Posts Made By: Dave Mitsky

Greetings,

Here are my deep-sky lists for this month.

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 binocular deep-sky objects for July: IC 4665, LDN 1773, M4, M6, M7, M10, M12, M13, M92, NGC 6231

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)

The objects listed above are located between 16:00 and 18:00 hours of right ascension.

Some friends of mine were at Cherry Springs State Park, the IDA's second International Dark-Sky Park, last weekend and witnessed first-hand a most disturbing development. You can read about it and see some enlightening photos at http://www.ghonis2.ho8.com/0709gasfield/0709gasfield.html

Reading the geological report on the link that Gary Honis provided was unsettling to me as a Pennsylvanian amateur astronomer who's spent quite a few wonderful nights at the park during the past decade.

There's more to ponder at http://live.psu.edu/story/28116 and http://www.pbase.com/cwphoto/marcellus_gas_plays

If many gas wells are drilled in the area, CSSP may become useless as an observing site.

Dave Mitsky

Greetings,

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

Dave Mitsky

Eighty deep-sky objects for August: B139, B142, B143, NGC 6709, NGC 6738, NGC 6741, NGC 6751, NGC 6755, NGC 6772, NGC 6778, NGC 6781, NGC 6804, PK64+5.1 (Aquila); NGC 6819, NGC 6826, NGC 6834, (Cygnus); NGC 6643, NGC 6742 (Draco); DoDz 9 (Hercules); M56, M57, NGC 6703, NGC 6791, Ste1 (Lyra); NGC 6572, NGC 6633 (Ophiuchus); H20, M71 (Sagitta); B86, B87, B90, B92, B93, M8, M17, M18, M20, M21, M22, M23, M24, M25, M28, M54, M55, M69, M70, M75, NGC 6520, NGC 6544, NGC 6546, NGC 6553, NGC 6565, NGC 6603, NGC 6818, NGC 6822 (Sagittarius); IC 4703, IC 4756, M16, NGC 6604 (Serpens Cauda); B100, B101, B103, B104, B110, B111, B113, Bas 1, IC 1295, M11, M26, NGC 6649, NGC 6712 (Scutum); Cr 399 (asterism), M27, NGC 6802, NGC 6823, NGC 6834, NGC 6940, St 1 (Vulpecula)

Top ten binocular deep-sky objects for August: Cr 399, IC 4765, M8, M11, M17, M22, M24, M25, M27, NGC 6633 (IC 4756 and NGC 6633 are collectively known as the Binocular Double Cluster)

Top ten deep-sky objects for August: M8, M11, M16, M17, M20, M22, M24, M27, M55, M57

Challenge deep-sky object for August: Abell 53 (Aquila)

The objects listed above are located between 18:00 and 20:00 hours of right ascension.

Today is the 400th anniversary of the first telescopic lunar drawing, which was actually done by an Englishman by the name of Thomas Harriot and not Galileo Galilei.

http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=detail&id=2009-08-05

Dave Mitsky

Greetings,

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

Dave Mitsky

Forty-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 4343, B361, Ba6, Be87, Cr 421, Do9, IC 1369, IC 4996, IC 1516, LDN 906, M29, M39, NGC 6866, NGC 6871, NGC 6888, NGC 6894, NGC 6910, NGC 6960, NGC 6992, NGC 7000, NGC 7008, NGC 7026, NGC 7027, NGC 7039, NGC 7063, 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.

A "bright" supernova, SN 2009ig, was discovered recently in NGC 1015, a 12th magnitude galaxy in Cetus. At 13th magnitude, this supernova should be fairly easy to see with a moderately large amateur telescope. An image is posted at http://astrosurf.com/jmllapasset/pubb/im_2009/2009_1/09igLL_C200908310242.jpg

See http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/supernova.html for further information on SN 2009ig.

Dave Mitsky

Tonight Jupiter will appear to be "moonless".

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/52543517.html

Dave Mitsky

This brief report appears thanks to a computer at the Coudersport Library.

I spent a few hours observing last night at Cherry Springs State Park using my Celestron 8x42 and Burgess Optical 15x70 binoculars, 80mm Orion ShortTube refractor, 101mm Tele Vue refractor, and my friend Tony Donnangelo's 20" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob. The transparency was excellent early on, but conditions deteriorated as the night went on, with occasional clouds turning to complete overcast, followed by periods of relatively clear sky. Dew was a major problem.

There were a few other observers scattered about the field, with some big Dobs present, including a 30" Starmaster. (Hopefully, I'll be gettting a few looks through it tonight.)

At any rate, we did get to see enough to make the drive worthwhile. Highlights included observing the recently discovered planetary nebula in Sagittarius, asteroid 284 Amalia, Comet 22P/Kopff, and M2 and M15 (which was particularly impressive) at over 400x with Tony's scope and his new 6mm Tele Vue Ethos, Stock 2 and M31 through my 101mm refractor at 90x (with Tony's 6mm Ethos), and Barnard's E, the North America Nebula, the Double Cluster, the Golf Putter asterism and NGC 752, M31, M33, NGC 7789 and a host of other DSOs through my 15x70 binocular. Seeing the entirety of Stock 2 at 90x was a new experience.

The forecast for tonight seems promising but at this point the rest of the week after Wednesday may be a washout. Needless to say, I'm hoping that the forecast improves for the Black Forest Star Party on the weekend.

Dave Mitsky

Last night was the poorest of the three so far at CSSP but we did get a couple of hours of observing time in after the sun set. The highlight was watching Io occult Europa for 10 minutes, starting at 8:41 p.m. EDT (0:41 UT). Unfortunately, clouds intruded during this mutual Galilean satellite event, as they did when Io eclipsed Europa one hour and 31 minutes later. However, we were able to see most of both events, despite the clouds, variable seeing, and wind gusts. We watched the occultation through Tony's 20" Starmaster using a 9mm Nagler T6, a 6mm Ethos, and a 14mm Pentax XW, and my 101mm Tele Vue refractor, using a 3-6mm Nagler zoom eyepiece. The eclipse was viewed through Tony's scope.

Tony located an obscure and very dim planetary nebula in Serpens as the clouds began to arrive. Unfortunately, I don't have the designation with me at the moment.

While the skies were still clear, I viewed a number of DSOs with my refractor and 15x70 binocular, including IC 4565, IC 4765, M3, M8, M22, M31, M33, M34, M51, M81, M82, M101, NGC 752, NGC 869, NGC 884, NGC 6633, and Stock 2. I also took a look at a few binary stars such as Iota and Eta Cassiopeiae, Alpha Herculis, Polaris, and Cor Caroli.

Dave Mitsky

We were treated to two excellent nights of observing last weekend during the Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park. Here are a few of the photos that I took.

Dave Mitsky