Meade 8" LX200GPS Observing Report - 4/16/2004

Hi everyone,

I was at Area 51 (our Dark Site) Friday night in South Florida with my
Meade 8" LX200GPS. I observed for about 5½ hours (from 8:15PM to
1:45AM). The night was clear and the transparency was good. There
was not a cloud in the sky all night. Also, the seeing was a bit
better than average, about a 6. It was mild with the temperatures in
the low 60s. There was also a Meade 14" LX200GPS and a Nexstar
11GPS. The owner of the Meade 14" was imaging. As the sky was
starting to get dark, I viewed Venus and it's crescent phase. After
Venus, I took a quick peek at Jupiter and Saturn. I could see some
detail in the bands of Jupiter but did not spend much time studying
it. Tonight, I wanted to concentrate on some of the Messier Objects
and I viewed quite a few of them. I started off with M41, and then
moved to M35 (and NGC2158), M36, M37, and M38 (and NGC1907 a -
planetary nebula near the edge of M38). I could see all 6-stars in
the Trapezium of M42 although the 6th star was not that easy. I
viewed the following Messier Objects tonight: M1, M3, M4, M5, M13,
M42, M43, M44, M45, M46 (NGC2438), M47, M48, M50, M51, M57, M64, M65,
M66 (and NGC 3628), M67, M68, M79, M80, M81, M82, M92, M93, M95, M96,
M97, M103, M104, and M105. I was able to see M65, M66, and NGC 3628
in the same FOV of my 41MM Panoptic eyepiece. Also, I could see M95
and M96 in the same FOV. M105 could also be seen in the same FOV as
M96. I could see the dust lane in M104 with averted vision and M51
looked very nice with hints of the spiral arms visible. I viewed C53,
the Spindle Galaxy, and it looked very nice. I spent quite a bit of
time on Caldwell 80 (Omega Centauri) and it looked spectacular at 100x
in my 20MM Nagler. It was resolved right across the center and it was
huge!! Also, in Centaurus, I viewed C77, the Centaurus A galaxy. I
was able to see two stars in the constellation Crux (Southern Cross)
with my Naked eye with a third seen with averted vision. Also in
Crux, I was able to view C94, the Jewel Box, but it was mostly washed
out due to its very low altitude in the southern sky. Lastly, I was
able to see Alpha Centauri, the closest star to Earth other than our
Sun, with my scope but I could not see it with my naked eye as my
glasses broke tonight. Luckily, I keep a spare pair in my car and was
able to drive home safely. All in all, tonight was a spectacular
night under a dark sky and I viewed 37 Messier Objects, several
Caldwell Objects, and the closest star to Earth other than the Sun.

Clear skies,
Jeff

Nice report Jeff! Glad you had fun down there (I can "see" Omega Centauri,
from up here at 40+N but its no more than a big fuzy blob with hints of
stars). I did manage to see it a couple of nights ago, but it was only 2.2
degrees above my south horizon, so it was more of a "let's just do it"
challenge than a detailed observation. You also posted:

I viewed C53,
the Spindle Galaxy, and it looked very nice. I spent quite a bit of
time on Caldwell 80 (Omega Centauri) and it looked spectacular at 100x
in my 20MM Nagler. It was resolved right across the center and it was
huge!! Also, in Centaurus, I viewed C77, the Centaurus A galaxy. I
was able to see two stars in the constellation Crux (Southern Cross)
with my Naked eye with a third seen with averted vision. Also in
Crux, I was able to view C94, the Jewel Box, but it was mostly washed
out due to its very low altitude in the southern sky.

This is probably a minor quibble to some, but using the Caldwell "List"
numbers is a less common way of indicating what you are seeing, since the
Caldwell is not one of the standard astronomical catalogs. It is merely a
listing cooked up by Patrick Moore (ie: they aren't exactly the Caldwell
"Objects" in the same way the Messier or Herschel objects are). The revised
New General Catalog (NGC), Index Catalog (IC), Messier Catalog (M), or one of
the other standards are better, as they usually have a little better "number
recognition". The Spindle Galaxy is NGC 3115, the galaxy sometimes referred
to as "Centaurus A" (actually a radio source designation) is NGC 5128, Omega
Centauri is NGC 5139, and the Jewel Box (Kappa Crux) is NGC 4755. Even when
people are doing an observing program like the Herschel 400, they don't
usually use the Herschel numbers (even though it was a form of official
catalog), as the NGC's are a little better known.

Lastly, I was
able to see Alpha Centauri, the closest star to Earth other than our
Sun,

You might want to look 2.2 degrees to the southeast of Alpha for a faint (11th
magnitude) red dwarf star known as Proxima Centauri. It is just a tad closer
(4.22 light years) to us than Alpha is (4.40 light years). Clear skies to
you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

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