... and the Ecstasy

Observing Report 08/23/03
Equipment: Heep ('umble 4.5" DS Newtonian on EQ mount, 900mm, f/8), 16x50 bino's
Eyepeices: 20mm, 10mm, 6.7mm Meade Plossls
Location: Newmarket, Ont. (approx. 44n, 79w)
Time: 0300 - 0430 UT
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As bad as Friday's futile attempt was, Saturday's observing session was in every respect its opposite. Set Heep on front lawn around 8:00 PM local (2400 UT). Go back inside to watch movie rental, "Head of State". For those who missed Siskel and Roeper's review, don't bother. Movie over, wife and daughter wasting the night sleeping, I venture outside. No neighbour's porch light. Limiting magnitude at leat 4.0, several stars in Little Dipper visible. Most streetlights hidden by trees on front lawn. And Mars high in the sky directly in front of me. It's 0300 UT.

Seeing was much improved over the previous evening. Mars showed a wealth of detail with 6.7mm. Very dark ring around SPC, but thinner than previous viewing (Aug. 18). Solis Lacus to the west, large grey band visible to the south running the breadth of the planet. Two darker elongated rectangular-shaped features, separated by a thin line, were visible (barely) east of Solis Lacus, separated from it by a wide swath of washed out peach colour. The planet was brighter than I have ever seen it; so much so that I bet I could use a Moon filter and still improve the image. The best views, in fact, occured when a thin, high cloud passed between myself and Mars, and the dark grey features were darker and more defined.

To be continued ...

Observing Report 08/23/03 (cont'd)
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Having squeezed out as much detail as I was going to on Mars, and not wanting to waste such good conditions, I ventured over to the summer triangle to drop in on some old friends. I found M11 pretty easily, resolved into scores of stars at 90x. THen went hunting for the Ring, which although easy to find, is quite literally a pain in the neck when near the zenith. Squatting down on all fours to line up the OTA is a part of this pastime that I wouldn't miss terribly. But I found it quite easily. Its brightness was surprising at 90x, considering my suburban location, and the ring structure was definitely visible.

Decided to go looking for the Dumbbell, which I'd found once before by accident, and found the view so indifferent as to rename it the Smudge Nebula. But that was under a bright moon, so I didn't expect much. Every effort to locate it since then had proved fruitless. So I didn't expect much.

And I was right. I lined up the scope, skewed about a bit, and found it. "Why it's decidedly ... ", I mused, "Er, distinctly ... almost, but not quite, entirely unlike a dumbbell." It was, in fact, quite round, bright near the center, and fainter at the edges. I replaced the 20mm with the 10mm, and it was even less Dumbbell-like (if possible) than before. It was roundish and grainy. Hmmm. Got on all fours again, and checked the scope. Oops. Lined up about five degrees from Albireo all right, but on the wrong side. Instead of pointing towards Sagitta, I was pointing towards Lyra. (Later on, I checked my handy Peterson's and discovered that this object was M56.)

I berated Heep for his inattentiveness and tried again. This time, found it within a couple of minutes.

WOW.

It really did look like the pictures. It was a perfect little dumbbell shape. After putting the 10mm EP in, it looked even brighter, if that's possible. The southern end was decidedly brighter than the northern end, and showed a wispy, thin arc. The middle had two clearly defined dents in it, giving this little beauty the classic hourglass figure. Did I say little? At 90x, it filled almost half the eyepeice.

Eyelids getting heavy, I took one quick look at the Pleiades in my bino's before going to ground. The fall and winter lines will soon be paraded down the runway, guys ... hope you're ready.

Clear nights ... dark sites,
Darren