The Astronomy Chronicles 200604

Approximate Location: 9 Deg 58 Min North / 76 Deg 14 Minutes East
(Cochin, India)
Date: 20-06-04
Time: 14:45 - 17:00 UT (19:15 - 22:30 IST)
Temp: Approximately 86 deg F
Humidity: Approximately 80 % (it was HOT and HUMID!)
Equipment: SV102 APO / GM8
Eyepieces: Konig 2" 32mm / Nagler 17T4, Meade 8.8UWA, Nagler 3-6mm zoom

A gorgeous young crescent moon at sunset. Was not placed optimally for
viewing (unless I setup on the roof like last night, but was expecting a
"short" evening so went on the balcony). And for those that don't know
this, the moon from here is on it's side. The sunlit portion was
pointing straight DOWN!. That.....is.....weird. As they say, location,
location, location!

Started with the Jupiter webcam thing again. Continue to struggle
putting Jupiter on the barlowed webcam's CCD. Oh well. Used the
opportunity to, well, just LOOK at it. A little better tonight, more
banding evident and a nice dark, disruptive feature in the NEB with the
moons out at their max in their orbits (all four were out wide, with
Europa and Callisto forming a nice little twosome). 3-6mm at 6mm (147x)
was probably a bit too much, with the 8.8UWA (100x) being just right.

BTW - there is something magical about the 8.8UWA; almost 1 degree of
sky (50') at 100x. Thus far it is my most used EP (next to the 32mm
Konig which is only used a lot because it is my star-hopping EP).

Decided to go after James Mullaney's Double Stars from the July S&T
(that's one reason we have this scope here).

Beta Scorpii - Nice little blue-ish pair.

Nu Scorpii - The "other" double-double. Could resolve the wider pair
(2.4") with the 8.8UWA, but the narrower pair (1.3" 4th-5th mag) was not
happening tonight.

Alpha Scorpii (Antares) - I Got this one!!! 3-6mm zoom at 3mm (293x)
showed the tiny companion as a distinct dot outside the diffraction
rings of Antares. Then confirmed it at each click stop back to 6mm
(147x). Gotta love these SV's! This was the triumph of the evening! I
split this one in a 4-inch scope and the Night Sky Observers Guide
doesn't even list the 4-6" scopes.

Alpha Hercules - Didn't see the color contrast mentioned in the article.
~ Meade 8.8UWA (100x). If I remember right the companion was very,
VERY small (relatively speaking)

M13 (hey! I was there, alright!!??) - Couldn't resist. TO be honest it
looked better than Omega Centauri, but then again this evening was much
better and Hercules was high, while Omega Centauri was looking through
all that hazy light pollution (and I don't have a 2" light pollution
filter). 8.8UWA (100x) and 6mm of the NZ (147x).

(I really need to keep a notepad with me for all this!)

Delta Hercules (65 Hercules) - 8.8UWA
Rho Hercules (75 Hercules) - 8.8UWA
Messier 80 - 8.8UWA
Messier 4 - 8.8UWA

NGC6231 (go look it up! ;-) )- This thing was GORGEOUS. A beautiful open
cluster that was easily visible in the 32mm Konig. The 8.8UWA (noticing
a trend here?) just framed it perfectly.

Trumpler 24 (I know - I never heard of it either!). Best in the 32mm
Konig due to the dispersed nature (that's why they call 'em OPEN clusters!)

Messier 6 - Fuzzy patch - 8.8UWA
Messier 28 - Fuzzy Patch - 8.8UWA
Messier 22 - Another nice globular. Better tonight. The 8.8UWA started
to resolve some stars in the core.

We have decided 4" scopes on light polluted skies aren't so good on the globulars. That's ok, as that's why we have light cannons, right?? I can't wait to see their performance under dark skies!

There were probably many other objects but, as I said I should keep a
notepad with me (or at least the computer!). I honestly wasn't
expecting to be out that long. Just a nice, hot, sweaty evening under
the stars (when it SHOULD be raining!!!). Thank GOD, for Deep Woods OFF!

This GM8 is anything BUT grab-and-go. I am managing though, 15 minutes
from the time I decide to setup to the time we're ready to observe, so
that's not so bad. I get a chuckle each time I think of the SV 152mm and
the GM11 as "portable".