Orion Surprise

I left for work early today, around 6:30AM. The sun hadn't come up yet, but most of the sky was covered in a thin layer of clouds. As I went to my car, I happened to glance up at the southern sky. There was Orion, perfectly placed in my view. Orion is my favorite constellation - easy to find, bright stars of various colors, and nebulas visible to the naked eye. I happened to have my 10x50s handy in the car, so I picked them up for a quick look at the sword and M42. Great stuff!

As I drove into Pittsburgh, the sun started to rise, and the colors of the sky were amazing. I love fall in PA.

Can't wait for winter, when the hunter is more visible and skies are more dry and calm (I hope!)

Clear skies,
Todd

Andromeda

Just a quick update to a few previous posts, as well as a short observing note.

I did manage to catch some Perseid meteors after all, spending about an hour outside on the Sunday before it ended. I was able to catch 4 good solid streaks, though I likely missed some while goofing with the binoculars. Glad I didn't miss them this year! Managed to get sidetracked pretty bad a day later with a kidney stone. I would not recommend that anyone get one of these...drink lots of water, kids!

As for the new scope...the deal on the LX200 was amazing, but my wife and I decided we should concentrate on getting the house done (we're in the middle of a major remodel including the kitchen, bath, and deck). There will always be scopes to buy, thanks to Astromart.com :) I put the money in my savings account. With football starting soon, I'm tempted to buy a 50" plasma, too. I need a 2nd job I guess.

And finally, I managed to see the Andromeda Galaxy tonight in my Nikons as well as 'ol blue. Reaction? YAWN. I need darker skies and a larger scope. MUST HAVE MORE DETAIL :)

I'll be headed off to Mingo next weekend for a training session on the observatory and the gear inside. There's a Star Party afterwards, should the skies cooperate. I'm very excited to meet more AAAP members when the sun is out - it's easier to get to know people when you're not all standing in the dark!

Until next time,
Todd

Friday Night at Mingo Star Party

I journeyed out to Mingo park again on Friday, where the AAAP was holding another weekend of star parties. I meant to go Saturday, but Friday was looking good and my kids somehow got to bed early. Go figure!

I brought my usual gear, but this was the first time with the new eyepieces and case (pics coming soon). I setup my tripod, for the camera and binoculars, my scope (‘ol Blue), my beach chair and the small equipment table. The table is actually a kids folding table that I steal from my 6 year old. Remind me to get a real observing table.

Venus and Saturn were close together, but setting fast. I used the barlowed 9mm to view them both at 155x, which was a treat. It’s the largest I’ve seen either in this scope, and they both looked great. They moved fast, so I decided to try Jupiter for a while.

Jupiter stayed out all night, and Mingo has a GREAT view of the southern sky. I saw more in the south tonight than I ever have before. Jupiter and the 4 main moons barely fit into the eyepiece view at 155x, but I got them. Better detail than I expected, including 2 cloud bands and possibly the red spot (I may have seen it, or I may have wanted to see it so badly that I faked my own eyes out ;-)). At that magnification, it moved out of view FAST. Tracking would be a good thing to have on the next scope, so maybe the Dob is out after all.

By far, my favorites of the night came from Sagittarius, where I was able to see several Messier objects with just the binoculars. I spotted M8 (Lagoon Nebula), M20 (Trifid Nebula), and M21 in what has to be the prettiest binocular-ready section of the sky. The Milky Way was “flowing” right out of the teapot of Sagittarius, and made my night. I can only imagine what darker sites would do for this part of the sky.

I also spent some time on Antares in Scorpius, and again used binoculars to find M4. By this point, I was also viewing M4 and M25 through the 24” reflector Mingo’s observatory, so I was getting a little spoiled. This scope now features a rotating turret of eyepieces, so changing between the 5 or 6 magnifications was perfectly simple. A great star party addition, especially since those eyepieces were all Tele-Vue Naglers. What I’d give to have a set of those in my eyepiece arsenal! Someday!

I started packing up at about 12:45, just as a lovely reddish-brown moon rose behind me. I took several shots of the moon, none of which really worked. Ah well.

Overall, a great night! I met several new people, and I’m sure I’ll even remember their names someday (I’m terrible with names!).

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 :)

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.