In the months since the "Great American Eclipse" total solar eclipse of 2017, life has been busy. Aside from conducting a few public observing nights, I've done little with personal astronomy. There was a beautiful conjunction of Moon, Venus, and Mercury that I observed and photographed one cloudy evening (March 18, 2018). Mostly, I've been observing and photographing weather. If you can't beat the clouds, enjoy them!

March 18, 2018 conjunction of (left to right) Moon, Venus, and Mercury over Letha House Park (west), in the Spencer, Ohio area. Clouds threatened to hide the event but cleared enough to lend mystery to the scene.

At any rate, last night (July 8) presented a decent opportunity to set up my big refractor in the backyard and take a look at the cosmos. The sky was clear, temperature and humidity pleasant, and I had no distractions.

The shed that must serve as my "observatory" and the big Meade (6-inch) refracting telescope. I set the scope up in the early evening and left it outdoors in preparation for nightfall. 

Unfortunately, with no permanent setup for the mount, north alignment for my telescope is usually off by a bit and last night was typical. The telescope's computerized "go-to" system was able to aim the telescope close but not directly on my targets; I needed to manually fish for each object I wanted to observe. I also wanted to do some photography experiments and a slightly out-of-alignment equatorial drive is not a good thing for imaging! I found that I could get reasonably round star images if I set the DSLR for an exposure of 20 to 30 seconds and covered the objective lens for the first five seconds after the shutter triggered in order to dampen out vibrations. I've got to see if I can use "live shooting" in place of the regular mirror/shutter combo to prevent camera vibrations!

Still, I did observe several objects and here are a few impressions:

Jupiter: By the time the scope was ready to use, the "King of Planets" was descending into neighboring trees. I had but a few minutes of almost decent viewing. I had hoped to see the shadow of moon Io on the planetary disk but could not resolve it. The best I could make out was Jupiter's most prominent cloud bands with Io floating not far from the planet's limb.

Messier 4: The globular star cluster in constellation Scorpius was, sadly, faint and somewhat indistinct in our light-polluted sky.

Saturn: Not as sharp-edged as I'd hoped, I could barely make out the Cassini Division but could discern the planetary disk in relief over the planet's ring system. I could also see some cloud bands, though not distinctly.

Mars: Mars is nearing opposition and is brilliant and red. I was easily able to observe the planet as a disk but, due to a global dust storm, couldn't make out any surface features -- well, maybe a shadowy area at the center of the disk but certainly not anything beyond that.

Messier 25: Photographic only. The open star cluster made a decent test to refine exposure and vibration-dampening techniques.

Messier 22: A bright globular that showed up, even in the viewfinder of the DSLR, it also provided a good photographic test target. The photo results were far from "stellar" (pun intended) but showed some promise.

Time passed quickly, the activity was thoroughly engrossing, and I packed it in at about 1:00 AM EDT. It was a good night.

Messier 22, a globular star cluster. A beginner's deep-sky effort, I'm happy to have reasonably round stars and to be able to see some of the many thousands of stars present in the cluster. 

Saturn shines!

The day was warm and the sky was very clear on May 19. Of course, a thin veil of clouds began to cover the sky during twilight as I opened Stephens Memorial Observatory for a public night. We were to view Saturn. It wasn't until some time after 9:00 PM when Saturn and star Spica began to show through the twilight. Saturn did not disappoint and the view improved as darkness came. The sky also improved after dark. Rather than start with our beautiful but very low-power (about 30X) eyepiece I began running the telescope at 104X and received beautiful views of the ringed world, about a month past its opposition. Then I decided to try a 2-inch University Optics eyepiece that would deliver 222X and the view went from good to extraordinary. All evening long, along with 25 guests, enjoyed images of Saturn that included three moons (including Titan, fairly close in) colored cloud bands, the shadowy "C" ring against the planetary disk, and the Cassini Division! The crowd was lighter than expected so I had little else planned for the evening but for a look at rapidly-departing Mars. The Red Planet was disappointing as usual though, at 222X, there were hints that we might have made out a polar ice cap and some shadowy surface markings, but for unstable air that caused Mars's image to shimmer. So we stayed on Saturn for most of the rest of the time. After the final guests departed, I turned the big scope to the east and northeast to practice finding M13 and the Ring Nebula. A little fishing produced gorgeous views of M13 -- the great star cluster in constellation Hercules. The Ring (M57) was trickier to find but I got that too. The Ring looked far better at low magnification appearing dim and diffuse at 222X. M13 was stunning at both high and low magnification. I packed it in at about 11:30. We'll be able to show off Saturn and M13 with ease to guests on Friday of Alumni Weekend followed on Saturday by the June Public Night. I forgot to mention to visitors ... Saturday is named after the god Saturn -- it's "Saturn's Day."

Mars mystique strikes again!

I arrived at Stephens Memorial Observatory early in order to sweep up the inevitable accumulations of bird poo and nesting materials that blow down from the dome's ill-sealed shutter. The first of the evening's surprises happened when I touched the pull rope to open the shutter to a then-clear sky. I heard scratching sounds -- usually the sign of birds roosting and nesting above. In the spring time, especially, I hate the sounds of bird activity at Stephens; birds build their nests, lay their eggs, and rear their young in a space that becomes precarious when the dome's shutter is opened. In recent years we usually see one brood (eggs, chicks, or unfledged young) lost due to falling from a destroyed nest or trapped inside the dome. This time, however, I glanced above and was momentarily shocked for I saw a black, furry animal scrambling to escape and prevent a fall. Skunk!? Er, no. The frightened furry was one of Hiram's many black squirrels. I've never seen a squirrel in the dorm or in the shutter and hope they don't nest there but maybe they'll keep the birds from nesting. I'm hoping for the best, anyway.

Cleaning barely complete, the telescope uncovered and prepped for the first Open Night of the year, I decided to try my chances at seeing Venus. The planet has recently been in conjunction with Jupiter in the Western evening sky and, though below the neighboring treeline, the trees were bare and I could spy brilliant Venus between the branches! Yes! For the first time at Stephens I was able to see Venus, resolved as a half-lit disk! Then the evening's first visitors arrived... three young ladies and their grandmother, half an hour early. I offered them a look at Venus but, by then, the planet had slipped behind a tree trunk and could not be seen. Oh well, let's see if we can view the Orion Nebula, barely above the trees in the southwest and now visible in the darkening sky.

I swung the big refractor around, found the nebula, and focused. Not bad for a twilight view: the veil of the nebula was visible and several stars of the Trapezium were nestled within. I offered the girls a look at M42. Er, no. In that brief time between adjusting the telescope and fetching a ladder for the kids, clouds covered Orion. Eeek! All right then, we'll go to the other part of the sky and look for Mars, now glowing red in the east and not long after opposition.

Mars, 67 million miles away this night, quickly came into view as a crisply-defined coppery disk. Unfortunately there was only a hint of mottling within the disk, no clear indication of surface features. Grandma and the girls got decent looks at the Red Planet before, yes, those pesky clouds engulfed it! By then other visitors began to arrive. The sky became overcast with occasional "sucker holes" and thin spots. Well, this will be a short night, I thought.

I answered questions, recounted the history of the telescope, talked about the Observatory, all the while watching the sky and keeping at the telescope. When Mars would penetrate the gloom, I'd  re-aim the scope, call people over to look, they would see an even less-distinct reddish disk, and it would disappear. Apologies. And so it went for the entire evening. There was no sense in trying to chase the holes and point at some star or other that managed to be briefly seen through the overcast. Still, more visitors dropped in.

Over the course of the evening we counted 42 visitors, most or all of whom caught a glimpse of Mars. They were, to a person, patient and good-humored making it a pleasant night that ended with the last departing around 10:30.

Not long after that, as I was deciding whether to close early, the clouds parted overhead exposing a deep, dark sky! The night was filled with stars and with my unaided eyes I was able to make out the Beehive star cluster (M44) nearly overhead. It was beautiful through binoculars. No more visitors, however, so I closed the place up.

Everyone could see it was an overcast sky as they headed out to visit us. They could see a star or two, only occasionally at best, and still they came. Such is the draw held by the mystique of Mars!

We'll try again April 14.

Not a good weekend for astronomy

On Friday I learned that the International Space Station, because of orbital characteristics, would be visible many times over the next nights. One of those overflights would take place that night. So at about 10:21 PM I stepped out on to our stoop, looked to the twilight of the western sky, and immediately spotted the ISS. The moving "star" was nearly as bright as planet Venus and quickly climbed high into the sky, nearly overhead, and over the roof of the house. It was at least as interesting to see Venus, Regulus, Mars, and Saturn lined up along the ecliptic. "Probably the best night of the weekend," I wrote, and that turned out to be true.

I called off the Saturday night Public Night at Stephens Memorial Observatory due to mostly cloudy skies. Open areas between the masses of clouds were essentially translucent and totally unsuited to seeing any trace of two Messier List objects we were to see. Reinforcing the decision, a local storm developed north of Hiram possibly even dropping light rain there at the announced opening time for the event.

Tonight, after an exceptionally hot and humid day, waves of rain and strong thunderstorms passed over the region.

Not a good weekend, overall, for astronomy!

Astronomy Class!

About 18 students from Hiram College visited the Stephens Memorial Observatory tonight. The visit was part of their intensive three-week Astronomy course. Often, in the past, we have not been able to gather the students together on clear nights and so missed telescopic observation of objects in the night sky. About the best we'd done was a daytime class visit at which time we looked at the Sun.

Tonight, however, after some scary cloudiness during the day, the sky was clear. Oh, there was a thin cloud layer up there but we could see through it. Though seeing was not optimal we had excellent views of the first quarter Moon. Details of lunar surface were splendid to behold and several of the students were quite excited. We viewed Luna through the big telescope at 30X and 133X. Mars was viewed but seeing was unsteady enough that the featureless pink disc was quite unimpressive. We viewed star Castor in Gemini -- that double star system was configured conveniently to allow us to see the two major stars of the system. It was impressive how brilliantly blue the neighboring stars were. Saturn was splendid with occasional glimpses of cloud bands, and the shadow line across the planetary disk. Several (4?) of the ring-world's moons were also seen; Titan was not among them but not particularly prominent. I was unable to find globular cluster M3 in the moonlit haze but easily found M44 the "Beehive Cluster" in Cancer near Mars. Though the viewing was low contrast due to moonlight, everyone found the binocular view and "discovery" of the "invisible" object more exciting than the low-power telescope sighting.

The observatory was open to the class from about 8:30 to 10:30. We plan to open again at 9:30 AM to showcase the Sun to many of the same students who attended tonight. The Sun's face has been free of sunspots recently but one may be forming just in time for the class!

Clouds chasing us

Saturday, February 20: It has been a very cloudy year so far -- only two "officially" clear days since last December. There may have been several clear sky nights but they were so extremely cold that the warmth of the house had a stronger pull than did the stars! There was just enough clear sky at the 7:00 starting time that I opened Stephens Memorial Observatory to visitors for the first Open Night of 2010. Seeing conditions, however, were mostly fair to poor so our visitors got mostly not-so-exciting looks at the Orion Nebula (M42) before Earthly clouds obscured the glowing clouds in Orion some 1,599 light years distant. For only a very few minutes in the entire evening a clearing appeared in the clouds and the nebula splendidly burst forth in the telescope eyepiece; unfortunately only three or four people got to enjoy the view. I only got a glimpse at it myself before urging visitors to look but what I saw was marvelous -- lovely, silken, glowing clouds cradling a nest (The Trapezium) of brilliant "little" stars. Magnificent. Turning the telescope to the east we were able to see planet Mars as a small pinkish disk -- not bad for sky conditions but not good enough to see a polar ice cap, much less any surface markings. Mars was relatively close at 67.7 million miles from Earth. As clouds overhead swallowed Mars, the telescope was swung around and aimed at Earth's Moon, clouds scudding across its face. Cloud cover greatly reduced the Moon's brilliance and gave it an unusual, low-contrast, gray appearance. Everyone got a look at the first-quarter Moon in surprising detail. Along about 8:00 the thickening clouds hid the last traces of Luna and I closed the doors and the dome shutter against the 32-degree night air. About 35 visitors had come through in the space of one hour and, despite the poor conditions, most seemed pleased with the experience.

Barely an observation

I attended a meeting of the Aurora Astronomical Society (AAS) outside Aurora, Ohio Saturday night, June 7. They had a brief meeting, mostly it was intended for non-members and as an introduction to the night sky. Inside the pavilion of the Moebius Nature Center a presentation was given using Starry Night software as a flat-wall planetarium. Once the sky darkened enough we adjourned to the parking lot where several members had set up their telescopes for a star party. A student brought his homebuilt Dobsonian-mounted reflector, a Meade-branded Dobsonian was also there, and one Meade SCT was set up. We viewed the crescent Moon, Mars (very near the Moon this night), and Saturn, all close together in the western twilight. The day had been cloudy but there was a brief period around sunset that allowed those views with fair, hazy, seeing conditons. Typically the Moon was most affected by the thin, high clouds, Saturn was clear and bright, and Mars was too tiny at this point to present any detail. Had to leave before the sky darkened enough for deep sky objects but it was a good evening anyway. The sky closed in again anyway as we headed home.

Bad forecast, a good night

It was a beautiful day and the forecast called for a clear night with good seeing. Ugh-ugh! I had decided to take my 6-inch Meade to the CAA Observatory at Letha Park in Medina County and meet up with some friends there for a night of celestial beauty -- nights like the one forecast don't often come around when we can take advantage. So Saturday evening I headed to the southwest. As I was driving I noticed a sheet of thin but substantial clouds hanging on the western horizon. If they were moving, they were slow. I was first to arrive on site and, as others followed, we watched and worried as the thin layer edged overhead. By the time a few stars had appeared the cloud sheet had thinned but it was still there.

My LXD75 behaved itself this time -- no connection problems between the handbox controller and the mount during setup and not a single blip all night! Polar alignment was off a bit but the GoTo control put me close enough to, with a little fishing, find Saturn. Saturn looked pretty good, even at 133X with a bit of banding and the ring shadow visible on the planetary body. Lower-power views showed several moons. The sky never did get very dark, thanks to the thin clouds, and seeing varied from fair to poor. Again with the GoTo system getting me close, I was able to fish M104 --the Sombrero Galaxy-- from the skyglow. Same with M81 & M82 --Bode's and the Cigar Galaxy-- showing in the same low-power view; not as beautiful as I remembered but pleasing anyway. The Sombrero looked like a long, thin star cluster rather than the appearance of a diffuse cloud we see when we visually observe many others through a small telescope. Mars, now very distant, was a bright dot at low power and a squirmy "star" at high power and definitely not worth looking at. I saw my first Iridium flare --sun reflected off a communications satellite-- and spotted a satellite coasting through my telescope field of view. Several people saw meteors, one seen through a telescope!

In all a good night with friends and a fine shakedown operation after a long, long time away from my own big telescope and it was good not to have electrical problems. Overall, I was especially pleased with how well my telescope performed compared with others' this night! I need to use it more often and under better skies! Dew and chill sent us home at around midnight.

Not tonight you don't

I thought it rather optimistic! Monday night was clear and lovely but not a good night for me scheduling-wise for an Observatory session. Tonight my schedule is clear but the sky is not. Rain is expected tomorrow. That's life, I guess! I did confirm the position of Saturn last night, floating beautifully beside bright Regulus, found Mars, and watched Orion sinking into the Western sky. If we are able to open to the students and public Saturday night, Saturn is going to be tricky... the big refractor is going to be tipped high, very high, which means the eyepiece is going to be very low. Still, it will be worth the effort -- it nearly always is.

Mars strikes again!

What a night! Thanks to a Page 1 story in the Ravenna Record-Courier about Mars with references to our January 12 Open Night, more than 184 visitors looked through the old scope!!! There was a line of people literally out to the street! Of course the disappointing reality of Mars observation presented most folk with a small featureless pale disk in the eyepiece --the night's sky was clear, but seeing was fair to poor-- still, there was a lot of excitement and interest. Many assorted questions about the telescope, the Observatory, Mars, and astronomy. If you were good and lucky you could see a hint of shadow within the disk representing surface markings. That's the mystique of Mars for you: lots of interest and potential disappointment! I'd wanted to show off other objects but had to stay fixed on Mars until just before 10 PM. I was able to give the last group a look at the Orion Nebula which was spectacular before clouds finally began to close in. I'd printed 10 star charts as hand-outs before driving out to Hiram ... I didn't want to print too many! Yeah... 184+ visitors! I still can't believe it.

Winter Solstice

The weather forecast gave us great doubt for the open night at Stephens. There was, however, an opening in the all-day cloud cover coming our way. Hiram College rented the StarLab portable planetarium and staged a Winter Solstice program earlier in the evening that led nicely into the Observatory's 7:00 PM opening. The sky, by then, had cleared and with temperatures of about 40 degrees (F) opening the dome was tolerable. Though transparency was only fair at best, the nearly-full Moon presented an interesting target and the Cooley Telescope did its usual job in knocking the socks off new visitors. The lunar image was glorious. Turning the telescope to Mars, however, really didn't reveal much. The not-so-good sky conditions prevented us from seeing any surface markings even though Mars was only four days past its closest approach in this opposition cycle (opposition to take place on Dec. 24). Hoping for better viewing conditions in January with Mars still fairly close. By 9:00 the sky had closed in completely hiding Mars, even from unaided eyes, and obscuring any detail from the lunar disk. Still in all we had about 48 visitors over the evening -- one of our best nights!

Discovering Venus

Observed from about 7:50 to 8:20 PM from Chaunticlair Observatory under clear skies, medium transparency, temperature of 43F with a light breeze. Using the 90mm Meade I viewed Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter in this happy occasion when they are all close together in the sky. Also saw one slow, eastbound meteor, near Orion. The Orion Nebula looked beautiful as did Saturn. I could see hints of banding in the planetary disk and the rings looked sharp. Jupiter's banding was also well defined. The moon is a thin crescent, Mars a small red dot now shrunken significantly from last year's historic opposition when I could see its polar cap even with this small scope. Venus was brilliant but through the glare I could see, for the first time in my life, the disk was incomplete. I'll want to look again as the month progresses to see the disk become a crescent.