16/17th October 2009 - Report

This was a day were emotions were running high because I was looking forward to having a really long observing session with a list of objects the length of my arm to try an observe and also because there were so many members of the club coming down as well.

The day started of very dull and great but by afternoon the conditions improved to mostly clear skies, with only a few small patches of white cloud drifting past. By evening time the sky looked fantastic with only some haze to be seen in the horizon, it was the kind of haze that told me it was going to be a cold night and a possibility of fog - which sadly turned out to be accurate.

It was a great start to the night with everyone having some of the best views they've had in a long time and Jupiter was outstanding in Eamonn's 16" Lightbridge but as midnight arrived the conditions started to deteriorate, and fast too. From that point on most of the night was completely fogged out and it was by far the worst night I've ever had with moisture and dew. I could understand Eamonn and Stevie's Lightbridge's primary mirrors misting up as they are trusses but even my own Newtonian was covered in a thick layer of mist.
In the end it was just Stevie and myself, we hung on waiting patiently, hoping for a break in the clouds - while my scope was drying off in the car with heating blowing on full into the OTA - but it never came so we called it quits near or just after 4am.

My night ended off in a real emotional low. I guess I let my expectations and excitement for some great observing get too much. Still though, when I look back we all got to observe some great objecst, including myself. Also it is that time of year where fog and hard to predict weather is a-plenty and it certainly. Well until next time and may it be soon.

Thanks to Darren for giving me fist offer on a 17mm Hyperion. That give me a lovely new eyepiece and focal length to add to my eyepiece box. I look forward to trying it out.

Location - Bragan

Equipment - EQ6 Pro and Orion 10"

Seeing = 4
Trans = 2/3

Start Time = 21:00

The observations for the night are as follows:

NGC 676 - Not much to look at here, nothing more than a fuzzy looking star. There was no hint of a disk at all.

NGC 488 - This was a better sight. Strong looking nucleus and averted vision showed a reasonable looking disk.

NGC 7626/7619 - A really lovely pair of galaxies fitting nicely into the FOV of my 8mm Hyperion. I managed to see good structure, in the already hazy sky. A great fist observation and the object of the night for me in my scope.

NGC 604 - This looked great tonight and with no filter, it was very prominent and easy to see with some detail and also with M33 looking bright to the edge of the FOV.

NGC 891 - This looked decent but couldn't compare to my previous observations over the last month or so but it was still looking lovely with its long disk, just no sign of the central dust lane.

Finish Time = 02:54

Credits go to Eamonn for the photographs taken of the night, which are below.