Does OPT really have a newt on the roof?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sf-bay-tac-bounces@No-Spam
> [mailto:sf-bay-tac-bounces@No-Spam] On Behalf Of Jeff Gortatowsky
> Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 5:36 PM
> To: sf-bay-tac@No-Spam
> Subject: [TAC] OR: Rumors of Jeff seen at Little Blair Valley
> 03-May-2008
>
> It is pretty much a running joke and/or folklore in TAC South
> that I have said I am going to go observe at Little Blair
> Valley (LBV) in the Anza Borrego SP for… oh… years. The lore
> goes there is no end to the excuses I have come up with to
> actually avoid going. "I have to work", "I am not feeling
> well", "the weather looks iffy" (pretty lame in the Southern
> California desert), "I have to clean the telescope pad I own
> out near Palomar of weeds", "my cats need flossing" (a never
> ending job with 6 cats) etc. You get the idea.
>
> Fact is all were true at the time - okay the cat thing is
> not. Fact is I needed and wanted little other motivation to
> come up with excuses. Occasionally I was simply unashamed to
> say, "I have a pad with electricity, nearby running water and
> bathrooms, and I pay club dues for the luxury." So why would
> I drive another hour farther to observe at a site that does
> not have all the creature comforts? Okay, that is probably my
> best excuse. Allow me to elborate.
> 3
> LBV at 2+ hours drive pretty much requires a commitment to
> staying the whole night. I am *big* lover of 3rd quarter
> observing. Why? Well much of the year I can observe for hours
> and still have the perfect excuse to pack up and leave when
> the moon rises. From the club site I am home in 90 minutes
> and can still have almost a full day the next day to frolick.
> Whereas staying the night pretty much means part of the next
> day is screwed driving back or napping. Also new moon tends
> to bring out more people. More people means more commotion
> kibitzing, etc... and I am all about getting some specific
> observing done.
>
> Well Saturday May 3rd 2008 saw the end of the lore. I had to
> drop off some equipment my friend had lent me. He lives in
> northern San Diego county. Since it was new moon weekend,
> and I had a tour guide to take me there, I sort of ran out of
> excuses.
>
> Little Blair Valley is in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park.
> It’s a short but 'interesting' drive off San Diego County
> road S22. The road in is a single lane dirt road. Not
> impassible (obviously) by any means, certainly not by a 4x4,
> and almost anything could make it in. Of course it was dry.
> However it is narrow with vegetation close in on either side
> in spots. It dawned on me more than once that meeting someone
> driving out while I was on the way in, or vice verse, was
> going to be problematic in certain areas. However that never
> happen. Despite good instructions, I think I benefited first
> time from a guide and from arriving in daylight. IMO of course.
> LBV is a somewhat sheltered valley. If it’s a dry lake bed it
> has more vegetation on it than any other dry lake beds I have
> been on. Not my mental image of a dry lake bed given my prior
> *experience*. All the dry lake beds I have been on were in
> the high deserts of Southern California (Anza is considered
> low desert) and were completely lifeless dirt.
>
> Parking just off the north side of the road, as is I gather
> the rules for the state park, I counted maybe 10 or 15
> others. Later friends would join us with their 25 inch dob,
> eclectic music, and wine - the best friends! The highlight
> of setting up my 18 inch dob was dropping the UTA. Not far,
> and nothing was damaged except my ego, but the collimation
> was, as you might guess, screwed. I did the best I could to
> get it all squared and center correctly under the focuser,
> but noticed it took more turns of the mirror screws to
> collimate than it should have, so I have to work on that in
> the next few days to make sure it all is correct. Dropping it
> was a first, hopefully a last.
>
> Conditions start off ‘ok’. Dry and comfortable temps all
> night long IMO. There was some wind in the 5 to 10 mph range.
> But there were also long stretches of almost calm. Seeing was
> very variable. It start off poor and got somewhat better as
> the night went on. The site is darker all around than the
> club site I use, with far more ‘useable’ sky. Nonetheless
> light domes from I gather the coast to the west and El Centro
> / Imperial in the east are visible. The transparency was good
> up until a lenticular cloud took up residence. Things got
> progressively worse until at about 2am, there was very little
> sky left that was not cloudy or hazy. That would be a very
> odd occurrence at my club’s site, but perhaps not so for LBV.
> My observing program was the Hershel 400 objects. Or more to
> the point the Springtime H400 objects which is where I have
> been ‘stuck’ for years. Obviously having 112 objects (still)
> left to observe, and having this go on for years, and knowing
> they are all Springtime galaxies, pretty much shows my
> commitment to Springtime observing. Or lack thereof.
>
> Also you will note some long gaps in the times below. Another
> fallout of observing with good friends. It’s just
> irresistible when your friends have wine and a 25 inch dob to
> not wander over and have a go at it... oh and observe...
> There is no greater force in nature. Before you know it, an
> hour has passed.
>
> Aside from the items below I also had a great view of Omega
> Centauri through my 15x45 Canon IS binoculars I picked up on
> eBay for about $450. Also some stupendous views of M101 and
> M51 through a friend’s 25 inch f/5 dob with a borrowed 13mm
> Ethos. Wow! So without further adieux my notes. Please note
> I corrected some errors at home, but not all. I leave
> mistakes as instructive to myself and others that my
> observations are far far from perfect and get progressively
> worse as my eyes grow older (IMO). Note times are in PDT.
> Sometimes I nail it. Sometimes I get nailed.
>
> Here’s a link to a few pictures
> http://fototime.com/inv/0F996972FDBD5E0
>
> Location: Little Blair Valley – Anza Borrego State Park,
> California 33N 116.3W
> Telescope: 45cm f/4.5 Litebox Dobsonian
> Eyepieces: 31mm Nagler (75x), 12mm Nagler (195x) both used
> with a Paracorr (1.15x)
> Date: 04-May-08 from about 03:00UT to 08:00UT
>
> NGC 3945 20:04
> 31mm with Paracorr – Big, bright, round fuzzy patch of
> fuzzy light. Fairly concentrated central area. There are a
> couple of field stars that precede it to the west. One being
> brighter than other.
>
> 12mm + Paracorr – Definitely round and much bright central
> nucleus area. Hard to tell with bad seeing any other detail.
> Seeing is only about a 3 or 4 on 1 to 10 scale. There is a
> bright field star that precedes it to the west. Then a dimmer
> field star to the Southeast and yet another about the same
> magnitude as the second one but twice the distance to
> Northwest. I get the idea it is a face-on galaxy but hard to
> tell. Definitely some narrower and dimmer fuzziness in a
> circular pattern around a bright but decidedly non-stellar core.
>
> NGC 4036 and NGC 4041 20:13
> 31mm + Paracorr – Just an obvious and beautiful edge on
> galaxy. Definitely a hint of a dark lane even at this low
> magnification. Highly elongated with a flying source like
> shape. NGC 4041 is round with a distinctive bright middle
> but not stellar. Beautiful pairing. Probably separated by 1/3
> of degree.
>
> 12mm + Paracorr – 4036 Wonderful edge-on galaxy with a quite
> a bit brighter nucleus . It is elongated 3 or 4 to 1. I get
> the Distinct impression there might be a dust lane but it was
> more obvious at low power. It could be the seeing at higher
> power washes it out. The galaxy seems like it might be a bit
> tilted towards us. It has a PA of about 70 or 80. A beautiful
> very easy to see edge-on. If had to be pinned down to where I
> saw the dust lane I’d say running east to west and off center
> to the south.
>
> 12mm + Paracorr – 4041 - Just fits in the same field of
> view as 4036. Again this is giving a good idea they are about
> 1/3 of degree apart . It is dimmer than 4036, round and
> therefore hard to make out any PA. Very uniform brightness in
> the nucleus. A good 1/3 of the entire area is the nucleus
> area. Definitely not stellar like. With averted vision there
> seems to be about twice as much material surrounding the
> central area and there doubling the size of the galaxy. No
> other distinctive features can be make out. I do get the
> impression there might be a bit of a brighter area to the
> East Southeast and to the South but it is just an impression
> as I move it around the eyepiece.
>
> NGC 3982 NGC 3998 NGC 3972 NGC 3977 NGC 3990 – 21:42
> 3998 12mm + Paracorr Fairly stellar-like core. Has a little
> bit of nebulous material around the nucleus. Difficult to
> make out any PA as it’s pretty round and the seeing is still
> probably still only a 5 out of 10. Interesting thing is it
> has a galaxy NGC 3990 about 10 arc-min to its west. This is a
> smaller and somewhat dimmer edge-on with a slightly brighter
> middle and a PA of maybe 35 or 45. But it’s smaller than 3998
> and just happen to be quite noticeable in the 12mm Nagler’s
> FOV. I keep my maps solely displaying the H400 target objects
> so this object is not plotted but now I know it to be NGC 3990.
>
> Moving only 1/2 degree to the Southwest of 3998 you come to a
> very obvious slash of light that is NGC 3972. An obvious
> edge-on that again is not part of the H400. Not as bright as
> NGC 3998 by any means but still very obvious and quite big.
> Elongated about 4 to 1. Very little or almost no defined
> nucleus with a PA of about 120 or 130. This object also has a
> smaller dimmer companion NGC 3977 about 10 arc-min away to
> the N/NE. I just noticed it. Round and relatively a small.
> Indeed quite a bit smaller than it’s nearby edge-on with just
> a little mottling and a slightly brighter nucleus. No PA that
> I can make out as its nearly round as far as I can tell.
>
> Moving to 3982 is in the same FOV as the large edge on NGC
> 3972. Has two prominent set of field stars 7 to 10 arc-min to
> the south of it in an East to West line. A little bit of
> mottling but is mostly uniform in brightness. A little bit of
> dimmer material especially to the west southwest. No PA cause
> its round. Very interesting little area with all these
> galaxies and there are more. An area to revisit for sure.
>
>
> NGC 3953 – 22:02
> 31mm + Paracorr Really big and bright easy to see. Elongated
> 4 to 1. About 5 or 6 arc-min long with a PA about 20 or 30.
> Almost stellar like core with a lot of mottling near the
> center. And there is some variation in lightness on the North
> and South lobes of the edge on disc. Followed by line of 4
> stars that are basically running North South with one of
> those 4 being almost directly East of core. Also has two
> somewhat bright stars close to each other to the North of the
> galaxy. Very obvious.
>
> 12mm + Para – This galaxy is maybe 10 arc-mins in size. Quite
> big. Somewhat stellar core. Dim field star right above of the
> nucleus to the West. PA of about 25 or 30. Definitely some
> structure on the North and South side of the core. And some
> definite variation or structure in lobes to the north and
> south. Even some sort of hint of structure or lanes.
>
>
> NGC 4102 – 22:19
> 12mm + Paracorr - Very obvious bright galaxy. Elongated
> galaxy probably 2 or 3 to 1. Not as elongated as some of the
> prior ‘edge-on’ galaxies I’ve seen tonight. Preceded by a
> field to the west as well as a dimmer one at twice that
> distance to the East. Core seem elongated as well with a
> somewhat stellar nucleus. Lots of material in the lobes that
> are Northeast to Southwest. A PA of about 60 to 70.
> Probably more like 75 (actually more like 30 according to
> references). Does not seem to be symmetrical from one side
> of the nucleus to the other. The Northeast side is longer
> than the Southwest. That could be an illusion because of the
> brighter field star on that side.
>
>
> STT 244 – 22:24
> While observing NGC 4102 I noticed a nice double star to the
> Northwest both in the 12mm and then on the chart. It’s a
> white primary with a light gold secondary. PA of about 300
> (324 in 1991 and a separation of 3.2”). Nice little binary
> and not as easy as one might think with the bit of breeze
> that kicks up (5 to 10 mph I’d say – but sometimes calm as
> well). And seeing only being ‘moderate’ – maybe 5 or so on a
> 1 to 10 scale.
>
>
> NGC 5322 – 22:45
> 12mm Nagler + ParaCorr This is a pretty bright galaxy with a
> very bright stellar like nucleus with a quite bright halo as
> well. Some close in field stars. Especially close one is to
> the South. Galaxy is elongated maybe 2 to 1 with a PA
> probably around 90. Definitely almost East West. Little field
> star close in the nucleus to the South and then another field
> star right on the edge of what I can see of the galaxy to the
> East of nucleus some 3 or 4 times further than the Southern
> close in field star. Gives the impression of being longer on
> the Eastern side than the Western. Could be that field star
> effect again.
>
>
> NGC 5474 – 23:01
> 12mm + ParaCorr – This is sort of in the shadow of M101 which
> I first ‘stumbled’ upon mistaking it for 5474. At the time I
> was elated that such a wonderful object is virtually unknown
> and included in the H400! That was of course M101. But not
> before blurting out, “ Gee. Reminds me of M101!” which I had
> just seen in Paul A’s 25 inch dob using a borrowed Televue Ethos.
>
> But of course NGC 5474 is a wee bit Southeast of M101 about a
> ‘Nagler or two’ field of views from the Southeast of M101.
> Call it 1,5 degrees to the Southeast. This object is nowhere
> near as grand and majestic as M101! It’s round and quite
> mottled in the core area. Not a stellar nucleus at all but
> there is a field star superimposed and slightly offset from
> the core to the east. Quite uniform in brightness but there
> is mottling that suggests a spiral structure. The field star
> I mentioned gives the illusion that the nucleus of offset to
> the east rather than being centered. No PA I can discern
> being quite round.
>
>
> NGC 5473 – 23:11
> 12mm + ParaCorr This galaxy is a degree or so NE of M101.
> Embedded in ZigZag chain of four stars. Fairly small. Quit
> bight, high surface brightness. It appears to make a fifth
> component of the ZigZag. With that addition the asterism
> becomes like a small flattened Cassiopeia. The ‘W’ opens to
> the Southeast. Not very easy to make out a PA as it is
> fairly small galaxy with stellar like nucleus. Seeing does
> not really support going to the 9mm Nagler and I am not sure
> it would tease more out of this object. Especially with the
> bit of a breeze. Looks like it has a very dim field star is
> trailing it to the East. A little haziness surrounding an
> obvious and bright core. Not much else to say.
>
>
> NGC 5676 – 23:31
> 31mm + ParaCorr Very bright obvious edge-on. Situated in the
> center of a triangle of bright field stars that fit in a
> circle of perhaps ¾ of degree. The brightest star of the
> triangle is in the East and is a beautiful golden or orange
> color. The galaxy has a somewhat brighter middle. Just a bit
> of fuzz to the west.
>
> 12mm + ParaCorr PA of about 160 or 170 (actually 40 or so??).
> Definitely no really bright core or stellar core. Perhaps a
> very small slightly brighter core. Fairly evenly lit across
> the entire surface. It is elongated about 3 to 1. At low
> power I thought I glimpsed or got the impression of a dust
> lane. But I said nothing figuring it would be more prominent
> with more magnification. However at higher power I don’t get
> that impression as strongly. Perhaps there is a bit of
> mottling towards the Southern side. But I can only guess that
> if it has a lane it is toward the Northern edge even though
> the mottling I mention is towards the Southern edge. That is
> to say the Northern side seems to have the sharper light cutoff.
>
>
> STT 283 – 23:43
> 12mm + ParaCorr Noticed this while looking at NGC 5676. Nice
> white primary with a small gold or orange secondary with a PA
> of about 100 or 110 (129 actually in 1991)
>
>
> NGC 5689 – 23:47
> 12mm Nagler + Paracorr Pretty obvious edge-on thought a bit
> dimmer than some I have seen tonight. Elongated 4 to 1 and
> quite needle like. Very bright central nucleus. Very delicate
> looking. Very difficult to observe any extensions as it is so
> thin. Seems like a PA of about 90. Very classic looking
> edge-on with maybe a hint of a dust lane bisecting the disk
> to the south of the ‘equator’. Followed to the East Northeast
> by two small field stars that make sort of a diagonal line
> Northwest to Southeast.
>
>
> NGC 5631 – 00:01
> 12mm Nagler Paracorr – Very small but with a high surface
> brightness. Very bright stellar like core. Very little
> material showing around it the nucleus area that I can
> discern. Very round and no discernable PA. Nor do I see much
> detail to it.
>
>
> NGC 5982 – 01:05
> 31mm Nagler + Paracorr Very dim round fuzzy. Took me a bit to
> find it. Guess I used to hunting brighter quarry (bright in
> the 45cm scope anyway). At this low magnification all I can
> see is a fuzzy patch with a bright middle. Maybe a field star
> near the nucleus or maybe a real stellar like core.
>
> 12mm Nagler + Paracorr The extra magnification does not help
> much. Still pretty small, round with a stellar like core. No
> discernable PA. High surface brightness because I assume, it
> is so small.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Jeffrey D. Gortatowsky
> Fullerton, California
>
>
> "Madam, there is no such thing as a tough child -- if you
> parboil them first for seven hours, they always come out
> tender. " - W.C. Fields
> "What wretched scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" - W.C. Fields
> --
> Party time! GSSP is over 250 attendees:
> http://www.goldenstatestarparty.blogspot.com
> TAC Stats Tracking - on the observers.org menu.
> Mailing list preferences: http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tac
-- Party time! GSSP is over 250 attendees: http://www.goldenstatestarparty.blogspot.com TAC Stats Tracking - on the observers.org menu. Mailing list preferences: http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/sf-bay-tacReceived on Sat May 10 19:43:35 2008
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