Post by stargazer on Aug 16, 2004 8:25:39 GMT -6
We as Astronmer's are always looking for a nice dark site to go to. Well I went to a beautiful site Sat night. It was only a 1 1/2 hour drive away. The gentelman who did my mirror invited me and Bill for a night of observing and some private lessons. We arrived at Apple River Canyon around 9 p.m. and the sky was already full of stars. The Milky Way was already showing her glory little did we know just how wonderful it would get. It is hard for me to put into words just how I felt seeing all the stars and how beautiful it was. The sky was jet black, I think we saw stars down to a mag 14 naked eye. I am not sure on that though.
By the time twilight was over and the sky was truely dark the hunt began in ernest. We saw so many wonderful things that it made me sad to see our skies here at home.
Here is the list of what we saw:
M6
M7
M11
M16
M17
M18
M23
M24
M81
M82
Ngc 6712
Ngc 6940
This was by 12:30 a.m. By this time we were trying to get the Lagoon Nebula on film as we didnt video tape cause there was 6 other people there and we didnt want to mess up anyone elses viewing. I should know today if we have it or not. I know we have all seen pictures of the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid, The Swan Nebula, The Veil Nebula, The Eagle Nebula from the Hubble. But I will tell you those pics are nice but wait till you see them in real life. The sights were Fantastic. It is hard to explain the Veil to someone but when you see it in an eyepiece it is so light and wispy you could miss it. It took me a couple times looking at it to realize what I was seeing. I was able to see both the North and South wings of it. It is so long and as for any color I couldnt tell you what it was. Also during the night I was able to finish off another certificate. I completed the first 6 hours of the Meteor Observing so now I will turn in my info and wait for the cert.
The Stars seemed like you could reach out and touch them. The Milky Way was so bright it glowed. For the firat time since I was 16 or 17 I was able to see the dust lanes. You could reach out and touch it. I will never forget my night of observing under the dark skies of Apple River. We most likely will go back in Nov.
By the time twilight was over and the sky was truely dark the hunt began in ernest. We saw so many wonderful things that it made me sad to see our skies here at home.
Here is the list of what we saw:
M6
M7
M11
M16
M17
M18
M23
M24
M81
M82
Ngc 6712
Ngc 6940
This was by 12:30 a.m. By this time we were trying to get the Lagoon Nebula on film as we didnt video tape cause there was 6 other people there and we didnt want to mess up anyone elses viewing. I should know today if we have it or not. I know we have all seen pictures of the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid, The Swan Nebula, The Veil Nebula, The Eagle Nebula from the Hubble. But I will tell you those pics are nice but wait till you see them in real life. The sights were Fantastic. It is hard to explain the Veil to someone but when you see it in an eyepiece it is so light and wispy you could miss it. It took me a couple times looking at it to realize what I was seeing. I was able to see both the North and South wings of it. It is so long and as for any color I couldnt tell you what it was. Also during the night I was able to finish off another certificate. I completed the first 6 hours of the Meteor Observing so now I will turn in my info and wait for the cert.
The Stars seemed like you could reach out and touch them. The Milky Way was so bright it glowed. For the firat time since I was 16 or 17 I was able to see the dust lanes. You could reach out and touch it. I will never forget my night of observing under the dark skies of Apple River. We most likely will go back in Nov.
