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[jeremy]

I had a long, long day at work today, so I owe the CA group and Joe an apology for not making out to the Park District. However I wasn't going to let these clear skies tonight go to waste. Below is a list of my items viewed and notes.

Blinking Planetary Nebula - NGC 6826
I really dig this object. I really don't get tired of playing with the visual effect.

Cat Eye Nebula - NGC 6543
Best when viewed through my 10mm. Can't make out any definition, but it has great color.

It was around this point where I thought I'd add a 3rd object to better align with my COL. First I thought it backfired as it was pointing me in places I thought I shouldn't be, so I realigned everything. Then after quite a bit more searching for Gerradd with no luck, I decided to star hop instead using the COL. I punch in the first close star and it shows me pretty far off. I then look closer at what I punched in for Gerradd's coordinates, and it turns out putting a "-" in for a "+" in the Dec coordinate makes a big difference! Felt pretty silly at this point. Once my user error was corrected, I was right on it.

C/2009 P1 (Garradd)
Still no tail, however i felt it was a bit brighter than I've seen recently. Oddly it was slightly off where my Sky Safari maps showed it would be. Not drastically off, but it showed it on the other side of a nearby star.

Caroline's Rose - NGC 7789

Dumbbell Nebula - Messier 27
Very, very faint. Only noticed it when i was moving scope slightly to get oriented.

ET Cluster - NGC 457

Ring Nebula - Messier 57

h Persei - NGC 869

HD 240465
(Double Star in Cassiopeia)
I accidentally stumbled upon this looking for a Nebula nearby (which I couldn't see, too faint). I thought this double star was really cool as one of the stars looked very red. The other start looked blue/white. Nice combo.

Jupiter
Never get tired of this.

Andromeda Galaxy - Messier 31
As I was finishing the night with this, it was closer to the zenith. I thought it looked great tonight!

Messier 110
Easy to see tonight as well.

Tomorrow my flocking boards arrive (thanks for that tip Patrick), so I'm going to try to get that completed during the day. With a session tonight, then another tomorrow after my scope is flocked, I'm interested to see the difference. I plan to follow a lot of tonight's list for comparison. Maybe things like the Dumbbell Nebula will pop out a bit more.

[patrickm]

Nice list!

Let me know how the flocking works. Will order it up myself! Thanks for being the guinea pig.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Jeremy,

I dig the ever increasing list you are compiling.

Very cool.

It encourages me to master that damned archaic Digital Setting Circle I have.

Also...

When you start to flock your Dob, consider flocking all light paths - this includes the focuser draw tube. Any place where you can dampen light from bouncing around will increase contrast.

I flocked all surfaces of the C11 and the results are greatly noticeable. Here is part of the process...

astronomer.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=ATM&thread=3208&post=12447

I'm considering flocking the inner tubes of my eyepieces as well.

Over kill? Not really.

In the city, every bit to push back the invasive glare of the city is well worth it.

[-=CROMAN=-]

What type of flocking material did you purchase? I have been considering doing that myself but worried about using a material that may absorb to much moisture. Dobs are open so I would think that humidity does matter with the material chosen.

[jeremy]

Thanks for the tip Joe! I should have some material left over to do the focuser.

I purchased a material from Protostar called Flockboard. I went with the thicker stuff as they recommend for scopes greater than 6". It actually doesn't use any adhesives, it springs in place and is held their by the tension of the material, and by the end pieces of your scope to keep it from sliding back and forth. Also any mounted items you have on your scope tube with screws will help keep it in place. They have a video on their website that shows how it works. Seems easy enough, and in reading through boards people seem to like it. Sky & Telescope also gave it a Hot Product award this year.

I'll take some pictures of the process and let everyone know how it goes today. Taking things apart is always fun!

[RobbW]

I think I remember Joe mentioning in the recent Private Observation Session thread that someone has an app they use to record the objects they actually view during a session (as opposed to an app that creates a viewing list beforehand). What app is that? Is it an iOS or Droid app? I'm trying to find a good app to record the objects I view as I view them, rather than trying to remember everything after the fact. I use SkySafari Pro on my iPod Touch to both control my C8 and also to search for objects. It has the ability to add a searched object to a list of objects to be observed. I'm kind of hacking that function to use as a list of objects I have already viewed. I just need to figure out how to get the objects off my iPod and onto my PC so I can make a better list of viewed objects over time.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Robb,

C.A. Jeremy has that option on his iPad.

He'll chime in soon, perhaps after his flocking project.

[patrickm]

In SkySafari viewing lists, you can make notes on each item viewed and then export in txt or CSV. Just keep a running list of objects viewed or export each night, import into spreadsheet, and sort. Voila!

SkySafari is what I use to post my nightly observations here, and keep track of what I want to see as well.

[RobbW]

Thanks, Patrick. I suppose it would help a little bit if I spent some time digging into all the different features of my astro apps. I didn't know you could export your observing list out of SkySafari. That rocks. I just wish that SkySafari had a PC app whereby it would sync with my iPod app whenever I plugged it in. That way I could download/upload observing lists, sky charts and the like and use/update them on my PC where everything is bigger and easier to see. I know Southern Stars makes a Mac OS version, but nothing for us Windows users.

[jeremy]

Hi Robb,

Just as Patrick said, I am using the export feature on Sky Safari, which on the ipad app is found as a link at the bottom of the page within your customized viewing lists. On the ipad I have the option to email that to myself, so I do that and just cut and paste from there.

I hope that helps!