Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

As has already been mentioned, 30 degrees F is not particularly cold.

At any rate, it's not a good idea to wear cotton clothes since they will get wet from perspiration. Standing on a mat, rug, or carpet remnant will help to keep your feet warm. Of course, good boots and thermal socks are a must. If you don't want to go to the expense of a snowmobile suit, get a pair of insulated coveralls.

I usually wear insulated boots, a high quality thermal underwear top and bottom, thermal bootsocks with liners, a sweater or insulated flannel shirt or sweatshirt, a hooded sweatshirt, flannel or fleece-lined pants, sweatpants over the pants, an insulated coverall, and a down coat with a hood. I have at least two hoods covering my head and sometimes wear a combination facemask/hat as well. I use a variety of gloves and mittens depending on how cold it is and also rely on heat packs when necessary. With this gear on, I'm good for many hours of winter observing.

Dave Mitsky

After a somewhat long hiatus, I finally had a chance to get to a dark site again last night and was easily able to view the "odd couple" pairings of the open cluster M34 and Comet 17P/Holmes and the spiral galaxy M33 and Comet 8P/Tuttle respectively through a Celestron Ultima 10x50 binocular. Both periodic comets were impressive as seen through an 18" Obsession Dob and a 41mm Panoptic (Holmes) and 13mm Ethos (Tuttle).

My friends and I observed numerous celestial objects from the end of astronomical twilight until about half an hour after moonrise. For a night that was somewhat questionable weatherwise, conditions were quite good for most of the session. (I even logged a couple of faint IC planetary nebulae that were new to me.) In fact, to our surprise we were able to see B33 (the Horsehead Nebula) through the 18" Obsession and a 17.5" TeleKit Dob using H-beta filters.

Comet Tuttle passes quite close to M33 tonight and some impressive images have been posted at http://www.spaceweather.com and other astronomy sites.

Dave Mitsky

I journeyed to the Naylor Observatory on Thursday night to take a quick look at Mars. It was my first formal observing session of the new year and I ended up having one of my best views of the planet so far this apparition. The transparency was not the best that night and there was the usual wintertime Ski Roundtop light dome in addition to the local light pollution but the seeing was not bad at all. The temperature in the French Dome during the two hour long session was a balmy 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

After visiting some well-known winter deep-sky objects, I observed Comet 8P/Tuttle and the nearby spiral galaxy M74 through the 17-inch f/15 classical Cassegrain, but not in the same field of view of the 6477mm focal length instrument, of course. The periodic comet looked good at 162, 202, and 259x and was easily seen through the 5-inch f/5 finder scope. There wasn't even a hint of nearby M74 through the 5-inch. I could make out Comet 17P/Holmes naked-eye with averted vision but it was just a faint and unremarkable smudge through the 5-inch.

I used an Orion variable polarizing filter, a CC30M (magenta) filter, and Wratten #21 (orange), #25 (red), and #80A (light blue) color filters and magnifications of 162, 202, 249, 259, 324, 381, and 404x with the 17-inch f/15 classical Cassegrain working at full aperture. (I also employed a few of the eyepieces sans filters at first.) Using the variable polarizing filter with a 17mm Ploessl (381x) worked out well, as did a 26mm Ploessl (249x) with the #80A and CC30M filters stacked.

The "bland" side of Mars was facing the Earth during the session but Mare Sirenum, Mare Cimmerium, and Mare Tyrrhenum were easy to discern, as was the NPC, and I certainly had no complaints about what I saw. I may have detected some limb haze too. If it hadn't had been so cold, I would've made a sketch.

Dave Mitsky

Here are my lists of extended deep-sky objects for this month.

Dave Mitsky

Seventy deep-sky objects for January: B26-28, B29, M36, M37, M38, NGC 1664, NGC 1778, NGC 1857, NGC 1893, NGC 1907, NGC 1931 (Auriga); IC 361, Kemble 1 (Kemble’s Cascade asterism), NGC 1501, NGC 1502, NGC 1530, NGC 1569 (Camelopardalis); NGC 1507, NGC 1518, NGC 1531, NGC 1532, NGC 1535, NGC 1537, NGC 1600, NGC 1637, NGC 1659, NGC 1700 (Eridanus); IC 418, M79, NGC 1832, NGC 1888, NGC 1964 (Lepus); B33, Cr65, Cr69, Cr70, IC 434, M42, M43, M78, NGC 1662, NGC 1973-75-77, NGC 1981, NGC 1999, NGC 2022, NGC 2023, NGC 2024, NGC 2112 (Orion); Be11, NGC 1491, NGC 1496, NGC 1499, NGC 1513, NGC 1528, NGC 1545, NGC 1548, NGC 1579, NGC 1582, NGC 1605, NGC 1624 (Perseus); DoDz3, DoDz4, M1, Mel 25, NGC 1514, NGC 1587, NGC 1647, NGC 1746, NGC 1807, NGC 1817 (Taurus)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for January: Kemble 1, M36, M37, M38, M42, NGC 1528, NGC 1647, NGC 1746, NGC 1981

Top ten deep-sky objects for January: M42, M43, M78, M79, NGC 1499, NGC 1501, NGC 1502, NGC 1514, NGC 1931, NGC 2024

Challenge deep-sky object for January: IC 2118 (Eridanus)

The objects listed above are located between 4:00 and 6:00 hours of right ascension.

The sky looked pretty miserable early last Saturday evening. I could barely see the setting Moon through the haze. Somewhat dejectedly, I watched a surprisingly enjoyable time loop movie called 12:01 on the tube. Afterwards, I attended the second screening of No Country For Old Men. Upon leaving the theater, I immediately noticed Sirius and the stars of Orion shining brightly so I decided to drive up to the ASH Naylor Observatory.

Conditions were far from perfect but the seeing was extremely good at times. (It was a balmy 33 degrees Fahrenheit in the French Dome, which was fortunate, since I didn't have my full complement of winter clothing with me.) I was able to observe Mars to good effect with the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at magnifications as high as 404x. Unfortunately, by the time I started, it was a bit too late for me to see Solis Lacus, the Eye of Mars. I can still vividly recall how great that feature looked at high magnification through a friend's 14.5" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob one night near opposition in 2003. The same major features were present as during my last session on January 3: the North Polar Cap, Mare Sirenum, Mare Cimmerium, and Mare Tyrrhenum as well as hints of Mare Boreum and Utopia. I used magnifications of 162, 202, 249, 259, 324, 381, and 404x with the 17" working at full aperture. At times, I employed an Orion variable polarizing filter, an Orion SkyGlow filter, a Vernonscope CC30M (magenta) filter, and Wratten #21 (orange) and #80A (light blue) color filters. Stacking the #80A and the Orion SkyGlow filters produced some interesting results.

I arrived at the observatory much too late to see 8P/Tuttle and I couldn't make out the expansive coma of 17P/Holmes with the high clouds that were present from time to time.

The E and F stars in the Trapezium were rock steady when I trained the scope on M42 so I attempted to split Sirius. Even though I stopped down the scope to an unobstructed 6" f/42 aperture, I was unsuccessful in detecting the 8.4 magnitude Sirius B.

With the seeing being so exceptional, I had some fantastic views of Saturn at 259, 381, and 404x. Titan was distinctly visible as an orange-hued disk to the southwest of the planet at 404x. (Saturn is currently about 8.5 astronomical units distant so Titan is a bit more than 0.8 arcseconds in diameter.) Dione was positioned to the east. Several cloud bands were present in Saturn's southern hemisphere. The Cassini Division was noted, as was just how shallow the ring tilt angle is becoming. By September of next year, the rings will be edge-on as seen from Earth.

I also observed a number of DSOs throughout the night and had my first views of M3, M65, M66, and M104 of the new year.

So it turned out that I had a rather unexpected but enjoyable late night observing session. Seeing Titan as a clearly defined disk was particularly memorable.

Dave Mitsky

These are my DSO lists for this month.

Dave Mitsky

Fifty deep-sky objects for February: NGC 2146, NGC 2403 (Camelopardalis); M41, NGC 2345, NGC 2359, NGC 2360, NGC 2362, NGC 2367, NGC 2383 (Canis Major); M35, NGC 2129, NGC 2158, NGC 2266, NGC 2355, NGC 2371-72, NGC 2392, NGC 2420 (Gemini); NGC 2419 (Lynx); M50, NGC 2232, NGC 2237, NGC 2238, NGC 2244, NGC 2245, NGC 2251, NGC 2261, NGC 2264, NGC 2286, NGC 2301, NGC 2311, NGC 2324, NGC 2335, NGC 2345, NGC 2346, NGC 2353 (Monoceros); NGC 2169, NGC 2174, NGC 2194 (Orion); M46, M47, M93, Mel 71, NGC 2421, NGC 2423, NGC 2438, NGC 2439, NGC 2440, NGC 2467, NGC 2506, NGC 2509 (Puppis)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for February: M35, M41, M46, M47, M50, M93, NGC 2244, NGC 2264, NGC 2301, NGC 2360

Top ten deep-sky objects for February: M35, M41, M46, M47, M50, M93, NGC 2261, NGC 2362, NGC 2392, NGC 2403

Challenge deep-sky object for February: IC 443 (Gemini)

The objects listed above are located between 6:00 and 8:00 hours of right ascension.

Here are my lists 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 3630, NGC 3640, NGC 3646, NGC 3655, NGC 3681, NGC 3684, NGC 3686, NGC 3691, 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)

Top ten deep-sky objects for April: M65, M66, M95, M96, M97, M105, M108, NGC 3115, NGC 3242, NGC 3628

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for April: M65, M66, M95, M96, M97, M105, M108, M109, NGC 3115, NGC 3242

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

The objects listed above are located between 10:00 and 12:00 hours of right ascension.

Information on the ASH Cherry Springs Star Party is available at http://www.astrohbg.org/s4/index.php

Anyone planning on attending who is interested in giving a short talk (15-25 minutes) on an astronomical topic, please PM me.

Dave Mitsky

There are some pretty wild looking galaxies out there, that's for certain.

http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0810.html

Dave Mitsky

I had a very enjoyable time at the 17th Annual Northeast Astronomy Forum & Telescope Show on Saturday. It was my 14th trip to Suffern, New York.

According to NEAF chairman Alan Traino, there were 116 vendors this year and the attendance was 1800. I thought the revamped floor layout was an improvement.

There was a wealth of astronomical merchandise on display including the new 8mm Ethos, the new 305mm f/12.5 Astro-Physics MCT, and a number of astrographs and apochromatic refractors that had me salivating. It was gratifying to see the return of the Mag 1 Instruments Portaball too.

I only attended one of the talks this year and frankly I was a bit disappointed with it.

Fortunately, the skies were clear enough to provide visitors with some excellent solar views.

As usual I ran into many amateur astronomer friends and acquaintances from both near and far. I spent some time at the CN booth and met Steph and Greg. (I'd met Tom at a previous NEAF.) I had planned to have dinner with them and Phil Harrington but had to leave well before they were planning to eat.

Best of all, I got away without spending any money! (Buying a new home precluded that from happening.)

http://www.rocklandastronomy.com/neaf/index.html

Dave Mitsky