Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

These extended deep-sky objects are well-placed for evening observing during July.

Dave Mitsky

Sixty-five deep-sky objects for July: NGC 6140, NGC 6236, NGC 6340, NGC 6395, NGC 6412, NGC 6503, NGC 6543 (Draco); IC 4593, M13, M92, NGC 6106, NGC 6166, NGC 6173, NGC 6181, NGC 6207, NGC 6210, NGC 6229, NGC 6482 (Hercules); B61, B62, B63, B64, B72, IC 4634, IC 4665, LDN 42, LDN 1773, M9, M10, M12, M14, M19, M62, M107, NGC 6284, NGC 6287, NGC 6293, NGC 6304, NGC 6309, NGC 6356, NGC 6366, NGC 6369, NGC 6384, NGC 6401, Tr 26 (Ophiuchus); NGC 6440, NGC 6445 (Sagittarius); B50, B55, B56, Cr 316, M4, M6, M7, M80, NGC 6144, NGC 6153, NGC 6192, NGC 6231, NGC 6242, NGC 6302, NGC 6337, NGC 6451 (Scorpius); NGC 6217, NGC 6324 (Ursa Minor)

Top ten deep-sky objects for July: M4, M6, M7, M10, M12, M13, M92, NGC 6210, NGC 6231, NGC 6543

Challenge deep-sky object for July: NGC 6380 (Scorpius)

Here's a prime focus shot of Jupiter and the unusual configuration of its Galilean satellites at the time that I took last Saturday night using my Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR camera and the ASH 14" f/10 Meade LX200GPS SCT. The focus was a bit off but the image illustrates quite well that the Galilean satellites aren't quite as pedestrian in their motions as they often seem to be.

Dave Mitsky

A fast moving comet designated C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR) is the best comet available for observation from the northern hemisphere at the moment.

I first observed this comet after the July ASH meeting on Monday night using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory. Despite very hazy skies, the comet and its centrally condensed coma were visible.

On Thursday night, my long-time observing partner Tony Donnangelo and I drove to an ASH dark site in the Tuscarora State Forest. There were far more clouds than the forecast of mostly clear skies called for but there were times when the sky was completely clear and the transparency was quite good. The Milky Way was mottled and full of detail, with the area south of the Teapot spout chock full of dark nebulae when viewed with binoculars. The VLM was in the lower to mid-sixth magnitude range.

One of the numerous celestial objects we observed that night was Comet LINEAR VZ13. We used my 8x42 Celestron Noble binocular, my mounted 15x70 Burgess binocular, my 101mm f/5.4 Tele Vue Genesis sdf refractor, Tony's 10x50 Celestron Ultima binocular, and Tony's 14.5" f/4.3 Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob.

The comet was in the vicinity of 34 Draconis at the time we began looking at it and was easily visible. Its magnitude was probably in the upper-seventh magnitude range. The coma had a noticeable central condensation and was rather large. Neither of us could see the tail that is visible in recent images. Tony saw the comet as being blue-green through his scope, while I perceived a very pale blue hue at times. C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR) is moving rather fast across the northern sky. Its motion was readily apparent in an hour's time.

For more on this comet and others currently visible, browse http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Other shallow-sky observing that night included watching a shadow transit by Io and observing four asteroids (two of which were very faint indeed) that neither of us had previously seen.

Needless to say, we also observed a great many deep-sky objects of every variety.

Dave Mitsky

For those of you who are unaware, Comet LINEAR VZ13 passes quite close to the globular cluster M3 on Sunday evening. Browse http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/8605217.html for further information.

Dave Mitsky

For those of you who are not yet aware, "Seeing in the Dark" by Timothy Ferris will be broadcast on PBS on September 19 at 8:00 p.m. This program is based on his last book and is a tribute to amateur astronomers.

http://seeinginthedark.org/

http://www.timothyferris.com/

I've read a number of his books and "Seeing in the Dark" is my favorite by far.

http://www.space.com/spacelibrary/books/library_seeing_020829.html

Professor Ferris was at the Stellafane ATM convention last year to film a sequence for the program. I had met him a few years previously at a talk he gave in Philadelphia. The DVAA, one of the other clubs that I belong to, conducted a star party afterwards.

Here's a report that I posted on the Stellafane web site:

http://www.stellafane.com/convention/2006/reports.html

Dave Mitsky

The weather gods were in a good mood yesterday. As a result, the thousands of people at the Stellafane ATM convention were treated to a spectacular night of observing.

I don't have time for a long report but suffice it to say that the Milky Way was extremely prominent and mottled and M7 was an easy naked eye target. I saw many meteors and had some incredible views through some of the large Dobs on the lower field including 25, 28, and 32 inchers.

The two most memorable sights of the night for me were both through Tele Vue's incredible 100 degree AFOV 13mm Ethos ocular. M27 through John Vogt's 32" ATM Dob and the Ethos was truly unbelievable and I've never before seen M31 as mind-blowingly extended as I did through Al Nagler's 127mm Tele Vue apochromat and the Ethos. This yet-to-be released new eyepiece is simply amazing.

The forecast for tonight is clear!

Dave Mitsky

A group of dedicated deep-sky observers from ASH and CAS met at a nearby dark site two Fridays ago. We had a fine time despite very windy conditions, a factor that the local forecasts had seemed to miss completely. There were eight telescopes ranging in size from 80mm to 20 inches on the mountain top that night. Here's a brief report on some of the things I saw.

The bright type Ia supernova SN 2007gi in NGC 4036 (for further information click on http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/sn2007/sn2007gi.html ) was fairly easy to detect through my friend Tony Donnangelo's 14.5" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob. We also looked at two novae, V5558 Sgr and N Vul 07 (see http://www.aavso.org/publications/specialnotice/57.shtml ), both of which exhibited ruddy hues. Pluto was quite a bit closer to home and much fainter through Tony's scope.

Tony and I conducted a filter comparison between a Meade narrowband filter that I had been given, an Orion UltraBlock narrowband filter, and a Tele Vue Bandmate OIII line filter using his filter slide. The Bandmate appeared to be the best of the three. Afterwards, we compared the Bandmate with Lumicon Deep Sky broadband (just for the heck of it) and Lumicon OIII line filters. The Lumicon OIII was clearly superior as was expected. The target objects were NGC 6992 (the eastern segment of the Cygnus Loop or the Veil Nebula) and M27.

My 101mm Tele Vue refractor provided a good filtered view of NGC 7000, the North American Nebula. NGC 6960 and NGC 6992, the two major components of the Veil Nebula, were visible simultaneously. A bit later NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) and NGC 1499 (the California Nebula) were easy targets through the refractor and the appropriate filters. After viewing NGC 7814 (see http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n7814.html ), an interesting 10.5 magnitude edge-on spiral galaxy in Pegasus, first through Tony's 14.5" reflector and then Bob Pody's 80mm Stellarvue achromat, I decided to have a look at it through my Tele Vue. NGC 7814 was a bit easier to see with the additional 21mm of aperture and was not a particularly difficult observation.

Bob Werkman and Karl Krasley were working at some very high magnifications that night. At one point they were comparing views of NGC 6826 (the Blinking Nebula - http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n6826.html ) at well over 900x through Bob's 18" Obsession Dob and more than 500x through Karl's 8" TMB achromat. I had some excellent views of quite a few other DSOs through both scopes as well as Lou Berman's 17.5" and Ed Kane's 20" Dobs. Especially memorable were M17, the Double Cluster through Bob's 30mm Leitz ocular, M33, NGC 6946 in Cepheus, and at the very end of the night, NGC 1023 in Perseus. Bob's Denkemeier binoviewer was really cooking that night and Karl's large refractor excelled at pushing the limits of eight inches of aperture, particularly on galaxies.

I also really enjoyed seeing the 15th magnitude disrupted galaxy UGC 10214, the Tadpole Galaxy (browse http://jumk.de/astronomie/galaxies/arp-188.shtml ), in Draco through Ed Kane's 20" scope. This faint galaxy is some 420 million light years distant.

Dave Mitsky

Who's going to this year's BFSP?

Dave Mitsky

Dennis di Cicco reviews the new 100 degree AFOV 13mm Tele Vue Ethos in the October issue of Sky & Telescope. The article, along with additional information and testimonials, is posted at http://www.televue.com/engine/page.asp?ID=312

Dave Mitsky

The following is a brief report from the Coudersport Library made by a fellow who got just a few hours of sleep.

Other than some persistent dew, conditions at Cherry Springs State Park were superb last night for the well over 100 amateur astronomers getting an early start on the Black Forest Star Party. I spent over six and a half hours observing under extremely dark and transparent skies. The seeing was very good indeed as well.

The summer Milky Way was very bright and exhibited texture and mottling. Many Messier and NGC objects were easily visible to the naked eye including some difficult ones like M15, M33, M34, M35, M39, and NGC 752. In fact, M33 was uncharacteristically easy for me. Collinder 399, the Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884), and M31 were quite straight forward and M31 showed considerable extension through a binocular. Uranus was an easy naked-eye target. I lost count after seing a dozen stars in the Great Square of Pegasus. Venus was a blazing, shadow-casting beacon in the pre-dawn sky.

During the course of the night, I employed my unaided eyes, a binocular, and a number of different telescopes ranging in aperture from 12 to 25 inches to behold the heavens. (Unfortunately, I never got around to having a few peaks through John Vogt's 32-inch f/4 ATM Dob.) I logged many objects through my 8x42 Celestron binocular and was able to see the difficult Pelican Nebula. NGC 7000 (North America Nebula) was a piece of cake. I had fine views of M27, M33, NGC 891, NGC 6543 (the Cats Eye Nebula), NGC 7009 (the Saturn Nebula), and NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula), to name but a few, through my 12.5-inch f/4.8 Starsplitter Compact Dob.

My friend Tony Donnangelo was putting his brand new 20-inch f/4.3 Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob through its paces. We viewed many difficult celestial objects including the very dim new comet C/2007 H1 (McNaught), moons of Uranus and Neptune, an esoteric Sharpless planetary nebula, and a number of the autumn nebulae including NGC 7538 and IC 59 and IC 63 that were discussed in an article in the October issue of Astronomy. M42 exhibited a range of color through his scope.

Gary Honis treated us to high-power views of Mars through his 20-inch Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob and binoviewer. Gary, a Cherry Springs regular, rated the night as very good by CSSP standards.

I saw NGC 72, which is part of the Arp 113 galaxy group, through an 18-inch f/4.5 Obsession Dob and NGC 6960, NGC 6992, and NGC 6995 (the Veil Nebula complex or Cygnus Loop), NGC 6888 (the Crescent Nebula), and the interesting planetary nebula NGC 1514 in Taurus through a 25-inch Obsession.

The Double Cluster was the final object of the night for me before I crawled into my sleeping bag shortly after 5:00 a.m. EST. Tony's 20-incher provided a stunning vista with the aid of Gary's 31mm Nagler Type 5.

Dave Mitsky