." Smoky cosmic donut. He thought the colour was white. I asked him if it was round. He said, "Mostly round." I showed him some photos. He asked if nebulae were "short-lived." Nope. Thousands or tens of thousands of years. I showed him the Crab Nebula. "Like a cosmic sponge." Chinese astronomers saw it blow up 1000 years ago. They don't end per se; they fade out. He wanted to see the Crab. Sorry. Another winter target.
He asked to see the Star Queen and the Messier 16 (M16) nebula.
King headed to the house for hot chocolate. I asked Weida if there was anything he wanted to look at.
SkyTools suggested Messier 56 (M56). Up high. We slewed to it. A globular cluster. It looks small and compact. It's far away. 32000 to 42000 ly away.
Showed Weida the application Where Is M13? Pointed out it was free software.
Pulled up M56 in relation to us. "Outside the galaxy," he observed. Yep. Above and below the arms of the Milky Way. Most globulars are in the halo. Part of a galaxy. Then showed him where M31 was in relation. He was amazed. 2.3 million! And then The Ring? It's 1500 ly away. Very close.
We talked open clusters. That the stars were members of the system. Gravitationally bound together. We slewed to the Wild Duck. We put the two stars below at the 5 o'clock position in the software. A double or multiple star system in the middle. Henry Draper 174512, primary is mag 8.5, and it has 6 elements. One of the elements was measure in 1915. One hundred years! Wow.
12:14 AM, Monday, August 5, 2013. We returned to the eyepiece to try to split some of the tight elements.
Tony strolled in. Asked where the line ups were. Said hello to Elaine. Heard that she was "struggling." Door jammed. Then lost the power to the focuser. Wow. They took a look at Messier 11 (M11).
Ruoqing asked if I could zoom out in the software. He correctly surmised that stars would merge together.
I suggested another open cluster. Messier 26 (M26). It was a short hop.
Weida gave me more spicy peanuts. These were a bit hotter.
I suggested some galaxies. Off to Messier 102 (M102). Nice edge on galaxy. I warned they were usually much fainter.
12:22 AM. Asked Weida if he recalled how far away the globular was: +/- 40000. The galaxy: 47 000 000 ly away. King said, "That's super faint."
Knox and Joe said good bye. Joe said he was expecting a old shack with a light bulb and a fireplace. He was very impressed. Knox said he'd be back soon.
Sharmin asked for a hair dryer. The NexStar is all dewed up. Suggested she unplug the N11, clear the corrector of water, put the cap on, then we'd redo the alignment. I think we should get a dew shield for it...
I suggested to Ruoqing he was looking at the wrong thing. Encouraged him to look through the eyepiece; not an LCD panel.
Sharmin returned. She was too far from the post. Recommended an orange extension cord from the work room.
Considered another edge on galaxy, NGC 4565. But learned it had just set... Darn.
Messier 101 (M101). Another galaxy high in the sky. This one was brighter. Asked Weida his impression. He could see it. Agreed it was big.
King asked what "slew" meant. Good question.
Lora provided a spiked hot chocolate. Tasty.
Risa was tired. But wondering about what to do. Doubles? From the Observer's Handbook? I said I didn't wanna hear any complaints.
Decided on the Cat's Eye Nebula. Another planetary nebula. Different.
12:44. Asked if Lei or Weida could see any colour. Weida said bluish. I thought it blue-green. He agreed. 3000 light years away. Lei said "it's like a little gem." Not round; more almond shaped. Weida agreed.
I returned to the eyepiece. I saw the star in the middle. Didn't see it at first. Encouraged people to look closely, take their time.
David Sr. popped in. He said Jr. is 3 years old.
Steve reported faint aurora. We took a look.
12:49. Weida said he could not see the star. I encouraged him to look a bit off to the side. And reminded him to focus for his eye.
Noted NGC 6949, a galaxy, was right overhead in Cygnus. Headed to it.
"Gonna go to bed now," Risa said. She sounded really tired.
1:02. Lei, Weida, and Ruoqing dropped into the warm room but I wasn't around.
Did some piggyback photography...
3:35. Was feeling chilled.
3:36. Returned to SkyTools. Considered a dark sky target.
3:41. Weather conditions. As of 3:37. 10 min wind average: 0. Current: 0. High wind: 11.3. Direction: WNW. Humidity: 90. Air pressure 101.8. Temp: 12.1. Indoor temp: 19.7.
Sharmin popped by. Viewed Neptune (magnitude 11.8). Triton is a good ways away (13.5). She wanted to know if I wanted some coffee. I declined.
3:52. Then Uranus. Triangle of stars above. TYC 00014 0872 1 mag 11.6. Saw Oberon, 14.2.
Ostap said he was heading off. His T-Point didn't work. Later!
Cold.
4:06. Looked for LINEAR again. No joy.
Weird. Lora came in the warm room. Ostap's departing car woke her.
Viewed the other comet. Right beside a double star.
I spotted a bunch of double stars in the atlas. As I headed to the telescope, Lora exited stage left.
4:14. Confirmed Comet C/2012 F6 (Lemmon). It was appearing in the correct location now, tonight, in SkyTools. Near PPM 10870 and a pair of stars further to the east and between a little arc or curve of stars, from mag 13 to 15.
Saw the double H5 28B. Could not see the A. Ah. Wait. Very far apart. A was the one in the middle.
Saw the triple to the east of Alfirk.
Saw Jupiter rising. And Aldebaran.
Right where it is supposed to be. Comet was oval shape. Bright centre. Soft and fuzzy. Almost lost in the glare of Alfirk.
4:21. Saw the supernova SN 2013ej in Pisces. As bright as a star to the north-east, a magnitude 12.6 star. Similar to a closer star, 12.6.
Last one...
Hi! Sharmin said hello.
NGC 1502. In Camel. All those stars...
4:35. I decided this would be good to revisit. A huge, complex system of stars. Merits sketching. Or accurate notes. Too tired to do it now.
Sharmin requested 61 Cygni. A triple star system.
Steve was still up.
4:46. Started to park the 'scope. Remembered to disconnect SkyTools first. It took 3 or 4 presses of the roof drive button to get it to work properly.
Told Sharmin that I had put an end cap in the mirror of the N11.
4:51. All done.
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