Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

Here's a shot of Venus and the young crescent Moon that I took earlier this evening with a Sony DSC-F707 camera.

Dave Mitsky

I decided to reverse the title this time around, since the Moon had the greater altitude on Friday.

Dave Mitsky

Here's my lists of DSOs 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.

On Monday night I was at one of the better nearby dark sites, if a location at a distance of 42 miles can be considered nearby, along with four fellow observers. Two drove to the summit of the mountain, while three of us opted for a lower site that is far more sheltered from the wind, which was quite gusty at times. The transparency was good, particularly so early in the session, and the seeing was variable.

One of my goals was to give a certain celebrated deep-sky object another go with my Zambuto-powered 8" f/6 Starsplitter Tube Dob. Not long after I arrived I trained my scope in the requisite direction. Orion was just past the meridian at the time. I spent at least 15 minutes scanning the area using a borrowed H-beta filter and I'm reasonably certain that I did indeed detect Barnard 33, the Horsehead Nebula, through my 8" scope. Previously, the smallest aperture that I've successfully observed this famous dark nebula with was an old 13.1" Coulter Dob at Cherry Springs State Park, a location considerably darker than the Peters Mountain site. In the past, I've been completely unsuccessful in logging B33 with my 101mm Tele Vue refractor.

NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula, was straightforward and IC 434, the emission nebula that B33 juts into, was fairly easy to see but I couldn't make out the Horsehead until I darkened the field by completely surrounding the eyepiece with my hood and gloves. I noted a very elusive notch exactly where B33 should be four or five times for a span of several seconds.

Dave Mitsky

One of the objects that I observed on Monday night was the periodic comet 144P/Kushida. The last time I saw Comet Kushida was on the night of December 29. Since then I've tried to recover it three times, twice with the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory and once from another site with darker skies but with a smaller telescope. Both scopes were equipped with DSC devices but even so I couldn't locate the comet.

However, from the even darker site that I was just at Comet Kushida was visible as a faint and diffuse circular patch. The comet was definitely dimmer than when I saw it last. I observed Comet Kushida using a friend's 7.1" f/6 APM achromat equipped with a Denkmeier binoviewer, 21mm Denkmeier eyepieces, and a Denkmeier Power Switch diagonal and my 8" f/6 Starsplitter Tube Dob at 35 (35mm Tele Vue Panoptic) and 94x (13mm Tele Vue Ethos).

At the time, 144P/Kushida was located in eastern Taurus, about two thirds of the way between the Hyades and Collinder 65. Two small open clusters, NGC 1807 and NGC 1817, were just to the southeast of the comet and were in the same field of view when viewed through my telescope.

A current finder chart for the comet is posted at http://www.skyhound.com/cometchasing/comets/144P.gif

Dave Mitsky

After the skies finally cleared, I drove to the ASH Naylor Observatory late last night. The transparency was a bit below average and the seeing was variable. The skies haven't been very dark at Naylor for some time, but I was compensated somewhat by being sheltered from the wind by the French Dome and being able to warm up and have a cup of cocoa in the Asper Building. The temperature in the dome was about 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius) during the session.

My main target was Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin). At times, I thought I caught a glimpse of it naked-eye. I spent a long time observing the comet with the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain and its 5" f/5 finder scope, using magnifications of 118, 144, 162, 202, 218, 259, 324, 404x with the 17" and 20 and 40x with the 5". One observer has likened Comet Lulin to M31 and the comet certainly did look a bit like a miniature version of the Andromeda Galaxy. The comet's elongated shape was obvious. There was a bright pseudonucleus and I could trace its more prominent tail fairly easily, with the best view occuring at 162x. Comet Lulin's motion was readily apparent after a relatively short time. The comet was traveling at a rate of about 25 arc minutes per hour. C/2007 N3 (Lulin) will pass as close as 0.41 astronomical units to the the Earth on February 24.

I also viewed M3 (162x), Saturn (118, 162, 259, and 404x), M104 (162x), Gamma Virginis (259 and 404x), M13 (162 and 404x), M44 (20x), M65 (162x), and M66 (162x).

When I returned to my house, I observed the comet from my backyard for the first time using my Celestron 8x42s and 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube 80 refractor at 16 and 44x. (The comet was visible through the ST80's 6x30mm finder scope.) I also had a quick look at Saturn before going to bed.

Dave Mitsky

(On Tuesday night, I observed C/2007 N3 (Lulin) along with Saturn, and Titan as it approached the planet's disk prior to its morning transit, and a handful of DSOs from the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory. The comet, as good as it was through a 5" f/5 achromat and a 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain, paled in comparison to the way it would appear the following night under much better skies.)

Comet Lulin was quite a sight from a sixth magnitude dark site last night. It was visible to the naked-eye with averted vision. Some color could be seen in the large coma through a friend's 6" f/8 Astrozap refractor and my 8" f/6 Starsplitter Tube Dob, using a 42mm GSO widefield eyepiece. In addition to the borrowed 42mm, I viewed C/2007 N3 (Lulin) with my 35mm Panoptic and 13mm Ethos at 35 and 94x respectively.

I also observed Comet Lulin with my 8x42 Celestron Regals (the comet and Saturn were still in the same 6.25 degree field of view), a 16" f/4.5 LightBridge with a Denkmeier binoviewer and 21mm Denkmeier oculars, and a 20" f/5 Obsession and a 35mm Panoptic. The comet's pseudonucleus was very prominent and its dust tail extended for approximately 3/4's of a degree.

We also had a look at the periodic comet 144P/Kushida with the 6" refractor and my 8" Dob at 35 and 94x. The comet was within Collinder 65, near a bright copper-colored star, which I believe was 117 Tauri. Comet Kushida was faint and its coma was extremely diffuse.

Dave Mitsky

Here are my deep-sky object lists for this month.

Dave Mitsky

Thirty-five deep-sky objects for March: M44, M67, NGC 2775 (Cancer); Abell 33, M48, NGC 2610, NGC 2642, NGC 2811, NGC 2835, NGC 2855, NGC 2935, NGC 2992, NGC 3052, NGC 3078 (Hydra); NGC 2903, NGC 2916, NGC 2964, NGC 2968, NGC 3020 (Leo); NGC 2859, NGC 3003, NGC 3021 (Leo Minor); NGC 2683 (Lynx); NGC 2567, NGC 2571 (Puppis); M81, M82, NGC 2639, NGC 2654, NGC 2681, NGC 2685, NGC 2742, NGC 2768, NGC 2787, NGC 2841, NGC 2880, NGC 2950, NGC 2976, NGC 2985 (Ursa Major)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for March: M44, M48, M67, M81, M82, NGC 2571, NGC 2683, NGC 2841, NGC 2903, NGC 2976

Top ten deep-sky objects for March: M44, M48, M67, M81, M82, NGC 2654, NGC 2683, NGC 2835, NGC 2841, NGC 2903

Challenge deep-sky object for March: Abell 30 (Cancer)

The objects listed above are located between 8:00 and 10:00 hours of right ascension.

An astronomy program entitled Journey to the Edge of the Universe will be aired on the Discovery Channel at 8:00 p.m. EST on Sunday night.

http://www.discoverychannel.ca/article.aspx?aid=14227

Dave Mitsky

I took my wife's 6" f/8 Orion XT6 Dob outside about 45 minutes ago. Using an 8-24mm Tele Vue zoom eyepiece, I first observed a thin crescent Venus (16% illumination, 47" angular size) which was easily visible to the naked-eye, but not as a crescent, prior to sunset. The crescent shape was also discernible with my 8x42 Celestron Regals.

I then trained the 6" on the Moon and beheld the Lunar X, which is also known as the Purbach Cross and the Werner Cross, at magnifications ranging from 51x to 152x.

Dave Mitsky