Just because you didn't see anything new doesn't mean you failed

So after checking out the Comet Chasing website I decide to grab Comet Holmes tonight from Manchester and then after that easy grab, I'd enjoy 46P/Wirtanen passing by NGC 1893. I knew that that would be dim but I'm getting so good at this it would be a piece of cake.

I went outside right around 7:30pm, watched the sky turn from a turquoise Maxfield Parrish blue sky into night. I found Mirphak and it was clear the sky was too bright so I waited a bit.

This was a gonna be a tough hop. From Mirphak I found the box of 5 stars around it, so then I could rotate my paper chart. Then to the left to a pair then up to a bright one (Delta Persei I guess), then curve around down to the next bright one then up to yet another bright one. Phew, now we are getting close. Find the next one and almost bisect them up to a double, three dim ones.

And I looked and waited. It was hard. I didn't want to put the binocs down because all my neighbors lights would ruin what little dark adaption I had. I waited and looked.

I closed my eyes and went in a got a pillow so I could lay down. I could find the spot again and again but no Holmes.

I checked the charts and saw that I was slightly off so I looked in the new spot.

I spent about 45 minutes, giving up around 8:15pm. I briefly went over to NGC 1893 just because when I looked for M38 the other day I saw some patterns that I thought might be something. I found them again but they didn't match the website that had a description by Walter Scott Houston: "contains a conspicuous Y pattern formed by four 8th magnitude stars." I thought I saw a T in the right spot, but certainly not a Y.

And 46P was, of course, no where to be seen.

All in all it was a good time, even though I didn't bag anything.

PS: about an hour later I briefly went outside too take a quick check on 1893 again. It was a lot darker now! I wasn't able to stay but that may have been my problem with Holmes. Clear Sky Clock is looking ok for tomorrow night, I'll try then also

Moonset over Manchester

Here's a quick shot of the moon setting. Probably one of the last Manchester moon shot's I'll take.

I never really did like this apartment but I must say, the photographic opportunities have been great. There used to be 4 or 5 huge trees which all were dying or dead. The town cut those down a few years ago. Once they were gone the camera came out. Odd that tree cutting would improve a natural setting. Then again, as an astronomer, I guess I should know that already!

I'm especially fond of the sunrise reflecting off the building pictures, the sunsets, and of course my lunar eclipse shots that got published in the Union Leader. I'll try and dig some of those up later.

Not only M objects you see...

So I'm sitting, you know where, reading the Feb 2008 issue of Astronomy. Wanting to see if there is something I grab tonight before getting back to my boxes.

Observe Winter's Forgotten Star Clusters it says and I say sure, lets read. First one up is NGC 1502 in Camelopardalis, which has got to be one of the weirdest constellations. (Note, from Manchester, you can't see any of it!)

Note that there isn't any clickable link for NGC 1502, there isn't much out there on it. But I fired up Stellarium and memorized the patterns. I used Cassiopeia to find Mirphak, then went in a straight line from Algol through Mirphak to 2 asterisms I found in Stellarium and hey, there it was.

Or should I say, there it should have been.

Now NGC 1502 isn't all that impressive in my 15x50 Canon IS binoculars from Manchester. At times I thought I could split the double but at other times I thought I couldn't. The article in Astronomy pointed out that it was at the tail end of Kemble's Cascade, a quite attractive asterism. I hadn't looked that up at all before I headed out and I saw something that could be described as a "cascade." As I was observing, a satellite passed through the field of view. I followed it to the horizon.

So I went back inside to google some and confirmed that that was indeed what I found so I went back out to enjoy it more.

I counted 21 stars in the Cascade, about a third of which I could only see with averted vision. Quite nice in binoculars. And wouldn't you know, another satellite passed through!

And as for NGC 1502, well, I'll claim it as a find but I certainly wouldn't have unless the Cascade was there to confirm it. I think I need more power to see anything there.

Oh, I went and checked out M44 some more just so I could fix it in my mind. Rags also saw it that evening, I just read his email before writing this entry. He didn't seem to think it was as nice as the Pleiades, the overall same dimness and all. Thinking about it, I think that that may be why I like it, it isn't flashy like the Seven Sisters, it is just big and full. But of course, the Sisters are nice also.

Back to boxes.

Quick, before the moon rises

Yeah yeah yeah. I'm packing boxes, but I'll certainly take a bit of clear moonless time out, not that there will be all that much, I'm writing this at 8:22 and the moon official rose 4 minutes ago.

Anyway, I wanted to see if I could grab M46 from Manchester. No such luck. I had hoped with the moon being below the horizon it just might be possible. Sadly, the sodium vapor glow just wouldn't let it come through. M47 and M41 were nice and easy. I counted 11 in both of them.

So then I went out back just to see what "moonless" did to my previous 3 targets, M36, M37 and M38. M38 was much easier than before, but I guess that that wasn't too surprising. What was surprising to me that was, with averted vision, M36 was showing stars, just just a dim fuzz. I couldn't count them because when I looked, they disappered into the fuzz. I guess with practice I'll be able to count with averted vision.

So then, feeling lucky, I tried for M35. Hey, I got it! It easily resolved into stars, I counted but I forgot the total! I looked for NGC 2158, did not expect to see it and was not too disappointed when I didn't see it. Maybe in Truro.

The Pleiades showed 3 stars to the naked eye, thought I'd through that it for you folks with dark sites and that was with averted vision! I only got 1 with direct vision. (And no, I don't know why I could count 3 with averted here and not on M36, maybe it was the separation?)

I recall seeing the Beehive Cluster, aka Praesepe, aka M44. I had never seen it before. Wow, that is a great one! Certainly a binocular object. With no dark adaptation I counted 42 stars, quite beautiful. It certainly rivals the Pleiades for the wow factor.

My previous favorite was M7, the open cluster in Sagitarius (hmmm, maybe Scorpio, depending on where the boundary is, I sure don't know.) I guess I can have a summer favorite and a winter pair of favorites, no?

Back to the boxes...

Finally, M38

So I've been trying for a few days now to get M38 from Manchester with the binoculars. Not being dark adapted and having a very bright moon certainly hasn't helped. I've also waited until it was a bit lower toward the horizon so I didn't have to crane my neck so, but that put it into the thicker part of the atmosphere.

So tonight I said I'd try and grab it while it was high.

I went outside on the deck and tried to find a good position, it was too high to permit me to sit in a chair, would have had to lean back too much. (And my deck, I did you not is not quite 4 x 4. There is a long part, but if I laid down on that the house block Auriga.

So off to the square part, I put my legs up on the railing and drat, it isn't directly overhead, I had to lean forward just a little bit. It actually wasn't as uncomfortable as that sounds.

I found M36 quite easily, the I went over to M37 just to see how it compared to the other viewings. I won't say it was bright but it was certainly brighter. I could see it without inverted vision but it got better with averted.

So, to find it. You find M36 and look below and to the right. You'll see a curved line of stars, 4, then a gap, then 2 more. (Below this structure is another, quite nice looking, structure of brighter stars.) If you continue the upper curve of 6 stars, just pretend there is a 7th.

That's where M38 is.

But, of course, I couldn't see it. But I had only been outside a few minutes, so I just relaxed and laid back. Found I could rest my head on the deck (should have brought a pillow) and hold the binoculars at an angle and still see the section I wanted to see.

I waited, watched the thin clouds pass through my field of view. And then I started to see hints of something, but I was never certain.

So I kept on waiting, waiting for my eyes to dark adapt more. I went back and checked on M36 and M37. They were both more apparent.

And I waited and yes, soon enough it was there. Dim as anything, but there.

I remembered reading that each person has a sweet spot in their averted vision. I moved all around it, trying to see if one spot was better. I couldn't see any difference.

But I had it, finally, I had it.

A Quick Attempt

The sky is very clear tonight so I try for M38 again. I find M36 quite easily, don't even need my charts, I still remember from last night. But M38 prove elusive.

Manchester with lots of moon is just not the hot ticket I guess.

Sun Pillars, the moon and an unwasted night

So we're driving back from the Cape and the skies are pretty nasty, snowing actually. But for some reason I check the Clear Sky Clock and it shows nice skies that night at YFOS. I'm pretty happy, it as been a dreadful winter. I check online to see who else might be going and frankly I'm given some questioning "looks."

But sure enough, as the sun starts setting it starts clearing to the west and we are treated to some nice sun pillars.

This is kind nice. At the time I thought the were sun dogs but I found out I was wrong when writing this post.

So Steve is trying to get Rags to go to YFOS. He'll bring the Burgess and Rags will bring the GoTo Nova and Jeannette drives and drives and we get home.

And the moon is honking bright. Drat, forgot about that. I saw all the blue on Clear Sky Clock and forgot that blue in the last row is bad.

It doesn't matter too much, it is pretty darn cloudy still also so we call it all off.

But around 11pm or 11:30pm it clears up nicely and I get the binoculars out. I'm looking out the south windows now, looking for M36, It takes me a long time to find it. I'm comparing the sky to the chart in Stellarium and it is just wrong. I eventually figure out that I'm putting Mars into Auriga and when I correct that M36 is easily seen. Don't even need averted vision to see a fuzz patch.

The nearby moon makes M38 completely impossible to see. I've got the star patterns dead on but it just isn't there. I'll have to try this when the moon isn't so bright.

I go over to M37 and I find it but just barely. Averted really helps.

I try, half heartedly, for M35 but I'm not too disappointed when I fail to grab that one.

Off to bed now.

Insomnia? M-time

So it is about 4:30 AM and I can't sleep. This is about a week now that I've been waking around 4AM. Very annoying. So why not continue the evening's stargazing? Fire up Stellarium, ooo, Cygnus is up. I know that that has an easy M in it. M29 right near Sadr.

Outside with the Canon 15x50IS binoculars. At first I thought I missed it. The star pattern was dead on but I couldn't see it. Oh, there it is. Very dim and small! I only got it with averted vision. I guess since it is an open cluster I expected it to be larger, that is, of course, nonsense. I wasn't at all able to resolve any stars.

While looking at it a very dim satellite went through the field of view. I tracked it off to my right until it disappeared behind the house. Dimmest I've ever seen.

So now I open up TUMOL, what else is in Cygnus (which is placed rather well for my chair). M39. Uh oh, at least in Stellarium it seems to be in the middle of nowhere. That's not entirely true. Take a line from Sadr through Deneb but bend it down a bit. That gets you right there but there still is a jump. Fortunately, there is a chain from Deneb that gets you halfway. Follow the chain then look around. Got it! Much, much, larger than M29. I counted 13 stars.

Ok, what else. Cepheus is up but there doesn't seem to be any Ms in it. I guess I'll try and go back to sleep.

...

No luck there, so lets see what is to the South. I can do that from indoors, hanging out a window. One star, what is it? Stellarium tells me. Jupiter! Thin clouds, can't even see Antares. Oh boy. But, the clouds are low and Stellarium tells me that M26 is up above Jupiter. I see one dim fuzzy, check the charts. Ah M11 or the Wild Duck Cluster. This is quite apparent. I can see the star pattern above it. An L pointing up and to the right. Can't resolve any stars but it is bright for Manchester. Back to M26, nope.

Nope point in sleeping now, the alarm goes off soon anyhow.

A few Ms

Steve wanted me to come out and check out the GoTo Nova but I got in late and was tired. Said no. Then later got feeling Astro-guilty, wasting clear like that. Went outside, Arcturus was up, but low, couldn't see Muphrid (eta Boo) yet, the next pointer for M3. Waited about an hour, saw Muphrid so got the parka on. M3 was easy in the Canon 15x50 IS Binoculars. Nice, averted vision was not needed but did help.

Tried for M51. I've enjoyed this in the 8" SCT. Got the star charts out on Astromist, was pointed at exactly the right spot. Stared all around the spot, nothing. Makes sense, mag 8.4 instead of 6.2.

Checked on Stellarium, M53 should be possible from the deck. Looked up the hops, Arturus to Muphrid (eta Boo) easy double hop to alpha Com. Memorize the cool pattern to the left, a bent L pointing down, M53 should be just east of it.

Dang, there it was. Clear as day.

M3 and M53, just dim spots from Manchester in binocs. It will be fun to compare the Truro view.

Crescent Moon and Venus over Manchester

Here's a shot of the crescent moon and Venus over Manchester NH.

The moon is way over exposed but I needed to do that to get the sunset just right. You can also see star tracks on both the moon and venus but that is expected. I think the exposure was 15 seconds.