Faint-Fuzzies for Open Night

This seems to have been a very cloudy summer and most of the daylight hours of this day were no different: overcast to mostly-cloudy skies dominated. Amazingly, and as predicted, we got the clear skies we needed for our "faint fuzzies" night of public observing at Stephens Memorial Observatory. Best seeing was from about 9:30 to 10:00 -- after that a high haze seemed to set in, illuminated by natural and artificial light pollution. Still, these were some of the best conditions we have enjoyed in quite some time. While the skies were at their best our few --only 7-- attendees (conflict with Ohio State football??) saw the Milky Way stretching from Sagittarius in the south-southwest, high overhead, and into the northeast and constellation Cassiopeia -- even the dark dust lane of the Milky Way was visible. We viewed the cottonwood seed-like wisp that is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and considered why it is that faint-fuzzy objects don't look like magazine photos when viewed with our own eyes, even through telescopes. We also viewed a beautiful globular star cluster (M22), its approximate 70,000 stars some 10,600 light-years distant in Sagittarius. Then we looked high overhead and found the Ring Nebula (M57); putting the big old refractor so near the zenith was made possible through use of the star diagonal for our 1.25-inch eyepieces. Not only was observation easy but no ladder-climbing was required -- an office chair worked just fine. During the night's event I spied two speedy, faint meteors through the dome's slit -- one coming in north to south, the other (a bit brighter) headed east to west. As the last visitors of the night departed Jupiter and the Moon were rising over Hiram -- a fitting end to a fine night of stargazing.

A fine night out

After a long period of hazy, hot, humid, and cloudy weather we caught a break... last night's skies were predicted to be about as good as they ever get here. So I went out on an independent session to the astronomy club observing site near Spencer, Ohio -- something I have not done in far too long a time. Skies there are not as dark as they were a few years ago, but a paved parking lot, no street lights, and official permission for the activity made it acceptable.

I got a late start and had to forgo opportunities to enjoy and photograph a marvelous sunset over a broad valley. I did, however, arrive on site in time to use the fading twilight in setting up my equipment. As the last light faded the Milky Way emerged, visible from near the southern horizon to overhead and a bit beyond. Along the horizon were the summer constellations: Sagittarius and Scorpius. Saturn was sinking into the murk of the western horizon but I got a hazy glimpse of the ring world through another's telescope, already set up.

Due to not using my own telescope in some time, I suffered some difficulties in setup and alignment. I couldn't even find Polaris in the telescope mount's alignment optic and so "eyeballed" it. Surprisingly, the alignment was very good and for the rest of the night the scope was able to center or come close to all objects I asked its GoTo computer to find.

Though the sky was cloudless, it did suffer overall from light pollution or, perhaps, some lingering natural twilight. Viewing of a number of Messier objects was only fair. My old friends M81 and M82, which can be a lovely sight within the same eyepiece field of view, were barely discernible against the gray background sky. I did view, for the first time, M20 --the Trifid Nebula-- but observed no nebulosity, only the associated star cluster. The "Whirlpool Galaxy" (M51) could barely be seen at all though M31 --the Andromeda Galaxy-- put in an appearance looking, typically, like a cottonwood seed fluff.

I love refractor telescopes but frequent issue is that, when aimed straight up, the eyepiece can be uncomfortably low to the ground. So I happily got a nice view of the Ring Nebula (M57), which at that hour was high overhead, through the SCT of a companion.

In all, I viewed M11, M20, M22, M31, M51 (barely), M57, M81, M82, all in the space of a couple of hours. Then came the Moon.

As the waning gibbous Moon rose, its glow obscured the lovely path of the Milky Way and made it increasingly difficult to see any but the brightest deep sky objects. So I pointed my telescope towards Jupiter.

Jupiter emerged from behind the Sun earlier this year minus its dark southern equatorial cloud band or belt. I was eager to see. Though still low in the sky and rising at nearly the same altitude as the Moon, I was able to get a decent view of the planetary disk. Observed at several magnifications, with and without ND filter and sure enough, only one dark band was visible. I thought I could see hints of the Great Red Spot but, with the planet still low in the atmosphere, couldn't confirm that. I hope to get a better view of Jove next month but, at least, I got to see it!

I aimed the telescope at planet Uranus but that distant world was barely a dot in the eyepiece.

My project for the night was to attach my Canon EOS 50D digital SLR camera directly to my big Meade refractor -- using the 1,200mm optic as a telephoto lens. I'd never tried it before and it worked beautifully. There was some difficulty achieving sharp focus which was a surpise to me. Add to that the fact that I did not yet have a cable release for the camera and I was happy to get usable images at all. I did, however, get one very good shot out of the experiment (shown here) and will be ordering a cable release soon. That little device will help me minimize vibration -- I had to trigger the shutter by pressing the shutter release button by hand; an action that shook the entire telescope and did not help picture taking.

Packed up and left at about 11:15 a happy fellow.

Image: The Moon... both cursed and loved by amateur astronomers worldwide. It brought an early end to deep sky observing tonight but, itself, made a great subject for viewing and photographing. Canon EOS 50D: ISO 400, 1/400 sec., Meade achromatic f/8 refracting telescope: 1,219 mm. August 28, 2010, 10:54 PM. Photo by James Guilford.

October Open Night

We had another good Open Night Saturday (Oct. 10). We started out with a local Cub Scout group seeking to earn their Astronomy Belt Loop awards. The two (one kid was very late arriving to make it three) boys and their dads got a look at the Observatory and telescope, we reviewed terms and computer images ranging from "planet" and "star" to "galaxy" and "universe" and, with adults arriving at about 7:30 for the 8:00 opening, segued into the evening's observing just before 8:00. Those adult early arrivals shared in the Scouts' lesson and all seemed attentive and interested. A good number of College students were in attendance for the Public segment including a group of four who seemed particularly interested in the telescope and what we were seeing. There was much "texting" and iPhone photography! In all something just over 33 people visited and looked through the scope.

Skies were clear but seeing was only fair to good with even the temperate zone cloud bands at Jupiter only faintly visible, not at all like September's views! I had some difficulty locating M31 in the dark gray sky but views of it were good. Andromeda's getting too high in the sky now to comfortably observe through a large refractor so that's the last time we'll offer it as a subject til next year. Then we looked at the Perseus Double Cluster and more than one person thought it looked like scattered diamonds filling the field of view... beautiful. It would look better at even lower magnification but I haven't a longer focal length eyepiece!

As I exited the Observatory at about 11:00 and began trudging (with something like 40 or 50 lbs. of gear) to my distant parked car, I gave the clear, eastern sky one last glance. There, hanging not far above the village center, was the beautiful Pleiades star cluster. Memories of boyhood and my first realization that the "Seven Sisters" was something different, something special, came flooding back. I stood, admiring the view for a bit longer then, shifting the loaded baggage on my shoulders, headed up the sidewalk smiling.

Exquisite sky tonight!

The seeing and the starry sky were exquisite Saturday night for our September Open Night. The sky over the village was cloudless and sparkling with diamond stars. The Milky Way stretched broad and bright overhead, arcing half-way across the sky, dust lanes evident. It was the finest sky I've seen in quite some time. All told 49 visitors came, stretched out over the two hours of the event -- much better than 49 all showing up at once, which has often happened! The smaller crowds at any given time allowed for better interaction with visitors and gave them the sense that they could take their time looking through the telescope. Several College students were in attendance including a young man from Mexico City. Students rarely show up at these events so it was a pleasure to have them. Three students arrived at the scheduled 11:00 closing time and I spent a half-hour with them... they were excited and enthusiastic about the entire experience. Earlier in the evening a girl, maybe eight years old, was obviously enthralled with her views of Jupiter and the Galilean Moons; she even used a chart I provided at the eyepiece to put names to the star-like dots aside the huge planet. It is extremely gratifying when someone, most especially a child, really "gets" what they are seeing when looking through a great telescope. That young lady wasn't just looking at Jupiter, she was observing! Also featured was the Andromeda Galaxy which filled the field of view with its misty wonder - the light of a trillion stars 2.5 million light-years away! Jupiter was resplendent with not only the dark, broad equatorial cloud bands visible, but other "stripes" could be seen in the temperate zones. I must say, between the excellent seeing and improved tracking of the telescope, I enjoyed the best views I've ever had of those two objects, both at 122X. The telescope's right ascension clutch has been slipping badly. By hand-tightening the clutch I found that the telescope tracked as well as some modern electrically-driven scopes making higher-magnification public views practical and enjoyable. Observing Jupiter was, by the way, greatly aided through use of a neutral density filter -- it was difficult to observe without the filter as Jupiter was so very brilliant! It was an excellent night.

Private observing

The forecasters all indicated last night (Sept. 1) would have very good seeing conditions and, because I wasn't due in to work until Monday afternoon, I decided to go to the Observatory and enjoy a little private observing. The session would also give me a chance to check on the facility and experiment with the telescope's faulty right ascension clutch.

Except for the dehumidifier bulk tank being nearly full, the place was fine. That was a relief since not long ago a severe thunderstorm with possible tornado passed a few miles to the south of Hiram.

It was my belief the hand control for the RA clutch was not able to turn far enough to lock the clutch and engage the telescope's clock drive. I removed the control linkage and manually tightened the clutch. Sure enough, the telescope began tracking decently (considering all of the mechanicals are a century old). I'll see if I can rig a kluge remote of some sort until a permanent fix can be arranged.

Seeing conditions were very good for the Moon, at least. The waxing gibbous Moon dominated the sky wiping out all but a trace of the Milky Way and dimmer stars. There were also traces of high, thin clouds later in the night. I experimented with afocal photography using a new digital SLR camera and got mixed results (see image above). An apparatus holding the camera in alignment with the telescope eyepiece would help a lot. I also got a halfway decent image of Jupiter's planetary disk with the handheld camera! Seeing wasn't as good as forecasters indicated but I was surprised at how well it photographed using this simple, unsteady technique. The Galilean Moons showed only as the faintest specs in the photographs though they were brilliant in the eyepiece.

I experimented with --and failed-- using the telescope's RA dial and clock to guide me to M31 - the Andromeda Galaxy. I need to devote a good dark night to that and learn it well. Too bad our declination rings are messed up --still more work to do-- for their use would help.

Using binoculars I was able to spot M31 and, in stages, nudge the big telescope into proper aim. The big galaxy looked very nice (to me it looks like a cottonwood tree's seed) though a darker background sky would have helped contrast and aid in seeing its soft outer edges.

Finishing off the night I tried some moonlit photos of the Observatory and the grounds. Mixed results there but it was fun trying.

Next public night is Sept. 12 and Jupiter is the featured object.

Hot Jupiter!

Saturday, August 15 was a Public Night at Stephens Memorial Observatory. It was hot, hazy, and humid and, though viewing was set to begin at 9:30, folks began arriving just a little past 9:00 -- a sign it will be a busy night!

As twilight began to fade I trained the telescope on the red giant star Antares. The idea was to nudge the telescope a bit as the sky darkened and look at the neighboring star cluster M4. That didn't happen as constellation Scorpius was sinking into the trees to our south and west taking the star cluster with it.

I made an attempt to locate the beautiful star cluster M15 but could not find it. As Jupiter was rising from behind trees to our east, moved on to that planet. Lower-level air was hazy but the atmosphere was quiet and seeing steady. We were treated to some excellent views of Jupiter at low power (about 30X) and, much later, at 104X. The equatorial cloud belts were visible nearly all of the time and we occasionally saw traces of the north and south temperate cloud belts. Truly impressive.

The excellent turnout --more than 50 visitors including at least three children-- made it difficult to change magnifications and celestial objects during the course of the evening. Those who stayed late and were patient saw the higher magnification views of Jupiter plus a good look at the "faint-fuzzy" M31 -- the Andromeda Galaxy (actually looking quite bright with central brightness and extended nebulous area). A couple of satellite passes and at least one meteor (likely a late Perseid) were seen through the dome slit.

Light pollution illuminated the hazy lower atmosphere making low-elevation skies murky and bright. Stepping outside and looking directly overhead, however, we could easily see the great band of the Milky Way stretching across the sky, replete with dust lanes. The star cloud did not quite reach down far enough to the south to join constellation Sagittarius before being swallowed up in the bright Earthbound haze.

Last visitors to leave were a couple who were curious about constellations and what star cluster it was they saw the other night -- the Pleiades. We spoke for several minutes sharing meteorite experiences in the front lawn. I closed up the Observatory at about 11:30. It was a hot night but the seeing was excellent.

The telescope's R.A. tracking is pretty bad. Troubleshooting shows the clock is working well and the gear train is transmitting motion so the conclusion is the R.A. collar is slipping. I hope to address that problem within the next month.

Perseids Meteor Watch

The 2009 Perseids Meteor Watch I worked last night (August 12) was very mixed in results. The Portage Park District set us up in a fine little park with no ground-level lights, a nice paved parking lot, and clear grassy areas. There was a wide view of the sky and a good southern horizon. A Sheriff's deputy was on hand as was the District's naturalist -- really good support, especially in case of a big turnout. Then there are the "buts"...

Admittedly we put the event together in hurried fashion. Word didn't get out to the public as broadly or with enough lead time so only a couple of families showed up.

Then there was the sky. We were very close to the city of Ravenna but I'd hoped we would be just far enough away to escape the light bubble. Not much luck there. As the Sun sank below the western horizon a funny thing happened ... twilight shifted to the south. Yeah, huge levels of light pollution rose up in the southern sky right through the heart of Sagittarius. So while the clear skies allowed us to see the Milky Way, with dust lane, directly overhead, its heart was obliterated by the "Ravenna Nebula." Too bad.

Attendees and volunteers did, however, enjoy a few very good Perseid meteors. I myself saw only about five; being busy with telescopes and chatting with visitors has its costs. The 6-inch Meade telescope worked well but was impeded for want of a really good polar alignment: it had problems centering on objects it was told to "GoTo" but tracked very well once there. The dew point was high and everything quickly became quite damp, even wet, as the night progressed. The extended AstroZap dew shield saved the objective from fogging, however, so we saw decent views of Jupiter with three moons, and very good views of the Andromeda Galaxy, and M15 (a globular star cluster in the constellation Pegasus).

I tore down after the official 11:30 close. Before getting into my car to leave, a very nice Perseid streaked across the sky leaving a trail that glowed for a second or two -- as if just for me. I headed home, a bit disappointed but recalled a few happy visitors who saw planets, stars, galaxies, and meteors!

Sidewalk astronomy at the library

Westlake (Ohio) Porter Public Library requested a sidewalk astronomy event to take place during their Customer Appreciation Week. We were only too happy to oblige. After dicey late-afternoon cloud cover the sky cleared in time for setup at 7:30 and viewings from 8:00 to 9:15 off the sidewalk adjacent to the (brightly-lit) parking lot. Still a fellow astronomer (with an 8-inch SCT) and I (with my 6-inch refractor) showed curious visitors Jupiter, the Hercules Star Cluster (M13), the Ring Nebula (M57), and the great Andromeda Galaxy (M31). I was pleased at the performance of my scope's electronics for, after eyeballing polar alignment and a one-star computer alignment, the scope tracked Jupiter exceptionally well and found M57 on the first try! No disconnects and good tracking all evening. The Ring was very difficult for most viewers to spot in the eyepiece but it was actually the best view I've had of it. M13 through the SCT was a beautiful sight, M31 was its usual fuzz-ball self but not bad at all, and Jupiter was best viewed shortly after sundown. Seeing was unsteady at lower angles and as the planet sank lower in the sky occasional good seeing ended and the planetary disk was unclear. The good moments revealed multiple cloud bands in addition to the two big equatorial belts so patient viewers got a good look. Closed up shop at the appointed hour and answered cosmological and planet detection questions from a very curious adult visitor. It was cold (lower 40s F.) so good to get indoors.

Jupiter, Andromeda, and the Space Station

It was the monthly Public Night at Stephens Saturday, September 20. The late afternoon and early evening sky were not promising offering a mix of thin and thicker clouds swirled over a background of pale blue. As the Sun set, however, things improved. Jupiter came first and the first observatory visitors arrived at 7:30 -- a full half-hour before the advertised opening! The telescope revealed very good views of the planet and the Galilean moons. Aside from seeing several of the great planet's cloud bands, even some of the detail within the bands, I saw the Great Red Spot for the first time ever. Early viewing actually was best with seeing diminishing as the night went on. Also viewed were the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) looking every bit the huge fuzz-ball in the low-powered eyepiece. From there I moved the scope to the Double Cluster in Perseus: NGC 884 and NGC 869 at distances of 7,600 and 6,800 light-years respectively, and then by steps, back to Jupiter. A highlight of the night was passage of the International Space Station high overhead beginning at about 8:24. It shone brilliantly and arced steadily across the sky and low into the east where it finally fell into Earth's shadow and disappeared after a transit of several minutes. The last visitors of the evening arrived just before I was to close and they caught a glimpse of Jupiter just before it dropped behind the neighbor's trees at 10:00. In all about 50 visitors came to Stephens, 10 or 12 of them members of the College's new astronomy club. After closing I visited the Hiram site where the Aurora Astronomical Society proposed a new club observatory. The site is quite excellent protected from ambient light on all sides by trees and offering decently distant horizons. Clouds moved in and were obscuring the skies by 11:15 and overcast by midnight.

September open night

September 22 -- The Stephens Observatory open night went very well. We had 29 visitors, all ages represented, with a good number of them College students. The last little group, two college couples, arrived just before 11 PM closing. Most visitors got to see the Sagittarius Cluster (M22) -- the beautiful globular star cluster of about 70,000 stars -- which resolved into individual stars very handsomely, the Moon, and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) which was a struggle to find with so many people in the room! The Moon is always a big hit with the public: something we see very often but not with the kind of detail we see through a good, big refracting telescope. Our best views came through the big wide-field antique eyepiece (about 40X) but views at 110X through a modern eyepiece were crisp and thrilling. At one point in the evening I think we had around 22 people in the dome -- a 16-foot diameter room -- which may be some sort of record for us! The air was cool, the sky was perfectly clear (for Northeastern Ohio) and the atmosphere fairly steady (some shimmering of crater details visible at higher power).

Clear night, photo experiments

Having missed one night of excellent seeing Saturday night, I decided I must get out this night... the second very good night in a row! Went to Stephens and enjoyed about 2 1/2 hours of excellent skies. I practiced locating and observing the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) with the big scope. Viewed the spectacular M22 globular star cluster in Sagittarius, and enjoyed seeing the Milky Way in the dark sky overhead. Attempted to image M31 and M22 through the telescope but it still isn't tracking nearly well enough for photography... not yet, anyway. Did take the camera outdoors and photograph the dome against the night sky and the photos were excellent as first tries! Sensitivity setting of ISO 1600, however, generated a lot of electronic noise amongst the stars. I'll use that rarely in future! One of the clearest skies in a while and I got to enjoy it in comfortable 68-degree conditions. Closed up at midnight. A good night.

Perseid meteors fizzle

The weekend's Perseid meteor shower was a bit of a bust for me. I didn't have much ambition and the sky conditions were rather hazy with a few passing clouds. Not great inspiration for staying up til all hours to watch for "falling stars." I stepped outside a few times Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights and bagged about six meteor sightings but wasn't inspired to head to darker skies. Tonight, however, was a beautiful night! The humidity and haze were down, it was nicely cool, and the sky was cloudless. I stepped outdoors at about 10:30, binoculars in hand, and decided to take a look around. The light-polluted sky was clear enough to display a good number of stars, Jupiter, with Antares nearby, shown brightly to the south, and, OH! a single bright meteor streaked north to south as I gazed skyward! Later I believe I spotted a very faint meteor headed in the same direction. Checking out the northeast sky with the binoculars and yes!, I was able to find the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) with no trouble at all so we've got a shot at showing it off at the next observatory open house. In the binocular field of view the galaxy was a faint fuzz-ball, rather indistinct in the bright skyglow, but it was there! I was too tired to go to the club meeting tonight and too tired to haul myself out to actually observe. The sky, however, is a wonder to behold no matter how you behold it!