Home
Page
*
Year
Reports
*
Special
Reports
*
Astro
Calculators
**
Astro
Sketches
*
Scope
Reports
*
AstroTalk
Spoke
*
jeff's
Articles
*
Offsite
Links
*
About
Us

 

2000 - 2001 Observing Reports Index

 

 

Strictly Star Parties Over the course of the yearlong observing plan, jeff attended thirteen Santa Cruz Astronomy Club (SCAC) star parties. All but one occured at the club's deepsky venue - high on a ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It makes sense to pull them all together for ease of access... A Star Party, First, Star Party Shootout, Star Party for One, General Public Cordially Invited, A (Long) Night Under the Stars, I like the Night Life, I Like to Boggle!, Enthusiasts' Night Out, We Gaze Not Alone, Different Scopes for Different Folks, Hard Work in Playland, Fire in the Sky, SCAC Star Party Potpouri, Round and Round and Round
     
Early Lights Observational Astronomy Reports Before there was a "year plan" there was scopist stargazing - and Early Lights. A Star Party, First, Earning My Scope, Eyepieces Anyone?, The Ringed Wonder!, One Superb City of Stars, Gotta Love Those Telescope Reviews, Star Party Shootout, Spectacular Deepsky Night First!, New Toy: Star Diagonal, Continued Star Diagonal Comparison, Enough Star Diagonal Testing Already!
     
Observational Astronomy Reports -- November, 2000 The months of September, October, and November gradually saw Jeff's pre-occupation with Argo's optics and equipment set morph toward a better understanding of sky conditions and its impact on quality of view. The month of November also saw the first really detailed observations of deepsky studies. Testing the Equipment and the Seeing, The Seeing Improves, Testing the Limits of Magnification, Putting on the Cool Shades, Confirmation!, Detailed Filter Checks Deepsky and Jupiter, Will the Real Veil Nebula Please Stand Out?, One for Mulder and Scully, Shining Bow Star Arc Put in its Place, The Quest for the Crescent Begins, What a Difference the Seeing Makes
     
Reports for December 2000 By December 2000, it became clear that Jeff's interest in amateur astronomy would not be sustained unless he "got serious" about observing. Thus, the "year-plan" was conceived and the month of December saw its inauguration... Too Much of an Otherwise Good Thing, A Tale of Two Stellar Cities, A New Playground of the Stars, Star Party for One, Let the Sky Decide for You, Jupiter and Saturn Redux, ... And so on Ad Infinitem., Observatum Interruptus, Confidence Gained, Establishing Deepsky Momentum, The Fruits of Perseverence, Mystery at Sea, Southern Sky Deep Sky Challenge
     
January 2001 Reports After celebrating the Millenium Change with Argo at Fremont Peak, Jeff's enthusiasm for nightly observation swelled - but winter weather in Northern California is often less than supportive... You Inseparable You, Pause for Reflection, High Moon, A Break in the Weather, Back on Track, Unexpected Encounter in the Night Sky, Close but no Cluster, Veiled and Voluptuous, Two out of Three ain't Bad, On the Threshold of the Seen, More Galaxies than you can Shake a Scope At, General Public Cordially Invited, Imaginosity, The Real Thing
     
February, 2001 Reports If the weather in January was bad - that of February was terrible. Despite this, Jeff managed to get out and about under "some kind of skies" a dozen times in this short, 28 day month. February was also the month where the Pup joins Argo in the study, and under the Night Sky. "Penta"-zium, Seven Sisters and Their Many Cousins, Just the Facts Ma'am, Can't Lose for Losing, Pretty Small for a Gas Giant, Argo Gets a Sibling, Finding a Lost Sheep, Anatomy of a Tough Catch, To Beat the Weather, Weather or Not, That is the Question, Back in the Saddle, A Trio of Stellar Communities
     
March 2001 Reports March saw the brunt of the rainy, overcast weather pass. Argo's optical virtues became a bit suspect and Jeff began to develop a real distaste for the cyclic returns of that great "floodlight" in the sky... Little Trouble with Big Argo, Fun with the Pup, Hard Work with Argo, The Moon Bows Out, Another Evening with the Pup, Starry, Starry, Night, The Pup Pulls His Weight, The Plan, A (Long) Night Under the Stars, Against a Ribbon Sky, Intergalactic Wanderer Makes Tracks, "X" Marks the Spot, Sounds Like Something I Might Have Done, Finally Caught Up with the Season, Shower of Light!, Galaxies By Moonlight,
     
April 2001 Reports "Be careful what you wish for!" The month of March really stoked Jeff's apetite for observing. However, there can be too much of even a very good thing. So he was out and about every night for more than two thirds the nights available in the month of April. This was also the month that the scanner came on line and Jeff started posting "eyepiece impressions" of many of his favorites... April First, Clusters and Galaxies in the Lunar Mist, Moon or No Moon, Faint Fuzzies on the Moon, Making the Most Out of What You Got, One Tough Split, Scanner Online, "Dances With Clouds", Message Received, Pup's Night to Dance, I like the Night Life, I Like to Boggle!, Galaxies in the Mist, NGC3079-Yes, NGC3073-Who Knows?, On the Limits of Imaginosity, East of Regulus, East of Denebola, Long Hours, Hard Work, Decent Pay, Finding Lost Sheep Soon the Moon, That's OK by Me, Barefoot'n with the Pup, Argo, the Pup and the aScent of Moonbeams, Puttering Around the Backyard Sky, More Puttering, April Last,
     
May 2001 Reports "In the Spring - Galaxies!" Finding your way around the "Galaxy Field of Dreams" can be a real challenge - even for seasoned amateurs, nevermind an "astro-newbie" like Jeff. The Red Planet begins to "loom large" in the eyepiece and Jeff decides to "beat the Moon" by becoming an "early riser". Seeing Doubles, Moon Set, I Rise, Moon Almost Set, I Rise Again, Kind of a Hush All Over the Sky Tonight, Brief Journey into Night, A Few Quick Checks, Race Against the Moon, Much Ado About Nothing, Great Galaxies! Batman, Back at it, A Lesson in Patience, Comet Masquerading as a Galaxy, Missing Messier Found. Mystery Resolved?, Going Full Tilt, Enthusiasts' Night Out, Carpe Nocturnis (er Noctem!), A Thousand Words..., Owl and Edge-on, King of Rings and Star of Stars, Third Times a Charm, Strictly Mars-Quest, My, How Sidereal Time Flies, Doubles and Bulked Out Multiples, An End to May Madness
     
June 2001 Reports While not neglecting the year-long plan, Jeff adds a new project to his "playload" - MarsQuest 2001. By mid-June the planet is as close as its got this apparition - but that don't necessarily mean you get "knock your socks off" views of the planet's low contrast surface features. Luna the Liberator, Full Moon, Seeing Check! Seeing Check!, Mission to Mars Resumes, Stargazing at the Ridge, Mars, Opposed to What?, Clear and Steady Skies, More High Powered Observing, We Gaze Not Alone, The Subtle and the Obvious, As Close As We Get, The Other Virgo Cluster, A Mid-summers Night Theme, Northern California Summer Overcast Ends!, And Thus Ends June ,
     
July 2001 Reports Like most of late May and early June, Mars should have continued giving "larger than life" views of its disk and main surface features, however "The God of War" began girding himself in mystery. Yes, those "war clouds" in the planets atmosphere not only made high quality views of the Red Planet difficult, they also presaged later developments here on the neighboring "Blue Planet"... Establishing New Rhythms, "The Scopist", Mars under a Cloud, A Tale of Too Many Time Zones, , Stepping Up to the Plate, Blue Sky by Day, Overcast by Night, El Cielo de la Noche, Timely and Well Met, Different Scopes for Different Folks, The REAL THING!, Time Enough..., Against a Pitch Black Sky..., Hard Work in Playland, Intuition, Weather as of Late, It's There, But Where?, Taking Play, Seriously, Nothing Blinking, Sounds Alot Like People, July Ends with a Flourish, And Oh, By the Way...
     
August 2001 Reports By August MarsQuest no longer takes center stage. Several dozen studies remain on the yearlong plan and Jeff is ready to finish the work at hand and move on to help develop AstroTalk as a means to share insights, experiences, and observing projects with various observing buddies found along the way... A Night under Moon and Stars, A Dog's Day Night..., The Difference a Night Makes, Back on Track, Ares Unsheathed, Rings Anyone?, Argo's Favorite Globular Cluster, If it Ain't the Moon - It's the Clouds..., Help From an Unexpected Quarter..., Oh Yes, Where Was I?, Fire in the Sky, A Vague Sense of Frustration, Galaxy Quest Continues, Takes a Darker Night, Mars is Back! For How Long?, Odds 'n Ends, SCAC Star Party Potpouri, Pacific Ocean Marine Layer Subsides, But for a Stable Southern Sky, Sky and Mars Refuse to Dance!, A Less Than Inspiring Night Out, Refreshed and Rejuvenated, Best Layed Plans, Making Good Out of Bad, Synchronicity Strikes Again!
     
The Final Monthly Report: September 2001 It has been said that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". It has also been said that "The last step of such a journey is the most difficult". Although the former aphorism may apply, in the case of the yearlong plan - the latter did not. The Music, A Clutch of Doubles, A Farewell to Antares, Heading Down the "Final" Stretch, Sagittarius Exiting Stage Right, Just Mars - for a Very Good Reason, Moon Eats Saturn!, Astronomy and Current Events, Down But Not Out, Onward and Upward!, Quest for the Edge, "Bright" Nebula, Sometimes Not So Bright... , Round and Round and Round
     

 

to: top of page

Email: Astro.Geekjoy