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M17 Swan-Omega Celestron C6 Hyperstar2

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Posts Made By: Rick Wiseman

September 7, 2007 01:19 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

venus

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Brian,

I was astonished at the short time from when Venus disappeared in the evening sky (July 27 for me) until it reappeared in the morning sky (August 28th). Of course, cloudy and hazy skies made this time longer. Venus was SUDDENLY very obvious in the morning.

Regards,
Rick

September 20, 2007 03:07 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

Mars Apparition - 2007-08

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Thanks, Curt.

I resumed more serious observing AFTER the 2003 opposition, sigh! But I thoroughly enjoyed the 2005 opposition. I was easily able to observe and sketch surface features on Mars through my 90mm refractor. I look forward to this year's observations.

Rick W in Ohio

September 28, 2007 12:09 AM Forum: After Dark

Question on the Orientation of Moon

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Lee,

I always try to imagine or trace a line from the moon to the north star to make sense of the way the moon "seems" to rotate as it rises and sets. The moon does stay in the same orientation to the line. Hope you can see this.

Rick

October 29, 2007 09:08 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Comet 17P/Holmes on Sunday Night, 2007/10/28

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Dave,

I was looking at M33 before moonrise, then moved to the obvious new extra "star" in Perseus. Wow! This thing is huge and it's bright, especially after observing galaxies. It was actually a little spooky, too, like an eye looking back at me. I called out my daughters, they ran out in bare feet in the 35 degree weather. My oldest daughter could see that the "star" was a hazy disk with her naked eyes. At 80x and 133x I could see more and more details even though the moon was already up and the sky was quite bright.

Rick

November 13, 2007 10:51 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Holmes, for the first time...

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Wow! Ivan, thanks for the image.

Holmes has changed a lot since I last saw it about 10 days ago. Weather and other things to do got in the way. There is a chance I can look at it again tonight, even though it looks like the air is quite hazy.

Rick W

November 21, 2007 02:33 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

Saturn's Apparition of 2007-08

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Thanks, Curt, for the heads up on Saturn's appearance this year. I have not viewed Saturn moving through the cycle of rings opening and closing since I began actively observing again in 2004. I am looking forward to the rings closing up for only one reason: the chance to view more moons than Titan and Rhea through my little 90mm refractor. I am not sure I will like to lose seeing the beautiful rings.

Regards,
Rick

November 30, 2007 11:25 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Comet 17P/Holmes on Thursday Night

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Dave,

I had a very similar experience here in western Ohio. Clarity was quite good, but the seeing was about as bad as I have ever seen. Mars was swimming in turbulence. Forget about double stars. Anyway, comet Holmes was wonderful. I am able to see it easily with the naked eye, but averted vision helps to see the shape and size of the comet. At 40X, it nearly filled the FOV of my 90mm refractor. Lots of details still to be seen, of course, I could not pick out the pseudonucleus.

I was thinking, since the coma is so large, larger than the sun they say, the odds are better for a chunk from the asteroid belt to pass through it. I wonder if such an event could be observed?

I observed M1, M77 (not bad :-)), M74 and best of all was NGC253 down south.

Best wishes,
Rick

December 29, 2007 02:08 AM Forum: Solar System Observing

Mars, 2007/12/26

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Dave,

We had clear skies here in Ohio on Christmas night, too. I observed Mars using my 90MM at 133x, Mars appeared a bit smaller than the nearby nearly full moon at 1x naked eye.

The seeing was variable here, as in your report. I did see the dark vertical bar quite easily, and glimpsed a dimmer line perpendicular to the bar. The surface of Mars looks the color of sand to me. I did not see any white in the polar area though. Thanks for the report and image.

Rick W

January 13, 2008 04:29 PM Forum: Comets

Holmes is Hanging On

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Bill,

After I read your post, I looked last night and did indeed see Comet Holmes with the naked eye. The comet appeared very large and diffuse, brighter than M31 and rounder, not as long.

Rick W

January 30, 2008 03:59 AM Forum: Meade

In defense of Meade...

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Hear, hear, Chris.

See my recent observing report in the "Under 124mm scopes" forum. A person can make very nice observations with a "crummy" Meade DS-90 without using the goto or motors. This hobby seems to have two groups - people that love great equipment and people who love to observe. Nothing wrong with belonging to either group.

Rick

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