brief beach observing (Mew Lake)

Arrived, at last, Mew Lake. We stopped at our site, 38. Piled out of the minivan. Unlocked the yurt. A beautiful dark sky greeted us.

Walked down to the beach. There was a good crowd. Lots of 'scopes. Funny. Couldn't see anyone but recognised voices. Bob, Katrina, Lora and Phil, Ian W, Guy, Jason. Lance was around too.

Took a look through Bob's latest home-made Dobsonian with helical focuser. Looked to be about 10". He was on a faint NGC galaxy. It was a nice view.

Ian offered views in his big 20" Dob. Beautiful. The Veil, NGC 6960, rich and bright. The Ring Nebula, Messier 57 (M57). The Dumbbell, Messier 27 (M27).

I tried to split 52 Cygni but could see the collimation was off a little. Later I tried to split Sheliak. Or Sulufat. Something was very wrong. Blotted soft stars. Dew? Seeing? Phil, Ian, and I checked the collimation. Ian then turned on the mirror fan. That helped a little.

We saw a somewhat bright satellite in the north, moving near the Big Dipper, west to east. Wondered if it was the International Space Station. [ed: Nope. Was it the Cosmos 2184 or 2074 rockets? Paths didn't seem right... Ah. Thanks, Heavens Above. It was probably the Lacrosse 5, the US military reconnaissance sat, starting in Boötes, moving through the Handle, and carrying on, low, toward Auriga, brightening from magnitude 5.7 to 4.0.]

It grew increasingly dewy. As the temperature dropped. The north sky went away... Some started packing up.

Grace, Tony, and I left the beach. We were all tired. It had been a long day for all...

Wonderful to be back at Algonquin, under the stars.

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Allergies started up.

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The East Veil Nebula is also known as NGC 6992 and Caldwell 33.

The West Veil Nebula is also known as NGC 6960 and Caldwell 34.