Reports for April, 2001
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
Reports for June, 2001

Seeing Doubles

It's just possible to accomplish something in the way of deepsky even with an evening moon. But it would seem only until the beginning of the second quarter. It's always a wonder to me that somehow one day (day 8) the moon can be tolerated while the next (day 9) it becomes impossible. After day 8, the observer is exposed to a complete sea-change in options. Unfortunately, with the planets now going combust to the west, one of those options is lost. Well there's always double-stars. But that, as we shall see brings along its own set of limitations.

Luna: Plato dominates the northern hemisphere of the Moon like Michael Jordan dominated the sport of professional basketball. Although its perfectly elliptical presentation is not well suggested in the neighboring drawing, there is a sense that "all roads lead to Plato". This is indicated by the orientation of the spine of the Lunar Alps (alluded to by the sharp gash of the Alpine Valley) southwest of the crater. A shallow depression is hinted at near the center of the Plato's dark floor. But this proved to be a very difficult feature under the relatively unstable skies of the evening. In the near view is seen the northwestern "coast" of Mare Imbrium - that great circular expanse that almost includes bright Copernicus near the Lunar equator.

Dubhe (Alpha Ursa Majoris): Primary magnitude 1.9, secondary 4.8, separation 1 arc-second continues to elude. Not surprising, considering conditions were especially poor for starsplitting this evening. The bright primary remained a huge ball of chroma 90% of the time. As it lurched from one side of the field of view to the other, I could occasionally catch an airy disk awash in luminosity. Although Argo is reasonably well collimated, at no point did the disk show in-focus diffraction rings.

Sigma-2 Ursa Majoris Primary magnitude 4.9, secondary 8.1, separation 1 arc-second. Despite poor conditions I went ahead and tracked down this dim star in the hinterlands of Ursa Major (towards the Galactic Wonder Pair - M81 and M82). The pearly-white primary may have shown a dim bump to the north. But that will probably ultimately prove illusory.

Xi Ursa Majoris Primary magnitude 4.0, secondary 4.9, separation 2.3 arc-seconds. The only "close" double cleanly resolvable this evening - again only about 50% of the time. At time of acquisition, it lay directly overhead. The bright lunar halo made locating it a challenge. Once I keyed off Delta Leonis the search went quickly. This is probably a good place to mention that we seem to have lost 1st magnitude Regulus tonight. I did everything I could to shield my eyes, but nope, there was just no way to pick this bright star out in the Moon's glare.

57 Ursa Majoris Primary magnitude 5.3, secondary 8.0, separation 5 arc-seconds. You'd think this one would be easy. And in some ways it was. But you'd be surprised how subtle an 8th magnitude star can be lying that close to a star 15 times brighter in a sky awash with moonlight. 57 is located in the vacinity of Xi. Maybe 8 degrees further north and slightly east. The primary is pearly white and the more northerly secondary is dark blue.

54 Leonis Primary magnitude 4.5, secondary 6.3, separation 6 arc-seconds. Obvious split. Nice colors, primary pearly blue-white. Secondary, dull orange. The brighter primary leads and offsets slightly north. Given the seeing, a good choice to restore faith in double-vision.

Gamma Virginis: Primary magnitude 3.6, secondary 3.7, separation 5 arc-seconds. Earlier in the evening I took a quick look at Castor. Despite conditions, it was possible to distinguish both members of that bright 4 arc-second pair. No way with Gamma. The numbers are clearly wrong. My best shot at this was possible elongation along the east-west axis, primary trailing. If I saw anything at all then the secondary must also be clearly dimmer than the primary. If so the above magnitudes may be photometric and not visually determined. Like Dubhe, I may have to keep "an eye" on this pair over the next month or so.

Zeta Bootes: Primary magnitude 4.6, secondary 4.6, separation 1.2 arc-seconds. Another double too close for the conditions. Primary is bluish-white. Speculatively, I may have caught a yellow elongation due south. Again should that be the case magnitudes would have to be more disparate than values recorded above.

Zeta Cancri (triple): Primary magnitude 5.7, secondary 6.0, separation 6 arc-second. A close double with C magnitude 6.3 at .83 arc-seconds. Only the AB pair possible tonight. Strangely, the western sky was even more unstable than above and east. Both sixth magnitudes looked like blobs - blobs whose frontiers nearly touched. This means their light scattered out to a radius of almost 3 arc-seconds. Ugh.

Praesepe: 12.7 magnitude star only visible with moving eyes. The cluster was found about 25 degrees from the 60% moon and 50 degrees above the western horizon. (I chased it down later in the evening due to having to port Argo through various backyard stations in avoidance of trees while covering all the doubles.) With the moon so bright, I was only able to hold a 3.9 magnitude star in Ursa Major. But the Praesepe test star suggests that transparency - at magnification - was perhaps a half-magnitude deeper than this.

Well, tonight was a case of "best laid plans" going awry. Under stabler skies, Argo would have afforded me some very fine views of all the doubles listed above - with two possible exceptions: Dubhe and Sigma-2. The former is just too darn close for the brightness of the stars involved. The later is probably just too close for component magnitudes. Despite this, it pays to try star-splitting under a variety of conditions. If only to appreciate conditions all the more when they improve.

Moon Set, I Rise

Following the lead of fellow amateurs Otto Piechewski and "Ray" the Astronomer, I set the alarm and rose sullenly from bed around 2:37 in the am. That's right! I hauled my warm buns out into the cold, unheated, very early morning air, prepped desultorially, and wandered in a state of abject dis-orientation outside to set up Argo and the Pup. One look at Dubhe told me the sky was no more stable than four hours earlier. (When I had finished star-splitting with Argo - also from Backyard Boulder Creek CA.)

I decided to place the Pup out on the back workout deck. (This gave it a decent view of Scorpius down to about Epsilon Scorpii, some negative 35 degrees below the celestial equator.) A quick scan of Scorpio didn't reveal much at 16X, so I headed on over to finalize Argo's setup on the north side of the Redwood tree. From there, I could catch Hercules overhead and the Summer Triangle to the east. First, M13...

Globular Cluster M13 (Hercules): Based on the earlier view of Dubhe, I expected this fine globular to be a huge fuzzball. But no, it had to go and show me dozens and dozens of stars - not resolved across the core as on the best nights - but a solid view. Why, now I had no excuse. There was no going back to wife and warm bed now. I was waking up fast - and for the duration! While viewing "The Great Cluster of the North" a new insight struck me. These things aren't called "globular" just because they are round. No, they are as much globular because they "bulge" out toward you from the field of view. Numerous visible stars, and a central bulge. What a great celestial package!

Faint Galaxy NGC6207 (Hercules):20 mins NE of M13. When viewing M13, I like to make a check northeast to see if I can make out this 11.6 magnitude, 3 by 1 arc-minute galaxy. Having failed in the past, I took greater pains to pin its location down. So I swung M13 diagonally southwest just outside the 40 arc-minute field of the 70X 25mm Ultrascopic, There I caught an 8 arc-minute sized right-triangle of 11 and 12th magnitude stars (acute end pointing west). Moving the eye around north of the triangle, I caught a faint, elongated 2 X 1 arc-minute sized patch of light showing modest central brightening. The galaxy showed an almost edge-on elongation oriented north-northwest to south-southeast. There was also a slight suggestion of a 12.5 magnitude central core. Altogether a very pleasing sight - especially given the neighborhood...

Globular Cluster M92 (Hercules): Having had a surprisingly good view of the Great Cluster, I was curious as to the view of the smaller (11 arc-minute), dimmer (6.5 magnitude), globular to M13's north and east. Under most circumstances, M92 would be a prize globular to seek out on its own - especially during the winter season when so few very fine clusters are accessible from the northern hemisphere. This morning, using "soft eyes", I could make out a similar, though less pronounced "mounding" effect seen with M13. Perhaps 3 dozen stars were resolved - though none were superimposed over the core. Unlike M13, M92 shows a much more pronounced oblation (along the east-west axis). Like the Great Cluster, several star streams could be caught well outside its body. It gave the appearance of an "X", orientation east-west. The largest group of outliers streamed off in a gentle arc to the northeast. Finally, I also noted that the bright, central core of M92 is somewhat football shaped - giving the appearance of a bulging edge-on galaxy.

Planetary Nebula NGC6210 (Hercules): Hercules also sports a very bright (magnitude 9.3), tight (15 arc second) planetary nebula. If you extend the lines making up the flanks of the Hercules Keystone south, they pretty much converge on the planetary's general location. Even with this morning's less than encouraging stability, I had little difficulty finding it. Once found, it took some comparison with the bloated disks of nearby like-brightness stars to convince me I had actually found it. The planetary displayed a bright "star-like" core. (Conditions made it difficult to determine whether or not I was seeing a star or small planetary disk.) What I did see was quite white and bright (easily of the 10th magnitude). The disk had a fainter halo of nebulosity aound it. Despite the stability, best viewing was at 180X. At 180X the outer halo showed definitively. The planetary is quite round (almost perfectly so) and forms a right triangle with a pair of 7th and 8th magnitude stars. These stars have th e look of a wide optical double in the finder.

Multiple Star Epsilon Lyrae: The Double-double was a pair of soft-boiled eggs this morning. Strictly elongated and even that required attention on my part to determine. Colors were powder blue white. Nice color for eggs, but Easter is over...

Planetary Nebula M57 (Lyra): The Ring showed very nice contrast at 50X using the 35mm Ultrascopic. Clearly annular and dimming conspicuously to the extreme ansae. Slightly brighter and better defined along the northwest frontier. 70X (25mm Ultrascopic) darkened the sky a bit, but the nebula seemed to lose a touch of clarity. With the darkened sky, I could just make out a 12.8 reference star with moderate aversion. So, in the wee small hours, I was holding 12.1 magnitude stars direct at 70X. At 180X I caught the 13.0 star just to the east of the Ring with mild aversion. (12.7 magnitude would be direct at 180X.) Valuable information to better characterize the Limiting Magnitude Calculator. But setting technicalities aside, there is nothing like the Ring. It's only rivals among planetaries are the Dumbbell, Crab and Ghost of Jupiter. But these others are quite different from the Ring and from each other.

Planetary Nebula M27 (Vulpecula): Speaking of the Dumbbell.. It too was stunning this evening. For the first time ever I noticed an almost star-like brightening at the southwest corner (adjacent to a 12.5 magnitude field star). Also sensed that the southeast frontier rolls off more quickly in surface brightness than the northwest. I can hardly imagine how incredible this planetary would be against a truly dark sky.

Time was now about 4:30. Ambled over to the Pup, still dutifully waiting on the south deck. Sagittarius now moved to a position slightly east of Scorpio before it. In sweeping Scorpio, I was none to impressed. Nothing could be further from that as I swept Sagittarius. At 16X, the Pup revealed a host of steller conglomerates bathed in expansive nebulosities. I couldn't help but continuously sweep the star fields. Even without the scope, the Milky Way was visually breathtaking. I made no attempt to identify or document whatever turned up in the Pups field of view, I simply let it in and felt the resulting expansion. Awe. Inspiring.

Reflecting Nebula NGC6888 (Cygnus): I've been wrestling with this large, dim crescent-shaped nebula now since October. This was the first chance I've had since Fremont Peak and the Milennium change to view it. Progress was slow in finding it this morning. All the constellations are differently positioned from earlier experience. Cygnus was especially confusing. But ultimately, I simply swept 3 degrees west and 2 degrees south of Gamma Cygni. A few lissoujoue patterns and I caught definite, nebulous luminosity involved with an asterism of stars. In orienting my perception, I recognized the group as that of the "W" asterism associated with the Crescent Nebula. This time the nebula was obvious. I could see an arching filament extending from the northern 8.5 magnitude to the 12th magnitude star west-southwest. The nebula even extended a hazy arch to the east. Very subtle. Chiffon-like. Although I had seen a similar apparition in the Fall, it took the drier skies of Spring to make it plain. I wa nted to bask in the view and settled down on the observing chair. There I watched it vanish before my eye.

Dawn...

Moon Almost Set, I Rise Anyway

Awoke again to ringing in my ears. Stumbled out of bed, splashed a little cold water on my face. Dragged myself outside. Setup the Pup on the workout deck facing south. But, something was very wrong with the sky. The glorious star clouds north and east of Sagittarius were missing. A grey "gruel" bespotted with a few brighter stars were visible - otherwise, yuch. Decided that since I was up and things were in place, I was going to at least try and turn up a few globulars in Scorpio and Sagittarius. The northernmost part of Scorpio was rapidly merging into the treeline south-southwest. I would have to hurry.

Centered the finderscope on Delta Scorpii. Placed my eye over the three and one-half degree 16X 25mm Plossel. Star count was low (due to conditions). Slewed due east and picked out a fuzzy light looking like a "dim fuzzy star". This just as Delta shifted outside the field of view. Bumped the magnification to 44X, and got a disappointing view of a brightish central core blending quickly into the murk. More interesting than the cluster was a nearby asterism. A group of 7th and 8th magnitude stars north of the cluster. The asterism took the general form of the head and forlegs of a "racing greyhound straining for the finish line".

Antares was still well clear of the trees. To its west (and slightly north) is 3rd magnitude Sigma Scorpi. Forming a flat triangle in the field (to the south of this pair), was a more obvious globular cluster - M4. The view of M4 was encouraging. At 16X, it showed a bright central core, surrounded by a luminous core region. Around that I could make out a roundish halo bleeding off into the murk. At 44X (9mm Ploessl), this bright (magnitude 6.0) large (26 arc-minutes) cluster displayed only about half its full girth. With extreme aversion I could make out a dozen 10 plus magnitude stars buzzing around it's halo like a bonnet of bees about a hive. Another interesting feature was an elongated central core - like a cat's eye. This apparition was oriented north to south. (Thinking about it now, I had also seen this elongated type core while viewing M92 in Hercules. Curious.)

As the bulk of Scorpio bowed behind the treeline I was eager to sweep Sagittarius. Looking up, I noticed that the murk to the south had dissipated. Before me was the fabric of the universe. A fine texture of countless, distant suns arched gracefully north and east. Great bands of darkness split the light into luminous tributaries and bays. Despite this, the Great River remained unstaunched. Could it be that the earlier murk was the residue of radiance thrown into the sky by a not-quite set moon? Of course! Though I rose later this morning than last, the progressing moon would still be high in the sky behind the Santa Cruz Mountains to the east (on the far side of the house). The sacrifice of a warm bed was now amply rewarded - but Sagittarius, like Scorpio before it drifted perilously close to the treeline.

A causual sweep southwest of Mu Sagittarii showed a remarkable mix of individual stars, asterisms, clusters and reflective nebula - all in the same 16X field. Many of the stars and star groups were embroiled in a vague nebulosity. Some ensconced in obvious clouds of luminous matter. Small patches of light could be seen everywhere. Magnificent!

The most obvious nebulosity involved a pair of 7/8th magnitude stars separated by about 10 arc-minutes (oriented north-south). These stars were completely surrounded by a globe of light perhaps twice as wide as the separation between the two stars. To the north was a group of four or five dimmer stars forming a low profile, misshapen rectangle encased in a smaller, more subtle region of nebulosity. It was obvious to my eye that this glow was really part of the brighter glow to the south and that a dark abosrption nebula lay between them. To the east of the brighter glow was a third, dimmer cloud engulfing a pair of very dim 10th magnitude stars. A dark lane separated these two luminous regions as well. By now you've guessed that I had chanced on the famous "Lagoon Nebula" - M20.

Now the Lagoon Nebula would have been satisfying enough. But within the same field of view and to the east was an equally large (1 plus) degree field of about a dozen stars. The brightest members of this celestial troop of perhaps magnitude the 8th. Dimmer members could also be seen down to magnitude 10. A hazy nebulosity hung about this group. The cluster gave the appearance of a squat, bulging, ripe strawberry ready for cosmic delectation. M21, truly you are a delicate feast for the eye.

While scanning about (before alighting on M20 and 21), I had previously caught another bright area of obvious nebulosity to the south. Unfortunately, Sagittarius was sinking lower and the Pup's mount was having difficulty properly aligning. What I remember of it was a north-south oriented clutch of stars with a bright nebulous patch in their midst. I believe this to have been the famed "Trifid Nebula" (M8). Frankly, I can think of no other nebula of equal luminosity and size in the region.

Sweeping due east of the Lagoon, I came across what I consider to be the premier globular cluster visible from the temperate Northern Hemisphere - M22. Even at 16X it dominates the field of view. No resolution was possible at this low magnification. I was struck by how perfect the cluster displays however. Round. Bright. Brilliant. Extensive core region. Luminosity blending evenly to a well-defined frontier. With averted vision a "roughness" was seen suggestive of incipient resolution. The globular's core mounted up to meet the eye. Superb.

Earlier I had caught a dozen M5 stars under moderate aversion. Now with a sky free of moonwash, a brighter (5.4 magnitude), equally large (24 arc-minute) cluster, I knew the view would be wonderful at 44X. Switching over to the 9mm Plossel, dozens of individual stars shone round about the core region. This, without any special tricks of the eye. Perhaps only one other cluster could show as much of itself in a 3 inch scope - the incomparable Omega Centauri.

Slewing west (and somewhat south) I caught a final globular cluster. M28 looked much like how M80 would have appeared under similar conditions. Small (11 arc-minute), moderately bright (magnitude 6.9), this cluster is a lot like M22 in miniature. Bright stellar core, brightish core region, dimming to - this time - the darkness of space. Like M3, M28 is a study needing 150mm Argo's greater aperture. I suspect that through Argo the globular would give a view comparable to that of M22 using the 80mm Pup.

Following the view of M28, I swung the Pup north and east along that "Great River of Light" leading north and east from Sagittarius. Along the "Great White Way", many magnificent regions of nebulosity were seen - this time - not composed of gas and dust but of dim, unresolved clouds of distant suns.

Then like on any such morning, the sky to the west brightened and the natural limit imposed by a much nearer, rising Sun put a term to the morning's glories.

Kind of a Hush All Over the Sky Tonight

Art, unfortunately, does not always imitate life. The sketch at left makes an attempt to capture the crater Gassendi on the northern border of Mare Humorum. The craters southern wall has been breached by the sea to the south. This breach is one reason why Gassendi is considered quite old. Another fact suggestive of its antiquity, is the great quantity of rille-like buckles and other irregularities formed over the eons within the crater. During rare moments of steady seeing, exceedingly fine features were caught on the old crater's floor. These arranged in a semi-circular fashion around the large central peak. The old crater does display quite a bit of character.

As the sky darkened, once again contemplated the Dubhe split. Airy disk of primary evident continuously. But the star again showed it's "nervous twitchy" motion across the 350X field of view. In addition, there remains a great deal of spurious light thrown off randomly. Again, if there is an almost 5th magnitude secondary it is only suspected west north west of the primary.

Fellow observer, Ray "the Astronomer" often comments that there are some lovely colors among the stars of Praesepe. So while making the usual limiting magnitude check (12.7 mild aversion 180X, 70X moderately averted), doted over the two fine triple stars that lie right near the very core of the cluster. One triplicity "points" east and the other - west. (Each triple could probably be encompassed by circles one arc-minute in diameter.) The east pointer consists of a "reddish" 11th magnitude, a 9th magnitude yellow, and a 9th magnitude blue star. The west pointer, bears more prosaic colors: Yellow 8th magnitude and a pair of blue 9th magnitude stars. Due to its faintness, the 11th magnitude star was rather hard to pin down, but it certainly showed color of an unusual variety. Might be nice to continue the hunt during future limiting magnitude sky tests...

The fact that 2nd magnitude Dubhe showed an airy disk prompted me to make a quick check of Castor. Though a bright pair, Castor's 4 arc-second separation is only a challenge for Argo on a night of especially poor stability. Tonight it was possible to see an almost complete dark line between the pair at 70X. This, and the obvious airy disks surrounding all brighter stars, indicates seeing stability in the 7/10 range.

Praesepe's 12.7 test star showed that, despite a 70% moon, Argo had pretty good reach this evening (12.0 at 70X). So I turned up the Intergalactic Wanderer. On this occasion the Wanderer showed a dim starry core and hazy mantle - but only as I moved my eye around the 70X field of view. Additional magnification did nothing to improve on this. So while in the region I examined the dim companion to a "marker" star mentioned in an earlier report. On this occasion the star could just be held at 70X with mild aversion. This suggests that it is probably in the range 12.2 to 12.4 magnitudes. Meanwhile, determined that it is located just north-northeast of its brighter 8th magnitude companion. Separation perhaps 20 arc-seconds. Primary blue, secondary blue-white. Another good reason to drop by the Wanderer often.

The quality of the nights seeing proved itself out when, despite the glare of the Moon, I was able to locate and resolve the close double star Gamma Virginis. Published separation (5 arc-seconds) of this tight, twin-magnitude double is quite out of date. Tonight was able to cleanly split the pair only at 240X plus. The view of Gamma at 180X was similar to that of Castor at 70X. Dark pinch points laterally but perfect little airy disks touching at the middle. Pearly white stars oriented east west with the possibly brighter member trailing to the east. Based on this observation, pair separation is actually about 1.3 arc-seconds.

Shifted Argo off the work out deck onto the east part of the lawn. Tracked down Zeta Bootes - another possibly out of date pair. With the scope maxed out at 350X, only able to make a "siamese twin star" out of it. Not enough magnification to do anything more than spread the two perfect little pweraly white airy disks out - not clearly distinguish them. Had a sense that I may have cleanly separated the twin 4.6 magnitude components at 500 to 600X. Despite the lack of clean separation, it was easy to tell that the two stars were oriented along an east-west axis. Assuming 600X would not separate the pair, the Double Star Calculator shows that the gap for this fine pair has closed from 1.2 to 1.0 arc seconds.

Finished writing up this report about 2:00am. Went out, noticed Hercules high to the east. Spent a few minutes contemplating the glories of the Ultimate Multiple Star system.

Good Night Universe.

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Brief Journey into Night

As Selene waxes full, She has slipped into the low-ecliptic behind the treeline to the southeast. This has meant a hiatus in sketching. It doesn't mean, however, that I haven't had the scope out. But for the last several nights, the sky has been too turbulent to support anything demanding resolution. Meanwhile, Moon-scat has polluted otherwise transparent skies beyond tolerance.

Last night showed a slight improvement in sky stability. Argo and I resumed our travels. In addition to the usual haunts, was able to include the fine Globular Cluster M3 in Canes Venatici, and double stars Mizar and Epsilon Bootis.

The riddle of 1 arc-second double Dubhe (Alpha Ursa Majoris) is now solved. This pair is wholly beyond Argo's capability. For once the sky was still enough to display the airy disk without radical leaps and bounds across the field of view. Low frequency turbulence was in abeyance - though high frequency instabilities remained. The key to solving the riddle of Dubhe lay in an entirely different constellation - Bootes. The inability to display Zeta as anything other than a "Siamese Twin Star" pointed to the answer. Zeta consists of two equal brightness stars of near 4th magnitude. Separation between this pair is comparable to the more disparate Dubhe pairing (magnitudes roughly 2 and 5). Imagine, if you will, the small airy disk of a dim star attached to a much brighter one. Where Zeta looked like a small, short "tube" of luminosity, at best, Dubhe would seem a "pimpled" disk. - Not that I saw this, mind you, only that such a sight would be extremely difficult except for anything other than an evening of unusual calm. - A calm of both low and high frequency turbulences.

Having solved the Dubhe puzzle (to my satisfaction), turned Argo on Mizar. Initially had a great deal of difficulty separating this wide (14 arc second), bright (2.4 & 4.0) double. As it turned out, somehow managed to center Alcor in the 180X field of view. Once realized, a quick sweep to the brighter Mizar revealed a widish double whose components seemed to wing across the field like a pair of wild geese. There was a subtle color distinction between the two I found quite intriguing. The brighter primary - radiant white - while the dimmer east south-easterly companion - bluish white. Since these colors are a commonplace (along with warm yellow) in the heavens, the Mizar pair is an excellent study in the subtle difference between them.

A quick check of Castor confirmed the mediocrity of the sky. Though the pair could easily be distinguished, they remained bathed in "flashes of light" that muddled the beautiful jewel-like pearlescence seen during finer seeing.

After viewing Castor, tracked down Praesepe. Found I could just hold the 12.7 magnitude test star with moderate aversion. Again, as has been the case throughout the second quarter, Argo has consistently provided direct 12.0 magnitude depth. Basically, it's like limiting the aperture to about 4 inches. Having ascertained the seeing limit, I studied a bright, very wide pair of Praesepe stars just east of the southern triplicity for color. The brighter 7th magnitude component appeared "beige" while the 8th magnitude - blue.

A quick check of Xi Ursa Majoris proved the sky stable enough to split this closish pair. This encouraged me to locate Epsilon Bootis. In turning it up I found the 2.5 / 5.0 - 3 arc-second pair easier than that of 2.3 arc-second Xi. Epsilon is a very pretty double. Separation just wide enough for small scopes, yet close enough to give a nice sense of linkage. There is also a lovely color sense. With the Moon as it was, colors were difficult but I got a sense of a yellowish primary and golden green secondary. The secondary laying to the north-northwest.

Despite the full moon, and barely adequate sky stability, I took a chance on the fine spring time globular cluster M3 in Canes Venatici. Easy enough to find. Just align the main tube halfway between Acturus and Cor Corolli. Peek through the finder. Locate a fuzzy star (even with the Moon!) align and switch to the main tube.

Well I'll be... "Surface roughness" in this 6.4 magnitude, 16 arc-minute apparent-sized globular cluster was immediately apparent. Along with - stars. Dozens. Right on the border of susceptibility. This was unexpected. And very satisfying. Despite resolution, only about half the globular could be seen. The bright core region had that "cat's iris" shape. In M3's case along a north-south axis. On a hunch, bumped the magnification to 350X. Although the globular didn't seem to get any larger, more stars were possible. And the dozens just barely seen before were now plain to sight -requiring no visual tricks to "tease out".

About this time the full Moon really began to dominate. Nice way to end a brief evening out traveling the Lighted Way of the Night Sky. I'll have to do it again sometime - soon.

A Few Quick Checks

Got out briefly to watch the stars come out before they were swallowed by the light of the full moon. In so doing I experienced a first.

The last month or so I've been working with Capella to "perfect" Argo's collimation. Tweak the secondary here, primary there. Here a little, there a little - but not quite everywhere a little. The goal is to get Argo's intra- and extra-focal diffraction rings to show perfect "roundness" right at the center of the 180X field of view. Tonight, by 9:00, I came as close as ever. Inside focus perfect, concentric, tight, well-behaved. Nice crystal-like series of four intermediate diffraction rings. A wonder to see in themselves. I marvelled. But not so outside focus. Rings are harder to align. Look a wee bit weak and vacillating. Light smears a bit. Inside focus, at least 1/8th wave. Outside focus, certainly not better than 1/4. Argo is under-corrected - but not unacceptably so.

By 9:30 the sky was as dark as it was going to get this evening. Turned Argo on Praesepe. Contemplated the 12.7 magnitude test star. For the first time I was able to hold it direct. Admittedly not quite starlike - more like a small pool of luminosity. But it was there. Checked Ursa Major. Found I could hold stars down to magnitude 3.9 direct. Adding some fudge for sky position (+ .2 magnitudes) and Boulder Creek lightdome (.3 magnitudes) and the rsing moon (.5 magnitudes). This was probably a 5.0 ZULTM night. Therefore I was seeing perhaps 7.7 magnitudes deeper than conditions allowed for using the scope. This is about .3 magnitudes deeper than usual for this magnification. Could excellent collimation make that much difference? Well, there's no telling until I gather more data - especially after eliminating one of the variables - the Moon.

Race Against the Moon

Before sky-dark, I took some time to test a theory of optics which came out of some research on the internet. The theory comes down to a suspected relationship between spherical aberration (expressed as wavefront error) and the ratio of focuser travel inside to outside focus. Trouble was all my tests showed Argo at 1/10th wave error or better. Knowing the optics were evaluated at 1/6th error out of the factory, I've come to suspect the method as developed is highly inaccurate or at least impractical without the use of calibrated focusing nobs and a filar micrometer for the eyepiece..

Just before skydark ran a few checks on Castor. At 50X (35mm Ultrascopic), Castor was elongated. At 70X - "pinched at the waist". 120X rendered a nice clean separation. 180X achieved separation as well - but star images were poorer. Clearly the 15mm / 120X eyepiece gave the best results. And the sky ran a little shy of favorable stability.

Also about that same time ran a Praesepe 12.7 magnitude test star series. At 50X could only make out the 12.7 with eye movement. 70X showed it strongly averted. 180X - mild aversion. Later after skydark, the 120X 15mm showed the star with moderate aversion. So depth really didn't change that much even though the sky looked darker to unaided vision. Strange...

The rising Moon didn't really start brightening the western sky until 10:15. Between 9:00 and moontime, I spent the bulk of the time tracking down galaxy NGC4236 in Draco. By 9:45 I had settled on a very large dim patch of light showing an occasional 13th magnitude stellar core. Not a single aspect of this "find" was susceptible to direct view. In fact what I did turn up was a "best shot" landing just south of a 6th magnitude star near 3.9 magnitude Kappa Draconis. The suspected galaxy is located just west-southwest of a rectangle of 10th through 12th magnitude stars. The stars themselves orient north-south with the brightest 10th magnitude member most proximate to the galaxy. At magnitude 9.7 you might think the galaxy should prove an easy find. However, it's 22 X 7 arc-minute size indicates an average surface brightness (ASB) of magnitude 14.8. Just it's core region alone would be a stretch for Argo - even on a decent 5.5 ULTM night. So, I'll do a bit of research on the net, then be back at it next ses sion. I just love this type challenge!

My next study proved to be as easy to find as NGC4236 was elusive. At magnitude 8.3 and apparent size 18 X 8 arc-minutes, M106 has an ASB of 13.4. This places it near the upper find limit for the Pup (at 80mm) but Argo (150mm) showed me about 2 X 6 arc-minutes of its bright core and beginnings of spiral arms. Like many near edge-on's, M106 showed a starlike central core, a dimmer - but obvious core region, and under extreme aversion an expansive halo. The galaxy is oriented more or less north-south. An 11th magnitude star lies about 10 arc-minutes south while a 12th magnitude star is visible 6 arc-minutes to the east. The core region flared to the east under eye movement. The western part of the galaxy seems to be more taughtly delineated. A darker night would probably expand the size of this galaxy noticeably. It might even be possible to reveal some sense of structure under 6.0 ULTM conditions.

By this time, I started to notice sky-brightening to the west. Because of this I decided to knock off for the evening. But not without a quick peek at Globular Cluster M3 - fast becoming a springtime favorite. Several dozen stars were resolvable (at 180x) this evening. Though no more stars were possible than previously, the globular looked more contrasty. In fact the large (6 arc-minute), bright (maybe 11 ASB) core region looked "white" rather than grey (as it appeared earlier in the month). In dwelling on the globular I soon noticed that the core seemed to take up a position just beneath the crux of a large cross (of possibly its own) stars. I also noticed that even though I could resolve several dozen members - none of these stars could be held directly at 180X. Every time I'd settle my eye on a star it would disappear. (There was one exception - but this star was located somewhat distant from the globular itself - although possibly still within M3 per se.) It should prove a fascinating stud y to determine if a darker night will allow me to "pin down" one of M3's members using direct vision.

Much Ado About Nothing

Devoted time before sky-dark testing the latest and greatest algorithm for "objectively determining" spherical aberration. Along the way, stumbled on to a few shortcuts which may simplify the method and improve accuracy. Based on these changes, Argo comes in at 1/6 lambda and the Pup 1/5th. More tests required!

Other than a brief foray comparing views of M81 and M82 to an earlier drawing, along with the usual Praesepe limiting magnitude tests, the bulk of the evening was dedicated to NOT finding Galaxy NGC4236 in Draco. This despite the fact that I had printed a photo of the galaxy (and environs) for reference. Problem was I could'nt turn up the asterism seen on the image. Next opportunity I'll simply use setting circles. Basically, the galaxy should be somewhere within the 35mm Ultrascopic 50X, 1 degree field of view 3 degrees east and 20 arc minutes south of Kappa Draconis. Presumably the missing asterism will be there as well. Boy is this fun! Or what?

Great Galaxies! Batman

The night's observing plan called for the convenience and darker skies that Boulder Creek Elementary School offers. (This as opposed to the usual tree and streetlight avoidance game played at Backyard Boulder Creek.) Though my other observing locale at China Ridge offers darker conditions than the school, I elected not to make the drive out on a work night. As it turned out, I didn't need to find darker skies - they found me. Under very stable, 5.5 ZULTM conditions, things were quite supportive for tracking down the dozen or so Messier and dimmer NGC galaxies planned for Coma Bernices and northern Virgo this evening.

During the course of the evening I followed a trail already blazed using my 80mm shortTube refractor (the Pup) earlier in the month of April. That journey began east of Denebola in the region of 6 Coma Bernices. The first study was Galaxy M98. Like others found this evening - all were first lights for Argo - my 150mm Maksutov-Cassegrain catadioptic.

Because the sky was not yet truly dark, M98's 13.5 average surface brightness (ASB) was no easy study. Sure, at 50X I could find it. But it started off devoid of structure - a faint edge on swatch against a deep indigo blue sky. Before turning up M98, I made sure I could at least directly view stars down to magnitude 12. This by referencing a 12.7 magnitude test star in Praesepe (which could just be made out with moderately averted vision). Fortunately the sky darkened up quickly soon after and I was finally able to just make out M98's star-like core during eye movement through the field of view. Outside the star-like point, there was no true "core region" perceptible. Basically, about 2 by 6 arc minutes of this 3 X 10 arc-minute sized edge on spiral could be seen. What might have been a core region was an indistinct brightening surrounding a dim star-like nucleus. This brightening, in turn, melded uniformly into wispy extensions dissappearing into the not quite black of space.

While M98 lay just west of 6 Coma Bernices, my next study - M99 was easily located to that star's southeast. This football shaped galaxy was easier to find and study than M98. Part of this may be due to the fact that - at magnitude 9.8 and 5 arc-minute apparent size - M99 has an ASB .5 magnitudes brighter than M98. The other part, of course, is attributable to darkening of the sky. Although true sky-dark had yet to occur, M99 showed a star-like core, a distinctive, brightish core region, and wispy extensions heading off into space.

Now M99 is supposed to be a "round", face-on galaxy. However to me it always appears somewhat elongated. This may be due to possible truncation (by a band) to the northwest. The remainder of the galaxy extends south-southwest to north-northeast. In all about 3 X 4 arc-minutes of the galaxy was visible. Some as I moved my eye across the field of view to increase visual sensitivity.

To locate the next study (M100), I centered the finderscope on 6 Coma Bernices. Then followed the line formed by 6 and a pair of 6th magnitude stars northeast. Extending that line a degree further, I switched to the main tube (using the 1 degree, 50X 35mm Ultrascopic eyepiece). At 13.1 ASB, M100 is pretty easy on a dark night. However, despite its luminosity, it did not display a star-like core. It simply dimmed in a uniform manner from the inside out. Unlike M99, M100 appears round. However, on eye movement I did notice a bit of flaring along the east-west axis. Despite the flare, it still pretty much retained its circular appearance.

M100 is attended by at least two, small (1 arc-minute), faint (13.5 plus magnitude), companions. Although several candidates for these two were possible this evening, I eventually decided that - without more research, it would be impossible to confirm whatever faint fuzzies came to my attention. So I left NGC4322 (magnitude 13.9) and 4328 (13.5) for later research and followup.

From M100 I headed 4 degrees northwest to 23 Coma Bernices. There I contemplated this beautiful, low power, nicely distinguished (yellow and gold) double. From 23 I headed due west 2 degrees to pick M85 out of the night sky. At 12.7 ASB, M85 is the brightest of the four galaxies studied so far. In locating it, I noticed a second, one magnitude dimmer "galaxy" 10 arc-minutes due east. This object is not on my charts or in my observing plan. Setting this pleasant surprise aside, I concentrated on M85. The galaxy showed a bright stellar core directly acquired at 50X. Surrounding this star-like point was an elongated core region blending into wispy extensions along a south-southwest to north-northeast axis. Perhaps 5X3 of this 7X5 arc-minute sized galaxy was possible. During eye movement, the wispy extensions appeared to flare west-southwest.

Previous visits to M85 (using the 80mm Pup) did not show the M85 companion object found this evening. In fact, with the limited charts available to me I have yet to determine its type or designation. What I can say is that it appears roundish and perhaps 1 magnitude dimmer than it's brighter neighbor and half its apparent size. Needless to say some follow up is needed here.

NOTE: Subsequent research on the internet - as well as email exchanges with fellow observer Ray the Astronomer - determined that I had spotted 10.9 magnitude, 4 arc-minute sized NGC4394.

From M85, I swept the scope due south 7 degrees. While so doing I monitored the 50X 1 degree field. There I came across the bright galactic pair M84 and M86. Of the two, M84 the westernmost, is slightly brighter, and visibly smaller. At ASB 12.2, M84 is even brighter than M85 - while M86 is slightly dimmer at ASB 12.9. While scrutinizing Messier galaxies, I typically use the 25mm 70X Ultrascopic (which gives a 40 arc minute field of view and darkens the sky perceptibly.) In this case both M84 and M86 easily fit in the center half of the field of view.

M84 showed maybe 3 arc minutes of face on presentation this evening. Like M85, it displayed a star-like nucleus, surrounded by a brightish core, enshrouded by wispy nebulosity that blended off into space. During eye movement, the visible portion of M84 seemed to swell in every direction. No flaring was seen. Quite globular-clusterlike overall...

15 arc minutes east of M84 is M86. M86's starlike core is more subtle than M84's. In fact such a distinction may not apply at all. The galaxy's nucleus is broader - though less intensely brilliant. On eye movement the core seems to shift north as nebulosity expands slightly to the south. M86 showed me a diameter of perhaps 4 arc-minutes. Despite the larger size, and difference in structure, it held visual attention as well as its brighter, more compact, confrere.

M84 and 86 dwell in a galaxy-rich region of space. Within the same 40 arc-minute field of view, and with some effort, I could make out at least three other galaxies. Forming a nice almost equilateral triangle with the two Messiers (about 20 arc-minutes due south) is NGC4388. At magnitude 11.0 with 5X1 arc minute apparent size, this edge on spiral has an ASB of 12.4. As such you'd think it would show as much structure as the brightest of the Messiers. But this was not the case. It actually required moderate aversion to get a sense of its orientation (east-west) and size (maybe 3/4 X 3 arc-minutes). While moving the eye around the field I also caught a dim star-like core. (This may have been of the 13th magnitude.) In pondering this lack of obvious structure, I came on the notion that the eye is sensitized to detect objects of "size" as well as great contrast and surface brightness.

Turned up the next NGC galaxy in the region by inspecting the locale at 120X. In fact Galaxy NGC4387 is located almost squarely in the midst of the triangle formed by the two Messiers and NGC4388. 4387 is of magnitude 12.0 and apparent size 2X1 arc-minutes. Again this gives it an average surface brightness of 12.4. But again, I had to go to 120X to locate it conclusively. I did see enough of it to detect its east-west orientation. By moving the eye a sense of a stellar nucleus was possible.

About 10 arc-minutes north of M86 I caught a dim swatch of nebulosity suspected to be NGC4402. This galaxy was very ill-defined. It too required 120X and bears an ASB of 12.9.

NOTE: Subsequent research on the internet proved that all three dim galaxies cited above proved to be the ones I thought they were. I like it it when this happens!

The two previous evenings I had devoted copious observation time tracking down a very large, 14.5 ASB galaxy near Kappa Draconis - NGC4236. Before attempting to locate it again, I made a quick check of a descending Praesepe and found that I could now hold the 12.7 magnitude reference star about half the time at 180X. As such, sky transparency had to be at least magnitude 5.5. Checking Ursa Major with unaided sight, I could almost hold a 5.5 magnitude reference star between Alpha and Delta UMA. Conditions were prime for a third attempt on NGC4236.

At 22 X 7 arc-minutes, NGC4236 is huge. Bearing an integral magnitude of 9.7, the brightest 1 arc-minute regions of the galaxy could scarcely approach magnitude 12. To find it, I would really have to know where to look. My best shot was somewhere in a one degree field of view 1/3rd the distance between two 4th magnitude stars - Kappa and Lambda Draconis. Positioning the 50X field on this spot showed an oblong stretch of vague nebulosity extended along a vaguely north-south axis. This flashing haze of light pointed south toward a crescent of 9th and 10th magnitude stars . The bowl of the crescent oriented in such a way as to receive the light from the nebula. This vague luminosity dissolved in my eye on direct inspection, but was quite obvious during eye movement. Using averted sight, I could see maybe a 4 X 8 arc-minute region of pale luminosity. This probably marks the center of this largely edge-on galaxy.

NOTE: Happily subsequent research on the net showed that I had, in fact turned up this dim and expansive galaxy!

The night's extended galactic swing was at once satisfying and grueling. Each of ten galaxies had to be meticulously sought out to avoid improper identification. Often my eye had to look for details where little was possible. Meticulous notes had to be taken. Once the long observing session was complete, the scope had to be broken down, carted home and safely stored. Another three hours were spent documenting the adventure for web publication on my personal website.

The question often arises on such occasions: "Why?" The answer is always the same: "Because." The answer makes almost as much sense as the question...

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Back at it

The overcast skies of the last few days, inevitable return of lunar floodlighting and lateness of sky-dark has added a certain "creative tension" to my astronomical existence. Add to this the huge bump of studies possible in the Coma Virgo "Galaxy Field of Dreams" and a certain subconscious "paranoia" begins to surface. I had planned on most of these inevitabilities when originally putting togther my observation plan last year. One thing I didn't plan on was the possibility of overcast skies happening to coincide with prime observation time - namely Friday and Saturday nights. Although it can rain this time of year in Northern California, the likelyhood of losing a weekend to it (or overcast) is low. There is a silver lining to all this. I finally got caught up on my sleep schedule - even though I am not quite up to speed on my observing schedule.

So this evening I marathon - again. My run of deepsky studies begins south in Corvus and ends further north in Coma Bernices. All by 11:15 PDST - a period of only two hours due to the late spring hour for skydark. I begin as usual after I make out the 12.7 magnitude test star in Praesepe. (This with moderate aversion at 180X.) Under such conditions the sky has darkened to about magnitude 4.5 unaided - near the minimum needed to get decent views using any scope. By the time the sky is truly dark, I can just hold the 12.7 magnitude star at that same magnification - so things have improved to about 5.5 ULTM.

Globular Cluster M68 in Hydra 1 degree east and 4 degrees south of Beta Corvi In terms of average surface brightness (ASB), this large, dim globular cluster is only a little brigher than many of the dimmer Messier and brighter NGC galaxies turning up as of late. As far as globular's go, based on size, brightness and sky location this one is unimpressive. Based on the numbers I felt I'd be lucky just to get a sense of "roughness" with averted inspection. On that score I wasn't disappointed. This is no challenge to M3 for "springtime favorite". Made out perhaps 5 arc-minutes of the clusters core. A core which, at best, appeared "rough" during eye motion across the field. Obviously no stellar resolution was possible. Especially given the low sky position and fact that sky-dark had not quite struck before turning it up.

Before moving on to locate my next study, I took a moment to contemplate the fine, wide, pair Delta Corvi. What I saw was a warm yellow 3rd magnitude primary attended by an 8th magnitude burnt-orange secondary perhaps 45 arc-seconds to the south-southwest. Due to the early sky I couldn't help but notice the secondary become more "present" as I continued to regard this attractive pair.

Planetary Nebula NGC4361 in Corvus 1 degree west and 2 degrees south of double star Delta Corvi At magnitude 10.3 with a size pretty close to one arc-minute, I didn't expect to have too much trouble turning up this fine planetary. It's location within the keystone of 3rd magnitude stars making up the Crow's body also simplified its detection. These two facts gave me a bit of confidence and allowed me to safely include the planetary on a worknight marathon such as this. Immediately after finding the planetary, I could make out a 12 plus magnitude central star. Outide this was a brightish but ill-defined region which may have been delineated enough to suggest a subtle shell. Outside the shell was obvious wisp-like nebulosity bleeding off into space. THis nebulosity seemed to flare opposite the direction of eye movement - no matter what direction that movement took. Sorry folks very little to report of color in this one.

Galaxy M104 in Virgo 7 degrees due west of Spica At magnitude 8.3 the Sombrero Galaxy has a lot going for it. First, at 11.9, it's ASB calculates to actually lie well within the threshold limiting magnitude of a 150mm scope employing a 50X eyepiece. Second, the galaxy presents edge on. This enhances it's overall contrast with the sky. Finally, the dark band which gives the sombrero its distinctive appearance lies within the range of a modest telescope on a decent night. On this occasion, the first thing that struck me about the Sombrero was its neighborhood. Just before making out the Sombrero itself, I noticed a compelling "scorpio shaped" asterism of equal brightness 7th magnitude stars 20 arc-minutes to the Sombrero's northwest. Surely this is a recognized cluster of somekind - and a most unusually shaped one at that.

The Sombrero itself is equally striking, long, thin, edge-on presentation with exceptional sky contrast. Perhaps 1 X 7 arc-minutes of the galaxy could be held direct. This oriented along an east-west axis. Though I could not quite make out nebulosity south of the famous band of the Sombrero it was clear that it was sharply delineated along this edge while the northern region expanded visibly into a dim halo of luminosity. One final intrigue: The Sombrero appears to have two star-like cores. One at the center of the lenticular disk and a second just west. More research needed here - but I don't recall any photos showing a 12+ magnitude field star in that location.

Quasar 3C273 in Virgo Roughly 1/3rd the way between Gamma and Omicron Virginnis I really didn't expect to find this deepest of deepsky studies possible with a six inch scope. My main goal was just to stock up some images of the star fields I was going to have to sift through later in order to turn it up. As it turned out I came so close to finding the "quasi stellar object" that I spent far too much time pouring over field stars trying to make a definitive match against a chart provided in Harrington's "The Deep Sky". I am convinced however, that at magnitude 12.8, 3C273 can be seen with Argo. The question is, which almost 13th magnitude point of light is it? More research required...

Galaxy M61 in Virgo Roughly halfway between Gamma and Omicron Virginnis This galaxy is comparable in size, and ASB to the M84-86 series viewed three nights ago (during my previous May Marathon). Despite having a star-like core, there really was no distinct core region. Basically, the bulk of this galaxy is an extended fuzz extending out about 3 arc-minutes from the core in all directions. No sense of frontier or orientation. Your basic bright center to elusive frontier nebulosity. No one would mistake M61 for a globular cluster though.

Galaxy M49 in Virgo between two 6th magnitude finderscope stars 4 degrees north and 1 degree east of M61 Despite it's low placement in Messier's list of comet like objects, M49 ranks with the M84-86 series in terms of "sky presence". M49 showed perhaps half its 9X7 arc-minute apparent size directly this evening. During eye motion, a considerable increase in size was possible. This extended the wispy outer aura and added to the stellar core and extensive core region seen at 70X. General orientation of this football-shaped galaxy is east to west. The eastern extension of the galaxy flared more visibly than the west. There really was no sense of a frontier about this galaxy.

Galaxy NGC4435 in Coma Bernices west of M86 Three nights ago I made a quick inspection of the region around M84 and M86 for addition "Hubble Shallow Field Galaxies". Though this galaxy and the following are visibly brighter than the ones turned up at the time, I really didn't go far enough afield from the brighter pair while scanning the region. Additionally, neither NGC4435 nor 4438 were on my charts (or observing plan) at the time. During follow up to confirm the dim galaxies detected on that occasion I turned up this pair and was eager to return and see if I could sight them as well. By so doing the total number of galaxies visible through Argo in this region has now increased to seven. Galaxy 4435, like its nearby sibling was easily picked out at 50X. Scrutiny at 120X showed about 2 round arc-minutes of wispy luminosity containing a bright star-like core. A slight amount of flaring along the northeast to southwest was possible as the eye moved across the field.

Galaxy NGC4438 in Coma Bernices just south of NGC4435 While NGC4435 consisted of simple star-like core/wispy round body structure, Galaxy 4438 seemed to add a dim, 1 arc-minute sized core region plus the beginnings of edge on extensions northeast and southwest. These details were only barely perceptible and only as I moved my eye over the field. Otherwise, NGC4438 looked pretty much like 4435 - except perhaps a tad brighter.

Galaxy NGC4328 in Coma Bernices just southeast of M100 On the last May Marathon I made an effort to locate this galaxy as well. Due to its small size and dim magnitude, I wimped out. Now with a few nights rest and clear skies I hoped to rectify the matter. Sky stability did not support 180X searches for dim galaxies this evening. 120X, however, was fine. Using the 15mm 120X Ultrascopic I was able to at least identify a potential candidate for this faint 1 arc-minute galaxy. As I moved my eye around the field I thought I repeatedly made out a vague, but fixed-position light-mound some 12 arc-minutes north and 4 arc-minutes east of M100.

Galaxy NGC4322 in Coma Bernices just north of M100 Of the two NGC's associated with M100, at magnitude 13.9, NGC4322 is the dimmer. In fact, had I been able to positively turn up 4322 this evening, it would become the dimmest 1 arc-minute sized galaxy Argo has yet to reveal. But in reality that distinction still belongs to 13.7 mag NGC3073 in Ursa Major. At least until I can confirm a very faint smudge of light some 8 arc-minutes south and 3 east of M100.

Before finishing the night with a couple of dim double star studies, I made a quick check of Praesepe to determine telescopic limiting magnitude. By this time the sky was quite dark and my eye well stretched by the evenings adventures. I could just hold the 12.7 magnitude test star with direct vision. Unlike previous attempts, the star was perceptible as a nice starlike point. This despite the fact that by the time I made the check, Praesepe was only some 30 degrees above the western horizon.

Disparate Magnitude Double Star Upsilon Ursa Majoris Upsilon consists of a 3.9 magnitude primary complemented by a dim 11.3 magnitude secondary some 11 arc-seconds distant. It, like Iota UMA to follow is a test double star for visual contrast. This particular class of stars has proven very difficult for Argo in the past. Despite a local limited threshold magnitude of 5.0 in the region of Upsilon, that difficulty extended itself to this pair as well...

Disparate Magnitude Double Star Iota Ursa Majoris I've made several attempts to distinguish the dim 10.3 magnitude secondary from the brighter 3.1 magnitude secondary. Perhaps it was wishful thinking but I just had to make this one last attempt before adding it to the Most Wanted Page chronicaling our failures.

While breaking down the scope for the return trip home, I noticed the claws and head of the Scorpion rising above the treeline to the southeast. Meanwhile the sky overhead looked remarkably dark and trasnaparent. Did I really want to stop for the evening? Heck yah. I had just run a 2 hour 15 minute Marathon! Besides, each constellation to its season - unless, of course, the only way to beat the Moon is to rise after it sets and get a preview of coming attractions.

A Lesson in Patience

I really didn't want to observe this evening. And really didn't think I'd have to. Lot's of nice promising clouds rolled in again by late afternoon. Put a real smile on my face. Nice leisurely evening doing what I enjoy most - putting together an observing session - for Wednesday. But Nooo, just after sky-dark the stars had to start poking through the clouds. OK, so I'll assemble Argo and if the sky gets better I'll set him up on the back lawn and go after lost sheep.

Lost sheep is what I call any study that has eluded our visual grasp. If it's too dim, too close, too low on the horizon, sky conditions too poor - for whatever reason - I'll do my best to round it up on another night. If under the best conditions I still can't make it out and despite several attempts - we'll then it (eventually) finds its way onto my "Most Wanted" list. After that it becomes a long term project, but I no longer allow it to keep me from bringing home the cows - (oops mixed animal husbandry metaphor). Get past it, move on, and progress the rest of the observing plan.

Due to the exigencies of that plan, tonight was the last night for some very dim galaxies attending M100, and a disparate magnitude double star in Ursa Majoris. So let's start with "lost and found" sheep first...

Double Star: Upsilon Ursa Majoris, Magnitudes: 3.9 & 11.3 Separation: 11 arc-seconds This baby is tough. There's more than seven magnitudes difference between these two - and the two really are not that far apart. Sure Argo could make easy work out of two equal magnitude stars within one or two arc-seconds of each other. And most certainly 11th magnitude stars are a shoo-in (under most circumstances). But here we have an easy naked eye star and dim companion (a star normally requiring the 80mm Pup just to see direct on its own). We'll, as it turns out, though tough this pair is not impossible. The dimmest star visible in the region of Upsilon tonight was magnitude 4.8. At 180X, Argo can add 7.3 magnitudes of depth onto that figure and show 12.1 magnitude stars direct. Looking at the region around Upsilon through the scope, I noticed it cast about a 3 arc-minute radiused circle of scattered light. This using averted vision. Under direct vision, scatter was smaller but still noticeable. Certainly within 10 arc-seconds of Upsilon the light scatter "brightened" the background sky by about 1 magnitude. This meant that I could possibly hold an 11.1 magnitude star directly in that locale. But Upsilon-B is dimmer than that - and 1 magnitude of light scatter may be a bit conservative.

By moderately shifting my vision (south from Upsilon), I caught a pale blue star on the fringes of perception at position angle 250 degrees (leading and slightly south) from the bright yellow primary. It seemed to me that, if anything, the pair was slightly closer than advertised (11 arc-seconds) than further. Now, I did have to use averted vision. This makes the whole thing suspect. So I spent at least one hour trying different magnifications (120X and 180X worked - 70X didn't) and scoured a complete circle around the primary. Only one locale clicked - roughly 10 arc-seconds, west and slightly south of the warm yellow primary. With a local ULTM of 4.8 nothing more was possible.

For those who care to know, the Double Star Resolution Calculator calls for a 155mm refractor at 80X to definitively show this pair - under conditions similar to this evening. Anything smaller should lose the dim secondary in the glow of the primary. Which in a sense is exactly what I experienced. Had I not cloaked my eyes from ambient light, used higher magnifications, and with averted vision - it would have been a complete no show. One more lost sheep wandering the high pastures...

But not alone...

Tonight I spent even more time scouring the region of M100 for a pair of dim 1 arc-minute sized attendent dwarf galaxies. Throughout this period (about an hour and a half) high thin clouds continuously rolled in and out making it impossible to make a definitive observation of anything other than M100 itself.

Early on, M100 itself lacked all structure - your basic round, diffuse, grey, low contrast smear against a murky gray background. As the clouds began to thin, I started getting glimpses of central brightening. Followed by occasional flashes of a star-like core. Meanwhile, I did my best to turn up faint fuzzies in the region around the main galaxy. Whenever something would catch my eye, the clouds would roll in again. Switch eyepieces for a better view - clouds role in. Good stuff - for wearing down the crowns of your teeth. But regardless, here goes:

Candidate One: Small, undefined, intermittent, light mound, 5 arc-minutes south of M100 core. This cheshire cat will-o-wisp could only be seen on eye movement at 120X. It lay in the direction of a 10th magnitude field star some 5 arc-minutes further south. Again, due to the constant waves of high thin clouds - which at times almost blotted out any structure associated with M100 - I never had a chance to get warm and fuzzy about this one.

Candidate Two: Small, undefined, intermittent, light mound, 8 arc-minutes east of M100 core. This cheshire cat will-o-wisp could almost be seen with eye movement at 70X. It lay in the direction of an 11th magnitude field star some 3 arc-minutes further east. A second 11th magnitude star enabled this candidate to form a small triangle in the field of view. Again, due to constant waves of high thin clouds, I never had a chance to get warm and fuzzy about this one either.

Candidate Three: Slightly larger, undefined, intermittent, light mound, 12 arc-minutes north of M100 core. This cheshire cat, will-o-wisp could almost be held with aversion at 70X. It lay in the direction of a 10th magnitude field star some 15 arc-minutes further north. Again, due to constant waves of high thin clouds, I never had a chance to pin this one down either.

So what galaxies attend M100? 13.5 magnitude NGC4328 lies east (and slightly south) of the main galaxy. 13.9 NGC4322 northeast. And 14th magnitude NGC4327 lies to the south.

The alignments look promising, but it will take a darker night to make anything of them - a night which would probably be more profitably devoted to contemplating something more realistic...

Comet Masquerading as a Galaxy

Sorry folks. It's gone. M58 is gone. I think it was really a comet and it just hung around for a few day's, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, until it finally got the wanderlust and moved on. Damn clever don't you think? Get found by a comet hunter - then freeze. Don't move, if you do you'll make his day. Of course, it's just possible I missed it, or mistook it for a different galaxy. But nah, the thing is gone I tell you!

So how did this whole thing start? Well, the sky was sorta clear last night. Since I was working the "Galaxy Field of Dreams", I didn't need to go anywhere exotic - like the school or the Ridge. Just the back- (and new for me) side yards. Started out with M100. Watched the sky darken from deep blue to deep grey (never got black). Simultaneously, M100 began as a 2-3 arc-minute faint nebulous patch then morphed to show a bright starlike core, core region and faint extensions. But it wasn't until about 9:20 that this process concluded - so the times they are a-changin'. Easily caught a "baby M100" (NGC4313) about 20 arc-minutes southwest of M100 core (on the far side of an 8th mag field star). This galaxy showed a faint starlike core (at moderate averion) along with a slight southeast to northwest oriented core region. All at 70X. After this, I lost M100 behind the branches - from the sideyard (where there is less ambient light) and shifted over to backyard-north where I took up the quest for 13.5 magnitude 1 arc-minute sized NG4328. Interesting study this. Whereas the sky started out at about 4.9 ULTM, it started drifting down toward 4.7 or so as I scoured the locale some 8 arc-minutes east of M100 core. There, forming a triangle with two 10th magnitude stars was a faint, 13th magnitude haze. Also there, almost in line with the nearer 10th magnitude star was a dim 13th magnitude haze. Look at one, the other appeared. (Seen this before.) Based on an image from the web, the faint starlike haze almost in line with the 10th magnitude field star is the galaxy. The other is just a star. Thus the "confusion of identities". But at least, now I know that under 4.8 ULTM conditions, and at 120X, the starlike core region of a small, dwarf galaxy some 50 million light years distant can just be held using moderate to extreme averted vision by a 150mm scope. Not bad eh?

With this "success-story" to bolster me, I moved on to a series of "new lights" from my year-long observing plan. From M100 I slewed northeast to center that sweet, wide double 24 Coma Bernices in the main tube at 50X. Tipped my hat in appreciation then dropped due south past 25 Coma Bernices 4 degrees and picked up:

Galaxy M87 in Virgo, Magnitude: 9.8, Apparent Size: 5x4 arc-minutes, Average Surface Brightness: 12.7

Galaxy NGC4478 Virgo, Magnitude: 11.2, Size: 2', ASB: 12.4 This galaxy showed a sense of central brightening plus faint wispiness to the south and west on eye movement. Some aversion was required to get any sense of detail - and this at 70X. However, like NGC4312 earlier, this looked like a smaller, dimmer version of a messier galaxy. By bumping the magification to 120X I was also able to make out an even dimmer galaxy about 7 minutes west of M87 core.

Galaxy NGC4476 Virgo, Magnitude: 12.3, Size: 2x1', ASB: 12.7 This galaxy did not give a sense of being messier-like. What I did make out was an airy little bit of fluff with the occasional starlike flash in the center. Unlike NGC4328 attending M100, however, 4476 did not require a great deal of concentration or eye-trickery to make conclusive.

Reversing direction, I swept about 1 degree east to find:

Galaxy M91 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 10.2, Size: 5x4', ASB: 13.1 Could just make out a dim core on eye movement. Otherwise the 3 minute presentation of this galaxy dimmed out into space with an occasional flash to the south-southeast. This galaxy probables disserves better than the 4.6 ULTM I was having to look through to make it out.

Dropping due south about 2 degrees I picked up:

Galaxy M90 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 9.5, Size: 9x5', ASB: 13.3 This large, relatively faint messier formed the pinnacle of a right triangle souith of a pair of 11th mag field stars. The galaxy was visibly elongated with a sharper edge to the west. The smallish core region showed no point. The galaxy was more rounded to the east. Overall though, M90 spreads its luminosity out very well in terms of contrast.

From M90 I headed about 3 degrees west and slightly south to locate two galaxies viewed on previous occasions (M84 and M86). Having oriented myself, I then shifted about 1 degree east and half a field south to locate M88.

Galaxy M88 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 9.5, Size: 7x4', ASB: 12.8 Like most galaxies in the M8X series this one is bright and shows good sky contrast (especially compared to the 90 - 100 series which seem to have eluded Charles Messier in his first few sweeps of the region). In viewing this galaxy I was able to discern its bright center at 70X with mild aversion. Under 4.6ULTM conditions his means it's brightess region is of magnitude 11.8 - about 2.3 magnitudes dimmer than it's cumulative magnitude and almost a whole magnitude brighter the average surface brightness. M88's core region gave an "edge on" presentation. Overall the galaxy showed exceptionally fine contrast with a marginal sky. Outside the core wispy extensions along the north-northeast to south-southwest were seen. During eye movement some flaring to the southeast was evident.

Continuing my sweep due east at 50X, I located:

Galaxy M89 Virgo, Magnitude: 9.8, Size: 4', ASB: 12.5 Complicating the view is a bright 7th magnitude star some 10 minutes due west. Despite this M89 remained relatively bright, circular and small (3 arc-minutes in diameter). It displayed all the basic features we've come to know so well: starlike point, brightening surrounding core-central and wispy annulus. On eye movement I detected a slight lenghthening along the east northeast- west southwest axis along with the barest suspicions of spiral arm curling. Possibly more structure in the offing for a darker night...

From M89 I dropped down 1 degree to the southeast and this is where things get a little crazy. I expected to turn up:

Galaxy M58 Virgo, Magnitude: 9.8, Size: 5x4', ASB: 12.7

But nothing. Despite a series of recurring sweeps north, south, east and west - nothing. This unexpected huge gap of well over 2 degrees existed between M89 and my next study:

Galaxy M59 Virgo, Magnitude: 9.8, Size: 5x3', ASB: 12.4 This galaxy formed the "crutch" of a small right triangle with a pair of 11th and 12th magnitude stars. On turning it up I noticed about 2X4 arc minutes of edge on presentation oriented more or less north and south. Under moderate aversion and 70X magnification I was able to detect core-point. Like M89, here was a rather compact galaxy displaying fine sky contrast - core point, core-region and wispy extensions. On eye movement I picked up a slight flaring to the east northeast.

Continuing east I soon encountered what may very well be the showpiece of the Coma-Virgo cluster:

Galaxy M60 Virgo, Magnitude: 8.8, Size: 7x6', ASB: 12.5

Double Star: Upsilon Ursa Majoris, Magnitudes: 3.9 & 11.5 Separation: 11.3", PA 295

Before closing the observing session, I had to take a peek for Upsilon-B. No way. Conditions local to Upsilon were .3 magnitudes poorer than the previous session - and I am not convinced that I saw it then.

So the mystery remains. What happened to M58? My suspicions at this juncture are that it will be back. Maybe it just took a cosmic coffee break.

Missing Messier Found. Mystery Resolved?

With the approach of solstice, the night undergoes inevitable compression. As skydark retreats ever later into the evening, I've developed a ritual of watching Galaxy M100 take on presence, shape, and structure in the field of view. About the time 4th magnitude stars emerge, I begin a rather anxious hunt for this dim, 13.1 average surface brightness galaxy. This early in the evening, I'm lucky to find a few more recognizable stars in the field of view. Within ten or fifteen minutes, the sky darkens another .5 magnitudes. By this time I've pinpointed M100's environs, and the first few ghostly wisps of M100 core is possible. Having found this, I can quest for M100's nearby neighbor NGC4313 (on the far side of an 8th magnitude field star to the southwest). Usually I can pick out this "mini-messier" galaxy relatively quickly. Perhaps five minutes later, the sky darkens (to ULTM 4.9) and I can just make out 13.5 magnitude NGC4328 - using all the visual tricks possible. If the night is especially dark - say 5.4 ULTM, I begin to believe in the possibility of locating 13.9 magnitude NGC4322 (perhaps 8 arc-minutes due north of 4328). But here's the rub - there are no neighboring stars to guide the eye - so I am doomed to not really knowing whether any given small, vague, scintillating, smear of light is the galaxy or just a very dim star.

Last evening my ongoing M100 studies were complete by about 9:45. Skydark had arrived. Time to resolve the mystery of M58 (left over from the previous evening). But first I need to get my bearings. I don't believe I can get to M58 from M100 - in trying I will probably confuse it with one of the many other Messier's and NGC's in the "Galaxy Field of Dreams". So, I begin my trek well north and make a careful study of:

Double Star 24 Coma Bernices, Magnitudes: 5.2 & 6.7, Separation: 20.3", PA: 271 degrees. I've contemplated this sweet wide pair several times now. In many ways it is a dimmer version of Cor Coroli. The primary gives off a nice "warm yellow" coloration. The dimmer secondary appears variously gold, green or blue. To my eye the primary exactly trails the secondary across the sky. This pretty much corresponds with the published position angle of 271 degrees. The PA has not changed much over the decades - Webb says 271.1. These two lovely stars may either be in a very slow dance, or perhaps they are a line of sight pair showing very little proper motion relative to one another.

Having centered 24 COM in the main scope at 50X, I free-fall four degrees south to M88. Another 3 degrees to M89. To ensure I've correctly identified M89, I sweep a bit more than a degree west to pick up M87. Followed by another degree or so west and slightly north to the bright, 20 arc-minute separated pair, M84 and M86. Confident in my locale, I return back past M87 to M89. Because I may have mis-identified M89 the previous evening, I take a few notes: "Round 3 arc-minute diameter galaxy with starlike-core, collapsed core region and wispy halo. Part of a rough line of 7th and 8th magnitude stars extending southwest to northeast."

Out of concern I did not properly identify M90, I sweep 1 degree northeast and make the following notes: "Nicely contrasted, 3X6 arc-minute sized football-shaped galaxy oriented northeast to southwest." With M90 now ID'd, I drop 2 degrees south into the gap between M58 and the proximal M59/M60 pair. Sweeping east, I easily identify the bright galactic duo. Then proceed back west (through a rather large gap) and slightly north to:

Galaxy M58 Virgo, Magnitude: 9.7, Size: 6x5', ASB: 13.1 Pulling at my chin, Hmmm... This baby looks familiar. Surely I wrote it up last night? Well let's do it again and see if any of the previous nights descriptions come close to a match... "3X5 arc-minute, football shaped galaxy oriented east-northeast to west-southwest. Trails a 7.5 magnitude field star across the sky. Core point can be seen at 50X with mild aversion. Flatter and more delineated to the south. Bulges perceptibly to the north. Although faint extensions are seen on axis, slight flaring to the northeast at 70X. Decent sky contrast under 4.9 ULTM conditions."

I note in reviewing my previous evenings notes that both M58 and M89 shared one thing in common - a brightish star leading to the west by about 10 arc-minutes. Is it possible that I did find M58, then thought I had simply found M89 again and failed to document it? Well, other than the leading star, the two are different. One is round (to the eye) and the other, football-shaped.

Galaxy M64 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 8.5, Size: 10x5', ASB: 12.7 Despite M64's large apparent size, the galaxy held nice contrast with the now 5.0 ULTM sky. Framed within a pyramid of 8th/9th magnitude stars, I could make out about 4X7 arc-minutes oriented northwest to southeast along the major axis. The core showed a starry point - easily held at 50X. From this I deduce tthat the brightest part of the core shines at about magnitude 11.5, 1.2 magnitudes brighter than the average surface brightness. Surrounding this central point was a 2X1 minute core region oriented along the major axis. The southwest frontier is well delineated while the rest of the galaxy perceptibly flares in all directions during eye movement. I may also have seen a dim companion galaxy some 10 arc-minutes to the southwest. More research is needed here...

From M64, I moved northeast into Mel 111, Queen Bernice's coiffure. On my charts I noticed a small finder asterism of 5th and 6th magnitude stars oriented east-west. The asterism gives the appearance of an arrow head. The long thin shaft pointing towards galaxy NGC4565 from my observing plan. Switching to the main tube I immediately found a galaxy and presumed it was my intended study. After wriiting it all up as such, I attempted to locate my next study by swinging due north anout 3 degrees (NGC4559). Despite repeated attempts I could not locate it. So I tried an alternative approach. Beginning at 4th magnitude Gamma COM, I swept due east 3 degrees and picked up 4559. Now since I really wanted to find 4565, I swept due south and turned it up as well. And what a fine sight this lenticular edge on was. But let's start with:

Galaxy NGC4494 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 9.8, Size: 4.5x4.3', ASB: 12.9 As noted, this galaxy is not found on my observing list. However, having described it in my notes, and out of appreciation for serendipitous discovery I decided to add it to this report: "2X4 arc-minute, roughly edge-on presentation 6 minutes south of an 8th magnitude star. Stellar core visible with aversion at 50X. Nice core region contrast leading to a wispy extension toward the star. Best view at 50X, but core region easily handles 70." One thing I noticed about this galaxy was the lack of symmetry. There was no sign of an extension to the north... Also in my original notes, I believed the galaxy extended another 3 minutes to the north. This may possibly have been an illusion brough on by light scatter from the stellar neighbor.

It was after this that I swept north to not find:

Galaxy NGC4559 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 10.0, Size: 11x5', ASB: 14.0 First thing I noticed about NGC4559 was that it was caught up with a group of three 12th magnitude stars. The stars oriented along a north-south axis, while the galaxy itself skewed slightly to the north-northwest. Despite seeing *x4 arc-minutes of luminosity, the galaxy held contrast quite well. It did take averted vision to hold the northwest extension. Like NGC4494, the opposite extension was blunted. This gave the galaxy a loose "teardrop" shape. Wide roundish bottom to the south-southeast. Then an extended wispy tapering region to the north-northwest. More delineated to the west and rounder to the east. No starlike nucleus or core region apparent.

Having gotten my bearings, I dropped due south to spring's brighter and more contrasty answer to NGC891:

Galaxy NGC4565 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 9.6, Size: 15x2', ASB: 13.3 Wow, I love edge-ons! This one is large, bright, and sharply delineated. A classic. Don't miss this one folks! Could make out almost 10 minutes of its length. Lenticular edge oriented along northwest to southeast axis. Galaxy nicely framed by a trio of 7th and 8th magnitude stars. At extreme aversion could just make out its star-like nucleus (70X). Add to this an obvious core region, a bright line of luminosity along the spine, and you have a beaut. The frontier of this galaxy is sharper to the west and softer east. A wispy halo east of core. If I were an intelligent octopusal alien, I'd give this one "eight thumbs up".

Coma Bernices now approximatedg the branches of the redwood tree to the west. It was now time to drive east (and south) for a pair of globular clusters near Alpha COM. To definitive locate this 4th magnitude star I first ran a line from Gamma COM east to Beta, then an equal distance south. centering aAlpha in the 50X field of view, I swept 1 degree northeast and easily caught:

Globular Cluster M53 Virgo, Magnitude: 7.7, Size: 13', ASB: 12.9 Even at 50X, I could see that this globular showed a certain "roughness" (suggesting incipient resolution). In addition, I was also aware that I was seeing less than half the globular's 13 arc-minute apparent size. The half I was seeing, however, was quite luminous and gave an obvious "coming at ya" mounding effect. This mound was not quite truly circular. It flattened to the south-southeast. Eye movement caused the globe to flare to the northwest. At 120X, I could make out the scintillation of at least a half-dozen stars. So there is hope that an original speculation of an optically-correct 6 inch scope resolving stars in globulars with cumulative magnitudes to 8.0 is correct.

Well before turning up M53, the sky had stabilized in the 5.0 - 5.2 ZULTM range. I could make out perhaps a half-dozen individual stars in the Coma Bernices cluster. This fact is important to understanding the results of this next search:

Globular Cluster NGC5053 Virgo, Magnitude: 9.8, Size: 11', ASB: 14.7 This cluster is very large and dim. Its average surface brightness exceeds that of any study ever located in my observing plan. Earlier this month I had located a large galaxy (NGC4236) in Draco. That galxy has an ASB of 14.5. This find occured under slightly darker 5.5 ZULTM conditions. Now I was having to find something .2 magnitudes dimmer, under .3 magnitude poorer conditions. Locating NGC5053 is easy. Finding it is something else. Just sweep 1 degree east and slightly south of M53. As you do so look for a small, round glint of nebulosity with a slight central condensation. Well using this approach, you may find it - but I didn't. - Not even a wiff, a hint, a fuzzy star. It's large but it's not visible. Not through my eyes, scope, and on this particular night. - "I'll be back!"

To find my next study was a cinch. I'd been there before, the object was in an easy position to rough in and it is bright enough to establish it's presence in the finderscope. Just slew the tube about half-way between Cor Corli and Actrurus. Shift a tad further towards Acturus then sweep around with the eye glued to he finder. There you will find:

Globular Cluster M3 Virgo, Magnitude: 6.4, Size: 16', ASB: 12.1 At 70X (using "soft eyes"), several dozen stars could be seen swarming around (and within the outer reaches of) this large, bright "city of stars". Like other jewels visited during the evening, M3 lies within a nice triangle of relatively of bright 7th and 8th magnitude stars. Again like M53 before it - not all the cluster's size was apparent. In fact only half of it - in a globular sense. Beyond that half, individual stars could be seen to scintillate. This expanded the globular's size significantly. At 120X, perhaps one hundred stars were visible. At 180X one would normally expect even more. But seeing stability did not permit good views at high magnification this evening. In contemplating M3, I once again noticed the "X" pattern of stars extended well away from the core. There was also a definite sense of core elongation along the northeast to southwest axis. Again, Spring's finest!

To locate the next study usually involves a stop at Cor Coroli. So this evening I took the time to record my observations before moving on.

Double Star Alpha Canes Venatici, Mags: 2.9 & 5.4, Sep: 19.4", PA: 228

As nice as 24 Coma Bernices is, its always a thrill to view this splendid pair - even on the same night. Tonight I saw the primary as greenish-yellow and the secondary as gold. Separation between the pair is indistinguishable from that of 24 COM, but in the case of Cor Coroli, the dimmer member lies to the southwest. So the pair tends to move across the sky more abreast. Strangely, I could find no reference to Alpha Canes Venatici as a double star in Webb's "Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes Vol II". It is entirely possible that the pair are not considered a true double. Or at that time it had a much greater separation. (In which case Webb would have considered the dimmer star a "come".)

From Cor Coroli I moved east about three degrees to center 5th magnitude star in the finderscope. Then northeast to a triangular asterism consisting of four fith and sixth magnitude stars. Centering the main tube on the northermost apex, I swept north one degree to:

Galaxy M63 Canes Venatici, Magnitude: 8.6, Size: 13x7', ASB: 13.3 Large, cigar-shaped nebulosity showing maybe 3X7 arc-minutes oriented east-west. Star-like nucleus at 50X with moderate aversion. Core region maybe 1X2 minutes in apparent size. Expansive extensions with a bulge to the north. Sharper and more delineated to the south. Core seems to "sink into" the saucer-like extensions north and south.

To track down my next study I centered the finder on the Great Bear's tale, then shifted 2 degrees west to 24 Canes Venatici. From there I split the difference between 24 CVN and a sixth magnitude finder star 3 degrees south and slightly west. Switching to the main tube, I catch:

Galaxy M51 Canes Venatici, Magnitude: 8.4, Size: 11x7', ASB: 12.9 First thing I notice is that it's very difficult to treat M51 without also including it's smaller, but equally contrasty companion galaxy about 5 arc-minutes to the east. Next thing I notice is that, despite reading that there is no real connection between the two galaxies spiral arms the illusion is hard to resist. Then I do a double-take. "Spiral arms?" Yes, spiral arms of this large, sub-13 magnitude ASB galaxy can be made out - but not with definition. What you see is a pair of dark "V"'s cutting into the pair from the east and west. There is also a subtle, gentle sweep of nebulosity west then south and east then north.

Getting past this pleasant surprise, I went on to notice that M51 shows a starry nucleus at 50X direct. Visible size is about 4X 6 arc-minutes. On eye movement, I note a 13th magnitude star brightening the southwestern spiral arm about 3 arc minutes from the core.

Having got a sense of the main galaxy, I took a closer look at it's neighbor due east:

Galaxy NGC5195 Canes Venatici, Magnitude: 9.6, Size: 6x5', ASB: 12.9

Had there been no brighter galaxy in the neighborhood, this galaxy could easily stand on its own. Although no core region was seen, I did make out a bright nucleus. Perhaps a region 3 arc-minutes in diameter was susceptible. On eye movement NGC5195's western extension seemed to reach out and touch M51's spiral extension from the west.

Before knocking off, I turned the scope on Upsilon Ursa Majoris. Seeing stability was not particularly good. At no point was I able to make out anything that even suggested an 11.5 magnitude companion some 11 arc-seconds distant. It will take a darker, steadier night to confirm this one in a 6 inch scope. I look forward to many happy returns...

Going Full Tilt

Frankly, I'm exhilerated. One of the things I enjoy most about life, and about amateur astronomy, is the opportunity to probe the limits. Not only the opportunity, but especially those few occasions when the stretch leads to the reach, and the reach to the grasp. Last night was one such opportunity - richly rewarding. The previous evening - under good (but not very good) observing conditions - I made a fruitless effort to locate a large, dim, very low average surface brightness globular cluster near M53 in Coma Bernices. That cluster (NGC5053) completely eluded me - despite a considerable amount of time and effort. Last night, under even better conditions, something previously impossible was rather easily accomplished. What a difference .3 magnitudes in sky transparency can make!

Meanwhile, the season has now progressed to the point where the finest globular cluster in the sky has rotated into view. Locating this cluster was almost laughably easy. All I need do was properly align Argo's equatorial mount to Polaris, swing around and center on bright Spica in Virgo, then drop due south. First: 12 degrees south past 3rd magnitude Gamma Hydrae. Then: Another 15 degrees to 3rd magnitude Iota Centaurus. Finally: Another ten degrees to Omega.

Now Centaurus is a bright constellation. In many ways it rivals Orion for brilliance and presence. True, it looks a little strange. Even "alien". But it is bright - even with it's brightest members (1st magnitude Hadar and 0 magnitude Rigil Kentaurus - Alpha) hidden beneath the south ridge and ocean. Most Omega stars known to me are magnitude 4.5 plus. But this particular Omega is neither dim (magnitude 3.7) nor a star. It is:

Globular Cluster NGC5139 Centaurus, Magnitude: 3.7, Size: 36', ASB: 11.1/12.7@5degrees Holy mother! Even lying within the region of "lost DSO's" some five degrees above the horizon, this baby makes it's presence known! Largest, brightest thing I ever seen in the finderscope (except the Moon). Just can't be missed. In fact, at 36 arc-minutes apparent diameter it takes up more visual space than Sun or Moon. Simply amazing. However, shifting to the main tube is bound to dissappoint. Despite its luminosity and contrast, the sky 5 degrees above the horizon, on a warmish spring night, is simply too unsteady to give the kind of breathtaking views it's nearest globular cluster rival (M22) does. But with patience, I began to notice a few things. There are a pair of 7th/8th magnitude stars 20 degrees west of Omega's core. Despite low sky position, each shows reasonably well-focused images - so things weren't that bad... Meanwhile with "soft eyes" and lots of "hang time" at the eyepiece, I began to see a "sparkle" at various points across the globular's disk. These sparkles were completely random. They could happen anywhere, anytime. But unfortunately, at no time did the globular suddenly explode with stellar resolution. So effectively, despite the 7/10 seeing found in the middle third of the sky, the stability at 5 degrees above the horizon was probably 4/10. And this just didn't quite cut it.

It is possible that, had I continued to observe the cluster for an extended period (more than 30 minutes), a momentary stellar profusion could have occured. But I needed to move to other studies. To do so, I simply slewed 5 degrees north of Omega then, at the very limits of the finderscope for the sky position, caught a vague nebulosity:

Galaxy NGC5128 Centaurus, Magnitude: 7.0, Size: 18x14', ASB: 12.7/13.8@5degrees Personally, I expected great things out of this galaxy. First off, through the finder there is something almost magical about the 10 degree above the horizon line. Below 7 degrees or so, the sky is relatively devoid of stars. Then, as the 10 degree mark is approached, the number of dim stars in the finder multiplies almost geometrically. So I figured to get an acceptable view of what promised to be a large, bright, heavily structured galactic core split assunder by a huge bar of dark nebulosity. What I did see was a largish, 4x8 arc-minute, smile-shaped patch of luminosity to the west-southwest, and a smaller (3X6), dimmer, cap of luminosity some 10 arc-minutes east-northeast. Meanwhile the occasional wisp of light could be seen between the two brighter regions - along with a gauzy, but broken halo of dim luminosity around the bisecting dark mass. In total, the whole scene was more reminescent of star-birth nebulosity in Orion. The only thing galactic about it was the fact that several line of sight stars positioned themselves in the brighter patch to the east, and that patch seemed to show a bright star-like nucleus. This condensation was offset slightly to the north.

From NGC5128 (otherwise known as Centaurus A) my next study was not a particularly easy find. Tried several schemes to locate it, but the fact that so many stars were visible in the finderscope made it difficult to locate a particular "Y" shaped asterism of 5th and 6th magnitude stars (shown on my chart). In the end I simply split the linear distance between Gamma Hydrae and 2nd magnitude Theta Centaurus. Then wagged Argo around a bit until I caught a bright glow in the finder. Then centered on:

Galaxy M83 Hydra, Magnitude: 7.6, Size: 11x10', ASB: 12.4/12.8@5degrees Plop, there it was. Right in the center of the 50X 1 degree field of view. Bright and large and whole! Not split up lake Centaurus A. M83 easily rivals M81. Very conspicuous. Has a large, bright core region - not star-like but planetary-nebula sized. The western frontier is quite delineated. East, vague and expansive. The bright core sinks down toward the west. Like Einstein's vision of gravity - a taught "rubbery" surface where heavy things create a depression that not so heavy things roll into. About 6x9 minutes of the galaxy was possible. Orientation, southwest to northeast. A hint of a "ray-like" extension moved out from the core to the southwest. Possibly the root of a spiral arm.

Above me, the middle third of the sky teemed with stars. Not the Milky Way, but numerous, discrete dim stars hovering around magnitude 5.5. The sky was quite dark and displayed texture - the way Praesepe seems to. Pregnant with possibilities. Seeing stability was quite good. Brighter stars showed airy disks - but lacked perfectly concentric diffraction rings. A good 7/10 stability night. This kind of depth and stability makes for finding lost sheep... And I have several. First off I wanted to revisit M53 and get a sense of resolution. As it turned out dozens of individual stars could be made out at 120X. Most buzzed around the outside of the cluster's body. But a few could be seen against the outer dimmer third of the globe as well. At 180X even more were possible. None could be held direct. Globulars with average surface brightness in the 13.0 range (such as this) don't really possess individual stars much brighter than magnitude 13.5. Argo's direct reach is limited to 12.8 (at 180X) under 5.5 ULTM conditions. So I have no choice but to avert. Having such a nice view of M53, encouraged me in my quest to turn up:

Globular Cluster NGC5053 Coma Bernices, Magnitude: 9.8, Size: 11', ASB: 14.7 Now I usually screw up my directions when sweeping the sky in the main tube. So, of course, I went north then east to locate this large dim cluster. There I found nothing but imaginosity. Returning to M53, I got it right. Dropped south then east. Bingo, there it was, faint but certain. 5 arc-minutes west of a blue 10th magnitude field star. 4 arc-minute diameter round smudge with a hint of brightening west of center. The lowest average surface brightness denizon of deep space I have ever found. That's not only pushing, but expanding the envelope.

As it turned out, son Christopher joined me for the trip out to China Ridge. Chris is taken with the area's natural beauty and solitude. To the north is China Ridge proper. It rises up perhaps another 500 feet higher than the lower slopes where we stood. To the south is a large valley containing scrub brush and trees - manzanita and scrub oak mostly. Very few redwoods - probably the result of the kind of "conservation" practices in vogue several decades ago. Further south is another ridge. That ridge also part of the California Coastal Range. The highest peaks of this final ridge hide most of the great Pacific Ocean. However, there is a gap where the ocean can be seen rolling off into the great terrestrial beyond. There are no structures, no human habitation's visible from the Ridge. It is sanctuary.

With each new study I'd give Chris a chance to look through the scope and tell me what he saw. Although his descriptions often fail to be especially loquacious, under most circumstances he is able to confirm my own. But, not on this occasion... For you see, the best shot at catching this dim 14.7 ASB cluster is while sweeping around looking for it through the main tube. Under those conditions it is obvious. Once centered in the field, you have to know exactly where to look. So, like the Intergalactic Wanderer and various other examples of the "Cheshire Cat" breed, you need either a big scope or knowledge of exactly where to look and what to look for.

By now it was well past 11 o'clock in the evening. Promises had been made (and as usual, broken) about what time I'd be knocking off for the evening. But a few other lost sheep needed rounding up. Next, NGC4322 near M100 in Coma Bernices. Took no time at all to find the main galaxy. With the ULTM at 5.5, even 13.5 NGC4328 was an easy snag. Switched to 180X and swept north about 10 arc-minutes from the 4328. Yup thar be it: Small fuzzy patch - definitely not a star. Fixed in position, doesn't move with the eye. Excellent. For all intents, two stretches this evening: Dimmest average surface brightness study of any type (14.7), and dimmest 1 arc-minute sized galaxy (13.9). Again, the sky giveth...

Now there is one other "Lost Sheep" currently nagging at me: Upsilon Ursa Majoris Disparate Magnitude Double Star. Turning Argo on Upsilon, half expected the star to jump out at me at 50X. Well, then 70X. OK, 120X. All right fine, 180X. No change, still the merest, occasional, evanescent glimpse of a possible faint blue star at position angle 250 degrees. Not conclusive. Can't hold it - even at extreme aversion. Yes, you're right, perhaps Upsilon on top of Galaxy NGC4322 and Globular Cluster NGC5053 is a bit much to ask out of one evening. I love it the way the Universe works. Always some new challenge to look forward to!

Enthusiasts' Night Out

The drive "up" to Santa Cruz Astronomy Club's Bonny Dune observing site was just that. You start at about 400 feet above sea level in Felton CA. Take a right at the light (if you're driving from Boulder Creek like I do). It's all uphill from there. Fortunate that ascent. For you see, low flying clouds rolled in throughout the San Lorenzo Valley. And socked in Santa Cruz to the southeast. Back in the lowlands, this would put pause to any aspirations to observe. But tonight it was a good thing. Why? Because the fog cap suppressed light pollution from down below us. And although light pollution doesn't choke your lungs, it does choke your aperture.

The sky was dark to the southeast. It was dark to the north. It was dark to the west. It was dark all over. Had the sky been a bit more transparent, it would have been really dark. With all this sky to play with what do you think we did?

First we talked. Ralph, Chris, son Eric and I wrestled with a few touchy issues. Automated CCD imaging. Set up a fully automated scope. Turn on your off-axis guider. Press the OK button. Grab a thermos of hot coffee. Kick back and let the full panoply of post-modern, computer-based, servo-driven technology capture picture perfect images of the cosmos. Good thing? Bad thing? Who knows? We also talked about goto mounts. Grab the handset, input the DSO's designation, click the Go button and gee-WHIZZ-bang, put eye to eyepiece and stare away. Good thing? Bad thing? Who knows. We did agree on this: You get out of something what you put into it.

So having successfully navigated though potentially politically charged waters, the dance began. The early haze shrouding the high sky dissipated. Skydark was upon us. First off, let's turn that big dob on something equally big: M81. This is where we learn that a six inch scope only shows you about a third of everything. My M81 is huge. Outside the easily visible core and core region there's a lot of galactic sprawl left over. From tip to tip maybe 2/3rds the Moon's diameter. And it's all there plainly arrayed before you. No, eyepatches, towels over the head, or eye-flitting visual gymnastics. M82: Broken, craggy, long, luminous. Put a yoke-type equatorial under this photon cannon. Wrap a small observatory around it. And have at it: "Galactic Wanderer".

As nice as that 16 inch light-bucket is, I kinda like the stuff with aperture plus tighter optics. Last night's prize for this heady combination goes to Tim with his homemade 12 inch truss-tube dob. Tim is a new member of SCAC. Just to be especially friendly at his first SCAC star party, he didn't just bring along his 12" masterpiece. He also brought version 1.0: A 10 inch dob. The 10 inch is another fine specimen of the breed. We had some fun comparing the two. Ten inch: Great views of globular clusters, galaxies, planetary nebulae. 12 inch: Even better views. Why? Does 2 extra inches make that much difference? No way. Somehow, the 12 inch paints things against a darker sky. The view was rich with contrast. So the hundreds of stars you could actually see directly (without averting your vision) in the 10 inch, could also be seen - but against a pitch-black sky in the 12 inch.

Meanwhile, Leon got the "Full Tilt" bug and layed his fine wide-field Coulter 10 inch dob horizontal on Omega Centauri. Again, due to low sky position, Omega was not amenable to resolution. However, in looking around it I noticed dozens of stars not susceptible to six inch Argo. No doubt the outer layers of this huge onion were being pealed by the 10 inches superior light grasp and fine optics.

What do look for after you view Omega Centauri? Centaurus A, of course. Huge ball of light broken by a large dark band leaking luminosity in photo's. To the eye? Derrick's SCT showed it about the way Argo does. You see the smile on the bottom and cap on the top. The 16 inch however... Wow! More light means the smile and cap expand. What looked like two separate nebulae now become a singularity. The dark band obviously splitting it in half. Once viewed through the sixteen inch, views through all the other scopes made sense. We superimposed the obvious over the subtle in our imaginations. We got it!

About this time I noticed Corvus high to the south. Planetary NGC4361 came to mind. Conveniently positioned, and easy to find, the Dobs were on it. Very obvious in the bigger scopes. Rectangular, perhaps pinched at the waist outer region. Brighter well-defined central shell. 12.8 magnitude star at the center. Again the big uns made obvious what Argo stuggled to give a hint of. Yes, Argo showed the star, the core, and the haze - but it looked round. The larger scopes revealed the rectangularity. Before this we also turned the 16 and 12 inch dobs on the Owl Nebula. The theme here was to catch the eyes. On this occasion both the larger scopes showed one - but not obviously. You just sensed it was there. At one point I caught the central star - through the 16 inch at the time (if I recall correctly).

Not too long after viewing Centaurus A, Chris packed up the 16. Meanwhile, the rest of us went "edge-on" galaxy questing. M104: Sharp, well defined in all scopes. And yes, there was the extension of the core on the far side of the dark band. Every scope showed it. Even Argo - but only when I first looked at it, then the Cheshire Cat disappearing act set in. Interestingly enough it didn't just disappear - it was swallowed up by nebulous glow from the brighter portion across the sharp, dark, divide.

As nice as the Sombrero galaxy looked, it was edged out by the view of NGC4565. Now I'd been really impressed by this "slice of luminosity" through Argo two days previous. But now, through the 12 inch Dob, the view was spectacular. The thin extensions well outside the mottled core were directly perceptible. The full 15 arc-minute major-axis of this galaxy was visible. Derrick turned up a comparable edge-on using the 200mm SCT. NGC4631 gave a fine view - even at 200mm. Again it's full length was possible. However, unlike 4565, this galaxy looked gently curved along it's spine - like a dinner plate. We all noticed a very peculiar star edging right up against core-central. Estimated at magnitude 12.5, the star had a peculiar sharpness to it that caught the eye. There was a bit of a buzz about the possibility of supernovae. As it turns out there is such a star in photos - so no Supernova SCAC in NGC4631.

1 am and things were winding down. Scopes were dissassembled, packed away into trunks and pick-up beds. Derrick was the last to leave. Son Eric had gone off to knap in the car. Meanwhile, I spent a demanding 45 minutes tracking down field stars associated with 3 billion light-year distant 12.8 magnitude quasar 3C273. The field turned out to be precisely the one I'd found a week ago while observing out of Boulder Creek Elementary. Now I can make this real easy: The quasar's documented magnitude is incorrect - at least last night it was (quasars can be variable). It took all of 180X and extreme averted vision to hold. Earlier in the evening, I could just hold Praesepe's 12.7 magnitude test star with mild aversion at the same magnification. So the quasar, under full aversion, must be at least magnitude 13.4 - visual.

Now, of course, it's 1:30 in the AM. Mar's is brilliant and about 40 degrees above the southwest horizon. So what do I do? I spend the next half-hour watching it's unprecedentedly large, over-bright disk at 180x. That disk was so bright, I just had to use filters. So I cycled through all of them - medium blue gave the best view. There were moments when I literally could not believe my eyes. To the south, a huge greenish ring of sumptuously dark material surrounded a hemispherical region of white luminosity. Opposite this (to the north), I could make out a wedge-like shape of greenish detail. All this was only possible during the rare instants when the sky steadied enough to show a sharp planetary limb. This occured maybe 15% of the time. Now, I don't know very much about Mar's-ography but you know, I get a feeling that this lamentable state of ignorance is about to change!

Carpe Nocturnis (er Noctem!)

Well folks, the demands placed on me by the last three weeks of rigorous observation have finally played themselves out. I've gone stark, raving insane! Bio-chemical by-products (due to sleep deprivation), along with the onslaught of mega-photon-nage have driven me to the brinks of, how can I say this? Oh yes, "Normalcy". I've become more like others. Why would anyone want to lose sleep - and more importantly - precious television time, just to poke a tube up at the sky and look at stars and stuff? Damn, that couch sure looks good!

Ok, Ok. So last night I started out easy. "I'll only use the Pup. That's all. Maybe for half an hour. Tops. No more." Yah, right. Started looking at double stars. Then Argo got in on it. Same doubles. Then the Galactic Wonders.

But notice this. I didn't bother to write this report until the next day - not right after observing. Not before going to work in the morning. Not right after getting home from work. Right after taking care of my email! So a lot of things are starting to take a higher priority than these reports. (Appreciate them while they last. After all, they ended "Voyager". And "X-Files" barely survived into next season. - not that my obs reports compete with either of these programs in terms of the accuracy of scientific data and concepts.)

So what did I see?

Started with the Pup on Polaris. Seems like there's a whole new movement afoot in double-star observation. I call it "Doubles of Disparate Magnitudes." These babies are tougher than splitting Zeta's Cancri or Bootis. Why the bright one's are "easy" (in comparison). You either split em or you don't. Before they split, they elongate. Easy I say. The dim ones (Upsilon UMA, anyone?) play with you. They taunt you. They hang around right on the border of perception. You just know that if the sky would get a little darker, you'd make 'em out. While all you have to do on the tight one's is wait to see a pair of nice little airy disks with concentric diffraction rings. That's the end of it. No disks, no split. Disks with diffraction rings - that's as good as it's ever going to get. Meanwhile the wide, dim ones, don't offer closure Why? Because the sky could alway's get darker - then you'd see them. Can't see the dim one's from the backyard - then go to the school. If not from the school - try China Ridge. If not China Ridge, then the Sierra. If not the Sierra - Arizona. The only closure is the dark of space. And unlike Mr Tito, I can't afford the price of a ticket to the ISS.

Well last night both the Pup and Argo showed me Alpha Ursa Minoris-B. The Pup with effort (averted vision) and Argo effortlessly. Not surprised by the Pup's difficulties. Calculator says "9/10 seeing at 3.7ULTM" minimum. Boulder Creek's very own light dome dropped transparency to about 4.0 to the north. The Pup did show Polaris as a nice airy disk with two almost (but not quite) circular diffraction rings. This means 8+/10 seeing for the Pup. Argo's seeing was poorer. Tube current's gave the visual equivalent of 5/10 seeing initially. (Later this improved to about 7/10. More aperture means more susceptibility to atmospheric turbulence.)

Again I noticed something peculiar about disparate doubles - they are no friend of magnification. Polaris-B was more easily seen in both scopes at lower magnifications. In fact, I've had trouble seeing B at 180X during lunar 2nd quarter. So, anyone attempting this type double might want to keep magnification to a minimum. Not sure what the basis of this is. My original thinking was that higher mags would deepen the scopes reach - but it may also increase light scatter from bright sources.

As a stability check I turned both the Pup and Argo on Castor. Pair of fine pearls in the Pup at 133X. I was even able to make out the pair cleanly with the Pup's objective stopped down to 40mm! (So my apologies to one correspondent I wrote saying his 60mm couldn't pull it off.)

Castor was ugly in Argo at 120. Of course, at the time Argo had the tube current bug.

Went on to Xi Ursa Majoris. As usual, this 2.3 arc-second 4.0/4.9 pair showed only a hair-line split in the Pup at 133x. But the Double Star Calculator says this one requires more magnification than the Pup should be able to deliver - even on the best of nights. Argo did a little better job. But "Kalky" says that during 5/10 stability, Argo can't marshall enough magnification to cleanly distinguish this 4.0/4.9 pair. So you folks out there with 80mm scopes. Have at Xi UMA - a clean split is an accomplishment. (Even a TV85 had trouble with this one on a 8/10 night - and the Pup almost matched the TV on that same occasion. (Oh Pup, let me sing your praises: $200 and you stood tall besides a 2K apo.)

Next up: Nu Ursa Majoris Magnitudes: 3.7 / 10.1, Separation: 7.3" Position Angle: 147 degrees.
Now the sky near Nu was at magnitude 5.0 - so you'd figure the Pup had half a chance at this one. After all, Polaris-B is mag 9.1 - but the 18.4 arc-second separation gives the light from the bright 2.1 magnitude Polaris-A a chance to dissipate more. Kalky says: "Needs perfect night of 7.4 magnitude seeing." Well, Arizona here I come!

The Pup was unable to reveal the 10th magnitude secondary.

Kalky also says that Argo needs "a good (7/10) seeing night of local unaided limiting threshold magnitude 5.1". Conditions were about this - except those pesky tube currents. And as it turned out, I couldn't make out the secondary. So I decided to visit with the Galactic Wonders for awhile until things improved.

Some of you visiting this site may have noticed that, double-star "Kalky" has two siblings: "Limiting Magnitude Kalky" and Surface Brightness Kalky". To disnguish them I call them by their first names. Double-star Kalky's first name is "Dos", Limiting Magnitude Kalky is "Lem", and Surface Brightness Kalky is "Sib". Now Dos and Lem are in pretty good shape. Hard to find serious fault with what they have to say in there respective areas of expertise. But Sib is not well. Lately I've been attempting to nurse Sib back to health. Early on Sib was doing OK, then I started noticing a few problems. In attempting to fix the problems (having to do with small DSO's - like 1 arc-minute NGC4322), I destroyed the delicate balance of his heuristic algorithms. So now - other than computing average surface brightness at 60X - I don't believe anything he says. One problem with Sib has to do with magnification. Basically, as you run up the power, you lose intensity, and when you reduce it, just the opposite occurs. So let's say you have a galaxy of magnitude 8.4, that's some 11 X 5 arc-minutes in apparent size. Can you see it in a 7X35mm finderscope? Sure. How about a 35mm spotter scope at 60X? Probably not. So now you're writing equations that are supposed to predict what the minimium scope size needed to "reveal" a galaxy bearing an average surface brightness of 12.5 magnitudes. What magnification do you assume is involved?

Now expand on this. Let's say you're also attempting to determine the smallest aperture scope that gives a decent view of the galaxy. How much magnification is involved? Consider this: If you observe the galaxy at 120X, its average surface brightness is 14.0. So there's this huge range to cover. At 7X, the average surface brightness is around 9.0. At 60X, 12.5. At 120X, 14.0. We'll I needed input. Does M82 look good in a 6 inch scope at 120X?

Last night I spent a good deal of time contemplating this very question. You know what my answer was? Hell, yah! Even under 4.5 ULTM skies (near the galaxy that is) I could make out detail not possible at 60x. Why? Because magnification bled the light out of the "dimmer" portions of the galaxy - that's why. So the brighter parts were more obvious. So now I have an answer - and need to go play with Sib. - On that score anyway.

What about "finding" M82. What's the answer there? Easy! If something is large enough to show well at twice 60X, then it make sense to set the find magnification at half 60x. That's how heuristics works. You solve one problem and let it lead you to a resolution of the next. Science at work. (Intuition in action.) (BTW: M81 needs less than 120X to show well -that's important too - because it's larger.)

OK, so I want to go play with Sib. What did I see with Nu (after viewing M81). By this time, tube currents were much abated. And I was able to unmistakably catch the 10th magnitude B star at 120X. Position angle 110 degrees. Nice huh? So I'll probably need a 6.5 ULTM night to nail down Upsilon Ursa Majoris...

Take the night in your hand, and in your heart, and in your mind. Carpe Noctem!

A Thousand Words...

May's observing plan is now complete. Each anticipated study has either been seen in reality or in imaginosity. (I've done all I can to keep the later to a minimum.) Now is when I allow myself the luxury of simply enjoying myself. The Gods of Self-Imposed Discipline have been appeased. - At least until after the next lunar cycle. Tonight, I chose to draw. And here are the results:

This sketch of Globular Cluster M3 was started before skydark. Even with a ULTM of about 4.0 I was able to locate the cluster using the 7x35 finderscope. The first views in the main tube were poor. Only two field stars could be captured. As the sky darkened I concentrated on adding more. By the time I began work on the cluster in earnest, about a dozen were seen. Up to this point only the brightest third of the cluster (core and core region) was visible. I added a few cluster stars then turned to M82 for awhile. I hoped the sky would darken enough to make finishing strokes wotrthwhile. On returning to the cluster - perhaps thirty minutes later - dozen's of resolved stars were possible. Most of these resided in the light grey peripheral region of the cluster. Several were seen even across the core. Keep in mind that M3 has presented better views. Under 5.5 ULTM conditions, significantly more is possible - and without having to work so hard at it. Also keep in mind that not everything you see here is literally accurate. Obviously, it is impossible in the course of a single evening to literally transcribe the location of each star in the cluster - even if I could hold them with direct vision. The drawing is no less an impression than any verbal description. But it speaks better to the visual parts of the brain and mind. If it were great art, it would also speak to the soul...

I chose also to draw M82. Edge on galaxies are at the top of my list. M82 is near the top of the edge-on galaxy list. An earlier drawing (done in April) showed it in the same field as M81. But last night I found that more detail was possible at 120X. So tonight I revisited it with pencil and paper at that magnification. The sky was not quite as dark as that around M3 - perhaps 4.6 ULTM. With extreme averted vision I could almost follow the full length of the eastern extension of the galaxy. The western extension was more difficult. It is probable that star formation is not quite as far along to the west as to the east. Stars form in huge groups driven by powerful tides of radiation. The radiation originates from a few very brilliant "sheep dog" stars. Radiation pressure helps gather interstellar dust and gas into "gravitational corrals". Gravity then kicks in on its own and inchoate matter begins to condense. This creates huge stellar nurseries. The western extension of M81 does not appear to have undergone this process to the same degree as the east. More massive (but short-lived) super giant stars may be needed to advance the cause of star birth in this way.

In making these drawings I lavish a great deal more attention on the particular study than would be possible while pursuing my observing plan. The pace is slower and I derive more real pleasure - as well as achieving some measure of intimacy with the subject. After scanning the image into my PC, I "invert" the greyscale. This loses a bit of the contrast normally "drawn in" to the image. However, the image is far more realistic to what is seen at the eyepiece.

Once the image is inverted, I convert it into a jpg or gif. The image then shrinks down to about 3 thousand bytes. There are about 6 bytes in the average word. Thus the two images contain the equivalent of about a thousand words. It's needless of me to add too many more...

Owl and Edge-on

It wasn't the best of nights, nor was it the worst of nights. But it was a good night for taking pencil and paper to hand and capturing a few brief impressions of the late spring night sky. First, the ever-watchful Owl Nebula, cruising the sky from his northern perch. Observing the peculiarities of human endeavor without comment. Perhaps shaking his head slowly from side to side - not in criticism - but in an effort to take in the full range of goings ons. Little does our Owl know that even as he watches, he was being watched.

It is, of course possible that our Owl did know he was under surveilance. For you see, he was both difficult to locate and a challenge to view. The sky was not completely dark. Lightdome Boulder Creek limited transparency to about 4.8 ULTM. If you are having any difficulty finding the Owl in the neighboring image - imagine how I felt while tracking it down. At that time the sky was perhaps half a magnitude brighter. Until things darkened up (to about mag 4.5), I had no real luck either finding the Owl or neighboring edge-on galaxy M108. As it turned out, I came across the dim galaxy first. As usual, I was struck by it's low contrast and was impressed that Monsour Messier had discovered it. Of course, the same could be said for M97. Large (3 arc-minutes in diameter), dim (13.4 ASB) and well-camouflaged (ULTM 4.8). Best view at 70X. Main gain of boosting magnification (to 120X) was a few fleeting views of 13+ magnitude stars. These may very well be involved in the nebula in some way - and not simply line of sight..

The image does a fair job of showing the brighter and better defined Owl region to the south-southeast. The opposing area required full-on aversion to make out. In fact there were times when I got a sense that the nebula was scalloped inward. Repeated checks confirmed this was not the case. The nebula is "round". No sense of darkening suggestive of "eyes". These require the darkest possible skies (at 150mm aperture) and a full kit of visual gymnastics.

Although I caught a decent look at M109, my intention was to turn up a brighter (13.3 ASB) edge on galaxy in Coma Bernices (NGC4565). Last week I viewed 4565 under slightly darker skies and was very surprised by its extension and contrast. Tonight's slightly poorer conditions were not up to displaying the galaxy at it's best, but well enough to make a sketch worthwhile. Like M82, I noticed a certain "handedness" about the galaxy. The southeast arm was easier to trace out away from the nucleus. However, the northwestern arm sported a brightish knot. Some preceptible darkening was also possible between the bright core region and the dim galactic halo above it (to the northeast). These features are present in the drawing (which probably over-accentuates them a tad). One final thought, it's entirely possible that the feature I've called a "knot" is simply a dim line-of-sight star. There are plenty of astro-pics of this galaxy on the web. I look forward to the research.

About now (12:00 midnight) the Owl descends to a lower perch in the sky. Soon he'll have the moon to cast a bit more light on human affairs. He keeps his thoughts pretty much to himself. I'm sure there is much he could tell us - if he so chose. But it's unlikely we would fully appreciate his kind of wisdom. As a species we seem to be a bit too full of "sound and fury". Perhaps we need to study him a bit more. From the silence of our own high perch...

King of Rings and Star of Stars

Surprised me a little. Even though I knew it was coming. Setup Argo at the north viewing station. Took the usual glance toward the street lamp - and there it was. Thin crescent slicing low to the west. Not bright enough or high enough to effect my plans for the evening. But still, there it was - the Moon.

Despite the portent to the west, and occasional veil-like clouds lazily passing overhead, I hoped to put in a solid night of sketching. Thought I'd start with a galaxy. Move on to a globular, followed perhaps, by a planetary. Hoped to cap everything off with a planet. But knew that would mean a very late night.

Started out with Ursa Majoris' finest - M81. Roughed in field stars as the sky darkened. Added the bright core, core region and - in the case of this huge galaxy - the para-core region. Followed this a little later with spiral arms - under extreme aversion. Like the previous evening, the sky near M81 showed stars down to magnitude 4.8. So, its possible that, on a seriously dark night (6.0 ULTM), I'd be able to hold M81's spiral arms direct. This would be a rapturous experience. (Had a taste of this at last Saturday's SCAC star party. Large dobs showed the arms effortlessly under conditions not much better than tonight.) By 10:00 the drawing was complete and I was inside processing to get the results seen at left. Re-iterating, the spiral arms were tres difficile but I am pleased to get any sense of the full extent of this glorious galaxy.

Back out sketching by 10:15. This time rendering "a star of stars" - M13. Hercules neared the middle third of the sky at the beginning of the session. When finished (around 10:45) it was well placed. The constellations high sky position allowed me to directly hold a 5.3 magnitude star (within the keystone). The drawing (at right) was done at 120X. A better view was possible at 180X, but recently my inexpensive clock drive failed and I'm making due without it. (The clock drive takes up one of the right ascension control pinions and I prefer to have both pinions available for deepsky use.) In processing the image I was tempted to "soften" it up a bit. M13 looks a bit too much like a space rock throwing off sparks. The eyepiece image was softer, though quite rich and contrasty. The core region shimmered with resolution. At least a dozen stars (outside the core) could be held direct. Although I've seen it under better conditions, I was happy to receive such a fine view from backyard Boulder Creek.

Lyra was not as well placed as Hercules. The sky may also have degraded slightly by the time of the sketch (11:00 o'clock). After drawing M57, I could barely hold a 4.7 magnitude star west of Vega. During the sketch I noticed that the ring didn't have quite the expected presence. For one thing, it required mildly-averted sight to plainly reveal the dark core. For another, it took full on aversion to detect the 13.0 magnitude field star just northeast of the planetary - and this during a 180X check (after the drawing was complete). Again, the drawing was based on the 120X 15mm Ultrascopic eyepiece. Not shown is the sense of a "coppery" outermost fringe around the annulus. The fringe was only possible during the best moments of seeing. At such times, the "donut hole" was obvious - along with the slight difference in brightness between the northwestern and southeastern flanks. I've seen the Ring better presented, but it remains the Ring. King of the annular planetaries.

It's now 1:30AM. I'm about to head out back to see if I can turn Argo on Mars. Prospects are not good. Far too many branches to the southeast. May have to wait until much later when I can get a clean shot due south. Be right back...

Extraordinary! Must be as bright as Jupiter ever gets. Thought it was an airplane at first. Got to get back out....

The best Mars oppositions invariably occur when the planet is found in the southern ecliptic. Unfortunately, the resulting sky position places a damper on the fun for those of us north of the tropics. Despite low sky position, and less than ideal overall atmospheric stability, I'm pleased to have even caught the few details you see at right. The bright hemisphere at top is not really a polar cap. I believe it is the Hellas Basin. The checked shaped figure beneath it and to the west may be Syrtis Major. But I have yet to really begin a detailed study of the planet's features. This was going to await my first drawing - when I had something compelling to research. Note also the variations in surface brightness between the various regions near the midline of the disk. There was quite a bit of limb shading to the west - giving a somewhat gibbous look. Finally, the slash mark jutting down from the southern hemisphere into the north was very difficult. Certainly I added too much shading. Anyway, the drawing is a start.

Saturday, May 25th 2001
Not unexpectedly, this whole Mars thing has proven quite complicated. In poking around on the Internet, I found a nice little piece of software that shows a decent rendering of the planet (based on date and time). The program (MarsPreviewerII) is available for download at http://marspreviewer.cjb.net/ and helps check against the kind of ignorant speculations pro-offerred by the planetologically incorrect beginner (such as myself). Even with the program, I found the task of matching up visual images with actual ares-ographical features challenging - so the possibility of further errors mount. But let's give it a try anyway, shall we?

In making the original drawing, the single most obvious feature was a large white "cap" at the planets celestially-oriented south pole. This baby is large, bright, and obvious. No avoiding it. No computer simulation can dissuade me as to it's existence. So I purposely "doctored" the image at left to show it - despite the fact that no such cap is seen in MarsPreviewerII. The closest thing to it is the Hellas impact basin - but that is nowhere near meridian 130 degrees. (Projected by the program for 2:00 am PDST, May 25, 2001, + 9 hours UT). So what are we seeing? Mystifies me... What lies beneath the "cap" (as shown in the above image) is Mare Chronium - which I assume is currently "frosted over" with carbon dioxide ice.

Below the cap is an almost equally obvious dark swath comprised of Mare Sirenium to the east, and Aeonius Sinus to the west. Two other areas on the planet required but little effort to make out: Tharsis, the bright circular region to the northwest and Amazonius, larger, light-contrast, region to the east. Between these two regions is a slightly darker region (grossly overstated in the drawing) - Arcadia. Another strangeness - I thought the planet showed a darkening along the western limb. The darkening was so uniform in curvature that I figured Mars was somewhat "gibbous". In thinking about this, it doesn't make much sense. Mars now nears opposition. At opposition it presents its "full face" to the Earth. The solution of this mystery may be the continuation of the dark mare into the Solis Lacus north of Aeonis Sinus. Finally there is one more feature that completely befuddles me - the dark swatch north of Tharsis.

Altogether Mars is proving to be as difficult to view with confidence as it is to probe with interplanetary craft. But heh, I find the challenge intriguing. After all, I only poked Argo at Venus a half-dozen times. With Mars, a half-dozen views is just barely enough to get your mental lips smacking.

Third Times a Charm

Around 9 o'clock I stepped outside and noticed the waxing crescent of the Earth's Moon hanging well above the horizon to the west. The evening session was not intended to begin with lunacy, but that silvery slice of luminosity appeared so enchanting I couldn't resist grabbing the Pup. As usual my attention was drawn to Mare Crisium. In particular it's sharply etched craterlet's and frozen effluvial "wave's" breaking against it's otherwise smooth surface. The terminator lay quite close to the western edge of the sea. I made out a bright "gull's wing" escarpment right near the lip.

But I was not out to view the Moon. I simply wanted to retreat to the study and nap til' Mars-tide. Then I'd rise to turn Argo and the Pup a-loose in exploration. By 9:45, I slept. Sleep brought Dream. And Dream led to impulse: "Get up and return to the house." So, in a half-drunken state of wakefulness, I rose. Stumbled to the door. Exiting, I woke up still lying on the couch in the study. There was no alarm clock sounding. All was still and quiet - curious. Back to sleep and again the impulse: "Get up and return to the house." So again I complied. This time I opened the study door, lock it with my keys, walked across the yard to the house. Checked the sky. It was rumbling. Clouds roiled. A storm was brewing. There would be no "Mars-Quest" tonight.

Awoke again. The world seemed normal. Stepped outside. Sky was dark. Lacy, slow-moving clouds drifted overhead. Stillness. I seemed conscious and aware - not those half-drunken dream-state stupors. Decided to stay up. Went into the house. Checked the time (11:00). Had a slice of wife-Sharon's homemade bread (um-um, good). Setup the Pup on the workout deck facing south. I had not intended to view the Moon earlier, nor did I intend to do any deepsky. But Mars would not be in eye-shot for another couple hours. So I explored the denizons of a pair of new light constellations - Libra and Ophiuchus.

Before doing so, I wanted to take a quick look at a double and multiple star in Virgo - Gamma and Theta. About this time I could see several banks of star-dimming clouds rolling in from the southeast. Turned the Pup on Gamma Virginis (at 133X), Barely able to see this bright (3.6, 3.7 ), tight (1.3 arc-second) pair elongated. Not bad given that Argo works pretty hard to cleanly split this rapidly closing pair at 240X...

Until this evening, wasn't aware there was anything multiple about Theta Virginis. Just happened to notice it while scanning "Seasonal Star Charts". (I am always on the lookout for "Doubles of Disparate Magnitude".) According to the chart, Theta-prime is magnitude 4.0. Theta-B, magnitude 9.0. An apparent separation of 7 arc-seconds. The tertiary lies 77 seconds away and is of 10.0 magnitude. Thin clouds now really started rolling in. Obsuration varied. The 10th magnitude tertiary could occasionally be caught. The secondary was just too coy to show with any real certainty. At best, Theta was just barely visible to unaided vision. Under such circumstances, "Dos Kalky" says "Secondary lost in primary's glow. Under excellent seeing and 4.2 ULTM, secondary possible at 58X." I was using the 25mm Plossel with 3X Ultrascopic barlow - magnification 48X. The sky was close to, but not quite supporting direct views of 4th magnitude stars at the time.

Now it was time for the "Scales" to fall. Libra flew like a kite south and east of Bright Spica in Virgo. Could see the oblong diamond-shaped rectangle through the mist. Started by sighting Beta. Hoped to catch a look at Globular Cluster M5 - some ten degrees north. Went south (dyslexia strikes again) - found nothing. Sure there is a mist - but it's a bright cluster. Decided to get my bearings. Alpha Librae is double. According to the chart: 2.8/5.2, 231 seconds distant. By this time clouds almost rendered the view of 6th magnitude Alpha-B difficult. (Oh, well - this whole things a lark anyway. It's supposed to be about Mars, and a few clouds won't hurt the planet -much).

Returned to center the scope on Beta. Slewed north. Clouds thinned. Caught a dim glow in the finder. Resumed the main tube. Wow, this thing even shows stars at 50X (averted)! Completely unexpected. Popped in the 9mm for 133X. Numerous stars visible direct. Using aversion, some even across the core. Stunning - and again totally unexpected. No wonder the dobs at the star party gave such fine views of it. M5 is "loosey-goosey" for a glob.

Now I wanted to press the limits. Noticed a faint NGC globular south of Beta on the charts. While scanning the field I began to really appreciate just how rich Libra (and later Ophiuchus) is in terms of asterisms and faint stars. Reminds me a lot of Monoceros - but with a larger number of bright guide stars. NGC5897 is an 8.6 magnitude, 13 arc-minute globular. According to "Seb Kalky" (Nice of you to ask, he's better now, thank you.): "5.5 ZULTM night, 109mm refractor at 21X turns up this cluster when it lies 50 degrees above the horizon." So what do you know, according to Sib, 80mm Pup isn't supposed to turn this one up. Well, let's see...

So here's the scene: Clouds no longer a factor (moved on as I viewed M5). 5.1 magnitude Epsilon Librae just visible direct. Got an 80mm refractor at 46X and about nine months of (almost constant) deepsky observing experience. Do I find the cluster?

Sure - and without much effort. Just swept 2 degrees southeast of Iota Librae. Bang! There it was - 4 arc-minutes diameter, barely-directly acquirable elongated sheen. Is Sib telling lies? Or is he still a bit "under the weather"? If so, does this mean I'll have to tweak Sib some more? Sure. That's part of the fun!

Into Ophiuchus - You Old Snake Charmer... Some 8 degrees east of Epsilon Ophiuchi - Globular Cluster M12. Elongated with starry core at 50X. Many stars caught at 133X using extreme aversion. Some even at the core. 150mm Argo is going to have a photon-fest later in the season. Could M10 be even more "lively"?

Sweep northwest 3 degrees. This one is different. Very elongated. Under aversion, notice a spray of stars to the south. Almost like a carrot! 133X, dims it out noticeably. Relatively low surface brightness. Framed by an X of 11th magnitude stars. At the time, could hold 4.7 magnitude Nu Ophiuchi directly. The "spray of stars" makes me think that M10 is now in the process of cannibalized by the galactic core. Powerful tidal forces could be at work stripping away outlying stars. In cosmic time, M10 may not be long for this galaxy...

So it turns out that each of the Messier globular clusters viewed this evening - M5, M10, and M12 - proved to be fine studies in an 80mm refractor. Caveat Emptor averted vision required!

But now to the main event...

Mars just cleared the branches to the south-southeast. Time, about 12:30PDST. I spend the next hour observing the planet with the Pup. Meanwhile Mars climbs toward the central meridian. Approaching an early June opposition, Mars is brighter than Sirius and half the size of Jupiter. That's a great deal of visual intensity compressed into one small package. So, it's filter time!

First what can be seen without: Brightening to the south pole. Vaguely detectable "checky-shape" just beneath (north) of that pole. Large, brightish hollow near the (celestially-oriented) western limb. That be it.

Started with the 13% Moon filter. Everything listed above now more obviously visible - and much easier on the eye. Also noted a significant reduction in glow. Recommended - if you have nothing else use a Moon filter. Moon filters are cheap and help alot - even if they only reduce eye-strain.

OIII Filter: Too much light scatter! - But really sharpens the edge. Gives a sense of how light distributes across the surface. "Polar cap" and "checky-shape" just possible. Lose the light scatter, and there could be a place for it in the Mars pantheon.

Medium Blue: Aethetically, a bug hit. Hints at HST wide field planetary camera look. All three main features present, but brings out the hollow and cap better than the moon filter.

Medium Yellow: Only seems to bring out the hollow. Otherwise, not one of the better options.

Medium Green: Sharpens things up like the OIII filter - but without the scatter. Overall, an obvious loss of contrast - except for the hollow.

Medium Red: This is the color for viewing the checky-shaped darkish maria. Does a nice job on the hollow too.

No Filter Double-check: Since Mars is climbing into better view throughout this series, I re-check the direct view. Overall, an excess of light tends to bleed contrast. Basic features (cap, Maria, hollow) are there - but takes more concentration to discern.

Based on these checks, I came to one simple conclusion: Unlike the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn), filters really help with Mars. (As Mr. Astro said in an email, they all have there place and can be used during a sketch to emphasize specific details.)

Another conclusion: The Pup ain't half-bad on Mars. But as we shall now see, can only stand aside and watch in awe as Argo goes to work...

Argo Enters Stage Left (Well, he's on the deck anyway):

The drawing at left is a composite view of everything seen on Mars around 2:00PDST Saturday morning, May 26, 2001. Each filter in the kit was employed in sequence. Any feature shown by a specific filter was re-inforced. If a particular filter did not reveal a feature, the drawing remained untouched. The resulting composite is a "filtered visual summary overlay".

Sketch made at 180X using the 10mm Ultrascopic eyepiece. Personally, I am deeply appreciative of the stability of the sky at the time - even with the planet as low as 35 degrees above the horizon. Stability at that time, and low sky position is estimated at 7 of a possible 10. While drawing, the limb of the planet remained in focus 75% of the time. Conditions were about as good as I could ever hope to experience...

This image (courtesy MarsPreviewerII software) reveals how the planet should look about the time of the drawing. Labels were added to help identify main features. You'll have to judge for yourself how close a match the two are. Frankly, I'm personally amazed by how much of Mars can be seen in a 150mm scope under decent sky conditions. Clearly three main martian maria (Mare Sirenum, Aeonius Sinus, and Mare Boreum) were reasonably well captured. Two bright basin regions - ascribed here to Amazonia and Tharsis - are a fair match. Finally there appear to be extensive low contrast regions (which I call "Mars highlands") possible. One, divides the globe longitudinally - just west of Amazonia, and another latitudinally - north of Tharsis. These highlands have no broad "handles" that could be determined from the software program - but I need to make reference to such regions as Mars-Quest continues. So I'll refer to them as the "Ama-Tharcian Central Highlands" and the "Ama-Tharci-Boreal Highlands" until something better, and more widely-accepted, comes my way.

One curiosity... The south polar cap appears to have greatly diminished since last night. This gives credence to the idea that its great luminosity resulted from wide-spread out-gassing of carbon dioxide. Such a thing might be expected as perhelion is approximated and the south pole presents sunward. Assuming CO2 outgas, what remains now of the cap is probably permafrost - a thin layer of ice unlikely to ever flow due to Mar's comparatively greater distance from the Sun and low atmospheric pressure.

I finished the drawing before Mar's began it's descending arc to the west - but my session was not quite at end. The Sacred Harp (Lyra) beckoned high overhead. I turned Argo onto the Double-double. Oh baby, all four stars were jewel-like. Almost perfectly circular diffraction rings around each of the four components. Transparency was so fine that the 12.0 and 12.4 magnitude comes between the two duplicities were seen (despite the four stars combined glare). A quick 180X look at Vega showed perhaps the smallest cone of zero magnitude, blue light I'd ever seen. It's 10.5 magnitude, 56 arc-second "come" easy with mild aversion. In defocusing Argo I could see an almost, but not quite, perfectly still series of diffraction rings. Extraordinarily profound conditions for observation.

Of course, I just had to revisit the King of the Rings - M57. Unlike the previous evening, I was able to directly hold the dark central core - even at contrast-robbing 180X. The dimmer eastern and western ansae were viewed with joyous abandon. A 13th magnitude field star (very near the tip of eastern ansae) could almost be held direct. Meanwhile, as I moved my eye over the planetary, I caught a glint of one (possibly two) very dim stars embedded within (not the 15th mag core star). So now I have another mystery to follow up on - are there really stars embedded in (or in front of) the Ring? (No chart or image I've ever seen shows them...)

Now you'd think that such wonderful seeing should have inspired me to "stay the course" and observe 'til dawn. Sorry folks, my experience has been that over-indulgence tends to trivialization. The right thing (for me) was to stow away the scopes and turn in for the evening. While doing so I made a silent prayer to the Universe: "Make me worthy of such skies." - Or something along those lines...

Meanwhile, I still wasn't sure if I was going to wake up for a fourth time on the couch in the study. At some point that alarm clock was bound to go off...

Strictly Mars-Quest

Boulder Creek skies Saturday evening were quite clear and inviting. But given that the next few weeks are dedicated to "Mars-Quest". And that Mars best presents around 2:00 am. I exchanged the fine pm skies for some sleep while anticipating am skies. Of course, some could well argue for "pm to am" observing, but as noted elsewhere - I value sleep time as much as observing time.

There are risks associated with such a strategy. One, is oversleep. The other, weather. And this evening I took a hit from both. A late rise lost an opportunity for deepsky pursuits. Meanwhile, variable clouds soon led to overcast. This limited "quality-time" with the planet to about 30 minutes - not enough time to cycle through all the filters or use a full range of magnifications.

Took Mars-light in the main tube just after peak ascension. Stability, similar to last night. (Exceptional!) Due to nearly matched rotation, nothing really new cycled into view - as expected. (Each night, at the same hour you pick up a about 2.5% more of the eastern globe.) Despite the impending overcast, I did get a short-lived, "high-powered" session with the planet. In cranking up the magnification, I found that, on this occasion at least, Mars responded well.

First the down-side: At 360X and no clock drive I was busier than the proverbial "one-armed paper hanger". Second, all that magnification obscured the two "hollows" - Amazonia and Tharsis. It also lost the broad tones of the highlands that border them.

Magnification did reveal a few things. For instance, I was better able to distinguish between Mare Sirenum, Aoenius Sinus and Solis Lacus. In the drawing at left, Mare Sirenum is the dark streak just below the now almost non-existent "polar cap". It, in turn points sharply westward into a vague "lazy-w" shaped region quite near the planet's limb. The southern "v" of the lazy-w (the one closest to the pole) is Aonius Lacus. The "v" toward the equator (still very close to the limb) is Solis Lacus.

On the far side of the globe, higher magnification (and the occasional steadiest moments of seeing) allowed me to see the Mare Borealis region extend well across the globe. This is something I should pay more attention to as Mars-Quest continues...

Two additional regions - of lower contrast - were also seen. Despite an absence of evidence on the accompanying print out (courtesy MarsPreviewerII software), there is most definitely a region protruding from the northwestern limb beneath the Tharsis Hollow. Now the software does identify a feature (Idacus Fons) in that locale but it is well-progressed and nearly off the globe at this hour. By regressing the hour field in the software, Idacus Fons makes for a much stronger candidate. So it is possible I should be using standard - and not PDST - time in the software's Time Zone field. (However, as we shall see there is at least one counter-indication that argues against this...)

The other new region (Trivium Charontis) lies close to the eastern limb - on the far side of hollow Amazonis. However, for wedge-shaped Charontis to be the source of this feature, PDST must be used in the time-zone field of the software. (Otherwise it lies too close to the eastern limb.)

Based on this morning obs, new complexities have entered into observing (and sketching) Mars. It seems likely that, in addition to use of a wide range of filters, a range of magnifications is desirable. Low contrast hollows (such as Thrasis and Amazonis), and their interstitial highlands, are best seen at 180X. While higher contrast maria and darker regions within highlands are brought out at high magnifications (360X). Keep in mind that, unlike stately and benevolent Jupiter, Mars has a rather short observing season. Every couple of years you get your best shot. And some shots are far better than others. Despite the planet's low sky position, the current opposition is about the finest we'll see for many years.

Might even be worth a few adjustments in lifestyle...

My, How Sidereal Time Flies

I don't know the woman - although I've visited her website a couple of times. But not knowing someone - doesn't mean you can't like them. However, to be more accurate, it doesn't mean you can't like who you imagine them to be. She does some sketching. I looked over her lunar eavesdroppings. Anyway, here's her URL - http://www.shallowsky.com/astro.html visit for yourself and putts around. Its human to make your own judgements and draw your own conclusions. What works for any one of us rarely works for all of us. After all, how many of your associates, friends, neighbors, and family members are stargazers?

So after looking over Ahkana's sketchbook, I decided to make another effort at lunasketching. I was immediately attracted to a region previously drawn using Argo. This time while scanning the moon with the Pup (at 120X). If you bother to track down the earlier sketch and compare the two, you'll probably notice my skills haven't improved much. But that's OK by me. The way I figure it, you just keep trying until one day you "accidentally" create a "masterpiece". After this there's a long dry spell. But, if your on top of things, you stay with it. First there's "beginner's luck". (The hook is set.) Then there's a long period of constant improvement - if you stick with it. Then much later, "the Masterpiece". (A true visit from "The Inner Genius".) After a long dry spell - while you deal with "ego-appropriation of the Soul's Creative Genius", you get humble, and do a Wayne's World: "I'm not worthy." After this, who knows - maybe even "Humble Greatness". Then watch out! Once you recieve the "adulation of the crowd", constant mindfulness is essential - lest "the usurper" again rise up and say "Look what I did, ain't I great!".

Well, that's the sermon for today...

Generally, I moon-sketch starting around dusk and continue to work the drawing until a flashlight is necessary. Typically, wrap up occurs well before true skydark. While the sky darkens further the time can be used to scan the image into the computer before moving on to other adventures. During first lunar quarter, deepsky pursuits are viable. After that, planets and double stars are all the rage - but it can be fun to play "Messier's by Moonlight". With the Moon at about 30%, this evening offered a little of everything. Previously while reviewing my year-long observation plan, I found a "missing Messier". That study (M94) really should have been made earlier this month. So it was right at the top of my list for the evening.

In fact, as compensation for neglecting M94, I decided to make a sketch. Initially, M94 appeared like another round, face -on spiral - similar to M100 - only brighter. As sky-dark neared (and eye's dark-adapted), started seeing the galaxy extend along the east-west axis and swell in size (to maybe 6X4 arc-minutes). This, in addition to it's bright starry nucleus (direct at 50X), large 1 arc-minute diameter core, and 4 arc-minute diameter para-core region. Altogether a fine study for a 150mm scope. Later, even caught what appeared to be two rays emanating from the core. One, northeast and the other southeast. Quite impressive.

The next study (Galaxy M101) - like others on tap for the evening - is off the June 1st obs plan. Given the date (and the moon), I could see no reason for not advancing the plan a bit. Speaking of the Moon, I had some serious doubts about turning up this large (27X26'), low average surface brightness (14.6! magnitude) galaxy. Having now seen it, I wonder how Charles Messier ever detected it - Luna ou non. I do have a theory, however... Right off I caught the pair of 12th magnitude stars just west of the galaxy's large, dim, "core" region. Those two stars - in combination with the 12th mag average surface brightness luminosity of the core itself - probably made all the difference. (Considering the positive of Charles' well-practiced eye and the negative of his poor optical set). Not obvious in the drawing at left, is the fact that Argo revealed the 6x4 arc-minute sized core direct, plus a large (16X8) football-shaped sweep of elongated nebulosity (under moderate avertion). Stars in the region of M101 down to magnitude 4.8 were visible at the time. Due to the size of the galaxy, I pretty much stayed with the 50X 35mm ultrascopic eyepiece throughout. M101 is one of those faint denizons of the night that will no doubt reward me with unexpected hints of structural detail as skies and eyes improve.

So I've looked at one that was "average", one that was "large", now, how about one that is "small"? NGC5866, 3 degrees southwest of Iota Draconis. Galaxy NGC5866 is one of those "little jewel" edge on's. It sports a 12th magnitude nuclear core, small core region, and extended arms. I made out maybe 1 X 3 arc-minutes (oriented east-southeast to west-northwest) of its published 2 X 5 arc-minute apparent size. Findable at 50X, I tried 180 - but the image fell apart. 120X was perfect. The galaxy "shared space" with two very dim field stars. One, of the 12th magnitude, 2 minutes northwest. The other approaching magnitude 13 a bit further out to the south-southwest. Although I got a decent view in the 150mm, I did have to use eye-tricks. Again the dimmest local stars were around magnitude 4.8.

Galaxy-quest was now over for the evening. Before moving on to the pair of globular clusters planned, I wanted to visit a few double stars. First on the list: Phi Virginis - magnitudes 5.2 and 9.7, separation 3.7 arc-seconds. An excellent "doubles of disparate magnitude" test. First off, something of note: Phi was located about as high above the southwestern horizon as my limiting magnitude test stars in Ursa Majoris were above the northeastern horizon. Yet 5.2 magnitude Phi could be held with direct vision as easily as 4.6 magnitude 24 Canes Venatici (near the Great Bears tail). Basically, I lose about half a magnitude of sky to the Boulder Creek lightdome. No complaint here. I've actaully got it pretty good - compared to others...

Sky conditions were not especially stable this evening. Star images looked a wee bit smeared. Airy disks were not to be found among them. Under moments of relative stability, I was able to just distinguish Phi-B (Phoebe?) as a pale lavendar 9th magnitude star trailing and slightly south of pale white Phi-A. Separation about 4 arc-seconds. So let's consult with "Dos Kalky" and see if what he has to say makes sense, shall we? "6 inch scope shows 9.7 mag secondary on good stability night, but not on average stability night."

Overhead sky stability last night was somewhere between these two. And Phoebe was a bit coy about showing herself...

Before splitting Phi Virginis, I took a 180X look at Zeta Bootis. There was a bit of a "glare" around the pair. Peering through this, I saw a slight elongation and that was it.

While searching for Zeta, I stumbled on Xi Bootis. Xi's purplish 6th magnitude secondary led it's 4th magnitude pale white primary across the sky (and slightly to the north). This widish double (~6") displays nice colors at low magnifications. A good view under just about any seeing conditions.

After my visit with Phoebe, I turned Argo on Beta Librae to assess it's color. A wee bit of contemplation revealed a subtle "greenish" cast to its otherwise pale white glow. There's a bit of "minty-freshness" about this 2.5 magnitude star.

Due to instability, I didn't expect much in attempting to split my next pair (Mu Librae). The two are closely matched in brightness (5.5 & 6.3) but quite close (1.5"). Frankly, I may have had better luck with the 80mm Pup (under the circumstances). At best, I made out two airy disks fused at the hip, embroiled in a good deal of flashing luminosity.

Now to the globulars: M5 & NGC5897.

I viewed both these "cities of stars" earlier in the week through the 80mm Pup. M5 revealed dozens of stars, while I felt fortunate to find large (13 arc-minute), dim (magnitude 8.6), low average surface brightness (14.1!), NGC5897 at all.

As good as the view was in the Pup, I was astonished by the degree of resolution possible with M5 through Argo. Simply amazing! Several dozen stars revealed themselves immediately - even at 50X. Views at 70, and 120X just kept breeding more. Even under only "fair" sky stability, the cluster was bright enough to support 180X - at which point hundreds of stars arrayed themselves across the field of view. Even more surprising was how amenable the stars were to direct vision. Nothing coy about these babies. Pick a star - any star. Look directly at it. It stays put and looks right back at you - eye to eye. Add to all this the overall arrangement - very flowerlike. Three main petals splaying outward to the southeast. And at their root the warm "glow" of the clusters core. Many happy returns!

As susceptible as M5 was, NGC5897 wasn't. I'm still quite amazed that the Pup caught this one at all. Sure, Argo gave a brighter, slightly larger, more-contrasty view - but not much. What Argo showed was a slightly flattened, 7X6 arc-minute splotch of light with a very faint double star some 6 arc-minutes to the northwest. Although the cluster could be held at 50X, the best view was at 70. At this magnification and only during eye movement, I caught a hint of a star-like point in the midst of a vaguely glowing core region.

Now, to be truthful, before porting Argo to the south viewing locale, I paused from my overall plan long enough (about 30 minutes) to gaze in slack-jawed appreciation at a third globular cluster....

And, after determining that Mars was a "non-event" (couldn't even bring the planet to focus), I also viewed a certain planetary nebula for an extended period...

However, since the aforementioned have recieved plenty of attention from myself and many others, I have elected to exclude them from this report.

And suddenly, before I even knew it, the evening's adventures came to an end. My, how sidereal time flies...

Doubles and "Bulked Out Multiples"

I have this real neat tee-shirt. It shows your classic "Extraterrestrial". Bi-cameral brain. Bulging forehead. Spindley appendages. This particular "alien" is an independent sort. He wears "cool" shades and holds a pretty good "ready stance" (deltoid flex, pelvis forward, shoulders back, chest inflated). I call him the "bulked-out alien". (He'd barely pass for a runt standing next to Arnold Schwarzenager, however). "Plucky" describes the little fellow. The perfect light-year traversing swashbuckler.

Of course, all this has nothing to do with last nights observations - or does it?

Currently I'm about 70% the way through my year-long observing plan. This summer ought to finish it. Then I plan to hang up my eyepieces and move onto something else - maybe scuba diving. Of course every once in a while, I'll grab the scope, dust off the oculars, and do the old peek and poke. But the heady days of ambitious planning and exhaustive documentation will be over. Might even post the occasional sketch. Maybe even a report or two - as long as there's something worth saying. (Have I ever said anything worth saying? But I do have a plan and I like to finish things - if at all possible...)

Enough pre-amble (or is that pre-mumble). I did actually observe last night. Had absolutely no interest in the Moon. Selene? Yes! Moon? No. So I started with Zeta Bootis. Sky looked fine - but not through the scope. Defocused: Pipestem = Tube currents. Half hour later, things had settled down. But at best even at 350X (nominal - shorty barlows are not exactly 2X multipliers) all I saw was a short "tube" of pearly white light. Obvious elongation. So I moved on to Dubhe. And here's where things get interesting...

At 7/10 stability and with careful attention, the 1.9 magnitude primary showed an airy disk ensconced in a "light pile" conjoint to three diffraction rings. Due to atmospheric instability, there was nothing "perfectly circular" about the rings. They flashed and moved about erratically - even as the star disjointedly dashed across the field of view. (At 350X we're not talking an idle stroll here.) Since I could actually see the airy disk (for once) I immediately determined that - contrary to earlier speculation - the 5th mag secondary was not "glued" to the side of the primary the way the siamese twin Zeta pair is. This is very important, so pay attention! Since the secondary was not conjoined - it must be out there somewhere. But where? How could a 5th magnitude star hide so successfully? Why, it could only be doing such a fine job of it - if its blending in with a diffraction ring somewhere. But where?

Now an MCT like Argo has a relatively large central obstruction (about 34% by meniscus diameter). According to those in the know (like fellow observer Cor Berrevoet) that central obstruction giveth and it taketh away. First, it tends to shrink the size of a star's airy disk. Then it takes that light from the airy disk and pushes it into a series of diffraction rings which - under ideal seeing through a fine telescope - are visible as concentric circles. (These are easier to see if the scope is taken out of focus - but are also readily visible at perfect focus as well.) The interesting thing about these rings is that they kind of echo the intensity of the light in the airy disk. And just like an echo they get "dimmer" as they move away from the disk until no longer visible (but they really are still there!).

Since Dubhe prime is pretty bright, it's first diffraction ring is also bright. (Possible average surface brightness of magnitude 5.) The dimmer perimeter rings are also visible (with ASB's along around magnitude 8 and 11). At magnitude 5, Dubhe's companion could easily hide within the innermost ring. All the eye might notice is a visible "brightening" at it's locale. A brightening that hops, skips, and jumps with the primary (and rings) across the field of view.

Well, so now you have it. That's what I saw. Trailing Dubhe and to the south (position angle ~250 degrees), was such a brightening. But this isn't enough for a "split". (You really need to feel confident - otherwise your just fooling yourself.) With luck it should be possible to use a filter to suppress the diffraction rings enough to indisputably see two points of proximate light - if only during a brief moment of superior stability. The most powerful tool I have for this is an OIII filter. Such a filter virtually eliminates anything other than point sources of light (or light altogether if the stars are not bright enough - or do not shine very well in its bandpass.) After rotating through my entire filter set, not only did the OIII filter reveal the second star - but so did the green filter. As the man with the pointy ears would say: "Fascinating".

NOTE: The only way to truly verify this split is to get up to date position angle (PA) data - but doubles data can be so out of date that you really can't believe just anything that crosses your path.

After catching Dubhe-B ("Dubheb") I shifted Argo over to the southern viewing station and checked out Gamma Virginis, - Just like fellow amateur Otto Piechewski says, an easy (how power) split under better than average seeing conditions. From there, revisited Phi Virginis. The intent was to verify an earlier evening's observation. Yup, 9.7 magnitude secondary trails 5.2 mag primary. Moved on to another pair. One that could not be distinguished under 6/10 stability seeing - Mu Librae. Under the slightly better conditions of the evening, I could just make out the yellow 6.3 magnitude secondary south and visibly trailing the equally yellow 5.5 magnitude primary. This one was tough. I could tell that I was seeing a double but couldn't hold the secondary without aversion. In addition, the secondary looked significantly dimmer than the primary. I can believe magnitude 7 - but NOT 6.3. Is this thing variable?

By 11:00 or so, one new double rotated into view: Alpha Scorpii. Seeing stability down low (less than 30 degrees above the horizon) was not bad - it was worse - maybe 4/10 at best. Bright Antares displayed your basic light pile and appeared maybe 5 arc-seconds in diameter. So Antare's sky glow could easily engulf a 7th magnitude star some 4 arc-seconds distant. As Webb says: "atmospheric rather than optical test." Still the flashing reds, oranges, and complementary colors of this star are mesmerizing.

Earlier in the week, I used the Pup to tour several fine globular clusters in Libra and Ophiuchus. The previous night Argo showed me M5 in Libra. Now while awaiting the arival of Mars fiery chariot, I visited with the Ophiuchan clusters as well as a pair in Scorpius. M80 was found first. Not impressed. Small, very dense and relatively dim. No doubt very spectacular from somewhere near the galactic core. (Should time be available to appreciate it while outrunning the maw of the Milky Way's black hole.) I caught maybe 4 arc-minutes of this 7.2 mag, 9 arc-minute cluster. The core region was relatively intense. Nice blue hue. The cluster rapidly faded to space leaving a few 12th magnitude outliers for contemplation (using averted vision). Keep in mind that the Moon was still up about this time. ULTM just shy of 4.0. Higher magnification (I viewed at 120x) and a dark night (say 5.5 at the zenith) would probably open up a new world of possibilities for this very "globular" cluster.

I came across M4 while trying to turn up Antares. The finderscope was in such poor position that I decided to track it down through the main tube. What I saw was an arrowhead shaped group of stars with a loosely compact luminous ball offset to one side. The tip of the arrowhead oriented north-northwest. As striking as these dozens and dozens of stars outside the core looked, the core itself was even more so. Visible right across the core was a "string of pearls". Running in the direction of the arrowhead. The core itself gave the appearance of depth - but not in the way we usually speak about globulars. It didn't bulge out toward you. The eye entered the core - almost as if it could be seen through. Extraordinary!

By comparison to M4, M10 and M12 are relatively straightforward examples of their breed. Both failed to display perfectly circular cores. However, M10 appeared more obviously oblate (truncated to the east). Both core regions were resolvable and appeared about 5 arc-minutes in diameter. One difference between the two 6.6 magnitude clusters is that the core of M10 "bulged", while M12's did not. M12 had it's own special features though - it's brightest core point seemed shifted away from the center toward the southwest. (I don't believe I've ever encountered this before.) Finally M12 is nicely framed by a tetrad of four 11th magnitude stars - each located about 5 arc-minutes from cluster-central.

Without much further discussion I'm going to simply add this sketch of Mars to the report. Seeing stabilty was less than fair. I was impressed with how much larger the dark region ringing the north pole appeared this evening. The polar cap itself was still there - but much diminished. 350X was not feasible this evening. The darkest regions stood out well - even at 120X. But the drawing was done at 180X using the full range of filters. The view happened around 1:30 am PDST. Some new features are in the offing. What is needed are a few clear nights of steady seeing at least once a week or so. The question is which night will that be? Guess you have to cover them all - despite the hour.

It's now skydark, May 30. Due to the quirks of my particular psychology, I'm unwilling to observe tonight without first completing this report. No use confusing matters - already challenging enough to write up one night's observations without anothers to complicate things. I'm reminded of my little alien friend. Be what you can be - even if it ain't that much. So, I've plucked it out. Gotten this report written and about ready to chow down than head on out for a while. Nuit calls. And she has the most seductive voice...

An End to May Madness

10:00 pm last evening, I posted the previous evenings observations to the website. This freed me up to turn Argo on the night sky. That sky was be-lightened by half-moon. A moon which, thankfully, took up a post more or less out of sight behind the branches of backyard Boulder Creek's redwood tree.

I could tell right away the sky was unusually calm - and transparent. The calm meant I could continue to "see double" with exceptional possibility of success. Transparency meant that, despite the moon, I would actually be able to view some favorite deepsky studies with real pleasure and satisfaction. I was curious if this thinking would pan out.

But first, doubles...

The two equally-matched components of Zeta Bootis now approach perhelion. Current separation is thought to be .75 seconds of arc. Consistent efforts, to this point, have revealed two airy disks "joined at the hip" at 350X. On occasions, I have seen brief moments of a "pinched waist". Under exceptional moments, of finest seeing, I've imagined the thinnest possible line of separation. Meanwhile, fellow amateur Otto Piechewski - using a more or less identical scope and armed with higher magnification has clearly seen the pair separated. Quite an accomplishment given the theoretical limit for a 150mm scope is .8 seconds...

Buoyed by last night's "success" locating DubheB, I was a believer in the possibility of unequivocally separating this pair. As it turned out such confidence was not borne out. The view last night was comparable to the best of previous nights - but I'll be back at it! (500X ought to do it!)

Speaking of Dubhe, I was unable to repeat the trick of finding the 5th magnitude secondary. But I really didn't work at it AND I used no filters.

Also revisited my arch-nemesis - Upsilon Ursa Majoris. If I ever definitively see it's 11.5 mag companion I'll have to be careful not to knock Argo over as I jump for joy. I love this challange - it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Been sharing emails with a few European Confrere's (Francesco and Cor). They turned me onto Eta Coronae Borealis. Very close (0.7 arc-second) and fairly well matched magnitudes. What I saw was a very thin "pipe" of luminosity, with long thin diffraction rings. Reminded me of a tiny catepillar. The brighter (5.2 mag), bluish white primary just noses out the dimmer (5.7 mag) yellowish, more northerly secondary as the pair moves across the field of view. At no time did I see even occasional pinch at the waist - never mind a thin line of separation. I guess there really is a limit to how close a pair of stars can be before they are irrevocably fused as one - even in Argo (who regularly leaps tall buildings in a single bound!).

After moving Argo to the south viewing locale, I took a look at Delta Serpens. After taking in .7 arc-second Eta, this 2.7 arc-second distant 3.0/4.0 magnitude pair was like a three-lane highway at 2:00 in the morning. Pair reminded me of father and son strolling along while discussing a topic of mutual interest. Colors, subtley striking. Both "aqua" but with slightly different casts to each. The "slightly yellowish" secondary trailed just south of the primary. Look this one, up!

Dropped down from Delta to spend a few moments alone with Antares. While awaiting Mars.

Before taking up the south station, spent about forty-five minutes visiting with M13, M92, and M56. Even with a half-moon, the view of the Great Hercules Cluster was most satisfying. The "scarab beetle" shape of outliers was well aspected. The Lesser Hercules Cluster was my next stop. I can honestly say that I have never seen this cluster look so good. Numerous stars. In fact outliers spread to a distance at least twice the size of the clusters 4 arc-minute core. At 180X, I saw a large volley of 12+ magnitude stars spraying upward (north of the core).

Also revisited planetary nebula NGC6210. Very small (less than 15 arc-seconds), and bright (visible as a star in the 7X35mm finder). The core is very stellar, with a bright, bluish-white, round nebular disk. Have to check my notes but I don't think I previously noticed the thin, dim outer shell diffusing away slightly from inner disk.

Since I had already re-visited M13 & M92, I also wanted to re-visit Globular Cluster M56. One good reason? Why, I generally start at Albireo (yellow and blue last night, next time who knows?) and work my way back toward M57 (which I also contemplated). M56 probably showed more visible resolution than I've ever seen in Argo before. The least amount of eye movement resulted in dozens of dim, freckly stars making an appearance. Eye's loiter - rough surface. Eyes' stroll, stars! Extreme aversion just didn't seem to create the same amount of resolution. So given that I could almost hold the 12.8 star near the Ring Nebula, I suspect that the brightest M56 components must be quite close to magnitude 14.

Speaking of M57. Had a difficult time distinctly distinguishing the dark inner hole at 180X last night. But with moderate aversion, I could catch the 13.0 magnitude star east of the frontier. Meanwhile, the stars in the region of the nebula were tiny, perfect jewels against a velvety black sky. Have I ever mentioned how wonderful it is to simply scan this region of the sky?

It was after viewing the King of Rings, that I ported Argo over to view Delta Serpens, Antares and finally Mars.

Somehow, over the last few evenings, some kind of marvelous change has occured on Mars. Whether through rotation, or general atmospheric clearing, far more in the way of darkly contrasted surface features are now visible (from western time zones). According to MarsPreviewerII, the main change is the ingress of Mare Erythraeum from the west. And Mare Acidalium toward the north. Meanwhile, Mare Sirenum, which dominated the south-central protion of the globe last week, is exiting stage east. All this means that, as shown in the accompanying drawing, far more of the globe is populated by darkly-hewn features. As such this is an exiting time for MarsWatchers living along the Pacific Coast. Now's our chance to look for fine variations in shape and contrast. Especially once we acclimitize our observational sense to Mars-ography.

Last reports casual reference to jilting amateur astronomy for "scuba diving" has been the subject of an email thread between fellow amateur Ray "the Astronomer" and I. Here's the facts: I never intended to continue making detailed reports concerning observations and posting them on the web indefinitely. Like most things, sooner or later, they come to an end. Mr. Astro knows I have other things brewing and that it takes a great deal of time, creativity, and motivation to post every observation session in an interesting and intelligible manner on an almostly daily basis. So once my year-long observing plan is complete, I'll be shaking things up a bit.

I assure whoever is interested that the Great Cluster and "King of the Rings" look much better from above sea-level than below it. (Even if my scope is named after a group of "legendary" nautical-adventurers.)

End of May, 2001 Reports

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