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[patrickm]

Will set up at Horner Hill Observatory on the north end of Horner Park between 7:30 and 8:00 with a scope and binocs. Come on by if you are out. Will stay as late to around midnight if we are able.

Bring some warm clothes and hope to see you there!

Jupiter awaits.

[Paulie pchris00]

I'm tempted, but I have to work tonight. I would call off, but I might have to save it for Saturday night.

[patrickm]

Something's come up and if I make it, it won't be until probably about 9. Because of the weather, I am still very tempted to go over there at that point, but will have to see how things shake out between now and then. Too good of a night to pass up, so I'll be there if at all possible.

Paulie, I understand. Make some dough and I'll see you another time!
p

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A completely wasted clear night - unobserved by me.

[RobbW]

Joe, you certainly missed out. Last night was great, at least from Elgin anyway. Had my newly cleaned C8 out and the views were great. Still have to post my write-up though. Accuweather.com is calling for 10/10 skies for tonight. I think I'm finally going to keep my daughter up late and get her some scope time!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

10/10, eh?

It's completely socked over here in the Heart of Chicago.

Let's see how it developes...maybe some SCT time.

And cool that the C8 is back together!

[Paulie pchris00]

I fell asleep just before sunset last night, so I missed out in the clear skies also. I know Accuweather last night was calling for a 10 for tonight, but right now I don't see that happening. Too many clouds. I'm starting to not trust Accuweather's astronomy forecasts at all. I don't work tonight, so I really hope I can get some telescope time in.

[Paulie pchris00]

They're still giving tonight a "10," and even more mind boggling, tomorrow night is getting a "10" as well, when everybody else is calling for storms Friday night. Hmmmm...

www.accuweather.com/us/in/valparaiso/46383/outdoor-astronomy.asp

[patrickm]

Fully intended to get over to Horner last night as originally posted, but getting ready for our latest trip to Austin at 9am, along with my crabby GI tract, conspired against my initial plans. I finally got things in order enough to head to the tiny Sunken Gardens Park down the street from our house. While streetlights, trees, and rooftops make for a less than ideal viewing spot, there are pretty open views overhead east to west and wedges to the south and north. As an added bonus, the light located in the park itself is burned out--and I hope it stays that way!!

The air had a touch of chill to it, but the skies were pretty good. A little more humidity than I expected, so seeing was not as optimum as I had hoped--average I would have to say, as was the transparency.

Immediately found Jupiter and his four Galilean moons doing their intricate dance. At the highest magnifications for my 4.5" scope, it washed out a bit with only fleeting moments of clarity for detail. Backing off just a bit helped, but no Great Red Spot was visible under any magnification. K

While hanging with Jupiter, I offered views to two neighbors and their dogs out for a lovely evening stroll. Both were impressed with bright star that isn't.

After Jupiter finally begun to travel behind the dead, lightning-struck, horse chestnut tree, I decided to see if I could tease out Neptune though my opening to the south. I am pretty certain that I had it in sight when my friend Nina road up on her bike, having just gotten off work.

I decided to forgo the most ghosty objects and show her some stuff we wouldn't have to strain too much to find or see.

We went back to Jupiter and marveled at the mini solar system. Still no GRS, and Nina asked me if the planet has a solid core. I did not know nor could I find a quick answer to this one. Anyone? Bueller?

We discussed Saturn (Come back! We miss you!) and the two asteroids that made a flyby yesterday. And then off to DSOs.

In rapid succession, we visited M57 (Ring Nebula), M2, M56, Owl/ET Cluster, M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), and finished with a fantastic view of M45 (The Pleiades).

Andromeda appeared a little larger/brighter than normal. Still only the central core, but it seemed to spread out a bit more in my wide eyepiece.

Sparkling like a set of jewels in the sky, The Pleiades were again spectacular. They completely fill my widest eyepiece and are a difficult target to turn away from. Still, Nina had to bike off into the night and so I swing over to Jupiter, which had appeared from behind the dying tree. Nina said her goodbye to the six of us and glided off, hopefully with celestial visions filling her head.

I had an early flight to catch, and should have called it a night at this point, but couldn't resist trying to find a few winter DSOs that I haven't yet had the chance to see in my trusty little scope. Using SkyVoyager as my guide, I quickly found Caldwell 41 (The Hyades) in the head of Taurus. What a sight that is, while not as spectacular as The Pleiades, they are still quite a vision and spread out over such a large area. How long have I gone without even turning binocs on them and why?!

It was now getting very late but I quickly checked off a few star clusters in the neighborhood as well: The two open clusters jn Taurus--NGC1746, NGC1647, and three in the constellation Auriga (The Charioteer)--M36 (Pinwheel Cluster), M38 (Starfish Cluster), and finally, I told myself that M37 would be my last stop. As M37 came into view, a white CPD SUV arrived with head lamps on high and spotlights ablaze, causing my dark little corner to glow. With all of the light overwhelming my carefully protected night vision, I couldn't help but think how similar it felt to a stereotypical alien abduction scenario! They pulled the SUV up into the park, lighting up my little scope and bag chair set up. I walked over to the vehicle and had an awkward interchange. What was I doing? (Looking at M37 and Jupiter.) Did I know the park was closed? (Unfortunately yes.) Was I drinking? (Only a Coke.) Was somebody else with me? (Not any more.) Where did I live? (Four houses up.) Joe's voice rang out clearly in my head, and I asked if they would like to take a look. "Sure!" they said. So they finally turned off the spots and, leaving the headlamps on, pulled up to my little site and got out.

The light bath ruined any shot at Andromeda, and The Pleiades completely slipped my mind so I pointed my little scope toward Jupiter. I knew it wouldn't let me down! They were both very taken by it, and the female officer seemed especially moved by the sight of the Jovian satellites and surface. I told them that I had included several neighbors in my viewing that night. The male officer (I stupidly forgot to get their names! Sorry!) said that "a neighbor who I had neglected to invite had called me in to the precinct." I told them that at the last beat meeting that some people had raised the issue of kids hanging out down there. They probably assumed the shadowy figure was somebody either up to no good or just having too much of a good time. The officers agreed. We spent a few minutes discussing scope pricing and what else was visible up there in the pink sky. I started packing up.

They hopped back into the SUV and started to head off, but stopped short. The male officer rolled down his window and said, "You don't have to leave. You can stay if you want to." I was already winding down anyway, had an early flight, and didn't want to abuse my privilege, so I thanked them again and told them that if they see me out either at Sunken Gardens or over at Horner (which I am pretty sure is a different beat) to be sure to stop by and say hi and I would always be happy to show them what was up and share some company.

As they drove off, I snuck one last look at Jupiter before saying goodnight.

[Paulie pchris00]

Okay, the hydrogen core of Jupiter is so highly compressed that it acts as liquified metal, hence the strong magnetic field.

The Pleiades and Hyades are excellent binocular targets! Go get them!

The GRS is usually only visible as it rotates near the center of the planet. A blue filter will help bring it out. It has really out on a show this year, without the southern equatorial belt to hide it. Try looking up on Sky & Telescope or some other website that you trust for GRS transit times.

www.skyandtelescope.com/s?action=login&rurl=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript

[patrickm]

Sept 9, 2010 19:29:57 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

Okay, the hydrogen core of Jupiter is so highly compressed that it acts as liquified metal, hence the strong magnetic field.

That's exactly what I was thinking!!! (not).

Thanks for clearing that up though. Seriously. Will pass along to Nina.

Cool on the Spot and the net. Never crossed my mind that some nerd might have posted the Spot transit times. What an ultramaroon am I!
p

[patrickm]

I had this fantasy today that a smallish, mysterious white dome appeared in the park and that neighbors and authorities were freaked out by it and thus left it alone. I think there's a Steven King book there somewhere.

Julia had the wonderful idea of sending an invite out to our neighborhood association for a night coming up in the next month. Perhaps more toward the end when Pleiades and Orion are up earlier. Will pencil that in and will advise when I can work that into the schedule. Anybody who wants to join would be most welcome. Would be the best way to show the neighbors Old Guy with Scope is not the boogeyman.

[RobbW]

Yes, I was concerned about the overcast skies tonight, too. In fact, when I went out to finally setup my scope for my daughter, I was half considering cancelling the session. The clouds were hiding Polaris at the time, so I couldn't do any polar alignments. I gave it about 20 minutes and the clouds cleared enough to see Polaris in the polar scope. I'm glad I stuck it out. It turned out to be a wonderfully clear night tonight. Seeing wasn't as good as last night, but still pretty good! We saw Jupiter and moons, Uranus, Neptune, Andromeda Galaxy, Hercules Cluster, Polaris double star, M101, and several others. I'm totally loving this GoTo system on my "new" scope. I can show my daughter several different targets within a span of about 15 minutes. Normally, it would probably take me 15-20 minutes to locate just one target in my eyepiece! I know I previously said I didn't need or care about GoTo capabilities, but it is so nice to have when you've got a 4yo who just wants to hurry up and see things!

[RobbW]

Paulie, I had the privilege of seeing the GRS last night! As orientated in my EP, it started off on the far right-hand side. I stayed with it until it was a little past the halfway mark. It was really cool to finally see the GRS. I totally blame my new C8!!!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Always make nice with the authorities and be humble when offering views of the mysteries of the cosmos.

It's how we make points and friends...and get rock star parking.

Very cool Patrick.