Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

Unfortunately, I had other plans and obligations last weekend so I couldn't travel to Cherry Springs State Park the week before this year's Black Forest Star Party but I did manage to get in some quality observing time on Sunday night at the dark site nearest to my abode and at a much better one almost twice as far on Monday night. Monday night was excellent, with perhaps the best conditions that I've experienced in south central Pennsylvania.

After a few hours sleep on Tuesday, I journeyed to Potter County, Pennsylvania, home of CSSP, the second IDA International Dark-Sky Park. I don't have the time or the energy to post a detailed report now but suffice it to say there was at least some quality observing time there every night for over a week, despite Hurricane Hannah. All of Tuesday night was simply first class and Friday and Sunday mornings were truly phenomenal. On Sunday morning, M33 and the gegenschein were quite obvious to the naked-eye.

In addition to seven comets and hundreds of DSOs, I was able to observe a number of truly challenging objects for the first time including the infamous lensed quasar known as Einstein's Cross (in John Vogt's 32" ATM Dob at over 700x), three MASH nebulae, a certain unpronounceable and extremely difficult reflection nebula - Gyulbudaghian's Nebula (HH 215) - in Cepheus, and the exceedingly elusive zodiacal band.

Sunday night was not as transparent as Sunday morning but despite heavy dew my friend Tony Donnangelo and I managed to log nine new extragalactic globular clusters, open clusters, and HII regions in M31 using his 20" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob and the chart in the NSOG.

Dave Mitsky

Here are my DSO lists for this month.

Dave Mitsky

Fifty-five deep-sky objects for September: M2, M72, M73, NGC 7009 (Aquarius); M30, NGC 6903, NGC 6907 (Capricornus); B150, B169, B170, IC 1396, NGC 6939, NGC 6946, NGC 6951, NGC 7023, NGC 7129, NGC 7142, NGC 7160 (Cepheus); B145, B164, B168, B343, B361, Ba6, Be87, Cr 421, Do9, IC 1369, IC 1516, LDN 906, M29, M39, NGC 6866, NGC 6871, NGC 6883, NGC 6888, NGC 6894, NGC 6910, NGC 6960, NGC 6992, NGC 7000, NGC 7008, NGC 7026, NGC 7027, NGC 7039, NGC 7062, NGC 7082, NGC 7086 (Cygnus); NGC 6891, NGC 6905, NGC 6934, NGC 7006 (Delphinus); NGC 7015 (Equuleus); M15 (Pegasus); NGC 6940 (Vulpecula)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for September: IC 1396, LDN 906, M2, M15, M29, M30, M39, NGC 6939, NGC 6871, NGC 7000

Top ten deep-sky objects for September: IC 1396, M2, M15, M30, NGC 6888, NGC 6946, NGC 6960, NGC 6992, NGC 7000, NGC 7009

Challenge deep-sky object for September: Abell 78 (Cygnus)

The objects listed above are located between 20:00 and 22:00 hours of right ascension.

Here are my DSO lists for October.

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)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for October: M52, NGC 7209, NGC 7235, NGC 7243, NGC 7293, NGC 7510, NGC 7686, NGC 7789, NGC 7790, St12

Top ten deep-sky objects for October: K12, M52, NGC 7209, NGC 7293, NGC 7331, NGC 7332, NGC 7339, NGC 7640, NGC 7662, NGC 7789

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

The objects listed above are located between 22:00 and 24:00 hours of right ascension.

I attended the Mid-Atlantic Astronomy Expo 2008 at Skies Unlimited on Saturday afternoon. While inside the store, I had a look through the new 6 and 17mm Tele Vue Ethos eyepieces. They were in Tele Vue refractors which were pointed at a tiny frog and a chart mounted on an interior wall. The 17mm Ethos struck me as an incredible piece of glass, with an incredible price. Eye placement on the 6mm seemed a bit more critical than the other Ethos focal lengths but that was with a daytime (2mm) eye pupil.

http://www.skiesunlimited.net/index.php?CategoryID=300

Dave Mitsky

Here are my DSO lists for this month.

Dave Mitsky

Seventy deep-sky objects for November: M31, M32, M110, NGC 252, NGC 404, NGC 752 (Andromeda); NGC 680, NGC 691, NGC 697, NGC 772 (Aries); Cr 463, IC 1747, K14, M103, NGC 129, NGC 133, NGC 146, NGC 185, NGC 225, NGC 281, NGC 278, NGC 381, NGC 436, NGC 457, NGC 559, NGC 637, NGC 654, NGC 659, NGC 663, Tr 1 (Cassiopeia); NGC 40, NGC 188 (Cepheus); NGC 151, NGC 175, NGC 178, NGC 210, NGC 227, NGC 245, NGC 246, NGC 247, NGC 274, NGC 337, NGC 578, NGC 584, NGC 596, NGC 615, NGC 636, NGC 681, NGC 720, NGC 779 (Cetus); NGC 7814 (Pegasus); M76, St 4 (Perseus); M74, NGC 128, NGC 194, NGC 488, NGC 524 (Pisces); NGC 24, NGC 55, NGC 134, NGC 150, NGC 253, NGC 254, NGC 288, NGC 289, NGC 439, NGC 613 (Sculptor); M33, NGC 672 (Triangulum)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for November: M31, M33, M103, NGC 225, NGC 288, NGC 253, NGC 457, NGC 654, NGC 663, NGC 752

Top ten deep-sky objects for November: M31, M32, M33, M76, M103, M110, NGC 40, NGC 253, NGC 457, NGC 752

Challenge deep-sky object for November: IC 59 (Cassiopeia)

The objects listed above are located between 0:00 and 2:00 hours of right ascension.

Recently I watched Shine A Light, a documentary of the Rolling Stones in concert at a New York theater in 2006. Time (and a hard rocking lifestyle) has not been very kind to the Stones and its ravages are clearly seen in the faces of Jagger, Richards, and Wood but it hasn't slowed them down in the slightest. Mick prowls the stage and dances like he was still in his twenties and Keith still handles his axes with aplomb. There are three guest artists, the most notable of whom is Buddy Guy. The Stones and Buddy cover a Muddy Waters song and the result is pure blues magic.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, the cinematography and editing of this concert film are superb and the sound is excellent.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shine_a_light/

Dave Mitsky

Here's a snapshot of the two planets separated by a bit more than two degrees which I took about 20 minutes ago.

Dave Mitsky

Here are my deep-sky lists for December.

Dave Mitsky

One hundred deep-sky objects for December: NGC 891 (Andromeda); IC 342, K6, St23, Tom 5 (Camelopardalis); Be65, IC 1848, K4, Mel15, NGC 896, NGC 1027, St2, Tr3 (Cassiopeia); M77, NGC 788, NGC 835, NGC 864, NGC 908, NGC 936, NGC 955, NGC 958, NGC 1015, NGC 1016, NGC 1022, NGC 1042, NGC 1052, NGC 1055, NGC 1087, NGC 1094 (Cetus); IC 2006, NGC 1084, NGC 1140, NGC 1187, NGC 1199, NGC 1209, NGC 1232, NGC 1291, NGC 1300, NGC 1309, NGC 1332, NGC 1337, NGC 1353, NGC 1357, NGC 1395, NGC 1400, NGC 1407, NGC 1421, NGC 1426, NGC 1440, NGC 1452, NGC 1453, NGC 1461 (Eridanus); NGC 1079, NGC 1097, NGC 1201, NGC 1292, NGC 1316 (Fornax I Galaxy Cluster), NGC 1317, NGC 1326, NGC 1344, NGC 1350, NGC 1360, NGC 1365, NGC 1371, NGC 1374, NGC 1379, NGC 1380, NGC 1381, NGC 1387, NGC 1398, NGC 1404, NGC 1406, NGC 1425 (Fornax); Bas10, Cz8, IC 351, IC 2003, K5, Mel 20, M34, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 957, NGC 1023, NGC 1058, NGC 1161, NGC 1245, NGC 1275 (Perseus I Galaxy Cluster), NGC 1333, NGC 1342, NGC 1444, Tr2 (Perseus); M45 (Taurus); NGC 777, NGC 784, NGC 890, NGC 925, NGC 949, NGC 959, NGC 978A/B (Triangulum)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for December: M34, M45, Mel15, Mel20, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 1027, NGC 1232, St2, St23

Top ten deep-sky objects for December: M34, M45, M77, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 891, NGC 1023, NGC 1232, NGC 1332, NGC 1360

Challenge deep-sky object for December: vdB14 (Camelopardalis)

The objects listed above are located between 2:00 and 4:00 hours of right ascension.

Last night I took a few photos of the crescent Moon, Venus, and Jupiter with a Sony DSC-S600 point-and-shoot digital camera and then set up one of my quick-look scopes, a 6" f/8 Orion XT6 Dob. My wife, her mother, and two neighbors eventually viewed the members of last night's celestial trio at 48x.

At higher magnifications, the young crescent Moon easily displayed two of my favorite "early" lunar features - a formation of hills to the north of Cleomedes that resembles a physician's reflex hammer or a tomahawk and the Lobster Claw, aka Crater Gutenberg.

Dave Mitsky

Last Saturday morning, I drove some 50 miles to one of the lesser "local" dark sites, a location on a ridge just off the Applachian Trail. The forecasts were mixed and it was a last moment decision so I took my largest "grab and go" scope, an 8" Starsplitter Tube Dob. I got on the road a bit later than I had hoped to and arrived at the site shortly after 12:30 a.m. EST, about half an hour after moonset. The limiting magnitude there was approximately 6.0 and the temperature was 19 degrees.

Some of my observing buddies went to a more distant site so the big Dobs were elsewhere. The fellow who I observed with brought his 6" achromat (he also owns an 8" achro and 12.5 and 22" Dobs). However, even with what by today's standards are rather small instruments we were able to see quite a bit. The Double Cluster, M1, and M42 were displayed nicely through the 6" refractor as were a number of galaxies in Leo. Somewhat difficult objects like the planetary nebula NGC 1514 (the Crystal Ball Nebula) and the Wolf-Rayet bubble/emission nebula/reflection nebula NGC 2359 (Thor's Helmet) were easily visible in both of our scopes with the aid of a narrowband filter.

M81 and M82 were framed extremely well at 94x with my 13mm Tele Vue Ethos. The Leo Trio/Triplet looked quite good too. Once again, the Ethos showed commonplace DSOs in a new light, so to speak. M47 took on a whole new aspect and M46 was simply wonderful, along with a very prominent NGC 2438. I enjoyed viewing many other old deep-sky chestnuts such as M35 and NGC 2158, M37, M41, M42, M50, M93, and NGC 2362 through the Ethos. I'd brought along a number of eyepieces but ended up using just the Ethos and three others - a 35mm Tele Vue Panoptic, an 8.8mm Meade Series 5000 UWA, and lastly a 3-6mm Tele Vue Nagler zoom eyepiece.

The seeing was rather good and, by the end of the cloud-shortened session, Saturn was stunning. I used the 3-6mm Nagler zoom and was able to boost the magnification up to 400x for an excellent view of the almost edge-on planet and rings.

So was it worth driving one hundred plus miles and enduring sub-freezing temperatures for over three hours? As a suddenly famous political figure of late would likely say, you betcha.

Dave Mitsky