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molniyabeer
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/08/05
Posts: 2058
Loc: Central Coast, California
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The other day I looked at my log book and realized I'd fallen off in documenting observing sessions. Mostly it's been due to the later dusk and early work hours, plus some cloud layers that seem to roll in when I least want them. So last weekend and last night I set out to change some of that.
I attended the RTMC over Memorial Day weekend up near Big Bear, CA. The weather was pretty rough, cloudy and cold during the day (including a brief snow on Friday), but clearing at night. But it got cold, down into the teens acording to one camper. But, even with the challenges of weather, I was pretty stoked to get this view of Mars in M44 on Friday the 23rd. View is through 11x70 Oberwerk binos.
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Steve
16" Meade LightBridge (Beowulf)
10" Hardin DSH, StarMax 127mm Mak, PST H-a
Oberwerk 11 x 70 binocs, Tasco 10 x 50 binocs
Santa Maria Clear Sky Clock
Figueroa Mt Clear Sky Clock
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molniyabeer
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/08/05
Posts: 2058
Loc: Central Coast, California
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Last night (31 May) our astro club held a star party up on Figueroa Mt in the Los Padres forest. The sky was fairly dark although we did have whisps and streamers of fog that rolled up the hill from time to time. But overall it was a pretty good night, and the temps were about 30 degrees warmer than the previous weekend!
My first sketch was of Omega Centauri. It didn't rise very high, so with my dob I had to crank my observing stool as low as it would go, then still hunch over to view it. But it was worth it! As the sky grew darker and darker, more and more fuzz and extended glow would emerge around the core. The sheer size of it was staggering, since this sketch was done in a 24mm Hyperion! M13 needs a barlow to reach this size.
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Steve
16" Meade LightBridge (Beowulf)
10" Hardin DSH, StarMax 127mm Mak, PST H-a
Oberwerk 11 x 70 binocs, Tasco 10 x 50 binocs
Santa Maria Clear Sky Clock
Figueroa Mt Clear Sky Clock
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molniyabeer
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/08/05
Posts: 2058
Loc: Central Coast, California
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After Omega I was wondering where to go next when one of my observing buddies commented that he was having trouble finding M51 in his 12" dob since it was so close to the zenith. Together, we were able to work out the hop and get him aligned on target. It seemed like a good idea to me, so I returned to my scope and was soon sketching this view. The overall glow was misty with subtle hints of spiral to my eye. There was a definite brighter knot at about the 5 o'clock position on M51, which I confirmed later after viewing a photo of it. Didn't really show up on the sketch as every time I tried to add it, I over did it and it came on too strong. Oh, well...
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Steve
16" Meade LightBridge (Beowulf)
10" Hardin DSH, StarMax 127mm Mak, PST H-a
Oberwerk 11 x 70 binocs, Tasco 10 x 50 binocs
Santa Maria Clear Sky Clock
Figueroa Mt Clear Sky Clock
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molniyabeer
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/08/05
Posts: 2058
Loc: Central Coast, California
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After M51, I remembered that I had prepared a list of intended targets for the night and had yet to start on it. So I browsed around in Scorpius and Ophiuchus for a bit, tracing B44 (touch to sketch due to it's sheer size) and hunting down a couple of planetary nebulae. The next sketch, however, is of NGC 6231, the Northern Jewel Box, in the tail of Scorpius. This is one of the most beautiful clusters I've ever seen. It was stunning at low power and took magnification very well, revealing more and more faint stars on up to my 8mm Hyperion (about 156x). I would have loved to sketch it at that power but it was drifting pretty quickly and I would not have been able to keep up with it. So I backed out to the 24mm again. Even there, this was a beast of a cluster. Just incredibly rich, with tons of faint stars scattered through it. This sketch was made between 0100-0200 PDT on 1 June, and by that time I was getting somewhat fatigued so the accuracy is a bit off. But the overall effect is there, I think.
By the time I finished this, it was just after 0200 and I was the last man standing from our group. Not looking forward to the hour's drive home, I packed it in and carefully made my way down the mountain and back to a nice warm bed.
So, while I can't make up for the days I didn't sketch, at least I feel like I made good use of the last couple of opportunities.
Clear skies.
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Steve
16" Meade LightBridge (Beowulf)
10" Hardin DSH, StarMax 127mm Mak, PST H-a
Oberwerk 11 x 70 binocs, Tasco 10 x 50 binocs
Santa Maria Clear Sky Clock
Figueroa Mt Clear Sky Clock
Edited by molniyabeer (06/01/08 04:55 PM)
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frank5817
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/13/06
Posts: 3041
Loc: Illinois
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Steve,
These are all great sketches. I would dare say this must have been a most enjoyable observing time for you.
Whenever I see those pictures of folks at RTMC everyone is in warm winter gear; that would scare me away.
Frank 
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Acheron
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/07/05
Posts: 765
Loc: Croatia, Velika Gorica
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Nice collection of sketches.
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I like sketching...
8" F6 Dob - "Betsy"
12" F5 Dob - "Tristac"
25x100 Binos
Messier Catalogue - done
Herschel 400 - 201 more to go
http://www.inet.hr/~vevrhova/english/index
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molniyabeer
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/08/05
Posts: 2058
Loc: Central Coast, California
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Thanks, guys.
Frank, the RTMC definitely hit the cold end of their range this year. But people said they've had years where it's 80+ and folks are dropping from dehydration and sunburn. Guess you just have to store up the energy of those years to hold you through...
Next year's appears more favorable if for no other reason than it will be on the new moon (we were in last quarter this year).
Clear skies.
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Steve
16" Meade LightBridge (Beowulf)
10" Hardin DSH, StarMax 127mm Mak, PST H-a
Oberwerk 11 x 70 binocs, Tasco 10 x 50 binocs
Santa Maria Clear Sky Clock
Figueroa Mt Clear Sky Clock
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rodelaet
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 2655
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Steve,
Excellent work on those sketches!
I've never seen omega centauri, your sketch is very nice!
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Rony
My Astronomy Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
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rolandlinda3
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/24/06
Posts: 1612
Loc: Crozet VA 22932
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I've never seen O.C. either but hope to be in S.Cal in June and try it. Would love to catch it with Rich Handy. Rich...you still online once in a while?
Roland
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gewehr43
sage
Reged: 07/07/06
Posts: 356
Loc: Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Great sketches!!
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Daniel Z
10" Meade Starfinder on CI700
SV85S Apo on LXD500B
34mm Celestron Axiom
22T4 Nagler
13T6 Nagler
6.7mm Meade UWA
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Michael & Louise
member
Reged: 06/02/08
Posts: 11
Loc: Calgary, Alberta
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Thanks for sharing those sketches! Good work.
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Louise and Michael
Astronomical Sketches
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starquake
member
Reged: 02/02/08
Posts: 135
Loc: Nádasdladány
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Wow congrats! I wish I had such a good view on Omega Centauri. I especially like the bino sketch of M44 and Mars.
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"At night astronomers agree." /Matthew Prior/
"Astronomers, like burglars and jazz musicians, operate best at night." /Miles Kington/
10x50, 114x900, 300x1500
My astronomical sketches: Graphite Galaxy
Don't take my words too seriously, I might be wrong. And sorry for my English.
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