Jamie was right to say it was not so good up on the Peak and was being
'nice' saying my OR was 'interesting' for it's differences. From my
earlier OR it was mentioned it got a bit better around 11 but that was a
loose guess. It could have been 12 or later by the time it was
acceptable for the galaxy searches. I was just happy to be out and at
the pads for the 1st time that it just seemed good enough compared to
earlier in the night and what I was expecting from the NOAA vapor
predictions. High levels of StarBucks double-shots may have also been
involved ... Dew is a problem but my gear was ready and as such was
a bother but not a show stopper. My best viewing was well after 12 I
know because that is when my logging kicked in to a good rate.
yes, guilty of getting a bit worked up over a just so-so night
(symptom of winter photon deprivation I guess)
Mark
Jamie Dillon wrote:
> Interesting that Mark Johnston and I were set up a few meters from
> each other and had fairly different experiences. I got to crabbing
> over the conditions. NELM was 5.0 at best overhead, seeing was on the
> mediocre end of 3/5. Miraculously we had wind and dew both. It was
> nice and cold too, with temps right around 0°C. With 3% cloud cover
> forecast, we had lots more than that. Hmph.
>
> Andy Pierce, Johnston, Hans Schulze and I were on the pads. Ron
> Dammann had asked for help with a 5th grade class from Virginia Rocca
> Barton School in Salinas (nice school, I've visited there). Really
> nice, polite bunch of kids with quiet, reserved parents. As mentioned,
> Ranger Row was loaded with imagers who were from Santa Cruz. Denis
> Lefebvre was over in the SW lot, said he was joined by a guy named
> Mark with an 18" Plettstone.
>
> In my scope, Saturn was indistinct at all magnifications, on repeated
> visits. It took some looking to see which way the rings were pitched.
> There were 5 stars in the Trapezium with work, less than half the
> time. What I did mostly was sit back and watch Leo Minor wheel
> overhead. Has lots of stars. Also watched clouds keep passing over
> Canis Major, where that Wolf-Rayet shell is that I wanna catch up
> with. Grumble.
>
> Andy at one point was showing off a really good view of ngc 2903,
> major galaxy in Leo. Mark was exploring in the Bowl of the Dipper, a
> place I've spent a lot of time. He had a pretty view of 3613 and 3619,
> the brightest of that gang. In my 11 I've seen 24 galaxies in the
> Bowl. Yes I went back and counted. Real fun project, with that crowd
> of little galaxies.
>
> Hans was playing with his imaging rig and apparently having a bunch of
> fun.
> In all, company was good. I was glad to pitch in at the Observatory.
> Sky was better than in town on the face of it. Every time I thought,
> OK, how about some starhopping, fella, the charts were soggy and
> optics getting moist. I know, I know, you want cheese with that whine?
>
> This will all get better. Winter observing has plenty of advantages,
> including keeping our hardcore street cred.
> Thanks to Greg, Carter, Matthew, Albert for posting their good results
> this week.
>
> DDK
>
>
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Received on Wed Mar 05 23:07:41 2008