Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

Would someone please supply me with the size of the secondaries of the 127mm Orion Maksutov-Cassegrain and the 10" Orion XT10?

TIA,

Dave Mitsky

The 4 part series entitled NOVA: Origins will be aired on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. EDT.

Dave Mitsky

Here's my list of deep-sky objects located between 22 and 0 hours of right ascension.

Dave Mitsky

Seventy-five deep-sky objects for October: NGC 7640, NGC 7662, NGC 7686 (Andromeda); NGC 7180, NGC 7183, NGC 7184, NGC 7293, NGC 7392, NGC 7585, NGC 7606, NGC 7721, NGC 7723, NGC 7727 (Aquarius); Cz43, K12, M52, NGC 7635, NGC 7788, NGC 7789, NGC 7790, St12 (Cassiopeia); B171, B173-4, IC 1454, IC 1470, K10, Mrk50, NGC 7235, NGC 7261, NGC 7354, NGC 7380, NGC 7419, NGC 7510 (Cepheus); IC 1434, IC 5217, NGC 7209, NGC 7223, NGC 7243, NGC 7245 (Lacerta); NGC 7177, NGC 7217, NGC 7320 (the brightest galaxy in Stephan’s Quintet), NGC 7331, NGC 7332, NGC 7339, NGC 7448, NGC 7454, NGC 7479, NGC 7619 (the brightest member of Pegasus I), NGC 7626, NGC 7678, NGC 7742, NGC 7769 (Pegasus); NGC 7541, NGC 7562, NGC 7611 (Pisces); IC 5156, IC 5269, IC 5271, NGC 7172, NGC 7173, NGC 7174, NGC 7176, NGC 7201, NGC 7203, NGC 7214, NGC 7221, NGC 7229, NGC 7314, NGC 7361 (Piscis Austrinus); NGC 7507, NGC 7513, NGC 7713, NGC 7755, NGC 7793 (Sculptor)

Challenge deep-sky object for October: Jones 1 (PK104-29.1)

Here's my list of doubles located between 22 and 0 hours of right ascension.

Dave Mitsky

Eighty-five binary and multiple stars for October: Struve 2973, Struve 2985, Struve 2992, Struve 3004, Struve 3028, Otto Struve 501, Struve 3034, Otto Struve 513, Struve 3050 (Andromeda); 29 Aquarii, 41 Aquarii, 51 Aquarii, 53 Aquarii, Zeta Aquarii, Struve 2913, Struve 2935, Tau-1 Aquarii, Struve 2944, Struve 2988, Psi-1 Aquarii, 94 Aquarii, 96 Aquarii, h3184, Omega-2 Aquarii, 107 Aquarii (Aquarius); Otto Struve 485, Struve 3037, 6 Cassiopeiae, Otto Struve 512, Sigma Cassiopeiae (Cassiopeia); Xi Cepheii, Struve 2883, Struve 2893, Struve 2903, Krueger 60, Delta Cephei, Struve 2923, Otto Struve 482, Struve 2947, Struve 2948, Struve 2950, Struve 2984, Omicron Cephei, Otto Struve 502 (Cepheus); Otto Struve 459, h1735, Struve 2876, Otto Struve 465, Struve 2886, Struve 2894, h1756, Struve 2902, Struve 2906, 8 Lacertae, Otto Struve 475, 13 Lacertae, h1828, 16 Lacertae (Lacerta); Struve 2857, Struve 2877, 34 Pegasi, Struve 2908, Xi Pegasi, Struve 2958, Struve 2978, 57 Pegasi, Struve 2991, h1859, Struve 3007, Struve 3021, Otto Struve 504, Struve 3044 (Pegasus); Struve 3009, Struve 3019, Struve 3033 (Pisces); Eta Piscis Austrini, Beta Piscis Austrini, Dunlop 241, h5356, Gamma Piscis Austrini, Delta Piscis Austrini, h5371 (Piscis Austrinus); h5417, Delta Sculptoris, h5429 (Sculptor)

Challenge binary star for October: 78 Pegasi

At 00:30 UT tonight I observed the recently discovered supernova SN 2004et in Cepheus using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory (see http://www.astrohbg.org/gallery2/Tour-of-Naylor/17_inch for a photograph of this instrument). This bright type II supernova was discovered on 2004/09/22.983 by Stefano Moretti. It is located in the SAB face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 at R.A. = 20h35m25s.4, Declination = +60°07'17".6 (U2000.0, page 20) and is positioned 247".1 east and 115".4 south of the nucleus of its host galaxy. The magnitude of SN 2004et is currently estimated to be 12.8. A finder chart is available at http://www.skyhound.com/sh/SN2004et.gif (click on the image to expand).

Although NGC 6946 has a relatively bright integrated magnitude of 8.8, its extremely low surface brightness of 14.2 magnitudes per square arc minute makes it a somewhat difficult target, particularly at a site that has been compromised by the glare of suburban sprawl, and with the skyglow and rather mediocre transparency I was unable to see the galaxy at all. (The open cluster NGC 6939, which is a close neighbor of NGC 6946, was easily viewed at 162x.) I was able to identify the supernova by a triangle of fairly bright field stars that lie to the south of the galaxy (browse the image at http://www.ngc7000.org/ccd/sn2004et-20040929-m.jpg for the location of the supernova and the field stars). Observations were done at 162 and 259x using 40 and 25mm University Optics MK-70 oculars respectively. The supernova and a nearby field star of similar brightness that was farther east were not difficult to discern.

Prior to the supernova I observed the open clusters NGC 225 and NGC 457 (the Owl Cluster) and the planetary nebula NGC 40. Afterwards two more open clusters NGC 7789 and M52, the planetary nebula NGC 7662 (the Blue Snowball), and the spiral galaxy NGC 7331 were targets as the rising Moon made life hard for deep-sky objects.

Dave Mitsky

Conditions were much better at the Naylor Observatory on Sunday night. I was able to see SN 2004et through a fellow ASH member's 10" f/10 Meade LX200 with absolutely no difficulty. This time in the process of viewing the supernova I could make out hints of its faint host galaxy NGC 6946 through the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 162 and 259x. I also observed NGC 663 (a fine open cluster in Cassiopeia), NGC 6939, M31, M32, M15, NGC 7479 (a barred spiral galaxy in Pegasus), NGC 7662 (the Blue Snowball), and NGC 7640 (a faint and elongated edge-on spiral galaxy in Andromeda) during a short observing session.

BTW, this is the eighth supernova to have been recorded in NGC 6946, which is a new record. A list of the others can be seen at http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n6946.html

Dave Mitsky

While observing the Sun with my Coronado PST and a Vixen 8-24mm zoom eyepiece and a 7mm Nagler T6 early Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't help but notice the extremely long filament that extended for about one third of a solar diameter.

Quite a few prominences were visible as well.

Dave Mitsky

While observing the Sun with my Coronado PST and a Vixen 8-24mm zoom eyepiece and a 7mm Nagler T6 early Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't help but notice the extremely long filament that extended for about one third of a solar diameter.

Quite a few prominences were visible as well.

Dave Mitsky

I did quite a bit of observing last night, ending the session with the discovery of a new sunset lunar light ray.

Dave Mitsky


Observer: Dave Mitsky
Date: 2004/10/8
Time: 07:20 UT
Location: ASH Naylor Observatory, Lewisberry, Pennsylvania
(76d53'4" west, 40d8'54" north)
Elevation: 190 meters
Seeing: very good
Transparency: good
Dome Temperature: 13 degrees Celsius at the end of the session
Instrument: 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain equatorial mount
Oculars: 17mm Pro-Optic Ploessl (381x), 25mm University Optics MK-70 (259x), 32mm U.O. Koenig-II (202x), 40mm U.O. MK-70 (162x)


At approximately 7:20 UT (3:20 a.m. EDT) on Friday morning I noticed a very prominent sunset lunar light ray in the flooded wall plain Klaproth. This 119 kilometer diameter crater was named after the German chemist and mineralogist Martin Klaproth. It features high crater walls reaching to 4300 meters and a flat floor. Klaproth is located at 69.7 degrees south, 26.0 degrees west, and is south of the prominent crater Clavius. Adjacent to it to the south is the crater Casatus.

The ray was easily seen while scanning the terminator at 162x. It was rather thin and extended across the crater diagonally to the northeast. When I stopped observing the ray at 08:00 UT it had not changed appreciably.

Fellow ASH member Ted Nichols II imaged the crater with his digital camera.

Here's Ted Nichol II's handheld, afocal image of the Klaproth Sunset Ray that I discovered on Friday morning. The telescope used was a 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain. I believe that the exposure was 1/6 of a second.

Klaproth is the large crater on the right. The ray is the thin streak of light extending downwards.

Keep in mind that it is rather difficult to get a good picture of the typical lunar ray.