Andromeda and Friends

[Talitha]

Well, i finally went to my first star party!

It was a small gathering at my friend's place about 20 miles away. There were five Amateurs, a few drop-in visitors, four dogs, and unfortunately some bothersome clouds which decided to stay at about 1:00am. I finally got to meet one of the Gents from CN whom i've known online for about 5 years, and also had a few peeks through my friend's 20" Dob.

Wow!

The propellers in M 13 looked like someone drew them in with a grey marker, and the stars looked like radioactive sugar. Unfortunately the cirrus clouds moved in just as I was going to M81 and M82, so i didn't get to see the structure i'd hoped for. But wow, were they ever bright! I nudged the behemoth over to nearby ngc3077 and despite the milky clouds, i saw it with direct vision for the first time ever. .. hey, i can get used to that REAL easy.

The beginning of the night was nice, and i was able to get a sketch of Andromeda and her Friends with the new 120ST. I'd sketched it before with the 120 achro (f/8.3) but wasn't happy with the narrow 1.5 degree fov. I'd sketched it with the 80ST (f/5) and the fov was marvelous (4.25 degrees), but i wasn't happy with the loss of nebulosity of the smaller aperture. Some DSOs need a wide view and decent aperture, which is why i decided to get the 120ST. It gathers lots more light than the 80ST, and being an f/5, it's a compact version of the long achro and a lot easier to transport and use.

Regular computer paper, a blending stump, and graphite pencils (HB and H) were used to make the sketch. It's difficult to say how much time it took, because i had to keep stopping for the herds of clouds moving through. But it was probably about an hour.. maybe a bit more. As usual, i've inverted the sketch to a negative image so the nebulosity shows up better.

I've never seen M31's dust lanes but am sure they have something to do with the flat appearance of the galaxy's NW edge. I'm not sure if the lane closer to the core isn't visible to me and i'm seeing the darker outer lane, or if i'm seeing the inner lane and can't manage anything beyond it. Maybe some day i'll be able to confirm it with the 20" Dob.

Thanks for looking.

[Taff]

Hi Carol' sounds like you had a great time with your star party.I bet viewing through 20'' was awsome at the night sky.That's a very nice sketch of M31.Mark

[Talitha]

Thanks Mark.

[glowjet]

Another stunning sketch at the eyepiece Carol.

John.

[barkis]

You had a great time Carol. It's nice to get to these meets, and a pity this was only your first. However, it was very rewarding for you, and us, bringing us this nice sketch of M31 and friends.

My trip to Kelling was an almost 600 mile round trip, but worth every mile. I'm sure you will get to many more events.

Ron.

[Andrew*]

Oh, you've been missing out! Glad you finally got to a star party, and glad you enjoyed it, and had great success by the looks of things!

Andrew

[Talitha]

Thanks Andrew! Yes, it was great to spend some time with kindred spirits and would have been better if the sky co-operated, but that's how it goes.