Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jul 26, 2004 0:54:01 GMT -6
I looked out my window, rather discouraged of the past cloudy days, not expecting a reprieve this Sunday evening. But, I saw sunshine and a clear sky. I put off my Sunday chores, and got the scope ready for a trip to the lakefront at my usual spot.
It was rather cool as I rolled up to my spot, and kinda windy. But a clear night is a clear night. The Planetarium had a special event going on, so there were people dressed up for some function passing by, and they bagged off a great deal of parking meters in order to force them to use the $12.00 parking lot.
It was still bright as I slewed to the half Moon. Contrast was minimal and detail not good. So I attached a polarizer filter and adjusted it to get a good contrast. It worked very well, what was a light blue sky in the eyepiece was now very dark, and brought out the maria highlights very well. I went to reach for my Lunar 100 list to start knocking them down, when again.................I forgot it at home! Damn! Second time I forgot it.
Well, the wind was getting quite strong now, and buffeting the scope quite a bit. I was able to view small calm seconds of the Moon, when a gust would shake things all up again.
Curious people would come up and ask what I was doing, and I shared views of the Moon. Jupiter was now too low in the West for decent views, so I negleted it. Others too shy to approach walked by, but kept turning around to look.
Old Newsletter subscriber & New Forum member Adrianne, (Odisea2000), chanced on stopping by with friends and shared views of the Moon. I attempted to target other objects, but the wind and lights at the area prohibited me in snagging them. I did show Vega, and the Double-Double stars in Lyra. I wanted to show the "Collinder 399 - Coathanger" formation, but again the winds, lights and position at zenith made it very difficult. I suffered from tripod bang and limited range of motion at the position. (I hate EQ mounts).
I apologized for the abbreviated session, but as they had to go anyway, we saved the effort for another day.
We plan to be by the lakefront on the 31st, but here's a problem. It's the same night of "Venetain Night"...A parade of dressed up seacraft and fireworks. It won't be the best time to gather, considering the parking situation, but I shall try. If it's clear that night, it will certainly be a great sight watching the Moon rise up over the lake. I'll send out a newsletter notice on this possible drawback on that night.
But overall, it was a good lunar night for me.
It was rather cool as I rolled up to my spot, and kinda windy. But a clear night is a clear night. The Planetarium had a special event going on, so there were people dressed up for some function passing by, and they bagged off a great deal of parking meters in order to force them to use the $12.00 parking lot.
It was still bright as I slewed to the half Moon. Contrast was minimal and detail not good. So I attached a polarizer filter and adjusted it to get a good contrast. It worked very well, what was a light blue sky in the eyepiece was now very dark, and brought out the maria highlights very well. I went to reach for my Lunar 100 list to start knocking them down, when again.................I forgot it at home! Damn! Second time I forgot it.
Well, the wind was getting quite strong now, and buffeting the scope quite a bit. I was able to view small calm seconds of the Moon, when a gust would shake things all up again.
Curious people would come up and ask what I was doing, and I shared views of the Moon. Jupiter was now too low in the West for decent views, so I negleted it. Others too shy to approach walked by, but kept turning around to look.
Old Newsletter subscriber & New Forum member Adrianne, (Odisea2000), chanced on stopping by with friends and shared views of the Moon. I attempted to target other objects, but the wind and lights at the area prohibited me in snagging them. I did show Vega, and the Double-Double stars in Lyra. I wanted to show the "Collinder 399 - Coathanger" formation, but again the winds, lights and position at zenith made it very difficult. I suffered from tripod bang and limited range of motion at the position. (I hate EQ mounts).
I apologized for the abbreviated session, but as they had to go anyway, we saved the effort for another day.
We plan to be by the lakefront on the 31st, but here's a problem. It's the same night of "Venetain Night"...A parade of dressed up seacraft and fireworks. It won't be the best time to gather, considering the parking situation, but I shall try. If it's clear that night, it will certainly be a great sight watching the Moon rise up over the lake. I'll send out a newsletter notice on this possible drawback on that night.
But overall, it was a good lunar night for me.
