Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory will be open to the public this Sunday evening, March 19, at 7:00 p.m.

For directions and further information, browse http://www.astrohbg.org/directions.php and http://www.astrohbg.org/naylor_observatory.php

The 2006 ASH public observing schedule is posted at http://www.astrohbg.org/public_observing.php

Dave Mitsky

ASH Trustee

A large and complex prominence adorned the leading limb of the Sun on Monday. I observed it along with a number of smaller ones with my Coronado PST, an 8-24mm Vixen Lanthanum zoom eyepiece, and an 8mm Tele Vue Radian.

Here's one so-so afocal shot of the large prominence.

Equipment used: a 40mm f/10 Coronado PST, a 26mm Tele Vue Ploessl, a Velbon tripod, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR camera, and a Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens.

Dave Mitsky

While observing at the ASH Naylor Observatory last night, I witnessed the best fireball I've seen since last fall when I was in New Mexico. It left a momentary train that was about 30 degrees in length and flashed a green hue as it came to an end below and to the west of the bowl of the Big Dipper. The meteor was perhaps as bright as Venus.

Dave Mitsky

Here's an afocal shot of a striking scimitar-like prominence that was visible on Sunday afternoon. The equipment used was a 40mm f/10 Coronado PST, a 30mm Celestron Ultima, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR, and a Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens.

While photographing the solar prominence on Sunday afternoon, I just missed capturing an ariliner flying across the Sun's disk. However, I did catch the contrail. The equipment used was a 40mm f/10 Coronado PST, a 30mm Celestron Ultima, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR, and a Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens.

Dave Mitsky

Here's my list of deep-sky objects for this month.

Dave Mitsky

One hundred deep-sky objects for April: NGC 4024, NGC 4027 (Corvus); NGC 3511, NGC 3513, NGC 3672, NGC 3887, NGC 3892, NGC 3955, NGC 3962, NGC 3981 (Crater); NGC 3091, NGC 3109, NGC 3145, NGC 3203, NGC 3242, NGC 3309, NGC 3585, NGC 3621, NGC 3717, NGC 3904, NGC 3936 (Hydra); M65, M66, M95, M96, M105, NGC 3098, NGC 3162, NGC 3177, NGC 3185, NGC 3190, NGC 3226, NGC 3227, NGC 3300, NGC 3346, NGC 3367, NGC 3377, NGC 3384, NGC 3389, NGC 3412, NGC 3437, NGC 3489, NGC 3495, NGC 3507, NGC 3521, NGC 3593, NGC 3607, NGC 3608, NGC 3626, NGC 3628, NGC 3640, NGC 3646, NGC 3655, NGC 3681, NGC 3684, NGC 3686, NGC 3691, NGC 3705, NGC 3810, NGC 3842, NGC 3872, NGC 3900, NGC 4008 (Leo); NGC 3245, NGC 3254, NGC 3277, NGC 3294, NGC 3344, NGC 3414, NGC 3432, NGC 3486, NGC 3504 (Leo Minor); NGC 2990, NGC 3044, NGC 3055, NGC 3115, NGC 3156, NGC 3166, NGC 3169, NGC 3246, NGC 3423 (Sextans); IC 750, M97, M108, M109, NGC 3079, NGC 3184, NGC 3198, NGC 3310, NGC 3359, NGC 3610, NGC 3665, NGC 3675, NGC 3738, NGC 3877, NGC 3898, NGC 3941, NGC 3953, NGC 3998, NGC 4026 (Ursa Major)

Challenge deep-sky object for April: Leo I (Leo)

Be sure to watch Nova tonight on PBS. It's about the Cassini mission and what's been discovered about Titan.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/titan/

Dave Mitsky

I took this afocal image on Tuesday afternoon with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR camera, 40mm f/10 Coronado PST, and 30mm Celestron Ultima.

Dave Mitsky

Here's an afocal shot of the large solar prominence that was visible on Monday, April 10. It was done with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR camera and 40mm f/10 Coronado PST.

Dave Mitsky

The sun was active again this morning. These images were captured via my Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR camera, 40mm f/10 Coronado PST, and 30mm Celestron Ultima. The first is a shorter exposure at a lower ISO number, which allows greater chromospheric detail to be seen. Note the brighter plages and the dark filament just above and to the left of the long prominence on the trailing limb.

Dave Mitsky