Jay's Astronomical Observing Blog

Observing Session, Friday, January 13th, 2012 Forest Rd 006 Site 1 west of Vernon Reservoir

2012-01-16T21:00:00.010-07:00

My friend Mat posted that he wanted to go out on Friday night and at first I thought, why? The sun sets at 5:15p.m. or so MST and the wanning gibbous moon rises at 10:42p.m. or just after that because of the mountains here. Then I thought, for winter 4 to 5 hours is about what I get in at a dark site due to the cold so why not? We decided to head out to one of the new sites I had explored, the site that I call Forest Road 006, Site 1 or FR006 Site 1 (the later in my blog will be how I identify it). Lets just say when we got there and got setting up it was dark, but even with both of us using white light at first, the Milky Way was clearly evident as was the Zodiacal light, which formed a beautiful triangle with Venus in it.

After getting set up I went to work. I wanted to get as many Herschel 400 II items in Orion down tonight and I didn't do bad. I got 12 of them down, sketched 6 items and then saw about 10 more old friends. I even did some open cluster work which was fun. Mat got more than me and let me just say that there was no humidity at this site! The site sits at 6092 feet and there is no ancient lake bed nearby! It took an extra 22.1 miles to get there and another half an hour, but it was worth it. The skies on the SQM measured darker than Pit n Pole and Lakeside, with the only site equal to it would be Wolf Creek. There are some lights from Vernon, a very small town to the north but they didn't bother me and my Pathfinder was between me and them. The one negative is that though you are a mile off the main dirt road and a half mile west of the main dirt road leading in and out, if a car or truck is coming up that road, you will see their lights from time to time unless you position your car between them and you.

Again, I guess I am getting lazy, but I figure I don't need to rehash the information on my sketches on the blog here. If you want to know the object and the details, simply click on the sketch. I will list what object they are though so that might be helpful. I hope this is working and since I haven't seen anything to the contrary, here we go.

1. IC 443 Supernova Remnant in Gemini. Hard to see at first and I wondered if I really was, but with patience the object slowly came into view with the 27mm Panoptic and the contrast showed up nicely. I can't wait next year to see this with the Zambuto mirror! I am pretty happy with the sketch as it seems to have captured the brightest portions, though I do believe I saw the harder to see edge as well.

2. NGC 1587 an elliptical galaxy in Taurus. A galaxy in Taurus? Yep, they are there. This was a decent one to check out. Nothing terrific, but okay for a Herschel 400 II galaxy.

3. NGC 1662 Open Cluster in Orion. This has one of those observing stories I am going to share. Mat had taken a break at this point and I had just finished observing this open cluster when I kept hearing this noise that sounded like an animal to me. Mat was talking and I asked him if he was making that noise. I think he thought I was asking about opening up to get to his tomato soup he had brought. He said yes. I then heard the sound again and again and Mat said I heard that. I thought it might be a deer or antelope or perhaps an elk, but we were too low for elk. No, so I asked Mat if I should flash my flash light and he said yes and we scanned around and Mat said that he thought it was a bird so he had me flash in a tree and sure enough, a large owl flew away.

The next day I looked and listened on the internet and it has to be a Great Horn Owl owlet and the owl we saw which was very large was one of its parents. The owlet was in a nest letting their parent know they were hungry. Rather cool! Great Horn Owls are known to nest in January and February and in the mild winter we are having could have nested a little early this year.

I know some way this OC is like a boat with a mast but I saw a line with a fishhook on the bottom of it.

4. NGC 1663 Open Cluster in Orion. Looks like a shrimp to me in the eyepiece.

5. NGC 1762 a spiral galaxy in Orion. This one is faint, small, and I won't be back to it. Did I mention faint also?

6. NGC 1977 Emission Nebula in Orion; "The Running Man" or "Ghost" Nebula. I am not happy with this sketch. It seems here my mind drew in the shape I was use to seeing from images, not what I believe I actually saw. I'll be revisiting and redoing the sketch. Happy with the observation. You have to click on this one and really look as the nebula and the dark portions are faint.

There you go, the six main objects I sketched and then like I said, I did some work on a few more open clusters that night. It was one of the best nights I've had. The only thing I missed was I wanted to try for the Horsehead but old Luna came up much too fast this night! I'm glad I got out as the weather has turned here and we have snow and rain later this week so I don't know how well new moon is going to turn out. Bummer, I wanted another session there.

Edit: I forgot one item. At the end of the night I noticed that Mars was in the sky hanging out by old Luna so I took a look with the 7mm Pentax XW. I'll include that sketch also which is a digital re-creation based on a rough sketch at the eyepiece.

Directions to South of Vernon, Forest Road 006 Site 1

2012-01-16T16:19:00.009-07:00

I will be posting some of my sketches and report from last Friday, the 13th from this site, but let me just say this is the best site I have been to in the area, except for Wolf Creek. Its closer in terms of mileage but takes an hour and a half because of the roads. I would assume if your coming from Salt Lake City and take option two below, you'd find it easier to get there than coming from the south end of the Salt Lake Valley or from Utah County.

From South End of the Salt Lake Valley or Utah Valley.

From I-15 get off at the Lehi exit by the Lehi Roller Mills. That is exit #279 or the UT-73 exit. Go west through Lehi on State Road 73.

Continue west on SR 73 across the Jordan River, straight through the intersection of Redwood Road (1700 W.) by Smith's, up the hill past Eagle Mountain and out to Cedar Fort.

The road will turn south for 5 miles to Fairfield. When you get to Fairfield note the turn off to Camp Floyd but don’t get on it. From the Camp Floyd turn off check your mileage and follow the highway around the bend and go 4.7 miles from the Camp Floyd turn off up the hill. If it is dark when you are following these directions, you may not notice it is a long gentle hill.

At the top of the hill is the ATV/motorcycle rec area called 5 Mile-Pass. During the day you should see motorcycles and 4-wheelers having a good time (if it's light, in the dark you won’t see anything) As you top the hill at 5-mile pass you will see the a sign marking the county line between Utah County and Tooele county. You'll also see a large pole/Mesonet Weather Station on the left (solar panels, anemometer on it, etc). The road then slopes down and curves to the North (right). From the County line go 3/10ths of a mile and turn left onto a paved road. This road is called The Pony Express Road and as you drive down it you'll see dark wooden posts that have PR7, PR5 etc. on them. Drive to the very end of this road (it is a long way). You'll have a patch of road that is very rough, the paint dividers disappear in this area, and the road itself can be rough in general. You'll eventually come to a stop sign, go over 3 sets of railroad tracks, and please watch as there is no lighted warning here and then proceed to the end of the road in Faust where you can only turn right or left onto SR 36.

Now turn left to SR 36 and head south through Vernon. As you leave the small town of Vernon the road winds to the left. Continue until you see this sign:

Turn right here onto the dirt road and proceed to drive down the dirt graded road, over 5 cattle guards for 5.0 miles. At the end of the road you'll come to this sign.

And a close-up of the sign:

Turn right here toward Bennion Creek and Harker Creek and drive for 0.5 or 1/2 mile to Forest Road 006. It will be on your left and when you turn, you'll see this (yes, turn left at Forest Road 006).

The marker just says 006 with FR on the bottom. You will now drive 0.9 or nine tenths of a mile down Forest Road 006 and on the left you'll spot a turn out with a bunch of juniper trees there. To the east just beyond the trees is a very old cattle trough and that area is wide open. There are no cow paddies there, not even dried ones so it hasn't been used for awhile. There was a next of a Great Horn Owl there and the owlet was screeching for food and the parent came and delivered it and then flew off (cool).

This is what the southern view looks like and if you look carefully you can see the grass area on the ground.

FROM SALT LAKE CITY TO THE SITE:

Get on Interstate 80 or I-80 and go west to the Tooele Exit for SR 36 which is Exit 99 and head south.

Follow SR 36 through Stansbury Park, Tooele and Stockton. At the split with SR 73 stay to the right on SR 36.

Continue to follow SR 36 to Vernon and then follow the directions above from the sign to turn right to the Vernon Reservoir and Benmore. The directions are the same from there.

Moon Rise and Set Times for Utah

2012-01-10T18:29:00.005-07:00

I have an link to a document I created in Word and uploaded to my Google Documents. With this link you can see it. I'll also post it here for those of you who observe in Utah. I went to the U.S. Navy Observatory page located here and I put in my information and created the table for the moon rise and set times. I then copied it to Word, saved it as a text and imported that text into Word, adding in the titles and headers. I then went into Word and highlighted in yellow (using the highlighter tool) the days when one could observe DSO's and then put the new moon as a teal day. Here is what the table looks like. Again you can click on it to make it larger as this is a screen shot of the document.

Hopefully this helps me in planning out my observing days and when I want to actually go to some of the darkest skies available in Utah. Hope this idea helps someone out there as well. It is based for Riverton, Utah, near where I live but is close enough that I will use it like I do every year for northern Utah as a guide.

I have another post on my dew equipment but I have been quite sick this week with a stomach virus, or I ate something that was bad, or possible something worse (I'll know on Thursday) so I am just hoping I ate something bad or have a stomach virus and that is all it is. I'll get that post up as soon as I can. Then I am hoping to have a new toy to share a review about here in a week or two.

Vernon Reservoir and Wasatch National Forest Observing Areas

2011-12-30T17:23:00.031-07:00

Vernon Reservoir, December 30th, 2011

West Desert of Utah, Sheeprock Mountains, December 30th, 2011

Just thought I would post these two images about today's blog up front to provide a visual to where I spent my day today. There are video links in here to my YouTube account and no, I don't earn money for promoting it. In reading through this I realized I say that a link goes to my YouTube account. I do that so you can know where your going. I apologize if that is bothersome.

This is one of my posts that focuses on local observing, but if your not local, feel free to take a look and see what the Rocky Mountains and the West Desert look like in winter. I apologize up front for the shakiness of the camera, and that it falls every once in a while. I was using a Flip camera to record the video and a digital for the still shots and the Flip had to endure the rocky bumps and ups and downs of the road. I also shut it off from time to time because safety is my number one concern while driving.

Today I got bored, well, no. The truth be told the weather is warm for northern Utah, in the 50's and I needed to get out due to cabin fever. I have wanted to get out and video and take pictures of some possible new observing sites at and near Vernon Reservoir here in Tooele County. So today I took a drive and did just that. I got a couple of hikes in, and did a lot of driving and checking things out. It was good to be frank to just be in nature and to enjoy the views at this time of the year. I'll only be including images from the observing sites I visited and the ones that I think would work. I also took video of these sites and am loading these to YouTube right now and when they are done, I'll put the links here.

To get to the Vernon Reservoir and the Wasatch National Forest in which it is a part of, you have to drive out as if you are going to the Pit n Pole Observing location. That means out to Lehi to UT73 and then out pass 5 Mile Pass and turn left on the Pony Express Road, yes, that is it on the left. Here is that image. Again to view the images, click on them and a menu will appear and you can scroll through them in a larger size.

After turning you will continue for around 4.2 to 4.3 miles and then you'll pass PR 3 on the left hand side of the road. This is the turn if you were going to go to the Pit n Pole site. Pass it and keep going straight down the road.

In about a mile or a little more you'll pass the Pony Express Marker and the Mesonet Weather Station next to it and just keep following the Pony Express Road until it ends. There are a few things to watch out for if you have never been on this road.

First, there are some rough patches as these photos show. In the first photo the road has been repaired, kinda of, at a minimal level and you can tell because the yellow passing lines are gone.

In this photo it shows that the entire road is damaged and has not been repaired. There are signs that warn of this so be careful. An alternative is to go out to Tooele and then come down UT 36 and avoid this road. For those living in Utah Co. or southern Salt Lake Co. this is the best way.

On your drive out you'll pass areas that are also good for observing, but they have shooters and ATV's in them so I tend to avoid them. You'll eventually come to 3 railroad tracks and believe me, you want to stop, look both ways before you cross. Today I actually had a train on the tracks and there are no signals to warn you of this.

After the train tracks you do a S turn and then get back on a straight road that will take you into the small community of Faust, with about 3-4 houses in it. Two from what I can tell are for sale and there is plenty of prime desert land for sale here. I may have to investigate into possibly buying some land and turning it into an observing field for those in northern Utah. We'll see.
Here is an image of Faust. I like how rural it is as I find as I get older, the suburban lifestyle gets old. Then again, one has to work. The house on the left is for sale.

Now you've reached the end of the Pony Express Road (paved) and at the stop sign here, you turn left onto UT 36.

Highway 36 doesn't offer much but the speed limit is either 55 or 65 depending on the area, and watch yourselves because the U.S. Forest Service has a rather large office near Vernon and the Sheriff and Highway Patrol frequent the area and they do give tickets, not warnings. The mountains in the distance are very pretty. You'll pass the dirt/gravel road on the right for the Pony Express Route which you can take sometime if you want. Have plenty of fuel, water and a good spare.

Well, here is Vernon on the right. It has a small school, a LDS Church, and about 30 -40 homes scattered around the area. Not a bad area to call home I would think. It is those buildings up to the right, with some homes on the left.

You'll drive through Vernon and the highway will curve to the southeast (left) but stay on it. As you come around the corner you will see this sign on the left and you'll turn right onto Benmore Rd.

Here is a close up of the sign:

The road you turn on is straight gravel, rock and some dirt. If someone is following you, it is at this time that I would give some distance to the dirt your car, truck or SUV kicks up doesn't obscure their view and cause problems. It has nothing about getting your vehicle dirty, that is going to happen no matter what.

Here are some images of the Benmore Road heading south. Nothing particular but I thought I would include them.

Still heading south, I drove over a cattle guard. If you want (NOT) a thrill, here is the video I took with my Flip Camera as I drove and recorded the drive down this road. Here is the link to it on my YouTube account. Trust me, the pictures are enough of a view.

Now as you drive down the road, you'll come first to a Wastach National Forest sign that is rather small and white. You still have a ways to go (that sign is in the video on YouTube). When you come to this sign you are nearing the end of the Benmore Rd and facing the decision on which road you will take. Will you go left to the Vernon Reservoir or go right to another area?

Now I went left at the sign that is below because I wanted to go to the reservoir and to the area around it (and I did not get to check out all the areas I wanted. There is a ridge several miles back behind the reservoir on public land that I want to see how it looks for summer observing).
Another point to remember here is that some of the forest land is leased and is closed to the public and there is private land that borders the National Forest. So please ensure that you are on public land. Here is the sign at the end of the road.

To the right of this sign is a covered place for information and a map of the Wasatch National Forest in this area. I stopped and looked at the map to ensure I stayed off private land.

After turning left, you will drive for a short ways (remember, short is relative out in this country) and the road will look like this.

At the end of the road is private property so DON'T drive through their gate and on to their property. That would be rude. You'll stay to the right and be on this road heading up to the reservoir. If it is during the day you should have seen the dam by now.

You'll drive up the road and cross over a cattle guard. Right and I mean right after the cattle guard is a road that goes to the east or to the left (I've been driving south and east and then south again since I left the main road . . . follow that!). As you come up on the Vernon Reservoir don't expect a vast reservoir because it isn't large. It is bigger than the Grantsville Reservoir where I frequently go when I observe by myself, and it is laid out in an oval. If you take the first right as you come up the road you'll be in the group campground area. There is a bathroom there, and yep, I used it. I have to state that these bathrooms (probably because it is offseason) are the cleanest bathrooms I have seen at a campground! I was impressed as you can tell in the video since I filmed it. The locking mechanism is a huge bolt, no one is getting in there if your in there!

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this spot is WOW! A group of 20 or more astronomers could take this over as a place to camp and sleep and set up their scopes for a two day event or more! There are more campgrounds next to this site so it would be easy to make this a dark or red light only area, and have a place for imagers and if people wanted, they could pick an individual campsite and bring their families! I hope someone catches the vision when the see the pictures or here is the video I took of the area which is on YouTube, link. Ignore me, and turn the volume off but take a look at the location and the viewing areas to the N, S, E and W.

The good news, the bathroom for men and women is really close to where I think we could set up!

An overview of the site looking north.

This is looking south:

This is looking southwest I believe.

Again, on this one please check the link to my YouTube account and view the footage there as I think it is better than what I took here. The other thing I like up here is that there are no cement pads so the scope is on the ground. That is a good thing for us dobsonian guys since the heat from the cement won't impact the mirror.

As you go around the reservoir, there are at least 3 other sites around the reservoir that one could observe from. One is currently blocked off and that is on the southern part of the reservoir (see this link to my YouTube to see this southern site) and the other two are on the western side of the reservoir. The key the western view but as a backup they are not bad. My GPS gave me an elevation here of around 6112 feet above sea level. I have video and pictures of the other sites but I'm not going to post them in this entry and probably won't at all unless someone leaves a comment and requests it. My take away from the reservoir is that it is a fantastic site to have a group observing session at because of the public restrooms (yes, they are open year round), the camp sites and the ability to have people bring their families with them. In the summer though I would have my Thermacell and my mosquito spray available as I think a few of them buggers might be around.

This picture provides perhaps the best overall view of the group campsite. I think in terms of observing this just may be one of the best kept secrets I'm sharing but I it will get even better.

Here is the front view of what the various bathrooms look like up there (I counted at least 5 or 6 of them) and what they look like inside. I will assume the women's looks like the men's as I only opened the men's.

After hanging out at the reservoir and watching a group of 6 men ice fish, I drove back down to the cattle guard and turned up the dirt road that from now on I will call the East Road as I didn't get the Forest Service Road number for it.

Going up the East Road after about .4 (4 tenths) of a mile one comes to a small clearing to the side of the road. It is next to the road so if there is traffic at night you will be impacted here. There is also a rather large bump that you have to get over in order to pull your car up here. I'm glad I had my SUV. I'll share this one because a good number of scopes could set up here, but it is my least favorite of the three I'll present. The next two are much better with the best one being the last one I'll present. Elevation for these three are as follows:

1st site: 6222
2nd site: 6312
3rd site: 6288

These sites are anywhere from a half mile to three quarters of a mile from the reservoir. The hill is not steep but if you had to climb it in snow or mud you would want a 4wd. Also, the road looks to be graded by the forest service but it has two very deep ruts in the road. These are easy to avoid and you can drive easily to avoid them. Again, excuse my feeble attempt at making this video but something is better than nothing. This video on my YouTube Account (I keep saying that so you know I'm not taking you someplace weird) shows this site, better than the pictures again.

Here is Site 1 Looking North:

Site 1 Looking east to southeast:

This is site 1 looking south. A point I want to make is that I am showing horizons so that someone can determine if the horizon is to large for them. The lowest I go is in the winter to Eridanus and Fornax and I am sure I would not get into Fornax here though I might be surprised depending on the month. I do think that Messier 6 & 7 may be a struggle here.

Site 2 is actually the farthest down the road because I saw site 3 after I have driven by and I went to this location first. Here is the link to the video of this site on YouTube. This site offers a lower horizon to the east, southeast, south, southwest though the mountains interfere somewhat with the western view. The northern view is still somewhat blocked down low but up over 20 degrees it is fine. There are two entrances and exits to this location which I like and the Wasatch Mountains are viewable to the east. Overall I would use this site. My only compliant is that it is really near the road again. I am assuming all of these areas are used to off load ATV's which use the area frequently but which I would assume are gone by the time night falls usually.

Site 2 Looking North:

Site 2 Looking East

Site 2 Looking east to southeast:

Site 2 Looking southeast to south.

Site 2 Looking South:

Site 2 Looking West

You can tell if you watch and listen to the video that I got a little excited about this site as I began figuring where I would want to set up my dob!

My favorite site though was site 3. Notice in the video how many times I pan it and how many times I look for an area to put my dob! It is farther off the dirt road so it is harder to see. Also the Cyprus trees really help to block the view from the road to the area where people would set up. The area is more than large enough (like Site 2) for visual and imagers to set up and you have a rather good view of the sky from here. There were some Bud Beer bottles (3) that were left and one was busted. When I was done filming before I left I pulled out the garbage sack I had, picked them up and dropped them off at a garbage at the campground at the reservoir. I really dislike when people are rude and don't clean up after themselves.

Here is the turn in for Site 3 and to get there you go pass that grove of Cedar/Cypress trees to get to the viewing area. Yes, to the left of the photo is a large dip that I am sure an ATVer would LOVE to go through when it is wet and muddy!

Site 3 Looking South, and yes, it is the largest of the 3 sites.

Site 3 Looking northwest:

Site 3 Looking West to the Sheeprock Mountains and the reservoir:

Site 3 Looking North (back toward the main dirt road)

Site 3 Looking to the northeast:

Site 3 Looking East:

The next two photos are just to give you a view of the size of the area. I'm in the middle of the observing area facing south.

I'm standing about 15 feet to the north of where I was standing in the above picture, and am now facing north.

Behind the rear of my SUV is an actually nice area to pitch a tent or two in the shade of the trees. The video link that I posted on YouTube shows this site the best. Again, it is the one I'll use by choice because of its size, it has the lowest horizons outside of the group camping area at the reservoir, is off the road so you won't have headlights disturb you and is just the best site of all three. I would rate the ones here east of the reservoir in this order:

Site 3 is #1
Site 2 is #2
Site 1 is #3

When I got done here I drove back down to the reservoir and I then proceeded back down the road to check out the other side of the forest service land. After passing the sign and the road to get back to Vernon and the protected map thing, I proceeded west until I came to Forest Service Road 006. So the next two sites I am going to label as FR 006 Site 1 and Site 2. I went down FR 006 just to see what was there. I was driving and at one point on the video I believe I make the comment that I am going to turn around because there is nothing down here. Then BAM! On the left was a site with a few fire pits, a few former fire pits, a cattle watering trough but no signs of cattle or cow dung. The area where I think people camp or hang out is under the Cypress Trees but over by the water trough if that is what it is, is a wide open space that offers a grand view in all cardinal directions of the horizon. WOW! What a neat replacement for Pit n Pole. People hae been here but no signs of shooting, shells etc. Here are some images.

I never made it to Little Valley but just beyond Little Valley is a ridge that come next summer I want to check out. It seems to offer a great view of the south on a the topographic map. We'll see. I never made it out to Bennion Creek or to Harker Creek either and that will have to wait for my next trip. A local observer, Dale Wilson let me know that the better sites are out west in Bennion Creek and Harker Creek because on a weekend, Friday through Saturday, the reservoir attracts a lot of people while the west areas hardly get any people over there. So I'll be going back on Tuesday, weather permitting to check out those sites. I'm still pretty happy with the sites above the reservoir and the two in the desert off of FR 006.

Here is where I turned left to get on Forest Road 006. Note the sign, 006 on the right.

Here is the open area I am describing with what I think is a water trough but no signs of cows or any animals. No water in it either.

Here is a closer shot of the object. I found a Forest Service map and they do allow grazing on the land and there are troughs and one is located here. So when cattle are present Site 1 may not be an option, but Site 2 is and it is close by.

The next several images will show you what the view is like to the north, west, and south. You can see the eastern view above in the two images. Overall I like this site and feel it is a very nice successor to the Pit n Pole site. It will depend of course if animals use the site but if not, FR006 will also work very nicely. I also don't think that dew will be as much as an issue here as this is open desert and no dried up lake bed is nearby. The elevetion is higher than at Pit n Pole with the Pit being around 5000 and this site being up around 5700 feet above sea level. Here is the YouTube Video Link to FR 006 Site 1. Excuse Free Bird music as I forgot to turn off the radio.

FR006 Site 1 Looking South:

FR006 Site 1 Looking southeast back to the reservoir.

FR006 Site 1 Looking West. You can see the road you drive in on from the main dirt road.

FR006 Site 1 Looking North. I don't think the lights from Vernon would bother anyone from this location.

I like this area a lot and if I need or want a more wide open horizon that allows the dobs to go lower to the horizon, this and Site 2 will be a very excellent choice. After finishing up at Site 1 I then got back on the main road and drove just a little farther down FR 006. I went over a cattle guard and then there was another nice side open space right off of FR 006. So I pulled over and began to check it out. Here is my short YouTube Video (link) of it and again, sorry, the music is still going.

The horizon is nice and clear though a few frees get in the way. Plenty of room to set up scopes and to have a go at observing whatever you want.

Here is the site looking east and you can see the road there. I truly don't believe even on a weekend night your going to get much traffic on this road. If you look in the image the side road here goes down a ways and there is another open spot to observe from if you want to be farther from the road.

FR 006 Site 2 East

FR 006 Site 2 Southeast

FR 006 Site 2 Looking southwest

FR 006 Site 2 Looking South

FR 006 Site 2 Looking West

FR 006 Site 2 Looking Northwest

FR 006 Site 2 Looking North

By now I knew the afternoon was getting on and I didn't want to get stuck in rush hour traffic so I called it a day, and packed up and went home. Here is some information that those in the Great Salt Lake area may want to know. I live in Herriman as most locally know.

From the point where the sign is with the arrows to go to the reservoir and Little Valley or to go right to the other two sites (see above) I drove 62.7 miles to get to that point. The reservoir or other observing sites on the East Dirt Road are a bout 3 more miles up the road. The FR 006 sites are about the same distance.

I left that location on the way home at 2:25p.m. MST and got home at 3:40p.m. MST. I ran into traffic a little bit and I had a 10 minute stop to fix something on my car. So this took just over an hour to get to the location, an hour and fifteen minutes is probably a good guess. The sites are about 25 (24.6 miles to be exact) farther out than Pit n Pole.

If one turns on the East Dirt Road before the reservoir and right after crossing the cattle guard site 1 is .4, four tenths of a mile up that road. Site 2 is .9 or nine tenths of a mile up that road and site 3 is about .7 or seven tenths of a mile up that road.

FR 006 Site 1 is .5 or 1/2 mile from the main road after you turn left onto FR 006. Site 2 here is .4 or four tenths of a mile from Site One on the right side of the road.

I had an enjoyable day, spending time with nature and looking for some new places to observe. I'd love to hear what some think about this, both local or not. Feel free to leave a comment if you want. To close this long entry out, I'll share a picture I took that shows the West Desert of Utah in the winter with the Sheeprock Mountains in the distance. I really like the contrasts here if I do say so myself, though a blue sky would have been better!

Edit: My Observing Sites Google Maps has been updated with these sites and you can find it at this link.

Review of Sky Safari 3 Plus

2011-12-30T00:10:00.019-07:00

Well I had some extra money on my iTunes account (seems relatives like to give iTunes card) so I decided to purchase Sky Safari 3 Plus. My blog entry tonight will be a review of this app with corresponding images from the program. I share the images under the fair use agreement since I am using under 5% of the program to review it. Again with the images if you want to see them larger, simply click on them and then click the X when you want to come back here.

First off, what are the differences between Sky Safari 3, Sky Safari 3 Plus and Sky Safari 3 Pro. From the Southern Skies website located here, this information is shared.

Sky Safari 3

The basic version of SkySafari 3 shows you 120,000 stars, plus 220 of the best-known star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies in the sky. It displays the Solar System's major planets and moons using NASA spacecraft imagery, and includes the best-known 20 asteroids and comets.

Sky Safari 3 Plus

SkySafari 3 Plus adds a hugely expanded database - and wired or wireless telescope control - to our basic version. It shows you 2.5 million stars, and 31,000 deep sky objects - including the entire NGC/IC catalog. It includes over 4,000 asteroids, comets, and satellites with updateable orbits. And it can point your GoTo or "Push-To" telescope anywhere in the sky, using your iPhone/iPad/iPod's built-in WiFi, and our SkyFi or SkyWire serial accessories.

SkySafari 3 Pro

The all-new SkySafari 3 Pro has the largest database of any astronomy app, period. It contains everything in SkySafari 3 Plus - but also includes over 15.3 million stars from the Hubble Guide Star catalog, plus 740,000 galaxies down to 18th magnitude, and over 550,000 solar system objects - including every comet and asteroid ever discovered. Yet it runs just as fast and smoothly as our $3 basic version.

I opted to purchase the Plus version as I feel it meets my needs the best as it includes the NGC/IC catalog which is what I am working through right now.

I'm going to begin with the basic look that comes up after your start the program.

This is a pretty close in view compared to what you'll see when you launch the program. You get a much wider view and actual landscape down on the bottom of the screen. I have zoomed in a little bit more and will discuss why later. On the bottom of the screen are two green items, a + on the bottom right and a green - on the bottom left. The + zooms in and the - zooms out. The usual finger motions of bringing the thumb and index finger together or apart also works but I like this little addition. It works quickly and gets you zoomed in or out and if your in the field using this program, that will help a lot.

Below this is a series of buttons that I'll cover going from left to right. The first is a search button. This is the single most important feature that I feel most amateurs who are visual observers will use the most. Here is a cut off image:

You can see this covers a rather large range of items that you can observe from. It begins with what is called Tonight's Best and that includes DSO's, planets and their moons, double stars, comets, asteroids and everything else on the list. Under the Asterisms is a place to create your own observing lists that you can use when your in the field. You can name them what you want and save objects to them.

In this next image you can see I have entered some of the galaxies in Eridanus and Fornax that I wish to hunt down.

In the next window you can see that when you select an object you have a three choice menu that comes up. The first is to Show Object Info and that takes you to an info page that I'll show shortly. The next one is Edit Observation, which brings up a new window that I'll show next where you can actually enter in your observation of that object. Here I wish they had worked in some voice recorder and recognition software so it could be recorded by voice and then automatically translated. I fear that is hoping for too much so I see that my digital voice recorder will continue to be used and notes entered in on those cloudy or full moon nights. The last menu choice is Center Object which does just that, center the objects on the map so you can zoom in or zoom out and get going on star hoping to it!

Here is what the log looks like where you can enter the information on your observation. Rather scant and I would like to see a basic format that you perhaps scroll through or that allows for such an option to be selected but I guess this way each observer can enter their data the way the want it.

Now once you get an object on the menu and select center on object, or as your on the atlas scrolling around and zooming in and out, if you find an object and want to look at the information you just need to simply tap on the object until you see the screen look like this image.

You can see the cross hairs and you know that object is centered. A double tap will bring you to the information page which looks like the next image and contains a good load of information. Some objects include an image, others do not. I am always somewhat leery when pictures are included, because we all know they will look nothing like that in the eyepiece, at least I hope we all know that. Be careful with that double tap. If you have short and stubby hands like I do then you'll find that about half the time you are tapping on a nearby star.

Here is an info page on a galaxy without an image:

Here is an info page on a galaxy with an image. On the image below you can actually scroll down to gather more information on the object.

Now back to the Search Menu to share a few items located there. The next one is on Tonight's Best. Forgot your list for items to observe or only have time for bright objects in a quick session? Tonight's Best will bold in white the items that are available for observing for you. This is what the menu looks like.

Planets is the next menu item I'll review. The menu shows again those planets that are available for viewing (Jupiter and Mars for me right now) and then takes you to an information page that shares some good information on the planet. Here is Jupiter's and I've scrolled down to show the naming of the bands and that will be followed with a sample of Mar's information.

Here is a sample of the Mars Info page.

I really like this feature with the planets and can see some great use for this at Star Parties when your showing off a planet and that question comes up that you just haven't prepared for. It's probably in here.

The next items are Moons and Asteroids but I am not including a shot on them. The next image has to do with Comets which shows again a bold white face for comets that are available and then a specific info page for the comet. Check the magnitude because even though they might be in white bold doesn't mean you will see them when they are magnitude 24.

The comet specific information page.

The next items I also did not record an image for from the Search Menu but they are Satellites, Named Stars, Brightest Stars and Nearest Stars. Here is an image for a star which I did take.

The next set of images are a treasure trove as the program really allows one to get into Double Star. I am hoping to use this next week while observing some doubles from my backyard and using this in conjunction with the Cambridge Double Star Atlas. The Double Star Menu is much like the other menus I've shared, showing by white bold which pairs are viewable based on location in the sky, not by magnitude. Want to know about a pair or if you can see it, click on it.

By clicking on the double star's name you get this menu which provides quite a bit of information about the pair. Note that on all of these items on the specific page in the right hand corner is a button that allows you to add the item to one of your observing lists that you've created.

Now we come to some of my favorite objects, Deep Sky Objects. The menu is basically the same and it shows you what is available by its name, and NGC or Messier or Caldwell number and under that is what type of object it is, be it a spiral galaxy, an open cluster, a reflection or planetary nebula etc. I like this feature as it allows someone to either nail down what they want to see or at least have an idea of what they are going to see. Some come with the pretty image, some don't as per above.

All of the Messier Objects are next and since M1 viewable right now, the Crab Nebula I picked that as the object to show in this review. With the Messier objects in the detail or specific section you get a review of what you'll see and the historical background of the object. I don't like the naming on some of these, like calling M1 a bright nebula when it is a SN remnant. I do believe in the program though you can change the naming based on the period if you so choose.

Here is the specific or individual page for the Crab Nebula or M1

They have the Caldwell list in here as well but I won't post on that as I know many do not like that list for a variety of reasons, but its there if you want it. Just remember there are a fair number we can't see from North America.

The last image that I'll share from this section is on the Constellations. This program does an outstanding job on showing the constellation and on providing information on it in terms of myths and legends and in reviewing the notable stars, open clusters, nebula and galaxies that can be found there. Again a rich source to have at ones figure tips. The main menu is the same and here is the specific page.

The last portion that I'll review and I did not take images of this on purpose is the Settings Tab. In the settings and on the main menu you can choose to go into red mode. Here is what the red mode looks like with no adjustment to the brightness. The easiest way to do this is by tapping the night button at the bottom of the screen.

Settings is where you can control a lot of what is going on in the actual program. You can set the Date and Time if needed, set your location, coordinates and the format that the time is displaed. You can make your horizon and sky realistic, show the horizon and the sky, and many options under that. You can also choose from 7 locations for your panoramas. Also here you can show the planets and decide if you want grids, to allow their phases to be seen (default on that is one as is show the planets) and show their surfaces (default is on) with their names (default on) and then their orbits and their moon orbits which is defaulted off.

You can also under Solar System choose to display Asteroids, Comets, Satellites and their names. These are defaulted as off when the program is launched the first time.

Stars is the next tabl and I like this. It shows the stars as default option and then allows you to pick the magnitude in which you can see stars naked eye. I really like this feature. The program allows you to choose to show the names, proper names, Greek Symbols, Name Density and Double stars.

Deep Sky again allows you to limit your Deep Sky to well known objects only (default is off thank goodness) or to show in wide fields (default is off) and to pick the magnitude limit that you can see DSO's naked eye. You can also select which object type you want displayed in case your working only a specific type. These types include open clusters, globular clusters, bright nebulae, dark nebulae, planetary nebula and galaxies.

In settings you can make the Milky Way pretty realistic, or just an outline or a filled area or not show it. You can make it more or less intense based on how you see it from your site. Constellations allow you to choose as traditional outlines, as modern outlines (like H.A. Rey) as the Mythical Figures or as official boundaries. You can show their names or use abbreviations and you can show asterims and their names. Finally you can save this as your own setup and name it, or create multiple setups if you observe from multiple places with variances. The default option is there unless you delete it.

That is a quick summation of the program with screen shots to hopefully show it off. What do I like about this program? It is very similar to Starry Night Pro and it is on my iPad. I like that a lot because I like the screen size of my iPad. I like that the stars go as deep as I need them to and I can actually use this as an atlas in the field as long as I can dim it down enough. I also like the fact that the compass control allows me to use it or shut it off and use my finger to move the pad around the sky. If I am at the eyepiece and I want to use it I can close or patch my observing eye and then read it with my right eye without the compass getting in the way.

I also like the fact that it is rather easy to use and figure out. I have to admit, it has replaced StarMap Pro as my favorite Astronomy App for its practical use and the ease of the setup in settings and in finding objects. I love the amount of detail this program gives and it does it in a way that provides meaning to me as an observing. RA, Dec, visual magnitude, size and a lot more information is readily accessible.

What don't I like? Not much. I still want a program that allows me to record my observations on my iPad2 and that allows me to enter in my format for my observing log so I can enter the data quickly. That's me being picky. I'll see how it works in the backyard next week and report back. Overall, there really isn't much not to like here. I give it 5 out of 5 stars and was worth the $11.99 I paid. Not sure I would pay the $60.00 for the pro version unless it was for my laptop.

Observing Session, December 26th, 2011; Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah, Back to Eridanus

2011-12-27T15:27:00.006-07:00

Well, Monday came and at first it was rather cloudy so I didn't know if the outing would occur. It cleared up and my observing buddy and friend Mat called and I looked at the Clear Sky Clock and the Mesonet stations we have here in Utah that give temperature, humidity, dew point etc and updates every 15 minutes. I thought we would be going back to Lakeside but in truth, Pit n Pole for a rare event in winter offered better overall conditions so off to the Pit. For once, everything worked as predicted though the temperature supposedly fell to 1 degrees when we left. I don't think it felt like that at any time and I really never got cold. That was also probably because we each had a propane heater and could warm ourselves up when we needed a break. Well worth the $35.00 investment and the propane!

As I drove out I saw something that was beautiful, a Sun Dog! Here is an image, look for the rainbow in case you have never seen one. It is on the bottom left of center in the clouds there. It stuck around for almost 2 hours that day.

In terms of darkness, one thing I forgot to mention about Lakeside from the 23rd, is that because of the amount of snow on the ground, the reflected star light and glow from the Milky Way made the Lakeside observing site almost as bright as when the moon is up from say waxing crescent to almost first quarter. It was bright enough that it showed our shadows on the ground.

No problem at Pit n Pole as there was hardly any snow in the area and the observing area was as it usually is, dry and gravely. Setup went fine and I at first had a hard time observing and so when Mat said he was going after eye candy til Fornax and Eridanus came up, I did the same. M31, M32 and M110 were terrific while they were at Zenith. The 27mm Panoptic showed a two dark lanes, a very stellar core and a bright halo around the core. Just terrific. The Double Cluster was enjoyable as was NGC 457 and some open clusters in Cassiopeia.

Well, finally, it came time to go to work and I got into my galaxies in Eridanus and Fornax. I took my time and am pleased with my results. Just like in the last post, I am going to just post the sketches, the notes are on them so feel free to click them and then use your arrow buttons to go through them. I did revisit a couple from last Friday, though one was on purpose as I want to compare views and my sketches. They are posted in no particular order. Enjoy, I did. Hope you got out this new moon weekend somehow, somewhere, and were able to point up.

I won't bore you with all the details or with the other objects like M42 or the Flame Nebula that I went after as I have gone after them before successfully. I am hoping one day to use the Mellish method here to make a worthy sketch of M42 but I think that is some ways off. Clear skies to you and be safe over the New Year, and don't make yourself too merry! Merry New Year!

ON a side note if your interested in the Eridanus and Fornax Galaxy Groups, here is a link to a site that has some good information on it.

Observing Session, December 23rd, 2011 Lakeside, Utah; Observing in Eridanus and Fornax

2011-12-26T04:04:00.008-07:00

On Friday, December 23rd, 2011 I was able to drive out to the Lakeside, Utah site to get in an observing session. Though two days before a storm had driven out the inversion, on the drive out near the city of Tooele you can see that the inversion or what I call smog is already building back. There are a lot of plants out here dumping pollution into the atmosphere and I wish the state would do something but they won't. Not until we realize it is impacting our health and it will be too late for that I fear.

Well, I posted images of the drive out to Lakeside this last time and to contrast that I am going to post images of the drive that I took to observe on December 23rd, 2011. Here is the exit you take off of I-80, exit 62 which will take you out to the observing site. Yes, there is a dusting of snow on the ground out in this area.

This is where my friend Mat was sitting when we drove out in those horrible, cloudy, smog, inversion, fog covered region a week earlier.

This is the turn so you can see the valley and the road that leads out to the observing site. Man, what a difference a week makes!

Here is the road that you drive out nice and straight on. No cows in the road today but plenty of their leftover paddies on the road. So be careful driving out for the wildlife. Plenty of Pronghorn back in the area also. Those stories that others have shared about observing out here and turning around and feeling like your being watched and then to have a herd of cows on you are true!

Right before this sign is a fake cattle guard and then the sign. The sign is your signal to look for the left turn you take onto the dirt road to get to the site.

Here is the left turn you take right after the sign!

This is what the dirt road looked like on this day that your drive shortly down to the observing site.

Here's the right turn which is easy to miss if your not looking for it in the winter as it does look different than in the summer.

This is the first area that someone could set up. Usually ATVers load and unload here though. The snow looks worse than it is. The bad news was that the dust under the snow is there, its just frozen and it stays frozen (its still frozen on my mat I use for ground cover 3 days later!).

This is where I set up for the night.

Here are a couple of shots to let you know conditions really did improve out here . . .

Looking west

Looking east . . .

The XX14i and my friend's Shahid's Z12 set up next to it:

Well because the weekend has been crazy, and yes, because I've had clear skies but I spent the weekend with my family, I just adjusted the color curve on my sketches, didn't touch up my stars, I'm actually okay with most of them and I put the observing information right on the sketches so I am not going to re-post that here on the blog. You can simply click the sketch if you want to see the object and the observing details. I hope that is okay.

The night was cold, and it was colder because the value on my propane tank froze and none of us could get it undone. So I couldn't use my new heater out in the field. I know that would have made a difference this night. My friend Shahid showed up and set up at dusk and after collimating and adjusting we were ready. Another friend Daniel showed up to do some binocular work. Besides getting cold, and having to warm in the cars once for each of us, by 10:00p.m. frost had become a major player again. Once again, I left my dew strips at home but I am very, very happy to report that the Heater/Fan/Defroster I reviewed worked wonderfully. It cleared up the Telrad and the finder scope really quick and if I didn't have a major day on Saturday with family stuff, I could have stayed longer. If you don't have anti dew/frost items, know your going to fight it in Utah during this time of the year.

So without any further ado, here are my sketches from that night. Error, I oriented these so that west is to the left, not the right as labeled on some of these sketches. Overall, I am pretty happy with these sketches. It helped to increase magnification to get the details on the galaxies, and then use a smaller magnification for to capture the star field. I'm also not posting in the order I observed as an FYI.

1. NGC 1332 Edge on Galaxy in Eridanus.

2. NGC 1302 Galaxy in Fornax

3. NGC 1371 or NGC 1367 in Eridanus

4. NGC 1300 Spiral Galaxy

5. NGC 1395 Elliptical Galaxy

So, not a very active night but I had fun, it was great to be out and I can't wait to remember to bring my case and try out the dew heaters and controller in the field!

Old Lunar Observing Technique

2011-12-23T11:17:00.002-07:00

I was looking up on different lunar observing styles and came across this technique (LINK) that intrigues me. I still need to get into lunar sketching, and may give this an attempt as we enter into the moon phases if the weather allows it. It is by Daniel Mounsey and was a CloudyNights Review from 2004. It is downloadable so you can save it if you would like to. Please feel free to leave any link to your own site for how you sketch the moon in the comments and I'll approve them so they show here. I'd be excited to see that. There is also a new sketching book on sketching the moon that is coming out by some of the best lunar sketchers in the hobby. It is called Sketching the Moon: An Astronomical Artists Guide and here is the Amazon link.

Follow Up Information on SN 2011fe

2011-12-21T22:57:00.003-07:00

I've posted before but I really do enjoy reading the summation of articles offered by the site Astrobites. They have had two articles this week that follow up on official papers published in Nature this week about SN 2011fe.

Here is my sketch of SN 2011fe (see the bright star next to the core, go directly across to 3 stars and the very bright one in the middle is SN 2011fe).

The Astrobites articles by Elizabeth Lovegrove from December 20th, 2011 (found here) and the follow up or Part II is by Michelle Kislak (found here) are well worth the entire read, especially if you viewed the supernova or followed it online.

The crux of the articles sum up a major paper in Nature by a well known team of astronomers and scientists. The first article includes some wonderful tidbets of information such as when the Palomar Transit Factory captured the initial supernova, which was at 0359 UTC on August 24th or 2059 MDT on August 23rd for those living in the Mountain Time Zone in the USA. After retooling the Swift Telescope that is in orbit and the robotic Liverpool Telescope in the Canary Islands, within 20 hours these two instruments confirmed this as a Type Ia supernova. The reason for this is no hydrogen lines were found in the light spectrum while strong silicon lines were detected. A Type II event would have strong hydrogen lines since the star would be relative young in terms of a star and from blowing up its shells.

So the first summation continues by showing how the team found the initial radius of the exploding object by "Measuring the initial radius of the progenitor requires knowing three things: the early luminosity, the early velocity, and the time since explosion." The paper then shows how this was done. The fact that I find fascinating here is that using a "simple power model" they could "fix the detonation time at 2011 August 23, 16:29 +/- 20 min UTC (modulo, of course, the 20.8 million year light travel time from M101), meaning that the initial observations caught the supernova just 11 hours after it exploded!" This allowed a very accurate measurement of the luminosity which allowed them to determine size of the progenitor. The size of the progenitor was smaller than that of our Sun which means it had to be a white dwarf. This combined with a remnant of carbon and oxygen means that this is most likely a carbon-oxygen white dwarf.

The first summation concludes by sharing that when the white-dwarf reached the Chandrasekhar limit and exploded (by drawing material off its companion star) the out-rushing ejecta from this supernova explosion would have struck the companion star and a shock-heat a portion of the companion, producing extra luminosity. If this white-dwarf had had a red giant companion, the shock wave would have caused a higher luminosity in the Red Giant's extended shell. This wasn't observed or measured so there is a possibility that the companion was a main sequence star "if viewed farther than 40 degrees off the symmetry axis of the system."

The second summation deals mainly with Figure 2 which in the link above shows the magnitude limit of SN 2011fe and compares it with the magnitude of other stars that could serve as a companion. From the measurements in the chart, it is easily to see the companion had to be 3.5 solar masses or smaller in order for the data to work. This rules out a Red Giant as the companion.

The article explains the difference between a double digit degenerate model, where two objects, held together by degenerate pressure ie two white dwarfs lose gravational radiation until their orbits come closer and closer and they slam into each other causing the supernova explosion. The paper cannot rule this out as a possible scenario based on the data. In a single-degenerate model "a white dwarf accretes mass from a donor such as a main sequence star, a subgiant, a red giant, or a helium star." The research was to try and either identify which it could be or which it couldn't be.

Based on the data gathered and analyze, it is confirmed that a Red Giant was not the companion. This means that the white-dwarf in this case had to be either a double digit degenerate model (two white-dwarfs that collided together) or the companion had to be a main sequence star, sub-giant or a helium star.

Anyway, feel free to skip my comments and read the well written Astrobites. I found the information fascinating and added to my overall experience to observing this object, while increasing my own knowledge and understanding.

New Toy; Harbor Frieght Heather/Fan for Dew Control

2011-12-17T22:24:00.003-07:00

I mentioned in my last post on the failed Lakeside trip that I had a new toy and I thought I would share it with you. So far it has worked well and I'm anxious to try it in the field. I was in a local Harbor Freight shop and I picked up a window defroster for around $15.00. It has a light that is white and bright if I need it, a fan, and a heater. Here is what it looks like:

I have it hooked up to my Black & Decker Powermate and the red light you can see in the image above is that of the heater. Unlike a couple of 12 volt hairdryers I've tried, with this one you can actually feel the heat coming out as it is working.

The unit is designed to sit on dash of a car but pulls off the base and a handle pulls out that I am holding. Here you can see the button which sits in the middle until you push it down for the heat (as I have it here) or push up for the fan. On the opposite side is the button for the LED light if you want or need it.

The light is actually very bright as you can see here. So if your in the field with that, just be careful not to turn that light on!

Here is a closer look at the heater and the light it generates. The heater element is the batch of silver things below the red light. The light I would think can be disconnected but if you leave it you will be able to see how the unit is defrosting or defogging your eyepiece, finder, Telrad or secondary. Speaking of which, I personally like my anti-dew system better which I'll review on here one of these days, but if all you had was this unit, it would offer further viewing for some time.

In terms of craftsman ship it is made of plastic and rubber and is well constructed. It has worked well for me though a friend said that he left his fan on his observing table and turned it on and since then the heater only would stay on for short period of time before cycling off. The directions tells you not to do that and they tell you to only use this for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Overall I'm happy with this little unit. It cost $14.99 and if you want you can get a 5 year free replacement for an additional $3.00. That is something I usually pass on but for this little guy I did it. If any problems occur with it, I'll let you know.

Observing Session? Lakeside Utah, December 17, 2011

2011-12-17T19:38:00.005-07:00

Well, I'm back already from my night of observing out at Lakeside (It's about 7:00p.m. now when I am starting this entry). Everything from the satillites to the National Weather Service to Clear Sky Clock to Skippy Astronomy Weather called for good clear skies. Both Mat and I had our lists and were ready to start in either Fornax or Eridanus and then work up from there. It just wasn't met to be but we did learn some things that are good for future reference.

On the drive out we pass the tallest stack west of the Mississippi which is part of the Kennocot/Rio Tinto mining operations here in the greater Salt Lake Valley area. It is so tall that the smog/fog as I call it hides its true height. Since I am fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and have been since 1977, every time I see this stack I want it to be black and then I could call it Isengard, but I digress.

On the drive out Mat and I spoke a few times by cell phone and I could tell when I hit the stack that this wasn't going to be a night of observing as planned. Well, I wanted to see what the actual observing site is like so I kept heading out. Plus I had a new toy I wanted to share with Mat.

After a nice hour and ten minute drive, I got to Exit 62 on westbound I-80 and took it and snapped this shot. Sorry, many of these will be blurry because I was going slow, but still moving and the camera I was using was not my usual, and it didn't compensate (I forgot to set it to do so whistling).

I approached the stop sign looking for Mat's van when I saw him parked off the road to the right. Yes, look at those deep blue skies foretelling a wonderous night of observing deep sky objects!

Well, Mat and I met up and it was for sure that there would be no observing. I let Mat know that I wanted to head out and take a look at the site and he agreed that he also had the same idea so we took the long drive out to the observing site little knowing what we were going to run into.

There's that nice long, straight road that heads out to the observing site. Feel free to compare it to the August 6th, 2010 post I have with pictures of the same drive. The next image is just more of the same road though a little blurry. Wait . . . what is that in the distance huddled on the road? It reminds one that one needs to drive defensively out here as there are many wild things out here.

Well, this summer on the way to Wolf Creek on UT32 I ran into sheep (see that post). I should have known that when I ran into cows it wasn't a good day. That night at Wolf Creek in September turned out to be really windy with poor seeing and I was beginning to get sick. This night, the cows just signaled that it wasn't our night to observe. I find it funny that in the summer Pronghorn Antelope are often found in this area and I have rarely seen a cow except on the hillsides to the right (east of the observing site). This night they proved that they, the cows, were the masters of this region and that on this cold winter's night. However, by honking my horn they moved off the road though they left a mess and I had to guide the car around their land paddies.

After waiting briefly for the cows and getting on down the road, I came to that famous sign that signals an observing heading to Lakeside to turn left:

So in the next image you can see where you turn left to the left and we found that at this area it was covered by about a quarter inch of snow.

The next two images looked worse (because they are so blurry) then the road actually was. Once I turned into the road I put the Pathfinder into 4WD just in case but found I didn't need it. Mat followed easily in his fan. The right side of the road has that one quarter inch of snow on it but the left side didn't.

Here is the turn to the Bern/Observing area. It was easy to identify even with the snow on it and now problem going over it.

Some may not recognize the next picture as the area where many ATVers unload and load their ATV's from their trailers. It is the first open area after turning into the Bern/Observing area. You can see the 5-6 foot Bern (?, might be higher) to the right.

This next image is the area that I have set up many times to observe. If you were with us in the last time I was here it was the area that my friend George and David R. were set up to do their imaging. I am to the south of that location with the image looking north.

This image shows the Bern again to the right, and shows the area I was set up at last time with Josh using my XT10. It is the area the Joe Bauman, a good friend sets up often to do his imaging. This image is looking north again. In both images you can see our tire tracks which were the only sign that someone living had been here, except for a possible ATV track but that may have happen before the snow fell here.

From the observing sites I took the next photo which is looking west toward Skunk Ridge I believe. That ridge and set of mountains/hills are plainly visible in good conditions. Not tonight though.

This image is looking east from near the top of the Bern which allowed me to take this picture.

Here's my black Pathfinder and the front of Mat's green mini-van. The image is looking west. Oh, someone asked once if those were telephone poles in an image where the Pathfinder was in it. Nope, they are two antenna that stick up from the car.

I share the next image to give a perpespective of the depth of the snow (not much) and then I'll follow it to show that it wasn't muddy at all in the car. The dust is still there Joe and the dirt under the snow was as dry as can be. With the ground cover I use under the scope and the ground cover Mat uses, our scopes and the rocker boxes would have been just fine without the usual layer of dust on them that this site is famous for! Looking at it maybe some areas had a 1/2 inch of snow.

This image just shows the dirt that I kicked up from under the snow and how dry it is.

Here is an image as twilight begins to fade and if you look carefully, you can see my headlights:

As darkness was falling in, Mat and I talked and discussed about observing, and about other things and areas we may try. We swapped stories about Tule Fog since we both have lived in the Central Valley of California. That was ironic because on UT111 right as we left the city of Magna at about 5400 West we ran into a very thick fog that lasted until around 7200 West. Well as Mat and I talked, the darkness fell and this is what it was like:

Dark skies at last, too bad they are so clouded over. I have to say though that being out in the West Desert with a layer of stratus level clouds, with frost on the sagebrush and a small dusting of snow on the ground, fit the season quite well. It was quite there, no sounds of animals as the cows were a good ways south of here. A stillness was in the air, one that I wish I could have had the opportunity to view in and enjoy as I just love that and it was here. Nature's hush, not even a whisper. So that was the treat this afternoon. Not a fun night of two serious observers observing, but the sharing of an experience, a drive that allowed think time (I love long drives) and the opportunity to take some pictures and share of what the site looked like on this almost winter day. I hope that all of us have a clear sky or two during December's new moon.

Lakeside Observing Tonight

2011-12-17T11:29:00.002-07:00

Just a note that Mat and I and hopefully a few of you will join us out at the Lakeside Observing Site tonight for an evening of observing. I'll be at exit 62 off I-80 around 4:00 or so. If your not sure how to get out there meet me at exit 62 around 4:00p.m. and you can follow me out. I have a black Nissan Pathfinder.

This post from August 6th, 2010 provides directions and pictures of how to get out there. It is very cold out there, around 23 degrees F at night during the observing hours of say 6:00p.m. to 12:00a.m. I'll be leaving around 12:00a.m. tonight.

Sagittarius A is about to get a Happy Meal

2011-12-16T17:26:00.005-07:00

Well, I was hoping to observe but the smog, stratus clouds and the mix is just stopping observing. I am hoping tomorrow to get out though I may have to head up to Rockport Reservoir to observe (past Park City and above the clouds and smog). So instead I have been reading some Astrobites entries that are highly interesting to me and I'll share information from both.

Earlier this year we saw a star get eaten by a black hole and sending off its fireworks. Well it looks like we'll see our own supermassive blackhole get active in the summer of 2013.

First, as this Astrobite entry on this by Susanna Kohler discusses, the first thing you have to do is go to this ESO animation of the stars that are in orbit around Sgr A* (the black hole at the center of our galaxy) and of an approaching gas cloud. That gas cloud is going to become a meal for the Sgr A* in 2013. This is based on observations which started in 2002 from the Very Large Telescope of the ESO which is in Chile. The gas cloud is roughly 3 Earth masses and is heading directly to Sgr A*.

In terms of where did this cloud of gas and dust came from the authors of the paper that the Astrobite reviews speculate that its origins came from near "Sgr A* from a massive O or Wolf-Rayet star." The cloud was sent out in a very extremely eccentric orbit around Sgr A* with a period of about 137 years ± 11 years. The gas/dust cloud will come closest to Sgr A* in the summer of 2013 which means those in the northern and southern hemispheres will have a great opportunity (with professional equipment) to view this. That is good news for anyone interested in this. What will happen? It looks like the gas/dust cloud will suffer tidal distortations as it falls into the accretion disk of the black hole and we may see x-rays emitted and material falling into the accretion disk. This could be huge because if the models hold up we just may see as Susanna Kohler states " it would provide one of the best probes yet of the physical conditions in the accretion zone around a black hole. Since we have an unusually good knowledge of the mass available for accretion, we’d be able to place stringent constraints on the physics of black-hole accretion after observing this event." Please click the link and go and see her article and the original article. Well worth the reading time.

The other Astrobite by Lucia Morgant and is titled Two Monster Black Holes in Nearby Galaxies is also a great read. Here is the link for that article and it discusses by reviewing a paper where the authors "were able to estimate a black hole mass of 9.7 billion solar masses in the elliptical galaxy NGC 3842, and a black hole of comparable or greater mass in the elliptical NGC 4889."
The review then discusses briefly how these super-massive black holes got this way, especially in an elliptical galaxy. Here is the link.

Here is the ESO release on the same subject.

To be fair, not everyone agrees with the paper or the information. Andrea Ghez of UCLA in this paper in Science offers an alternative view.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be observing and then can report back on some items I have seen, observed and sketched.

Not a NGC item but Thoughts on the December 10th, 2011 Lunar Eclipse

2011-12-10T08:12:00.005-07:00

Lunar Eclipse, Dec. 10th, 2011 Turret Arch, Arches National Park @ Moab, Utah

Memories are awkward I've decided. They can trigger emotions and reflection on events that have long sense passed. I also believe their meaning changes as we gain deeper insight to our lives as we mature and get older. One of my first and fondest memories is of the February 10th, 1971 Total Lunar Eclipse. I remember this for several reasons. First, it was my older sister's birthday and she turned 8 that day. Next, I remember going to bed in my pajamas and then my Mom and Dad waking us up to look at the moon. My Dad had a little Tasco spotting scope set up but we didn't look through it more then a couple of times. What I do remember is watching the color of the moon change. That has stuck with me for over 40 years. The togetherness of a family, parents trying to instill an interest in their children in science and finally getting tired and falling asleep again and being carried and tucked in by my Dad before the lunar eclipse ended have always made me nostalgic during lunar eclipses.

This morning, I am sure like many of you, I got up and simply put on some warm clothes and headed out to an area that allowed me a good view of the western horizon. Where I live, there are mountains to the east and west so the moon was falling fast. I was alone this time, and observed the lunar eclipse and thought it was rather a nice one. I had thought of sketching the moment, but this time I simply wanted the memory. I'll write it down here in case as I age the memory floats away or can't be accessed, which seems to be happening a little bit more as I enter into my late 40's. At this time, I thought of my older sister, my mother and my father and a smile came to my face and an inner warmth filled me. I'm glad my parents gave me an interest in astronomy, and saddened I didn't pursue it until an adult and at a time that is perhaps too late to change a career path, but I find such joy and relaxation in the hobby that as I watched the eclipse this a.m., I gave a thanks to parents who planted a seed that eventually bloomed. As I age, I find it amusing to see what an impact my parents truly have had on my life. That scares me also as my own two are almost 19 and 18 and whatever impact I've had, for good or bad (and yes, we do both as parents, being the imperfect people we are influence in both ways; then again, I'm glad for imperfections, they make life interesting and fun!) is on them. I wonder in 30 years what my own two kids will reflect on our relationship and what memories they'll choose to recall and which ones will be triggered by events that occur around them?

So as we enter a season of giving, I hope perhaps, we each can remember those who have given gifts not of monetary value, but of lasting gifts, gifts that impact the human mind and heart, that inspire us to reach beyond ourselves, and to be better at whatever we do. For me that was the gift Luna gave to me this morning. The good news is that new moon phase is coming and I sure hope a storm clears out the muck/pollution/smog here in northern Utah and then gives us a good five days or so of excellent seeing conditions.

Edit: Please check out these images from a gallery called Moon Games. I think this is very clever. I found the initial post on Bad Astronomy.

Astronomy in Utah Message Board (Locals)

2011-12-08T22:56:00.002-07:00

Well, I went and created an Astronomy in Utah message board which you can find in this link. Why did I do that? We have a local email message board and it serves the local community very well, but I want something that is a little easier for people to use and to post threads and comments in and review them easily. So it is in that spirit and in the spirit that perhaps we can get more people in Utah sharing the night sky that I put it together. So far there is only me but who knows, I hope it grows. If you have suggestions for a thread let me know. I'll probably continue to organize it as I go on but I just felt it would be a good place to keep information and posts that are deemed useful by anyone in Utah who observes regardless of club affiliation (or lack thereof) or location. If your not in Utah, feel free to join and post also.

Observing Session November 26th, 2011 Pit n Pole

2011-12-03T15:27:00.006-07:00

Well this night was extremely interesting night. I learned quickly that I needed to adjust to cold weather observing because I made some simple mistakes. These are mistakes I know better but ones that I made anyway because a clear sky got me too excited. So I'll start by sharing my mistakes from this night and then I'll get into the observing.

The forecast on Skippy Sky and Clear Sky Clock and the National Weather Service all called for a clear but cold night. Cold I can handle, the influx of clouds I can't control unfortunately. If someone out there learns how to control the weather patterns around new moon please let me know. Anyway, I loaded up the old Pathfinder this night and after checking everything in my mind, I was ready to go so I loaded up and drove away. Here is my first mistake. As someone who this next spring in April will turn 47 and will claim the title of being in my late forties then, I have noticed that IF I don't make a list (and I have never had to do this in my life. I pride myself that I have an outstanding memory) I tend to forget something if multiple things should be taken.

Well, I was going to Pit n Pole, a location in fall and winter and even spring can have problems with frost on the equipment. After I had set up I went to get my dew controller and bands out and doh! I had left the box at home. So I would face this frosty, frozen desert location without any dew aids, ouch! That would come back to get me later this night.

The next thing I did was when setting up I put on my glove liners because the temperature was already dropping. Well, after setting up I simply left the liners on after putting on the rest of my winter clothes. The result is that in about an hour and a half my hands were quite cold and it took time at the heater to get them warmed to the point that I could put on my outer gloves on top of the liners and put in a hand warmer on each hand to help keep them warm. My mistake here is I should have done the gloves and the hand warmers when I had finished setting up. I lost about forty minutes to an hour of observing time because my hands got cold and needed to be warmed up. Doh two!

So two basic mistakes that I made here and ones I'll remember as I can observe this winter (I hope). As a result I am going to make a loading check list, one for winter and one for summer. The winter one I'll use in winter, fall and spring since I'll want those items during those seasons. Summer means I can leave some items at home that I won't need due to changes in overall conditions. I'll post those as I get them done in the next week and blank form that others can use to create their own checklist

Well my observing session was quite an interesting one. I love late fall and winter because you can set up and start observing by 6:00p.m. That means that by midnight you've had a good six hours of observing. Stay latter if conditions allow and the most peaceful time for observing comes, that magic time between 1:00a.m. and 4:00a.m. Secretly these are my favorite times to observe, be it in the backyard or at a dark sky location. The world truly changes during these times, becoming an enchantment for amateur and professional astronomers a like. It reminds me that if I get a break during the Christmas break, say the 26th, and the night is clear, it is time for an all night session.

This night my observing began by heading down Pisces and viewing a couple of objects down there. I am mainly done with the H-400, minus 45 spring galaxies and an object here or there (about four of them; well, minus one so now only 3). So I needed to get NGC 936 off of my list for November so I headed there. Not sure why I missed it the first time.

Before heading to NGC 936 I went over and stopped by a galaxy I haven't seen for at least three to four years, NGC 628 or Messier 74 as most will know it as. It was an excellent treat to go after.

Object: NGC 628 or Messier 74, Spiral Galaxy in Pisces; Mag. 9.5; Size: 10.5' x 9.5'; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 7mm & 10mm Pentax XW; Date: November 26th, 2011;

Notes: Very bright stellar core on this galaxy, surrounded by a brighter halo and then a round, large diffusion of light. At first I didn't detect any structure as I was focusing on the core. Then using both averted and direct vision I was able to detect an arm coming out of the galaxy on the eastern side, and then sweeping west across the southern portion of the galaxy and showing a separation of from the galaxy with blackness in between them as it got to the western side of the galaxy. In the sketch north is orientated up. Feel free to click on any of the images for a larger version. Overall I was very happy with how this sketch turned out.

Object: NGC 936 Spiral Galaxy in Pisces; Date: November 26th, 2011; Time: approx. 07:22p.m. MST; Location: Pit n Pole, Tooele Co. Utah; Conditions: Clear & Cold; Seeing: Antoniadi I; Mag. 10.0; Size: 4.7' x 4.1'; Instruments: XX14i; 10mm Pentax XW;

Notes: Bright stellar core with bright nucleus that is somewhat elongated due to a bar. Lies NW to SE just off the E -W line. Inner core region is surrounded by an elongated diffused core. Core is wonderful to study. No other details observed.

Object: NGC 604 Emission Nebula in Messier 33, the Triangulum Galaxy in Triangulum; Date: November 26th, 2011; Time: 08:15p.m. MST; Location: Pit n Pole, Tooele Co. Utah; Conditions: Clear and very cold; Seeing: Antoniadi I to II; Instrument: XX14i, 27mm Panoptic & 21mm Ethos with Paracorr II (thanks Jeff!); Filter: OIII and Ultrablock; 5mm Pentax XW with 2x TV Powermate;

Notes: This is a HII or star cloud in M33 that if it was in our galaxy would be over forty times larger than the visible portion of the Orion Nebula. NGC 604 is over 6300 times more luminous than the Orion Nebula and if it was the same distance as M42 is to us, it would outshine Venus in the night sky. Messier 33 this night was very bright in the 9x50 finder, just sticking out so bright and in the 27mm Panoptic the 2 top arms and the bottom arm was visible. The 21mm Ethos that my friend Jeff Porter put into the XX14i really showed the structure of this galaxy very well. NGC 604 was a very diffused patch of light with what appears to be a bright core in the middle, really this is a brightening of the light I would assume. It really looks like a faint galaxy or a faint globular cluster. I boosted power to 660x and was able to somewhat detect some mottling . Here is my poor man's sketch of Messier 33 and of the region of NGC 604.

Here is NGC 604 based on observations:

Object: NGC 1514 Planetary Nebula in Taurus; Date: November 26th, 2011; Time: 10:00p.m. MST; Location: Pit n Pole, Tooele Co. Utah; Conditions: Clear and Very Cold! Seeing: Antoniadi I to II; Mag. 10.9; Size: 2.3' x 2.0'; Instruments: XX14i, 10mm & 5mm Pentax XW; Filter: Ultrablock and OIII;

Notes: Large planetary and the Ultrablock filter provided the best view for me with a 2x Powermate at 660x this night. Mottling on the planetary nebula was evident with a large concave hole that was dark around the central star. It gave me the appearance of seeing that the nebulosity here is being pushed away from the central star. The west and northwest part of the nebula (west is labeled here) is the brightest region of the planetary. This planetary nebula has a very uneven surface brightness and is a wonderful winter planetary nebula to observe if you haven't seen it.

EDIT: I forgot I had one last sketch to post!

Object: NGC 7635 The Bubble Nebula, a Bright Nebula in Cassiopeia; Date: November 26th, 2011; Time: 10:35p.m. MST; Size: 15.0' x 8.0'; Blue Mag. 11.0; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepieces: 10mm & 14mm Pentax XW w/Paracorr I; Filter: OIII and Ultrablock NB filter;
Notes: Very elusive object tonight, and I can only detect the rim of the bubble, with a hint of some dark lanes to the north and some nebulosity beyond that. Some nebulosity flows to the east also. The OIII and Ultrablock NB filters helped a little, but not much. This bright nebula extends mainly north of star SAO 20575. I have to apologize to my friend Mat on this one. He has been trying for this object and I told him I would show it to him and I didn't. I got on it, sketched it and then the frost was hitting so I forgot to bring him over. Sorry!

At this point frost was forming on the finder, the Telrad, and the secondary. As a dummy I didn't think to get out some rubber bands and some hand warmers and put them next to these items via a rubberband! Another DOH! moment for Jay! I used my friend's Mat 12 volt hair dryer and that provided me time to view M42 and Jupiter but by now the night was frosted over and we called it quits at 11:00p.m. and packed everything up and left.

I had a whole lot of objects that I really wanted to go after and I did see a few more items than I have listed here, but they aren't part of my observing lists and were just familiar Messiers or bright objects that a few others wanted to see. Hopefully, new moon around Christmas will allow me to get out! I've been really sick this week again so I am hoping that is all cleared up by the new moon period.

One other thing that I have decided is that Pit n Pole is being relegated to a secondary position. The dew or frost issue out there is just too much. I am going to switch to the Vernon Reservoir location because it is up out of the muck and out of the humidity, well, if you set up away from the reservoir. There are a couple of areas there that I really like so if I go to Rush Valley, I am heading out there from now on. I'll still use it in the summer but the dew/frost has killed too many session for me now. Another 30 minutes of driving is worth avoiding that issue. I'll probably head to either Vernon or Lakeside come new moon. So a short report, but hopefully an interesting one.

Some Harder Late Fall/Winter Objects to Hunt Down, Some just for fun

2011-11-19T08:32:00.003-07:00

Now, back to my usual format. I am going to post here about some of the harder or less known late fall or winter objects that are up in the sky to view. There are several, I am going to post images and sketches from the net with the links so their owners have credit, so here we go.

1. We'll start in the constellation of Sculptor, a constellation that for us at 41 degrees north is about at the limit of how low I will go for an object. The object is NGC 55 as seen in this image by Joe Cauchi's photo album at this link:

In terms of sketches there were several that I liked and will post links to them here. Faith, over at FJ Astronomy, a site I follow has a wonderful sketch located on her website here. From the Deep Sky Observer's Online Database is this sketch found here. It looks to be from a 1885 sketch from Melbourne. Steve Gottlieb has this to say on viewing NGC 55 in a 13 inch scope from the NGC/IC Database here: "Fairly bright. A very faint eastern portion is possibly detached from the bright WNW section." Finally there is a sketch and observation on Astronomy Sketch of the Day by the late Scott Mellish found here. A worthy candidate to go after right now!

2. Simeis 147 or Sharpless 2-240 is a supernova remnant located in the constellations of Auriga and Taurus (image from Astronomy Picture of the Day at this link):

This object can be extremely challenging. I have tried for it twice, and want to say I saw a brightening but could not confirm it. Thus for me, it stays unobserved and an object I am going after this winter. I have found the following links the most helpful in preparing to observe this object. The first is Bright Regions in Simeis 147 located here. The second is linked to the first and is a sketch and observation by Rich Jakiel found here. I love both his sketch interimposed on an image so you can see what he saw in relation to the actual. My focus will be to find the field of the region identified as B and then work from there since the region B area seems to be the easiest to see and gets one in the mindset of this faint winter object which is very large. My 14 should show it locally and it is on the list for the 20" also. Here is an article on S-147 that discusses its point of origin, possibly Messier 36 and the pulsar that is the remnant of the exploding star.

3. IC 443 a Supernova Remnant in the constellation of Gemini (image from this site).

This supernova remnant from a supernova explosion that is estimated to have occurred around 3000-30000 years ago. Deep in the nebulosity is a neutron star that is emitting x-rays, all that is left from the exploding star of 1.4 to 3 solar masses. Sites like this one contain both observations and a digital sketch and discusses that with a OIII or UHC filter even a 8 inch can spots parts of this. I'm anxious to give this one a go and to compare the views of the 14 inch vs the 20 inch and this object will take up one whole post on the blog as I want to including my finder charts, my observations and any sketch that I can do. I'm excited about this one.

4. Observing Galaxies in Messier 44.

In the image above from E. Riveria at this link, you can see some of the fainter galaxies that are observable from within the Beehive Cluster. Jay McNeil at this link discusses observing and imaging these galaxies. I'll need to do some more research on this and then edit the post here.

Also, Messier 44 has about 12 white dwarfs in it, but I am unable to located any information on them or if any are observable (some I would assume are) so I have another quest.

I'm late getting to an ATM session so I am going to stop here for now and will add the remaining objects later today.

5. The next object isn't that hard, but it is a fun planetary nebula. NGC 1514 is a PN in the constellation of Taurus and is known as the Crystal Ball Nebula. Here is a finder chart image with Perseus above and Messier 45 to the right.

Here is a link to the NGC/IC database entry on this object. Here is an image of the PN by Don Goldman from his site located here.

Here is a link to the APOD image. Here is a 2010 article from Bad Astronomy that shows WISE data that reveals rings around the PN. This is a rather bright object with a nice 9.5 magnitude central star and responds well to the OIII or to the UHC. I will try the OIII on this one. Here is a sketch by Jeremy Perez to take a look at.

6. IC 2149 Planetary Nebula in Auriga.

In Tom Trusock's Small Wonders Auriga this object is found at the very bottom. Here is a sketch by Jeff Young at CloudyNights.

7. NGC 1532, Edge on Spiral Galaxy in Eridanus

If you image, there is quite a bit of structure here in evident. Here is a link to a sketch of the item. Look for the companion NGC 1531, a dwarf galaxy that is interacting with this wonderful object. Here is a link to the NGC/IC database on this object.

8. NGC 1399 in Fornax, an elliptical galaxy. I'm including this very southern galaxy because it was here the Chandra X Ray and the Magellan Telescope in Chile found evidence for a star being consumed by an intermediate size black hole as found in this quick video put out by ChandraHarvard. From Chandra Harvard comes this wonderful image. Note the smaller interacting galaxies around NGC 1399.

8. Here is another galaxy, NGC 1398 in Fornax and visible in the winter though low in the southern sky. Here is an image:

This spiral galaxy has a transversal central bar with a bright central core. The galaxy has distinct arms and then outside of them, some more fainter arms. Wonderful object though low in the sky from 41 degrees north. I could not find a sketch of this object.

I have more objects to add and will do so over the next several days as the schedule allows.

Observing, Death, Nature and Philosophies; My Thoughts

2011-11-18T20:47:00.006-07:00

First, let me save some of you some time. This post will have a little to do with any observing session or product. The weather is snowing tonight so as much as I had hope to get out tonight and tomorrow, it isn't going to happen. The entry is a personal reflection of how life and observing connect for me. I guess I just need to write something in the public forum because I feel the need. So feel free right now, if you haven't already, to bail out, to click out, to rip the cord so to say. If you want to know more about me, then I feel free to read on at your own risk.

I think I will try to cover a couple of things here. First will be a reflection that age and observing have brought to me about life and mortality and the challenge of seizing each day of life to grab that day's full potential. Next, I'll attempt to share the feelings that going observing brings to me, be it in the storms of summer, the freeze of fall, or the bone chilling stillness of winter. Last, the conflict between my individualism and my humanitarian philosophy that comes from life and from being in this hobby. Answers. I think I have found some answers for me, while I continue to look for more.

Life has a strange way over the last couple of years of reminding me that I am not mortal. I had the immortality complex up to about 44 and then one day, I quit breathing during a procedure and they had to rush me from a simple procedural room to a OR room to complete what I was going through. I realized that day, and was reminded for the next several weeks as I recovered and my whole torso continued to hurt that I could have passed so quickly. Of late other medical things have reminded me of my own mortality. My father passed away when I was 17 and that was one of those defining moments of life for me. Life changed drastically for me that day and I'll leave it at that, as that is a story that has had long and deep consequences for me on a very personal level. Anyway, one of my fascinations of life was similar to Abraham Lincoln who feared an early death in life because of the loss of his mother. My father was 45 and 7 months and when I passed that mark awhile back, it provided me comfort that I wasn't going to die early. However, it reminded me that despite the best laid plans, life for me or anyone I love or know can and does end abruptly more often than not. It reminds me of the importance to maximize each day I am alive.

So, why bring this up? Because when I observe my favorite sky objects, deep-sky objects or other objects, I often reflect on the amount of time it has taken the light to reach us and in that time what events have transpired in our universe, galaxy, solar system and planet. It reminds me that as important as my ego would like me to think I am, in the end, I am truly not so important. Yet I am in a way very important in that my legacy is what I leave with my loved ones, especially my children who are young adults now, and my friends. My influences, thoughts and more important, our mutual enjoyment of each other. Perhaps a student, yes, one student will remember the impact I had on them as a teacher and in a way, who I am will continue with them in some small way. So though I am reminded of my own mortality from my life, and from my observing, I can honestly say that death no longer is a scary notion for me. I don't seek it, and I don't want it to come early, as I want to live to observe for many more years and to see grandchildren, and so much more of the world. However, when it comes, it will not be feared. I guess I finally feel peace about that for the first time in my life and in a strange way, my astronomical observing truly has been one thing that has helped me to obtain that. I believe that our hobby can have profound impacts on our lives.

So this notion that death can occur whenever, has brought to me not a recklessness, but a desire to make sure that every day I am alive is the best I can make it for that day. It doesn't mean I don't have rough or bad days, I do, just like everyone. However, it does mean that I strive to find something positive, that I enjoy the day even with its challenges. Again, a parallel from observing. I remember when I was first started observing, and in reading my old logs I made so many mistakes and got frustrated after trying to do a star hop for over an hour. Then I simply realized that what I was seeing in the finder was reversed in the eyepiece! Yet that frustration and that simple learning helped me to learn to star hop, a skill I am so glad I have. I think life is like that at times. We see the direction we want to go, but then we make some simple mistakes, unknowing mistakes, and until we realize it, and correct it, we don't find what we are looking for. From this I learned that it is the experience that is to be treasured, the entire experience, not just the joy of figuring of what your doing, of being on the target, or getting that sketch or image. I don't seek an end result of happiness, but I treasure the journey, the quest and find my happiness in that. By doing that, I think I maximize my joy in life, and find the positive regardless of the day, and that makes me a better human being and person.

Some of the people in my life that I am extremely close to, don't understand my desire to go observing. Well, a large part of observing I have covered. I just love observing and in my feeble way sketch the objects of the deep-sky. Why? It centers me as a human being while also bring me a peace and serenity that getting away from the city does. It reminds me that as complicated as life is, there are wonders and beauties to be discovered. I wish, even if for a day, I could experience first hand what a professional astronomer feels doing their job as they seek the truths of our universe. What an incredible feeling to leave a legacy that others will build upon as the mysteries of the universe are revealed! Anyway, observing just makes me connected to the notion that I am discovering things for the first time for me. Then I can gain the background knowledge that goes with the quasar, galaxy, planetary nebula etc. that I am observing. I thus increase my own knowledge of the universe and that, is just downright cool to me.

There is another notion that I want to expand. The notion of leaving our busy and structured life and getting out in the dark places of our country and local areas and connecting to nature. In August, I was able to get out to the West Desert and I posted some similar pictures here, yet there was a large thunderstorm coming through the area. The wind was just blowing as I got out to the observing site, and you could smell the rain in the air. I actually parked the car and got out and just felt the rush of the wind, the rapid movement of the clouds and that must moisture smell mixed with dust of the rain. It reminded me of John Muir's A Wind Storm in the Forest where he wrote:

"Winds are advertisements of all they touch, however much or little we may be able to read them; telling their wanderings even by their scents alone. Mariners detect the flowery perfume of land-winds far at sea, and sea-winds carry the fragrance of dulse and tangle far inland, where it is quickly recognized, though mingled with the scents of a thousand land-flowers. As an illustration of this, I may tell here that I breathed sea-air on the Firth of Forth, in Scotland, while a boy; then was taken to Wisconsin, where I remained nineteen years; then, without in all this time having breathed one breath of the sea, I walked quietly, alone, from the middle of the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico, on a botanical excursion, and while in Florida, far from the coast, my attention wholly bent on the splendid tropical vegetation about me, I suddenly recognized a sea-breeze, as it came sifting through the palmettos and blooming vine-tangles, which at once awakened and set free a thousand dormant associations, and made me a boy again in Scotland, as if all the intervening years had been annihilated."

This wind and its smell took me back to a time in California when I was a junior in high school and I was helping to bail hay or biking up the many roads that we did back then before biking became so popular (riding touring bikes, not motorcycles). So in this instance, my experience with a thunderstorm took me back to my youth and brought back memories that are still lingering with me. It also reconnected me with the writings of John Muir who I read a lot as a teenager and young adult. I reconnected with a part of me I hadn't recalled for sometime and it was magical. Here are a couple of images of that day in the hope that I can share in image what I fear my words don't.

Some wonder why I observe in the cold of a northern Utah winter in the depth of December, January or even February. First, the winter sky is my personal favorite with so many wonders to observe and discover. Next, nature changes yet again as it withdraws from activity to preservation. There is a stillness in winter that I have never found in the summer. There are no insects or birds chirping. Animal activity is at a minimal and when the sky is clear, often it is some of the best seeing and transparency I ever see in northern Utah. The air seems to be whispering, even if it dares to speak to us and break the silence and beauty of the sky. Winter observing connects me to my memories of first learning to snow shoe in the Sierra Nevada, or going to a cabin in sixth grade and learning to cross country ski. It brings back memories that are deep, personal and connecting. Memories that make up who I am, that I embrace and want to ensure that I record. It recalls the story of me, and for me, that is significant. One time I need to just take a chair, binoculars and a digital recorder and just record the memories that flood back. So, if you ever are observing with me and I look nostalgic (you'll really have to know me to know when I am having one of these moments) realize I am just being sentimental, and the bear is showing a side that he often hides except from those he cares and trusts, those he loves.

Now for my final thought. I was raised to be a humanitarian by my parents in the sense that if you define a humanitarian as being an ethical belief of extending kindness, benevolence and sympathy universally and impartially to all human beings. To further extend it, it is a philosophy that the has at its core an acceptance of every human being for plainly just being another human being. In another way I was raised to be an individual or individualist with the notion that I needed to be independent in my thinking and in beliefs. I wasn't to rely on others to form those, but I am to form those and thus be self-reliant. My parents were not extreme here because of a belief we have in my family that at some time, we need and rely on others to help us, to assist us and indeed, we have that humanitarian belief that we are here to lift and support each other. You can put your own definitions on these two words and that's fine, I am just trying to communicate part of my own belief system.

So how does this relate to astronomy? First, I never turn away someone from observing with me. I actively seek others to observe with me and with my group of friends. I thoroughly enjoy everyone I have ever or do currently observe with. I find their personal experience and just who they are enjoyable to be around. I find I often learn more from them than than they do from me, even though I can be quite gregarious. Second, I also love observing with a group of friends and new friends also. Yet I also like just observing with one or two friends or even at times, by myself (I believe for safety one should have a buddy along to be safe). There are times I really feel like helping others and reaching out to them and for the most part, this is how it is ninety percent of the time. However, that ten percent of the time I want to withdraw the scaffolding (the educator coming out) and let others just learn like I did. The best teacher is experience. I guess the difference is knowing when to do this.

The other issue for me is outreach vs individual observing. The humanitarian in me says participate in outreach. The individual says though that there are only so many clear days in the last two years so maximize my observing time and this is what has won out. I did one outreach event per month this year but that was it. Part of me thinks I need to do more so I am doing an outreach in my home city next time the moon goes past first quarter. I fear I will still struggle with this dilemma for sometime. If you have ideas on this last one let me know. One thing I won't do is the weekend before new moon or the weekend of new moon go to an outreach because I just think that is a waste. So I seek a better balance here but I am not sure I am ready to sacrifice personal observing time under new moon.

So that's it. A long rant and I am sure not too many have made it this far. If you did, you may know a little bit more about me for what it is worth. Perhaps you made a connection with what I am exploring and connecting with and your own observing. I am sure I am just too complicated and that not many do what I do, but simply enjoyj observing. I am so glad your out there because your needed to counter someone like me. Hopefully next Wednesday looks like I might be able to get out that night and get a session and I'll get that review up if that can happen. Next up, a book review and some winter objects to pursue.

Staying Warm Coleman Sportcat Catalytic Converter

2011-11-17T02:09:00.004-07:00

I want to share with you today a new toy I picked up to help keep me somewhat warm on those frosty fall observing nights or in those cold winter observing nights. It is the Coleman Sportcat Catalytic Converter. I picked mine up from Walmart for $33.00. I had really considered purchasing the Coleman Blackcat Catalytic Converter (Amazom) but the cost for that was around $55.00 and cost won out on this for me. I will state that the Blackcat Converter does put out more heat and perhaps I should have gone that way. I'll let you know for sure after this winter season IF I get observing time. It's not looking good out here in Utah for new moon in November right now.

This little heater operates on a small bottle of Coleman Propane gas and it needs a match or similar device to start. To start you simply turn the switch to the on position after lighting the match, and then hold the match to the top on the side. You'll get a quick wiff and then the heater is going. You can see this in this image:

Here the heater is going and if you put your leg or hands over it, you can feel the heat kicking out. Now in reality in the field, you don't see the heat as in this image but you can feel it. The amount of heat coming out is not like a single or double burner of the kind used in ice fishing as seen here at Cabela's. That type of heater really cranks out the heat and will keep an observing area warm though this will impact night vision. You'd need to set this up away from the telescope if you use the Cabela version that I posted a link to. If you don't want one of the Coleman versions then I would recommend this heater from Cabela.

Anyway, back to the Coleman Sportcat. My Sportcat doesn't put out any where near the heat of either Cabela's heaters, but it is enough to do several things. I have used it under my fold up table and it kept my legs really toasting. I have also used it with a field blanket where I spread out the field blanket to capture the heat coming out and that has warmed me up. It is wonderful for warming up cold hands and I have also placed it in the passenger floor of my Pathfinder and cracked the windows in the front and it has really warmed the cab without running the car. Finally, I used it one evening (to see if it worked) in the backyard by the scope and it helped at the telescope to keep me and the scope a little warmer. I may have to try it on a dewy night to see if it can help with that though I doubt it.

The downsides. Don't expect this to put out enough heat to counter the cold of the night. It isn't designed for that. You still need the right clothes and other equipment to keep you warm. It helps, but isn't a cure all. Next, the Sportcat stands nicely, but has no way to be leaned over (though I made a solution by making a tilted stand where the handle grip fits into to keep it tilted). Next, if you use it in a tent or in a car/SUV/Pickup etc. you need to keep a couple of windows cracked by an inch or two, or you run the risk of hurting yourself (or perhaps even killing yourself). I one pound bottle of gas will run this unit for over 24 hours in my experience.

So though not a heat furnace, this little unit does quite well in the field for what it is. It warms the hands, feet, legs and can help take the edge off a cold night while observing. Robert and Barbara Thompson discuss the use of heaters such as these at this link from their book, Astronomy Hacks. This link takes you to a site to download the book I believe, but I am not sure if that is legal. Here is what they said:

"Sadly, fireplaces are rare at observing sites, but there is a next-best solution. Portable catalytic propane heaters put out enough heat to make heat packs and other personal warmers seem tame by comparison. Catalytic heaters burn fuel without an open flame, and are safe to use inside a tent, vehicle, or other closed location as long as you provide some ventilation.

Don't buy a kerosene heater or a non-catalytic propane heater. These units put out a lot of heat, as much as 25,000 BTU/hour or more, but they produce much too much light to be usable at a dark observing site. They also cannot be used in a closed location because they produce deadly car-bon monoxide gas.

Coleman (http://www.coleman.com) offers several models of catalytic propane heater that produce from 1,100 to 3,000 BTU/hour. (We recommend the 3,000 BTU/hour units for astronomy.) These heaters use disposable 16.4 ounce propane cylinders, which sell for a couple bucks at any hardware store and last from 8 to 18 hours, depending on the output of the unit. Catalytic propane heaters burn with a soft orange glow that is barely visible, even when you are fully dark adapted.

We don't want to overstate the amount of heat these units put out. You won't even notice the heat as you move around your observing site. In fact, the first time we fired ours up, we thought it hadn't started. It takes several minutes for the unit to start completely, and even once it's started, the heat is not obvious in the open air unless you are quite close to the unit. But 3,000 BTU/hour is a significant amount of heat if you concentrate and contain it. Figure 1-2 shows Robert warming himself with our catalytic propane heater. The blanket acts to trap the heat, and after a couple of minutes it becomes comfortably warm inside the impromptu tent.

If you or one of your observing buddies has a van, that provides the ideal solution. Simply place your catalytic heater in the van at the beginning of your observing session and start it running, leaving a window cracked a few inches for ventilation. Depending on how well the van is insulated, a 3,000 BTU/hour catalytic heater can raise the interior temperature by 20°F or more, providing a warm refuge for your observing group.

Don't forget that your coat and other cold-weather clothing are as good at keeping heat out as they are at keeping it in. When you're in the refuge, open or remove your coat to allow the heat to warm you."

I think they make some very valid points here and ones that I wanted to include in the blog. So here you have it, though not perfect, the little guy helps. I may still pick up the second link from Cabela's as I think that puts out a little more heat but I'll go by this weekend (if weather permits) and take a look at it. Once again, hope this helps someone.

Observing Sites Near Salt Lake City

2011-11-12T20:57:00.012-07:00

This is a post that will probably interest local amateurs only as I am going to share some of my observing sites via Google Maps. You can explore the site located here. Now, perhaps if you don't live here the take away perhaps is to use Google Maps or something similar and make a list of observing sites for fellow amateurs to use.

1. Near Lookout Pass which is near Vernon, Utah off the Pony Express Road. I'll post a couple of images from a broad view to a narrower view. I hope this helps some local observers.

This site is right off the Pony Express Road as you go up toward Lookout Pass. There are Juniper Trees to your back here and some that can block the few lights coming up from Vernon. Watch out for the ruts in the road as last winter some 4WD or ATV's really dug up the road. High clearance vechiles are best here but my friend Mat got his mini-van back here. It's a good site when the valley is cold and has high humidity in the fall and spring.

The next site is up past Lookout Pass and as you begin to descend there is a dirt road heading south. Shortly after taking it is a place people during the day unload their ATV's and there is a nice setup area on the south side. Your up in elevation here, above any humidity that in the fall or winter might spring up. You may have to compete with ATV's being loaded but at night, this area is okay at night. If there are people loading up here you can drive farther south on the road to the next map.

You can see on this map both the site right off the Pony Express Road that I described and showed in the proceeding paragraph. Here is an image that shows the site just to the south. I actually prefer this site as there is less traffic and I like that it is off the main dirt road. This link will show you what viewing conditions are like here.

Here is a close up of the southern spot (near the bottom on the above picture). If you loo on the map there are some other alternative sites you can also try in this area.

The next stop is the Vernon Reservoir. Just south of Vernon, this link gives directions from my house to the Vernon Reservoir. This is becoming my favorite observing site. It is farther than Pit n Pole, has low humidity (if your set up away from the reservoir) and great skies all around. There are some lights from Vernon to the north, but far less than the Chemical Weapon Depot at Pit n Pole. There are some favorable spots to the south of Vernon Reservoir in the mountains there with some decent southern sky views but I need next summer to come to check these out. In the winter you can observe from the Vernon Reservoir at some of the campsites with little interference from campers (they don't like camping in the winter). Here is a wide view and a close in view. The wide view is first and shows Vernon and then the reservoir.

Here is the in view and you can see I setup just away from the reservoir with a slight hill that blocks any light from Vernon. If there aren't people at the reservoir its decent to set up there but in the summer had mosquito repellent.

The next image shows Pit n Pole (on the far right). The maker in the middle or the second from the right edge is down the road from Pit n Pole and elevated about 800 feet above that site and it is down the southern dirt road that is across from the MesoNet Weather Station which is right next to the Pony Express Marker. During the day the site is used for target practice by shooters but they are gone at night, I've never had a car come by this area and we've had 5 scopes out here with room for several more.

The left most (or third marker) is a site I've been to during the day but it has been about a year. It is wider than Pit n Pole and is a higher in elevation so I don't think humidity will be an issue and has great southern skies and the other portion of the skies as Pit n Pole. I need to use this site with a couple of observing friends and see how it is to be out there until say 2:00a.m.

This is the wide view of course.

I am often asked why Pit n Pole in the fall, sometimes in the winter (freezing frost) and in the spring has dew problems. Well, if you look at this image you can see a dry lake bed next to the site and the site sits low and the dew forms from being close to this dry lake bed. Though a very good site it is why some try to find other sites though they may be farther away.

Here is Pit n Pole:

I call the second site from the right, the one down from the weather tower (Mesonet) and the Pony Express Marker the Pony Express Marker South. You can clearly see it and the Pit n Pole location and the distance between them. There is also a site just behind the Pony Express Marker (there is a dirt road there) that is wide and flat but it is very dusty. I didn't mark or show that site on this map as it is just to the north of the dirt road that takes you to left hand site in the image below.

Here is the third site I am really wanting to try out.

I have a blog entry on the next site if you search you'll find it but it is a winter observing spot called Tibble Fork Reservoir. The map shows the road is closed and it can be in bad winter conditions, but in clear conditions it is open. The do have winter activities at Tibble Fork Reservoir as this link shows. The tubing or sledding is a wonderful activity to go up and do as is the snow shoeing.

Anyway, in the evening at Tibble Fork there is a large parking lot and it is deserted more often than not and you can set up there for a wonderful and cold night of observing. There is a mountain to the south, up to 30 degrees but the views are really good there if you need a quick winter escape. Here is a map:

The last one is the Lakeside site that many frequent. Here is the map and this site or the Knolls is also wonderful to go to. No or little humidity (usually) and great dark skies.

Lakeside is the one on the right, the one on the upper left is a site I use if the humidity is too high to use the Lakeside site. It is up in elevation and avoids the humidity and it actually warmer.

There are other sites I could post, but I think that is enough for now. Again, I hope that this helps someone out. If your local, stay warm as it has been snowing on and off all evening and be safe if your traveling anywhere.

Jay

Pease 1 or Kuestner 648 in Messier 15

2011-11-11T20:11:00.004-07:00

Image taken from the Hubble Space Telescope

I was going to just edit my last blog post, but I decided instead to enter this information on its own. If you go to the blog post before this one, dated November 6th, 2011, I have entered my information on finding the planetary nebula in the globular cluster Messier 15 in Pegasus. This post is to share the information on how to find it with those who may want to go after it themselves.

Here is the link to the Blackskies.org findercharts for Pease 1. These are the best you can get and though it eats some ink up, I recommend that you print them out and use them as you go after them. I did and it really did help.

In this link you will find actual observations that are written on the BlackSkies.org site from amateurs who successful chased down this object. I post these as you may find them useful, especially the photo on the bottom on the page. That last recorded observation on that website is 10/7/2004.

The wonderful Czech amateur astronomer Leos Ondra has a 12 year old article on Pease 1 located here that is still a wonderful read. Even if you have no intention of looking at this object, you should read the article as he touches on why so few planetary nebula are found in globular clusters (has something to do with these things called pulsars and the amount of them and the wind they create . . . but go read the article). For that matter you may find some of his articles on his web page interesting so this is the link to them. I look forward to reading his article on what was then a new variable in the Dumbbell Nebula; the article on Wilhelm Tempel, the discoverer of the Pleiades, and his article on Messier 5 and its variables. Be warned, his links on his webpage are no good for some of the article but I simply googled his first and last name and the name of the article and found them. Here is the one on Messier 5 and its variables. Looks like I have some nice quick and enjoyable reading for the snowy nights this weekend where I live here in Utah.

Hubble checked out M15 and Pease1 and here is a link to the images (yes, I think it looks like a tiny dumbbell or even a tie-fighter from Star Wars). From the site I share two comments. The first is that "the surface temperature of the central star of K 648 is about 70,000 degrees Fahrenheit (40,000 degrees Celsius), and analysis of the Hubble data indicates that the star's remaining mass is only 60 percent that of our Sun. The star's outer layers were ejected some 4,000 years ago (i.e., before the light we see was emitted)."

There is a mystery to how the planetary formed because "at the present time, the most massive stars remaining in M15 have about 80 percent of the mass of our Sun, a fact that makes the existence of a planetary nebula like K 648 something of a mystery. The Hubble images used to make this image were taken to test the idea that the progenitor of K 648 may have "borrowed" some mass from a nearby stellar companion. No such companion was revealed by Hubble, so the mystery remains unsolved. One possibility is that the progenitor of K 648 was two stars, which then merged together to become the single star now seen at the center of the nebula"

Finally, Steve Gottlieb at this link offers a finder chart via images to find Pease 1 and some other fun faint early winter items. I enjoy Steve's stuff a lot and encourage you to read that piece also.

There's other images available online with descriptions if you search under Pease 1. I just wanted to kinda of bring all of them together here. Hope someone finds it useful.

Observing Sessions: 10/19, 10/22-23, 10/29-30/2011; Lookout Pass, Lakeside, Pit n Pole, Utah

2011-11-06T12:42:00.014-07:00

I am home sick today, with an extremely bad cold. I hate when I miss work but I am under doctor orders to take a sick day for the next six months if I get a severe cold since I had pneumonia in September, for the second time this year. My immune system is still recovering from the last year and so I need to rest. So after this post, I am heading back to bed, hoping my medicine has kicked in by then so I can get some more rest.

Well, the end of October brought several observing opportunities for me and a few friends. Some were good outings, some were not so good. So I'll try to recap them now. On October 19th, 2011, my friend Mat and I went out and tried a location I have used in the past near Lookout Pass. Lookout Pass is up at about 5600 feet, higher than the Pit n Pole Site I and others frequently use. Here is a map to its location:

You drive past Pit n Pole to the Faust Station (past the 3 railroad tracks and down the road to the highway). You turn left as if your heading to Vernon and then wait for the marker for the Pony Express Road which is a gravel road. Turn right there and then follow the map out. When I was last at this site, there were no ruts in the road off the Pony Express Road but now someone last winter, had taken a four wheel drive and made some pretty big ruts so be careful in a car out there. My Pathfinder made it out there just fine as did Mat's minivan. You have a nice are to set up in here, with Cedar trees behind you and you can use the Cedar Trees to block any stray light from Vernon. These lights are less impact to one than the lights from the Weapon Depot, but Vernon is to the south-east to where the weapons depot is to the norht-west of Pit n Pole.

The atmosphere this night was not very good for viewing, and horrible for seeing galaxies. I failed trying to find NGC 7042 twice tonight because of the conditions. I know I was in the right area as the finder chart matched, but just couldn't make it out. Later I would learn why. I did bag the following item:

Date: 10/19/2011 Time: 09:30p.m. MDT; Location: Lookout Pass, Rush Valley; Seeing: Antoniadi IV to V; Conditions: Mild, high thin clouds and cloud mixture.
Object: NGC 7156 Spiral Galaxy in Pegasus. Mag. 10.3; RA 21h 59m 7s Dec. +3 degrees 50m 8 s. Instrument: XX14i Eyepiece: 10mm Pentax XW

Notes: This is a very faint, roundish galaxy, a Herschel 400 II object. The strong winds aloft make it hard to see. Basically a smudge with a 11th to 12th magnitude stars next to it. Maybe a hint of brightness near the core, some mottling evident.

I did spend some time with Messier 15 and that led to an attempt to sketch it but the clouds came in and we packed up. I also tried for several other objects and I viewed some eye candy in Cygnus but there really wasn't much to report.

My friend Jorge wanted to try on Sunday night so I gave it a shot, anxious to get some work on some lists done. This night I went to Pit n Pole, October 20th, and conditions were not that much better. I got in some eye candy in Sagitarrius and then noticed that I had a H-400 open cluster to get done that I had missed so I went after that and got it.

Date: 10/23/2011 Time: 08:35p.m. MDT / 10/24/2011 02:35 UT; Location: Pit n Pole, Rush Valley, Utah. Seeing: Antoniadi III; Conditions: Mild, lots of vapor and cirrus clouds. Object: NGC 752 open cluster in Andromeda. Mag. 5.7; Size: 75'; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 27mm Panoptic.

Notes: Very large open cluster and it is across from 58 Andromeda. Two stars are next to it that are very close and bright in the finder. This is a very rich open cluster with well over 100 stars in evident, more wanting to peep out. Very long and loose chains on the outer portion of the cluster leading to smaller chains with less distance between the stars as you work your way in to the center of the cluster. A very nice open cluster, one I'll come back and visit.

I sketched this one so here is the sketch.

That was about all I got that night, before packing it up and heading home. Weather had nailed me I guess for my visit south. However, then came the night of October 22, 2011. On October 22, 2011, the weather had been iffy during the day, but I spent a half an hour or so really looking over the weather charts and satellite data. I find with Clear Sky Clock if I click on an hour when I want to observe at a site and then advance for 6 hours, I can then use my back and forward buttons on my browser to get an idea of what the forecast is from them. Next, I combine that with what I see in Skippy Astronomer Forecast and those two then go with what I get from my local National Weather Service. Everything this day said go, so I went. I took a new friend this night, Josh, who is working on building his own scope so I took my XT10 to let him use it that evening. I had the 14 reflector with me and off we went. My friends George, Dave Rankin (who I called Tyler for Tyler Allred at one point), Jorge and Ian showed up to either observe or image out there. Well, Jorge images in the dark with his camera and Ian, Josh and I visually observed.

I gave Josh some tips on how to use the Pocket Sky Atlas and a Planisphere and the XT10 with the Telrad, finder scope and eyepiece to nail objects. He did quite well considering I didn't bring a laser to help him. So before I go farther I'll share some images of the site in b/w. This is where we set up, just by something we call the bern which is a raised wall. On the other side in the spring there is a drinking hole/spring for animals and cows to drink from. By late spring and summer and fall the cows stay away from here.

Another view of the set up area.

The XX14i and the XT10 set up, both collimated and both cooling their mirrors (that makes me think of a song by the group Boston).

No promise that the movie will show up here or will work. I often have problems with them on this blog but I'll give it a try. Oh, yes, I was getting giddy as conditions continued to improve as twilight came up on us. I was excited to observe if you can't tell.

I had a very productive night this night viewing over 30 objects (that is high for me) and getting some sketch time in. So, here we go with observations and sketches, then I'll mention what else I did. It did get down to around 28 degrees F that night.

Object: NGC 7448 Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. Date: 10/22/11; Time: 08:35p.m. MDT; Location: Lakeside, UT; Antoniadi II; Conditions: Clear, Cold. RA 23 h 00m 3.7s Dec. +15 degrees 58m 5.0s; Mag. 11.5; Size: 2.7'x1.2'; Instrument: XX14i and 10mm Pentax XW.
Notes: Bright core with elongated halo around the core. The galaxy is elongated NW-SE.

I now began working both individual galaxy and galaxy groups in Pegasus. The area and the 20" had whetted my appetite enough that I wanted to see what the 14 can do. The other reason is I want to compare some of these objects when the new mirror comes for Carl Zambuto. Anyway, I ended up on the next object which are two wonderful elliptical galaxies that are surrounded by other galaxies in the area. I need to do a wide field sketch of this region.

Object: NGC 7619 & NGC 7626 Elliptical Galaxies in Pegasus. Date: 10/22/2011; Time: 11:01p.m. MDT; Location: Lakeside, UT; Seeing Antoniadi I; Conditions: Clear and COLD; RA: 22h 20m 4.5 s; Dec. +08 degrees 12m 21 s; Mag. 11.3; Size: 2.5'x2.3'; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 10mm Pentax XW;
Notes:
Bright elongated core wit ha very stellar nucleus. Halo is diffused around the core and is also elongated. Sits NE-SW and has a very typical elliptical shape to it. This is the brightest member of the Pegasus I galaxy cluster. NGC 7617 was visible but I did not include it in this sketch

NGC 7626 Elliptical Galaxy in Pegasus; Date: 10/22/11; Time: 11:16p.m. MDT; Location: Lakeside, UT; Seeing: Antoniadi I; Conditions: Clear, COLD; Mag. 11.5; Size: 2.6'x2.3; RA 23h 20m 42.6m; Dec: +08 degrees 13m 01s; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 10mm Pentax XW;
Notes:
Faint stellar core and the core is evident. Core is surrounded by an elongated halo. This elliptical is a hair smaller than NGC 7626 in the eyepiece. No other structure is visible. This is the second brightest member of the Pegasus I galaxy cluster. View NGC 7631 and I need to return to sketch that one also. Basically NGC 7631 is a very tilted spiral galaxy, with a hint of brightness near the core. No nucleus is evident.

With conditions being this good, when I got done with the Pegasus I cluster I went hunting for that little sneak that had eluded me, NGC 7042 and I nailed it.

Object: NGC 7042 Spiral Galaxy in Pegasus; Date: 10/22/2011; Time: 11:40p.m. MDT; Location: Lakeside, Utah; Seeing: Antoniadi I; Conditions: Clear and COLD; Mag. 12.2; Size: 2.0' x 1.8'; RA 21h 13m 45.9s; Dec +13 degrees 24m 28s; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 10mm Pentax XW;
Notes:
I have mentioned I failed on this object on several times due to conditions and tonight I know why. This galaxy took the fantastic seeing of this night in order to bag it. It is extremely faint, roundish object with no structure evident. Well, after looking more, perhaps a hint of structure? I did find it interesting that this object is in the NGC/IC Database online but not in the Fall/Winter Night Sky Observer's Guide.

I had the itch to go after Pease 1 tonight in M15 but I left my finder charts at home so I decided to do what I had intended out at Lookout Pass, which was to sketch Messier 15. So here it is, much larger than it appears but I took the magnification up really high on this one. Messier 13 is fabulous, but I have to admit that Messier 15 is my favorite globular.

Object: NGC 7814 Sprial Galaxy in Pegasus; Date: 10/23/11; Time: 01:07a.m. MDT; Location: Lakeside UT; Seeing: Antoniadi I; Conditions: Clear and Cold; Mag: 10.6; Size: 6.0 x 2.5; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 10mm Pentax XW;
Notes:
This is a bright, large galaxy with a bright core that is broad and well condensed. It has a stellar nucleus that is faint but yet sticks out. The core's brightness seems to extend out but I see no hint of the dust lane that exists in photographs of this object. A fun galaxy. I don't like how I ended up cluttering up this sketch.

We actually had a lot of fun that night and I wished I had sketched Jupiter that night. I don't know what it is but Jupiter, the XX14i and Lakeside just go with fantastic seeing. The GRS was marvelous, the structures on the clouds were evident and nicely so, and the image was crisp and clear. I spent time in Auriga and showed of Messier 36, 37 and 38, also NGC 1931, and Messier 35. I hadn't viewed any of these items save NGC 1931 for two years now. NGC 2158 stood out this night so evidently with the Panoptic 27mm. It looked like this image and I wished I had sketched this one. Just put NGC 2158 in the lower left corner.

The one thing that I will remember for this session, for a very long time, is the excitement that Josh had when I showed him Messier 42, the Orion Nebula for the very first time in the XX14i. His wow, excitement and thrill was something I wished I had recorded because we only view M42 for the first time once. His excitement and thrill of seeing it made me excited. The filaments were there as threads, and the actual nebula with the trapezium looked 3D. It was an incredible view and one I should have taken the time to capture but it was late, like 4:00a.m. and I had to tear down the XX14i, the XT10 and load up. It made me think back to my first time and the first time I shared the view with my son in our backyard. I really enjoy those moments with my kids, when we look through the scope in the backyard and share that experience together. M42 will always be Nathan's Nebula to me because of that. I will always think of my son when I gaze on M42 and I think that is what Josh reminded me of. The fact that we observe, we sketch, we take images, and we learn of the science behind these items is great. Yet in the end, it is a human being who is making connections with the universe, the natural world, with themselves and hopefully with others that makes this such a magical hobby. At least for me.

So on October 29th, 2011 I got to go out one more time before the moon and the weather changed. This time a group of us went to Pit n Pole and the group included Jorge, Mat, Josh, Mark and myself. Mark is a teacher, who built his own dob and did a beautiful job with it (I posted a picture earlier this summer of it, it has the wooden truss poles). He teachers wood shop and has a virtual shop at his house. He also brought a two burner heater and it is a good thing as it got cold, down to 19 degrees F that night. I also had my new little heater and I put it under the table and it kept me nice and warm. More on that in a coming post later this week.

Object: Pease 1 in Messier 15 a globular cluster in Pegasus; October 29th, 2011; Time: 08:25p.m. -10:15p.m. MDT; Location: Pit n Pole, Tooele Co. Utah; Seeing: Antoniadi II; Conditions: Clear and cold; Mag. 15.5; RA 21h 30m 02s; Dec. +12 degrees 10m 2 seconds; Instrument: XX14i with 7mmPentax and 2x Powermate; Filter: OIII

I was really selfish to begin the night. The seeing was an Antoniadi II to I up top and I had brought my Pease I charts so I went for Messier 15 first thing. Once there I brought magnification to the glob and found the trapezium of stars as in the finder chart from Freeman's site. I then followed the star hop using the 7mm Pentax XW and a Powermate 2X. From the star hops I was able to get in the general area after several attempts and then using my OIII filter, I was able to blink the planetary to confirm I had found it. Now that sounds a lot easier than it was and it takes a lot of time and effort and redoing hops several times to get there. It was faint and it took me adjusting to what the OIII filter does to the globular to really be able to view it. The PN was at about 6 o'clock of the core, just off of it actually (depending on one held ones head at the eyepiece). Mat came over and confirmed the finding and the placement as did Jorge. Now I just need to get the one in Messier 22 next summer!

Processing a sketch. Will post it when I get the time to process it.

Object: NGC 7177 Spiral Galaxy in Pegasus; Date: 10/29/11; Time: 11:26p.m. MDT; Location: Pit n Pole, Tooele Co. Utah; Seeing: Antoniadi II; Conditions: Clear and cold; Mag. 11.4; Size: 3.1'x2.0'; RA 22h 00 m 41.2 s; Dec: +17 degrees 44 m 16 s; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 10mm Pentax XW;
Notes:

A face on spiral galaxy that is small in size but very bright. Sites next to a 13th to 14th magnitude star. Bright inner stellar core that is surrounded by a bright halo with diffusion around the bright inner core. I actually have these recorded and a funny item here. There were a couple of guys in a pickup out shooting with a semi-automatic gun. They had driven by our area and had seen us and left it alone but it makes for some interesting recording! Oh, they were spot lighting and I believe hunting rabbits or other animals or just shooting things up.

Object: IC 351 Planetary Nebula in Perseus; Date: 10/29/2011; Time: 10:55p.m. MDT; Location: Pit n Pole, Tooele Co. Utah; Seeing: Antoniadi II; Conditions: Clear and Cold: RA: 03h 47m 33.14s; Dec. +35 degrees 02m 48.5s; Apparent Magnitude: 12; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece 14mm, 10mm 7mm Pentax XW; Filter: Tried Ultrablock NB but OIII worked better.
Notes:
I had a hard time finding this PN for some reason this night. Roundish and faint.

Object(s) NGC 7339 & NGC 7332, Spiral Galaxies in Pegasus (edge on); Date: 10/30/2011; Time: 12:15a.m. MDT; Location: Pit n Pole, Tooele Co. Utah; Seeing: Antoniadi II; Conditions: Clear and Cold; NGC 7339 mag. 12.5; Size: 3.0'x0.7'; RA 22h 37m 47.5s; Dec. +23 degrees 47m 11s; NGC 7332: Mag. 11.2; Size 4.1'x1.1'; RA 22h 37m 24.5s; Dec +23 degrees 47m 54s; Instrument: XX14i; Eyepiece: 10mm Pentax XW;
Notes:
NGC 7339: Edge on galaxy that is below NGC 7332, and in a way the tip of NGC 7339 points to NGC 7332. Slight concentration of light in the middle, a hint of mottling was evident. This galaxy shows no tips like NGC 7332 and is much more diffused overall. Highly recommend you check this pair out.
NGC 7332: An outstanding edge on galaxy that has an elongated bright core with a stellar nucleus in the center. Tapered ends were evident at 165x. This is a must see fall galaxy if you haven't had the opportunity and is relatively easy to find.

I won't include here my Abell galaxies hunt, as I think I'll make a new page up for that. I want to keep this mainly for the Herschel 400 and 400 II that is probably going to grow into the the Herschel 2500. So I hope you have good weather, I'm not. It snowed here twice in the last 4 days. A couple of inches and it melts by afternoon but still. No lunar or double star viewing for me. I'm off to bed now, and hope everyone stays healthy and keeps looking upward.

Halloween Outreach and Quick Catch Up

2011-10-30T22:29:00.002-06:00

Well, tomorrow is Halloween and so I thought a picture of the Witch Head Nebula in Orion would be nice. Located next to the star Rigel in the knee of Orion is very appropriate for this time of the year. With the holiday this year in Utah will come mild temperatures, in the 50's for trick-o-treating and clear skies. Last year it was cloudy so I couldn't do any outreach. What I do is set up my 10 inch dob and an older 1960's zoom scope and show off the moon and Jupiter during this time. I pick a nice set of craters on the terminator and let them know what they are looking at. Often kids though want to see the whole moon and that requires a wider field of view and thus why I use the Tasco refractor. In the dob I like to show off Jupiter and hand out a quick hand out which I got from the Mohawk Astronomical Group and simply copy off.

This is a wonderful way to let your neighbors know about what you do, and why having lights off is important. It at least can establish a rapport to those who leave lights on all the time. More importantly it can introduce the thrill of looking up to our local community.

I have about three observing sessions to post and to me they are quite exciting. I was able to do some things with the stable air we've had that are simply amazing. One of them that I'll announce is I was after over an hour of work, I was able to observe Pease 1 in Messier 15. I've also found some objects that I really like and look forward to sharing them this week while the weather heads south here in Utah and we get our first snow at the house later this week (at 5000 to 5200 feet). So I thought I would share my non-observing list with you. I had planned to get some double star and lunar time in but I guess mother-nature has other plans. Anyway, I've made a list of things to do:

1. Update my observations and upload my digital recordings, transcribing them to the written document.

2. Upload my sketches to the blog with my observations.

3. Upload my sketches to my sketching site.

4. Switch my eyepieces over to a new case I got and show that here.

5. Introduce my new field heater here and how I've been using it.

6. Update my observing lists and make a check off of the Herschel 400 II.

7. Finish reading and reviewing here an wonderful book I'm reading called How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming by Mike Brown.

8. Anything else I come up with but 1-7 are the priority.

So I have lots of posts coming, but work and class is keeping me hoping but I can post probably one a day for while until I am caught up once the observations are written down. So may your skies be clear and look up when they are!

Jay

Observing Near Moab/Canyonlands Utah; Thoughts

2011-10-21T12:35:00.002-06:00

Imagine from the Grandview Overlook in Canyonlands National Park.

Well, I just got back after five days down in the Moab, Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park with Dead Horse State Park also thrown in. In this
area and I was able to get in two nights of observing using the 20"
Obsession. The sky conditions were just wonderful, clear, crisp and the
summer Milky Way just jumped out! Spent a lot of the time in Hercules early
on going for A2151, A2197 of which galaxy NGC 6160 was the brightest, and
finally Abell 2199/or NGC 2166. This image,
http://www.saratogaskies.com/image.pl?i=29 helped somewhat and the goal with
the Abell's list was to see how many of these faint galaxies we could
observe, and observe with detail. It's a great example of visual observers
using an astrophoto to aid in detection. The second part of the night was
spent up in Pegasus with Abell 2593 of which NGC 7649 was the brightest
(small, faint, elongated west to east) and in Perseus going after galaxies
and Abell 426 centered on NGC 1275 which was oval in shape, had a small
bright inner core and sat E-W. NGC 1275 was surrounded by a many smaller
magnitude galaxies. We also spent time on some of the eye candy (brighter
objects) and all of them stuck out really nice, some as naked eye objects.
I am planning next summer to go back for a week and observe during new moon
in these skies.

An image of Balancing Rock in Arches National Park.

Fisher's Tower at sunset. There is a formal campground right under this and some great spots to set up down the dirt road to observe in this gray to black zone. SQM: 22.2.

Twilight settling in near Fisher's Towers.

I also got in plenty of hiking, a favorite pastime and with daytime temperatures in the low 70's to high 60's it was extremely pleasant to be able to hike in and see a bunch of sites and take pictures of them. I won't post the images here but will add them to an online album if someone wants to see them. I'll update later with a link to those pictures.

The other highlight was hiking into Upheaval Dome, an impact crater from
less than a 170 mya. It was rather cool to think this is the ancient
(ancient for me, young in geologic terms) impact crater, representing
several lunar craters. Here is a link for information on this impact site:
http://lpod.wikispaces.com/November+29%2C+2008

A great getaway.

Last night, October 20th, I tried to get out to a new location with my friend Mat and this time the weather just didn't want to cooperate. I was going to view some more Abell's, some galaxies in Pegasus but the seeing and transparency last night just killed the galaxies. I did get a wonderful view of M15 and I decided to go back and sketch it when I realized the conditions were getting worse, but it was no longer the magical object I had observed. I love the stellar core, surrounded by a brighten halo and the amount of stars that were around it. I haven't visited M15 in several years and it was a stunner, if I can dare say, perhaps my favorite glob even over M13 in Hercules. So if you have a chance, go visit M15 again. Hopefully the weather clears and I can go tonight or at least Saturday and Sunday nights.

If your interested in heading out drop me a comment or an email at jayleads at gmail dot com (you'll need to know how to make that into a proper address as I did it so I don't get spammed). I was thinking Lakeside tonight but I think I may hit the Pit n Pole location tonight and Saturday and Lakeside on Sunday.

Public Outreach, October 8th, 2011/Arches and Canyonlands October 16th to the 19th; ATM session 10/15/2011

2011-10-16T00:17:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday I took the XT10 out to the Stansbury Park Observatory Complex for a public outreach. Yes, the moon was very bright but I had a fun time showing the Alberio, the Double Double off in Lyra, NGC 457, NGC 864 and NGC 869 the Double Cluster, M13, M31, M32 and M110 and Eta Cassiopeiae which was a wonderful double star.

I had intended to do some double chasing this week and sketching in the backyard but the weather just hasn't cooperated or when it did (one night) I had something planned.

I am going to Arches National Park and Canyonlands for the next four days and I am taking the 20" Obsession. My days are packed with hiking and horseback riding and some other outside activities, but two nights I'll be observing with the 20". I am very excited for the opportunity to take this scope out in the field and I'll report back on that when I return. So I hope the weather clears up in Utah for new moon as it is not looking good right now. I am planning on a trip down to Notch Peak weather allowing after I get back so that should be a wonderful experience as well. If your local and would like to join in the Notch Peak trip drop a comment and I can get in touch with you as the details come together. Keep exploring the night sky!

I forgot to mention that my friend Mat had his monthly ATM session today and there were two people who showed up who are wanting help building a scope around the mirrors they already have. Another, Justin, showed up and he took the coating off his 8 inch mirror and that was fun to watch. Justin is going to build an 18 inch mirror and I am anxious to watch that since I think I am going to build a new system for the 14 inch once I get the Zambuto mirror. I didn't take my chair or work on the 8 inch mirror Mat has for me because of time and a commitment I had with my two adult (well 1 is a senior in high school) children. Anyway, all I did today was to mod my XT10 base by adding two rather large metal washers to the bottom bolt with a milk jug washer under them, and then about 7 more milk jug washers above them. My azimuth motions are pretty smooth now, as the Teflon on the bottom just barely make contact with the base board. Great mod to do if you own a non-Intelliscope Orion dob.