Telescope Reviews: The Pre-Black Forest Star Party

This brief report appears thanks to a computer at the Coudersport Library.

My friend Tony Donnangelo and I journeyed to Cherry Springs State Park on Sunday, well in advance of the Black Forest Star Party, which is taking place this weekend.

On Sunday night I observed with my Celestron 8x42 and Burgess Optical 15x70 binoculars, 80mm Orion ShortTube refractor, 101mm Tele Vue refractor, and Tony's 20" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob. The transparency was excellent early on, but conditions deteriorated as the night progressed, with occasional clouds turning to complete overcast, followed by periods of relatively clear sky. Dew was a major problem. There were a few other observers scattered about the field, with some big Dobs present, including a 30" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob.

At any rate, we certainly saw more than enough deep-sky objects to make the drive worthwhile. Highlights included observing the recently discovered planetary nebula in Sagittarius, the eleventh magnitude asteroid 284 Amalia, Comet 22P/Kopff, and M2 and M15 (which was particularly impressive) at 419x with Tony's scope and his new 6mm Tele Vue Ethos, Stock 2 and M31 through my 101mm refractor at 90x (with Tony's 6mm Ethos), and Barnard's E, the North America Nebula, the Double Cluster, the Golf Putter asterism and NGC 752, M31, M33, NGC 7789 and a host of other DSOs through my 15x70 binocular. Seeing the entirety of Stock 2 at 90x was a new experience.

We called it a night when the waning Moon crested the eastern treeline.

As on Sunday night, the transparency was excellent at first last night. Dew was even heavier than on Sunday, however. Around 12:30 a.m. EDT, the transparency suddenly began to deteriorate and within ten minutes or so the sky was completely overcast.

Before that transpired, I had some great views of M8 through a 30" Starmaster Dob and a 17m Ethos equipped with an OIII filter (I believe I saw a very subtle hint of pink in the periphery of the nebula) and a 31mm Nagler equipped with a narrowband filter. I also looked at M17 - another superb view - and M27 with the 17mm Ethos with and without filtration. While I was at 30", I also had good views of M13 and M27 through a nearby 12.5" f/6 Teeter Telescope Dob.

On my way back from the 30" Starmaster, I stopped at a 25" ATM Dob and saw M2 and NGC 7009 through an Earthwin Binoviewer Power/Filter Slide System binoviewer and twin 25mm Ploessls.

Some of the more memorable sights seen through Tony's 20" Starmaster were the very faint globular cluster Palomar 14 in Hercules, the faint planetary nebula PN G037.7-05.9 (a rather difficult object) in Aquila, the planetary nebula NGC 6790 (which is about 1/2 degree to the east of PN G037.7-05.9), and the Hickson 100 galaxy group in Pegasus. (We were looking at Hickson 94 in Pegasus when the transparency went south.) Tony allowed me to use his scope for a while and I had some fantastic views of the fall galaxies NGC 891, NGC 7479, NGC 7332, NGC 7339, and NGC 7814 through his 10mm Pentax XW and 6 and 13mm Ethos eyepieces.

Other highlights included an ISS pass that I followed with my 15x70s and Tele Vue refractor at 41x (13mm Ethos) and M24 and the Pipe Nebula through the 15x70s. Scanning through Sagittarius, Scutum, Cygnus, Andromeda, and Perseus with the big binos was loads of fun.

The forecast for the rest of the week is anyone's guess but perhaps we'll have another good night or two, if the weather gods are so inclined.

Dave Mitsky

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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.