Thurs, February 16, 2012: Short cold session

[m_j_lyons]

This forum has been pretty quiet so this post is to keep things fresh despite not having a LOT to say.

My alarm went off at the typical 4am and checked outside for clear skies - which had survived from the evening before - so several layers of clothes and a mug of coffee later out I went.

Winds were light (and cold)...light pollution was bad (can't help that at my house)...moon was low and not too much of a factor...temperature was 39F (about 4C).

I don't have a great eye for grading seeing...but it seemed pretty good - stars were stable in the EP. Later when i observed the moon and Saturn they were both awash with the normal signs of atmosphere...but stellar observations were very stable.

Transparency was pretty good but LP washed out most faint objects (but when looking high in the sky I was able to see mag 12 stars at 120x) below about 60 degrees (street lights and the moon).

Didn't want to turn into a complete popsicle so I had planned on seeking 3 unobserved DSOs in Oph. I started out with M10 star hopping from zeta Oph. M10 was visible in the sighting scope and at 46x the cluster was clearly visible. There were a lot of stars just at the edge of detection. I moved the EP up to 120x and more definition was possible but it was still faint and the I resolved to come back to this cluster from a darker location as I'm sure the view will be stunning.

Next I hopped up to M12 which was found easily enough but had less definition than M10. My description for M12 this morning was that of a faint hat (cluster) wearing a hat (the 3 mag 10.x stars to the SW of the cluster (which appeared NE in the EP and led to the hat idea). The fact that I am not describing the view as a globular shows how little of the actual cluster I was able to discern. Mark this one down for anther visit.

Another set of star hops later I found myself down at M14 staring at the most GC-like of this mornings clusters. The cluster as clearly globular and was very faint. It showed up at 120x as a round haze that dissolved to nothing-ness away from the core. Size was fine for the EP...but there was no defining anything other than fuzz/haze.

My short list exhausted I moved over to Luna and threw on the barlow for 240x viewing. The atmosphere didnt' really like the extra magnification because the view was like that underwater...constant movement. Small craters were going to be tough...so i didn't spend much time trying (and I didn't have a Lunar 100 plan ready). Copernicus was split cleanly by the terminator line, Kepler and it's rays were clearly visible, and Grimaldi stood out darkly. I'll have to use the next lunar cycle to start knocking out more of the Lunar 100 (it's about the easiest observing to do from my yard).

I next moved quickly over to Saturn and the washed over rings greeted me. Nice view but too much movement/turbulence to really see any detail.

That's it - short, cold early morning session. 3 more objects logged of the Messier list. I'm now glad that I can sit here logging this session and let my hands warm back up.

Happy hunting!

[Brumtaffy]

Nice report MJ!

Setting an alarm for 4am, check.

Getting up and out at that hour.... weeeeeell......

You have great commitment my friend

[Double Kick Drum]

Nice report on three globular clusters I have only seen in my 15x70s.

Let's hope for some better skies over the next week or so for some morning views of the spring galaxies and clusters in Serpens and Ophiuchus.

[Marki]

Nice going, and I admire your commitment!

I set my alarm for 5am on Wednesday, and the cloud cover was not too good - and even worse the Missus was distinctly frosty at being woken up so early:eek:!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice little catch for a short session. I got these first with 15x70 bins, and later got them in my C8. Must be great objects in a 10" dob.

BTW, 4 C might be considered cold in California, here it is considered quite comfortable for a winter session . Great commitment getting up at that hour, of course.

[DarkerSky]

A nice little session. It's great to get up in the mornings like that. For me, a morning session like that is too infrequent.

I had a good look at M14 in my 12" scope a couple of years back. What struck me at the time was the mottled structure of the outer third of the halo. I noted it down in my log as appearing faintly fractured, like the breaking edges of a melting ice sheet as seen from a long way above.

Must get a good look at M10 and M12 this year.

[rory]

thanks for the report. ive seen none of the mentioned messiers as yet. but in my opening twelve months in the hobby , globs have been my favourite's.

i must make more effort to get up early !

[Double Kick Drum]

thanks for the report. ive seen none of the mentioned messiers as yet. but in my opening twelve months in the hobby , globs have been my favourite's.

i must make more effort to get up early !

M10 and M12 will be easy to observe and M14 isn't too far behind.

The other globs in Ophiuchus are a bit more challenging as they are both feinter and quite far South.

12 degrees Celsius today and talking about Ophiuchus - it fells like summer is nearly here!