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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Chicago Astronomer Star Party

Friday, 04 November 2011

Presently outside, it's cold, windy and rainy, but...the promise of a clear evening is in the cards and will soon be upon us.

So....

Trying to squeeze out as many night's I can for some easy desirable scope time before the bitter winter arrives, I will set up the C11 by 6:00 pm Friday night by the Adler area - probably by the Sundial just north of the Adler building.

We will have a great Moon and Jupiter to share with our friends, fans and visitors and enjoy a relatively warm night under urban skies.

If free, stop by and share the skies. And if not, do it anyway...you know you want to.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

And...

...we will throw in Back-to-Back ISS AND Iridium flare events within a few minutes of each other. 6:41 & 6:45 pm.

-8 Magnitude/56 degrees high on the flare...not to be missed!

[magic612]

Well, it's looking like I will be there. No guarantees yet, and if I can, hopefully the Dan Ryan traffic won't be too bad up to the I-55 exit.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Excellent!

It's always a treat to see what scope Dave will bring next.

Gonna be a great clear night.

[Paulie pchris00]

No can do. Have to staff the observatory for the last open house of the year. Have fun!

Dave, I never have much of a problem with the Ryan. The Bishop Ford is the one that usually gives me problems.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

We are a solid go for tonight.

Paulie, you'll have a great night for the open house. So then after this, we'll have you to ourselves?

[Paulie pchris00]

Well, you still have to share me with my job, but with the early sunsets, that's not as much of a problem as in the summer months.

[magic612]

Anyone know where Joe might.be? I've been here since 6:00 and haven't sen him yet. There are some Adler volunteers here but that's all I see.

[magic612]

Nevermind he's here now.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A 200+ visitor evening for the Chicago Astronomers...

I arrived late to the site, sometime after 6:30 pm...but could not be helped addressing a domestic situation. I missed some Chicago Astronomer fans who stopped by, did not see me and just went home - despite that the Adler was having a "Astro-Overnight" event - (where groups of kids get to spend the night in the Adler till morning), and Adler scopes were out...

Chicago Astronomer Dave was also on-site before I got there and questioning where in the hack I was. Spotting me, we set up up scopes. Chicago Astronomer support crew members Barbara and Maria also were present to attend to our visitors for the evening.

Dave brought his brand new pier project and a 5" refractor sitting on top....

It's very cool.

Stable and transportable, it provided good views of Jupiter for our guests, while I stayed with the Moon this evening. I'm glad I got to see it...

We set up at our usual primary spot, with the Adler crew and scope a few yards away by the South entrance of the Adler. After the overnight kids viewed through scopes over there, they made their way to our scopes. I had space ambiance tunes playing and high magnifications focused on the Moon - (217 power). The atmospheric conditions early on was iffy, but the steady breeze we were experiencing blew the sky clear...although we were all chilly...

I was getting some pretty remarkable clear views of the lunar surface and the "Straight Wall" Rupus Rectus and Copernicus was standing out beautifully....

The breeze was preventing decent photography, but I managed to grab a few quick lunar shots in-between the rushes of kids.

Tom, science promoter from www.letubeu.com , stopped by to join us for this session...

Always tweets our Chicago Astronomer events and cool to chat with him...and sporting our Chicago Astronomer Disk...Yay!


And long time Chicago Astronomer supporter Dan stopped by with his family...

And so, we attend to our visitors - both from the Adler activity and from fans/passerbyers...

Adler telescope crew members, Bill, Linda, Steve and Fred all stopped by to say hi and see what the competition was doing...

I used a blue 80A and UV filter on my barlowed 26mm eyepiece, which made for a nice contrasty image and impressed our visitors...

Dave was smart and dressed for the evening well...

I did not, and although was not cold, I was a bit chilled...

The C11s multiple finder scopes were all utilized by the observers, with many making the effort to peer through all 3 finders and main scope. The 90mm refractor, coupled with the reticulated 32mm eyepiece is a great addition to the arsenal - providing a total lunar orb view - in immediate comparison with the zoomed in view through the main OTA .

As the evening progressed, the skies cleared up and I was getting great views of Jupiter...really perhaps the best I have ever observed in the C11..or any other telescope. I tried to capture the clarity with the Canon Powershot S3, in between the clusters of kids, but I did not have the proper time and the battery for tracking was already packed away...ergo, not the best images....

But I'm telling you fellow Chicago Astronomers...the Jupiter views were remarkable! GRS, EQ bands, minor bands and swirls & ovals were all sharply visible and enjoyed. Even seasoned Astronomer Bill thought it was a thumbs-up view...

(I need to do a serious solo imaging session soon - before we lose the Opposition advantage...and also, during this coming winter...get me a Teen mm 2" eyepiece for planetary viewing by Spring.))

I was not 100% at the session, with some things occupying me and kinda felt sorta out of it for this session...and maybe not my usual self, but it was good to get some scope time in regardless.

Our crew for the evening...

Myself, Barbara, Dave and Maria (behind the camera).

At the end, we tallied a total of 213 visitors to our Chicago Astronomer scopes.

Very cool.

[magic612]

As always, a great record of the night Joe! Thanks to Maria for taking many of the photos, and a shout-out to Barb for keeping track of visitors and getting them educated about what we were showing in the sky and how (and how not!) to look through the scopes.

Incidentally, I started a thread on CloudyNights.com about Friday in their "Outreach" forum. Do you mind if I use some of your pictures to add to that thread? I didn't get a whole lot of shots as our visitors kept us pretty busy throughout the night.

[patrickm]

Wow! That's a ton of folks for 2 scopes, if we can indeed count Joe's scope as only one scope...debatable to say the least.

Dave, your pier/mount is a thing of beauty. Can't wait to see it in person and check out your views. How were they?

Joe, sorry for whatever was up at home, but I'll bet getting out did some good. Two of your Jupiter pics do show some really nice detail on the southern temperate belt, GRS, etc. Very nice!

Sorry I missed. Hope we get another crack at it on a night I can make it.
p

[magic612]

Patrick, thanks for the kudos on the mount. The views were really nice - I know my collimation is just the tiniest bit off still, but it still provides good images. I must have been using higher magnification than the Adler volunteers, as those who stopped by my scope continually commented on how much larger Jupiter appeared, and how much more they could see.

Vibrations are kept to a minimum with the tension rods I added - I know Joe is still skeptical that they work, but they keep the dancing in the eyepiece to a 2 second "settle down" time after a sharp rap on the tube. And given the wind we occasionally experienced on Friday, I was glad to have them during those moments as well. The scope is a bit of a sail up there, but it does okay, all things considered.

I hope to get get powder coated this winter - maybe a nice glossy, sparkly white color or something.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Dave..

Certainly you can use the pics.

Just link 'em back to the thread.

(Hello Kitty Powder coat.)

[magic612]

Done, and done! Thanks Joe.

Oh, and I'm leaning away from the Hello Kitty powder coat at this time. But I may be convinced by large-sum donations to change my mind. ;D