Jupiter, baby!

Another clear night last night. I was busy working on a video project and didn't get out for long, but I did see a few things. I was helping my wife unload the groceries at about 10:30 (thank you 24 hour grocery stores), and she pointed out a bright star in the south east part of the sky. Big, bright, and yellow - I figured it had to be Jupiter.

I grabbed the Nikons and took a quick peek - and there it was, a lovely yellow disc with three small pinpoints in an angle alongside. Jupiter and three of his moons, perfectly framed in the eyepeices. Though that part of the sky is almost completely covered by trees in my neighborhood, there was a "hole" in the trees that Jupiter fit nicely into. I set the tripod and let my wife have a good long look, too :)

I tried to show her M44, but the sky had a bit of haze (and Venus being uber-bright in that part of the sky likely didn't help). No M44 tonight, and my wife called it quits. I stayed out for a few minutes, and used the averted vision trick again to see M13. Can't wait for a darker location to REALLY get some better looks at everything.

The moon was bright and lovely - a nice night for Luna gazing.

No star parties for me :(

I was busy with family on Friday, and so didn't get a chance to hit the Wagman start party in Allegheny county. I did have the binoculars out that night, showing my son Dylan, 6, the various constellations, Saturn, Venus, and that gorgeous sliver of a moon. I wish I had the tripod adapter, so that I could show him the Beehive, but it doesn't arrive until today. Otherwise, a nice night.

Saturday was the night I intended to go to Wagman's, and as luck would have it, it was cloudy and rainy all night. Here's hoping for some clear skies for next month.

May? Try November.

Stupid stupid stupid weather. That is all.

Amazing beginners book - Astronomy Hacks

Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to a book that I LOVE. A fellow AAAP member reminded me of it when he recommended it to me yesterday (two of us like it - so it must be good!).

The book is called Astronomy Hacks, by husband and wife team Robert Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson. Click the link to find it on sale at Amazon.com.

This book saved my time and money, and reading it was fun and informative. I'm still not done reading it, because I keep re-reading the early parts :)

Betelgeuse = Beetlejuice, so says I

Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to pronounce it "Beetle juice". I've read all of the origin stories, I've read the correct pronunciation(s), the "proper" way to refer to it, etc. But I've been using the "Beetle juice" pronunciation since childhood, and I can't shake it (nor do I really want to). Hopefully no one will mock me horrifically while out observing. I just can't bring myself to call it "Bait-al-jows-za". Maybe I'll go half way, to another known pronunciation: Bet-el-jooze. What do YOU call it?

Either way, I miss Orion. Seeing that constellation in the sky always makes me feel like a kid again. It's my favorite spot in the night sky, and full of SO many things to see. See you in the winter, pal!

Lousy night...no lookin'

No worries - they're predicting a good weekend! Hopefully the weather gurus will actually be correct this time...

Black Forest Star Party - Sounds good!

Just found the link to the Black Forest star party in PA. May have to grab some camping gear and check that out. My brother, a fellow star nut, said he may come as well.

http://www.bfsp.org/starparty/index.cfm

Anyone have any thoughts on this one? Seems like a no-brainer!

First Observation with the new Binoculars

I finally had the time and the cooperating weather conditions to try out my new Nikon 10x50 binoculars last night. Overall, it was a decent night, slightly cool, and there didn’t appear to be any real cloud cover. Some definite haze as the evening wore on, but it was intermittent. Good or bad, I was anxious to see something, anything, in my new gear.

I knew I was going to have a hard time seeing much of anything – I’m in McMurray, just 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, and so the NNE part of the sky was visibly lighter due to light pollution. I also have a fairly bright gas-powered post light in my front yard (yes, they do still exist!) I decided to concentrate on the western part of the sky, as I could keep my back to the light. There were more stars visible to my eye than I expected, especially towards zenith. I got excited :)

I had already popped open Stellarium on my Mac to check the night sky. I’m still a complete rookie, so I need all the help I can get! I found a few landmarks, grabbed my planisphere and ran outside. I started with Venus, super-bright as expected. I star-hopped (still learning that, too!) to the twins of Gemini, also fairly bright and easy to find. I knew Saturn was “chasing Leo”, so I decided to hop over to the giant planet for a look. Along the way, I ran into a something I’d never seen before – I actually gasped as it came into view. I wasn’t expecting to see anything out there, and there it was, a lovely cluster spread out before me. Not visible naked-eye, which made it all the more breathtaking.

I had just seen M44 (the Beehive Cluster, or Praesepe)! Sure, that’s an easy one, I suppose. But I hadn’t found any catalog objects before this, so I was pretty excited. Now I was determined to see more.

Saturn was bright and pleasing to look at…even if I was shaking the binocular a bit by now. Once I dig out my tripod, I should get some more steady views. I honestly didn’t think the 10x50’s would get so heavy! Not sure, but I may have seen one of Saturn’s moons to the right side. Did I?

After a trip of a few well-known constellations, I tried to look for Hercules. I knew M13 was out there, hiding somewhere in the light pollution. Hercules proved hard to see in my location, the lights were washing out that part of the sky. Still, I waited, trying to let my eyes adjust. It took me a while to sort out which stars were which – the planisphere can be hard to get your bearings with. I finally was able to pick out a pair of stars on the left side (Rho Herc, Pi Herc), so I hopped up those stars, up again to Eta, and over to Zeta. I hope I’m getting these names right ;) Back and forth between Eta and Zeta…nothing. Using the averted vision method, which I had read about the night before, I spotted it! M13, a small grey puff just between the two stars of the keystone. Two Messier objects and two planets on my first night! Time for bed…I’m sure I’ll dream about huge SCT’s and apochromatic refracters (see, I am researching!)

First Star Party

I attended the April star party held by the AAAP in Pittsburgh. The party was held at the Mingo Creek observatory in Washington County, about 25-30 minutes from my house. Beautiful night, calm, clear, and cool.

It was my first party, so I brought my wife and 6 year old along for company :)

I got to see some great images of Saturn (with Cassini seps and moons! WOW!) and a few Messier objects (M3, M42), plus good 'ol Luna as it waned. Even saw Venus in one of its phases. Doesn't hurt that they have amazing scopes to take a few peeks through!

My 6yr old got tired early, but he was loving every minute. When I go to the next one in May, maybe he'll stay home. We'll see. I have decided to dive head-first into the hobby, and that means I do a ton of research. I bought a planisphere and a few books, my favorite of which is called "Astronomy Hacks". I must-read for the beginner, worth every penny.

The books and research led me to my first astro-purchase: a pair of Nikon 10x50 binoculars. I'll start with these (who knew you could see SO much with binocs?) and keep asking about scopes. For now, I'm looking at either an 8-10" Dobsonian or I'll wait and save the pennies for an 8" SCT (Schmidt-Cassegrain) with go-to computer control. I may eventually need a small grab-and-go refractor, but the binocs should do fine for now. Hooked, hooked, hooked.

First Post!

I'm just getting started, but have a backlog of new things to post today. Ignore the dates :)