Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

There was lots to see on the Sun in the light of H-alpha yesterday at 16:20 UT. My Coronado PST and 8-24 Vixen LV zoom eyepiece revealed a number of prominences and filaments, including a very impressive loop prominence on the leading limb.

Dave Mitsky

There was lots to see on the Sun in the light of H-alpha yesterday at 16:20 UT. My Coronado PST and 8-24 Vixen LV zoom eyepiece revealed a number of prominences and filaments, including a very impressive loop prominence on the leading limb.

Dave Mitsky

I attended my eleventh Northeast Astronomy Forum & Telescope Show on Saturday. The NEAF takes place each April at the Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, a three hour drive from my residence in Pennsylvania. As usual the event featured as incredible array of new gear and products to covet, educational workshops to participate in, and interesting lectures to listen to. Again, as usual, I ran into numerous friends and acquaintances from throughout the northeastern USA.

The NEAF is well known for the Tele Vue "blem" sale. The only cosmetically blemished Tele Vue eyepiece that I was considering buying was the 5mm Nagler type 6. I arrived an hour later than I had planned (don't ask why) and, since Murphy's Law was in full effect, the only T6 that was sold out was the 5mm. The same thing happened last year (again don't ask why), only with the 13mm T6.

I finally broke down and bought the new edition of the _Uranometria 2000.0_ when I ran into stellar cartographer extraordinaire Wil Tirion. He signed it for me then and there. Later on, after his keynote talk, he autographed my _Bright Star Atlas 2000.0_ and _Sky Atlas 2000.0_ too.

This year the Northeast Astronomy Forum & Telescope Show Solar Star Party featured an even more impressive array of H-alpha and white light solar rigs. Coronado was well represented, although at least two 0.2 Angstrom Solar Spectrum filters were in use as well.

I witnessed a solar flare occur through a 130mm f/7 Zeiss refractor equipped with a Coronado H-alpha filter and had equally fantastic views through Astro-Physics and Tele Vue apochromats. Two long filaments were visible along with some prominences, one of which I imaged with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel. A 10" f/5 Teleport Dob provided high magnification white light views.

In the late afternoon, I saw Saturn and Sirius through an 8" f/10 Celestron Nexstar SCT.

Although I missed Mel Bartels ATM talk because I got caught up in solar observing, it was another very enjoyable NEAF for me this year.

The NEAF will return today for a second day of astronomy geek heaven. For further information see http://www.rocklandastronomy.com/neaf.htm

Dave Mitsky

I've been able to observe the Sun in the light of H-alpha for quite a few days consecutively. At the NEAF Solar Star Party on Saturday, the views were often astounding through Astro-Physics, Coronado, Tele Vue, and Zeiss refractors (some with binoviewers) equipped with either Coronado or Solar Spectrum H-alpha filters. My 40mm f/10 Coronado PST hardly compares to a $14,000 custom made double stacked 90mm f/10 Coronado SolarMax but it does get the job done. Every day but one has has had some notable filament or prominence activity but on Wednesday the prominences were simply incredible.

Dave Mitsky

I saw "The Final Cut" on DVD the other day and enjoyed it very much. Robin Williams was at his subdued best as the conflicted protagonist, a "cutter" who edits the life experiences of individuals implanted with recording chips. Like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", another recent movie with a well-known comedian in a dramatic leading role, this film explores what might happen when technology is able to control human memory. "The Final Cut" had an intelligent script, great cinematography, and a memorable soundtrack. It was economical in its storytelling and kept me guessing where it was heading. "The Final Cut" was definitely a cut above most of today's Hollywood fare.

Dave Mitsky

I've added quite a few galaxies to the group for May. Much like the economy soon will be, my lists are experiencing inflation!

These extended objects lie between 12 and 14 hours of right ascension.

Dave Mitsky

One hundred and sixty-five deep-sky objects for May: NGC 5248 (Bootes); M3, M51, M63, M94, M106, NGC 4111, NGC 4138, NGC 4143, NGC 4151, NGC 4214, NGC 4217, NGC 4244, NGC 4346, NGC 4369, NGC 4449, NGC 4485, NGC 4490, NGC 4618, NGC 4631, NGC 4656, NGC 4868, NGC 5005, NGC 5033, NGC 5297, NGC 5353, NGC 5354, Up 1 (Canes Venatici); Mel 111, M53, M64, M85, M88, M91, M98, M99, M100, NGC 4064, NGC 4150, NGC 4203, NGC 4212, NGC 4251, NGC 4274, NGC 4278, NGC 4293, NGC 4298, NGC 4302, NGC 4314, NGC 4350, NGC 4414, NGC 4419, NGC 4448, NGC 4450, NGC 4459, NGC 4473, NGC 4474, NGC 4494, NGC 4559, NGC 4565, NGC 4651, NGC 4689, NGC 4710, NGC 4725, NGC 4874, NGC 5053 (Coma Berenices); NGC 4027, NGC 4038-9, NGC 4361 (Corvus); M68, M83, NGC 4105, NGC 4106, NGC 5061, NGC 5101, NGC 5135 (Hydra); M40, NGC 4036, NGC 4041, NGC 4051, NGC 4062, NGC 4085, NGC 4088, NGC 4096, NGC 4100, NGC 4144, NGC 4157, NGC 4605, NGC 5308, NGC 5322 (Ursa Major); M49, M58, M59, M60, M61, M84, M86, M87, M89, M90, M104, NGC 4030, NGC 4073, NGC 4168, NGC 4179, NGC 4206, NGC 4215, NGC 4216, NGC 4224, NGC 4235, NGC 4260, NGC 4261, NGC 4267, NGC 4281, NGC 4339, NGC 4343, NGC 4365, NGC 4371, NGC 4378, NGC 4380, NGC 4387, NGC 4388, NGC 4402, NGC 4429, NGC 4435, NGC 4438, NGC 4517, NGC 4526, NGC 4535, NGC 4536, NGC 4546, NGC 4550, NGC 4551, NGC 4567, NGC 4568, NGC 4570, NGC 4593, NGC 4596, NGC 4636, NGC 4638, NGC 4639, NGC 4643, NGC 4654, NGC 4666, NGC 4697, NGC 4698, NGC 4699, NGC 4753, NGC 4754, NGC 4760, NGC 4762, NGC 4866, NGC 4900, NGC 4958, NGC 5044, NGC 5054, NGC 5068, NGC 5077, NGC 5084, NGC 5087, NGC 5147, NGC 5170, NGC 5247, NGC 5363, NGC 5364 (Virgo)

Challenge deep-sky object for May: 3C 273 (Virgo)

One of my goals while observing at Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, last week was to log 3C 273 with my 101mm f/5.4 Tele Vue refractor. I was able to accomplish this feat on Sunday morning. It took a bit of doing but I was able to catch occasional glimpses of the brightest quasar at 44x (12.4mm Meade Super Ploessl) with averted vision. It forms a dogleg with an easy to see tenth magnitude field star. A distinctive stellar pattern lies slightly to the northeast of the quasar.

Two sites with useful charts and information on 3C 273 can be found at http://www.faster.co.nz/~rasnz/Stars/Virgo.htm and http://www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de/projects/extragalactic/charts/1226+023.html

For more on 3C 273 see http://www.astrosurf.com/jwisn/3c273.htm and http://www.acad.carleton.edu/curricular/PH...Clark/3c273.htm

Dave Mitsky

Date: 2005/05/11
Time: 17:55 to 18:03 UT
Instrument: 40mm f/10 Coronado Personal Solar Telescope
Eyepiece: 8-24mm Vixen LV Lanthanum zoom
Conditions: Partly cloudy, 1005 millibars, 24 degrees Celsius

I had a great view of a large curving promience (I'm not sure if it was a true loop or not) yesterday afternoon while observing the Sun with my 40mm Coronado PST H-alpha refractor. Several other prominences and a few filaments were visible. Two bright areas were present near the AR 10758 sunspot complex and AR 10759 was rather prominent.

Dave Mitsky

Last weekend at the very dark Cherry Springs State Park I saw for the first time a faint pink hue in parts of M8 and an even fainter pink in the emission portion of M20 through a 30" ATM Dob.

Dave Mitsky

Today the Moon is at apogee, subtending 29'32" from a distance of 404,600 kilometers, at 14:00 UT and Mars is 1.2 degrees south of Uranus at 20:00 UT.

Dave Mitsky