Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Aug 6, 2013 0:37:17 GMT -6
Chicago Astronomers do an all-nighter at the Conway Observatory
Lowell Indiana
04 August 2013
Lowell Indiana
04 August 2013
On my Saturday afternoon adventures, I got a text from Chicago Astronomer Patrick that several of the crew were heading toward Lowell Indiana for a night's session at the Conway Observatory....including C.A.s Paulie, Rich Bill. Now, I have never taken the trek across the state line to visit the observatory that Paulie operates, but I have been wanting to for the longest. Asking my girl Maria, we were free and decided at the last moment to pack up the SUV with gear and head out to meet up with the crew.
Boy, am I glad I did.... ;D
We started out late, about 8:00 pm. I really hate to arrive at a star party after dark, as I feel I have lost prep time that eats into the night. Punching the destination into the Garmin, it gave us a route, but made us take the Skyway and sorta out of our way...
Passing landmarks, we were well on our way, but it seemed like the long way. Detours and 45 minutes added to the trip, we arrived near the observatory. Paulie, seeing our car pull up the dirt road in the distance, met us at the beginning of the road leading to the observatory and guided us in. Paulie was a great host and we got the tour of the building and scopes. The rest of the crew were already there and set-up and it took me awhile to load the C11 on the CG-5, but soon...I was peering deep into the cosmos. Dark skies here brought the Milky Way painted overhead nicely. To the north was some light pollution from malls, but this is the darkest site I have been in a very long time. Scorpius was easily observed...tail curving up and the Teapot with steam was very cool.
I met two Mike's there, members of the Calumet Astronomical Society. 1st Mike is a member of this forum and had his 6" Reflector set-up, bringing in decent views...
2nd Mike stopped by my C11 and we talked about equipment for awhile before he left for the night...
Arriving when it was already dark, I did not have the chance to photograph the observatory, so the remainder of the pics are of our observation and crew.
In the Conway, someone donated a 13" Dob. Rich and Paulie brought it out and it delivered some pretty wonderful views...
Bill, C.A. Skymaster....was picking out objects all night in in our scopes. I decided to test out the Ipad Mini, using SkySafari Pro with the Sky-fi wireless control for the C11. Worked beautifully..
I wasn't having great luck with imaging this session for some reason, but enjoyed the dark skies and countless stars filling up the eyepiece...
I was utilizing the laser with great success, assisting me in quickly slewing to targets and aligning the mount throughout the evening...
We take some time out to grab some group shots of the crew...totally ruining our night vision...
And so...
We were slewing all over the place with our scopes, picking out fainties and testing optics. Scanning Sagittarius was a great experience in these dark skies - clusters and fuzzies by the handful wherever you pointed and I spent a lot of time just solo and taking leisurely strolls - punching in from time to time on the Ipad star chart, go-to commands to several objects.
Time flew by fast, as we were catching the first signs of a new day, but still an hour or so before dawn arrived at 4ish...
Jupiter was up, as was Mars, Orion and Taurus. This is probably the earliest I have seen the winter constellations slide over the horizon in a very long time...
Soon, the crescent Moon joined in and little elusive Mercury, but by this time, close to dawn...lenses and equipment were getting pretty much dewed over...
I swapped out the C11 and popped on the C102 refractor to continue the lunar imaging...
Mercury popped over the distant tree line...
Did some uber quick Jupiter shots...
Patrick was doing his observation along with Bill for this session...
We had a very nice ISS pass after 4am, spotted first by Paulie...
And we squeeze out as much as we can before the Sun rises and calls an end to a very fun night with the cosmos and friends...
Then, as all good sessions do....we must break down the site and pack our gear...
Maria spent the night sleeping in the SUV while the C.A. crew explored the Universe....
Low layin' fog near by...
I say it's where zombies come from.
This was a beautiful night, at a dark sky site and with fellow Chicago Astronomers...
More night's should be spent like this.
We will be back to the Conway Observatory soon and use the 16" Scope in the building more. I thank Paulie for being a great host and seeing to our needs throughout the session.... ;D
