Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Sept 12, 2010 3:11:35 GMT -6
Chicago Astronomer Impromptu Star Party
11 September 2010
11 September 2010
A nice evening should never go to waste...so, in a last minute decision, Chicago Astronomer John and I decided to make the trek to Chicago Astronomer observation site #1 for some scope time and see what happens.
It turned out to be a very nice evening with a many visitors.
We parked at our usual spots and set up our equipment at about 7:00 pm.
The Adler Planetarium was conducting their annual "Celestial Ball" fund raiser function this evening and we met many nice and interesting people who made their way to our scopes and enjoyed the views.
We had a very nice conjunction at sunset and I shared some lunar and Venusian views before they both sank too low to observe. But it was clear to the observers that Venus displayed a phase. I did not have a lot of time to take astro images, and I forgot my power supply..so it was all manual tracking all night for this session. I did manage to take one shot of Venus before I lost her...
And one single shot of the Moon...
The crowds made their way to our scopes, as John set up his 5" SCT and 4" refractor and we were "on" practically every moment, talking astronomy and sharing views...
We had a great time with the work staff at the Adler this evening sharing views...from the Valets, to the kitchen staff, the musicians, function guests and museum security, it was non-stop with urban astronomy.
I slewed back and forth between the NGC457 - Owl Cluster (or E.T.), ...
...and the Double cluster - both off of Cassiopeia...
(Not my images)
The attached laser on the C11 made finding the objects easier and quicker. John, with his go-to also picked up the objects and targeted Jupiter and Andromeda as well.
In between visitors, I managed to take some quick images of Jupiter, but with out powered tracking...not my best...
The skies were great this evening with excellent transparency and clarity...even the stars due south were visible easily. Not many nights like this are offered in the city.
John and I broke down our session and with a satisfying session left the area at 1:30 am. Could have stayed longer, but fatigued set in, but ready for the next one.
( I may do a solo session at Chicago Astronomer Research Site tomorrow...
)
