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RICHARD COFER

VdB 141 Ghost Nebula

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Posts Made By: Rick Wiseman

September 30, 2005 05:12 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

NGC7000

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Dmitri,

I also had very transparent skies on Wednesday evening, and looked at the North American nebula using my 4-1/2" f4 reflector at 18x. I could see 'parts' of the nebula, but the vast numbers of tiny background stars actually made the continent shape difficult to see!

I could easily see the round open cluster NGC 6996 within the "Canada" area of the nebula.

October 4, 2005 01:56 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

October Messiers

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Dave,

This is going to be about the toughest list, until we get to all the galaxies next Spring.

I could not find M74 and M77 last year, hopefully I'll be a little better at starhopping and observing this year. M76 I never tried for. I've got the 90mm refractor and 4.5" reflector you called for in your email, and will give M76 a try.

The skies have been clear but pretty poor here lately with haze and bad seeing.

Thanks for the monthly Messier lists.

October 14, 2005 01:07 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Limiting magnitude under less than perfect cond.

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Inge,

I have had this same experience twice during the past few months. The night begins with very promising clarity, then deteriorates as the time passes. By midnight, I was only able to see 4th mag stars. I don't think it was my night vision adaptation. The loss of magnitudes due to the moon rising is much faster - here at least.

Perhaps it was due to water vapor in the air, condensing into a very slight fog or cloud.

October 14, 2005 01:46 PM Forum: Eyepieces

Paracoor

Posted By Rick Wiseman
You can pick up a pair of Coors at the grocery store.

Sorry.

October 31, 2005 03:31 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Light Cup Mars visual magnification and sizes

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Ron,

Two weeks ago when the moon was very close to Mars, I was able to look at Mars at 133x straight through my refractor with my right eye, and open my left eye to see the moon at the same time. They appeared close to the same size. In fact, I tried to cross my eyes to bring the two images together, but my brain rebelled - I could not see a 3D view!

Rick

November 4, 2005 05:04 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

...and he's off.......Just a Hello.

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Brad,

Just jump in anywhere, and HANG ON!

Rick

November 29, 2005 04:15 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Novembers Messiers

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Dave,

I have been checking back through your monthly Messier lists and so far have only missed two: M64 galaxy - I didn't even try for it, maybe next Spring; and M97, maybe, possibly, could have glimpsed it, but I won't mark it down yet.

This fall I picked up three I hadn't seen before: M74, M77, and M76. I could only get M76 using goto (cheating?). I found M76 quite easy to see, smaller and dimmer of course than M27.

A funny note is that, like you, I forgot all about M18 this summer. In my logs I find that I scanned northward from M24 star cloud several times to find M17 and M16. I am SURE M18 crossed my FOV, and I might have wondered what that open cluster was, but I sure didn't take note of it!

Why are some of these objects so forgettable? I consider M26 in that class, too. I think it might be because they are overshadowed by nearby 'headline' objects.

Keep the lists coming. I will probably keep up until the Virgo galaxies in the Spring. I only saw BLACK SPACE in that area this past year.

Regards,
Rick

January 3, 2006 05:21 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Diffuse nebulae

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Inge,

With my small scopes, I must content myself observing the brightest emission nebulae M8, M17, M42, M43.

The wonderful thing about the Great Orion nebula is that it clearly appears three dimensional in my small scope. The dark areas lie in front of the light areas. No other object that I observe, excepting perhaps the moon, shows such a 3-D effect.

I wonder if the effect improves with greater aperture.

Rick

January 12, 2006 03:25 PM Forum: Star Parties

Any star parties in Ohio?

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Mark,

I guess I am the only guy to respond to you who actually lives in Ohio! Welcome to the Buckeye state, and congrats to your Texas Longhorns football team. But you're gonna have to get used to hearing about the Buckeyes in the Fall.

I can't answer your question about star parties - I've never been to one. Big ones aren't real common around here, although most of the clubs in Ohio have monthly public stargazes.

Ohio is not quite astronomy hell, the skies are pretty good from April to September. But it's certainly not like the desert southwest.

From Columbus, you will probably need to head southeast on US33 or northeast on I71 to find dark skies. I do pretty well here among the farms in western Ohio. And do visit the Perkins Observatory only about 10 miles north of I270 on US 23.

Regards,
Rick W

January 27, 2006 06:13 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Raleigh Sunrise (Jan 27, 2006)

Posted By Rick Wiseman
Jeff,

I saw Venus burning bright in the southeast coming into work, but the crescent moon was behind some buildings. Great photo - it shows the kind of thing we astro-nuts see all the time. Thanks,

Rick

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