Today was first light on my new telescope. I was in Toronto with Mike Spicer to buy some filters when I saw a Coronado PST. It was the best price that I had seen at any store, so I bit the bullet and bought it.
My first experience was less than ‘stellar’ as I had difficulty getting proper focus. When I did get focus, the image was pretty bland… even considering that we are at the low point of the 11-year sunspot cycle.
You know, it is amazing what you can learn when you actually take the time to read the instructions. While I had used this kind of telescope before, it had always been set up by someone else. There are two controls on this scope, one to focus and the other to detune the H-alpha filter. Once you focus, you may need to adjust the filter to get fine detail on the surface of the sun. This is especially true if you are looking at features that are moving toward or away from you. The doppler effect can change the frequency of the H-alpha light enough to make some details completely invisible!
Once I got the hang of it, I managed to get some spectacular images of the sun. There were at least 4 flares that I could see as well as the faculae on the surface. There are areas of instability on the surface, but no sunspots! These areas are completely invisible with just a white light broadband filter.
I need a better tripod (Mike?) but I plan to find a way to mount it to an equatorial mount so I can track the sun and take pictures.
Solar observing does not have the same cache as night-time observing, however, it is a damn sight warmer!

Fall season – colder nights but dark earlier. I got to Binbrook just after 8:00pm on Thursday and the gate was already opened – Glenn and Gail had arrived ahead of me. With their DOBs they were set up and observing about 1/2hr before I was finished aligning. DOBs certainly have that advantage going for them – but I’m a Photographer, and in the end the extra setup time of the EQ GT mount is well worth it. I concentrated mainly on the Lagoon Nebula (M8) – all the images were shot with a Digital Rebel XTi mounted on a Celestron 8″ SCT GT at ISO 1600 – 36 minutes total exposure (2 x 8min, 2 x 4min, 6 x 2min) – stacked and processed. Before leaving I snapped off a few shots of the Trifid Nebula but didn’t spend much time as it was getting too low to the horizon – total exposure time was only 10 minutes.

OBSERVING SATURDAY NIGHT, 16 SEPTEMBER

IN GRIMSBY,
it was pretty much the same thing – clear but with so much moisture in the air that my laser pointer had the beam of a mile long light sword!
It was, however, a good opportunity for Gail to get more familiar with her new 4 1/2″ f4 reflector.

That morning, I’d replaced the stock red-dot finder with my Rigel Quickfinder and Gail found the “bull’s-eye” sight a better tool for locating the Messier objects on her star charts. In fairly quick succession she found M57, M13, M92, M27, M103, M31, and CR399 which is Brocchi’s cluster aka “The Coathanger”.

Before we packed up I had a quick peek through our 6″ reflector – the first time since it had been blown over at Starfest. For some reason the view appeared dimmer than shown in the little Starblast so I did a quick star test and only got half a star! Looks like I have another opportunity to use my new Cheshire collimator 🙂 – Glenn M.

The AAVSO has reported that SW UMa (R.A. 08:36:42.74 Decl. +53:28:38.1 (2000)) has recently outburst to 10th magnitude from a normal minimum visual magnitude of 16.8. The last time an outburst for this star was reported was in October 2002 when it was brighter than magnitude 13.5 for 17 days. Previous eruptions took place at shorter intervals… Here is a chart of eruptions over the past 20 years:

AAVSO charts for this cataclysmic variable star can be found at this link:

http://www.aavso.org/cgi-bin/searchcharts3.pl?name=sw%20uma

The original AAVSO special notice can be found at this link:

http://www.aavso.org/publications/specialnotice/18.shtml

Dickey Lake is a small body of water about an hour and a half northeast of Peterborough. My wife and I rented a cottage on the lake for the past two weeks (I just got back yesterday). Our cottage adventure began with a yellowjacket infestation, with the beastly critters flying and crawling in places they had no business–down the hall, in our bed, in a towel I grabbed to dry my hair with after a shower… So the first week was more of an Alfred Hitchcock experience than a holiday. And for various reasons I didn’t get my telescope out to investigate the wondrously dark sky above the lake until 8 days after arriving (which would be Sunday August 27th, after a rather wet weekend–those of you who went to ‘Tarpfest’ know what I mean). As you can imagine, I was more than eager to get down on that dock by the water and look up!

We got back to the cottage late that night after being in Bancroft at a friend’s for supper, but I was determined to do some stargazing, though I didn’t get my telescope set up until about 1 o’clock in the morning. I am so glad I did, because I had a great night! The conditions were average, and the seeing was so-so, but the darkness more than compensated. Before my session was over at around 3:30, I had observed 6 new Messier objects and become more familiar with some of the dimmer autumn constellations that I had never really seen clearly before, such as Aquarius and Cetus. As the night progressed, the winter constellations Auriga, Gemini, Taurus, and my favourite Orion slowly rose above the lake where their bright stars reflected in its calm, serene waters. I had toyed with the idea of pulling an all-nighter, but the dew finally got the better of me and my equipment by around 3 o’clock.

As I packed up my scope, an interesting thing happened: Instead of seeing the sky as a kind of treasure map hiding celestial treats to hunt out and log in my book, I was able instead to just gaze up and appreciate the incomparable beauty of the night sky. I will never forget the sight, with the shimmering stars on the calm lake, the dampness of the night air, the smell of the water, and the soft sounds of nature around me (the splashing of fish in the lake, the hooting of an owl, a rustling in the brush). Isn’t it interesting how the vastness of nature as embodied in the starry splendour of the night sky can make a man feel so small, and yet somehow affirm his place in the grand scheme of things? I look forward to the upcoming months, as my friend Orion makes his grand march across the sky until he once again bows out next spring. I wonder what secrets I will discover by then?

At Binbrook’s Alternate Site, 31 Aug – by Jackie Fulton

I met Brett and Cheryl after dinner to solar observe. Brett had his Coronado solar scope already set up. Brett explained how to use the solar filter on my GT80 and the proper way to align on the sun. Moving back and forth between the two, I couldn’t get enough. Today was the first time I had ever looked at the sun………fabulous!!!

Doug Black joined our little gathering of sun worshipers. He arrived in plenty of time to observe before the sun set too deeply in the horizon. Waiting for dark sky, we got out the charts and set our sights on mapping out the new Supernova in NGC 214. While it was agreed at 17magnitude the seeing would be difficult, the consensus was “you don’t know if you don’t look”. Not a great strategy…..but do-able. Doug Black, meanwhile, had gone to his car and re-appeared, smiling, carrying a small box. A Spectroscope !! The Sun, A Supernova, and A Spectroscope !!! On the same night !! Life just doesn’t get any better !! You can’t imagine my excitement !

Brett and Cheryl had family drop by with their niece and nephew to observe with us….to see Jupiter. Although the Clear Sky Clock had predicted clear sky from 9 pm to 1 am, the seeing was deteriorating rapidly. We immediately turned to the most important task at hand…..the kids had come to observe, they would not be disappointed. We each set our scopes and binos to capture different objects, so not one would be missed.

My little Nexstar and step stool made for the easiest viewing. The Go-To was perfect for quick slewing to each object as it popped in and out of the cloud cover. The kids got a short look at Jupiter and a hazy Moon before clouds covered them for good. Mizar was the clearest double star. The Big Dipper and major stars were identified. In the end however, despite our valiant efforts, the kids thought “the way the red dot finderscope worked “was “THE BEST”.

With that, another enjoyable evening had come to an end. The cloud cover showed no signs of breaking up, so we packed up and headed for home about 11:00 pm. The Sun, the Supernova and the Spectroscope would have to wait for another day.

Arrived at Starfest Friday during a break in the unrelenting rain. To set up a tent and camp for the first time, in this, was to say at the very least, disheartening. The reports showed no sign of reprieve. The rain continued its torrential pounding, but as time passed a change of spirit began to evolve. So it came to be ….Adversity had brought Opportunity.

Listening, you could hear talking and outbursts of laughter drift over the canvas community. There were no longer the “haves” and the “have nots” or the “wanton”. Delivered from “aperture envy” we were “just astronomers” one and all. So it became a weekend of the storytellers: lectures, experiences, advice, hopes, and laughter. Astronomers wedged elbow to elbow huddled under leaking canopies, sharing. Soaked astronomers passed and exchanged a nod, a smile, a chuckle and shook their heads. Acknowledging, saying it all, without saying a word. Strangers becoming friends.

And there were “stars” alright. They shone with a magnitude blinding even the unaided observer. They were the members of the NYAA. Each and everyone outstanding, responding to this facilitators nightmare with absolute grace under fire. How disheartened they too must have been after so much time and preparation. But they never gave up and they carried on…..and oddly so did we.

Make no mistake, it truly was exactly that, wet and cold and bleak and unyielding……but the spirit of fellowship did not falter. It held steadfast.
In the upcoming year I will not hesitate to pre-register for Starfest. Why? The NYAA will need our support next year, more so, than ever before. After all…..Isn’t that what fellowship is really all about ?

Jackie Fulton

Last night was good for backyard observing. I could even see the faint haze of the Milky Way from Cygnus down to the Teapot. While my computer booted up, I checked out Ptolemy’s Cluster (M7), and M6 with binoculars and my 6″ reflector, then I went looking for the “little cat’s eyes” (zeta scorpii) but, alas, the little cat was in a tree.

The Keystone of Hercules can often be a challenge, from Grimsby, but tonight the entire constellation was visible. My chart of the periodic comet 177P/2006 M3 (Barnard 2) indicated it should be within a degree of the bright’ish star 52 Herc so I panned up for a look. After a few minutes I found a tiny halo with a bright core. Sure looked comet-like. It was too small to be M92 and, in my limited experience, the central condensation appeared too bright in comparison to the halo to be a planetary.

From what I’d read, comet 177p was supposed to be large and diffuse – not tiny and bright. By now Cartes du Ciel was up on the computer screen so I zoomed into the area and found that what I had “discovered” was not a comet at all, but gobular cluster NGC 6229.

However, my uncertainty put me into some esteemed company: NGC 6229 was first spotted in 1787 by William Herschell who catalogued it as a planetary. Then, in 1819, an Admiral Smyth reported it as a comet. It was eventually determined to be a “very crowded cluster” by Msr. d’Arrest in the mid 19th century.

Located about 1 1/2 degrees north of 52 Herc, NGC 6229 makes a nice equilateral triangle with a pair of mag. 8 stars. In my scope, it’s diffuseness is evident at 57x. At 171x, there is just a hint of the outer stars resolving. It would probably be an interesting object to image. Even if it’s not a comet.

After a very pleasant afternoon BBQ, it appeared that a couple of people were interested in heading out to Binbrook to look for a few more meteors and do some general observing. So with that in mind, I trotted on up to the main gate at about 9pm. While I was confirming the main gate was still locked, a young couple in from Toronto arrived who had checked out the club website and thought the park was always open for observing. After diplomatically correcting their misconceptions, I offered to escort them over to the alternate site on Tyneside in hope of finding some of the other club members.

I ran into another couple who were already set up and apparently were long time observers at this location. Brett and Cheryl were very enjoyable to talk to and were very open about sharing their giant binos and 100mm refractor. The young couple and I were able to observe a few clusters while explaining a little more about astronomy and the club.

Shortly aferwards, Jackie showed up and we had an official get together of the “rogues”. Not being one to pass up an opportunity to share in some comraderie and recognizing the moon wouldn’t be up for about 2 more hours, I set up my binos and 6″ reflector. Scorpius was just setting and I hoped to catch the Jewel Box before it dropped below the trees. Still being too slow with set up, I missed that object (again) but did manage to view M80. Before leaving the southern skies for the night, I also observed globular cluster M9 for the first time.

Fortunately Jackie brought lots of batteries with her so once she was properly aligned (based in part on my inaccurate watch), she was good to go.

Amongst our observing and socializing, more general public joined us and some came over to look through the scopes & binos, ask some good questions about astronomy and gasp in amazement at some of the bright meteors (it was better than Friday night). It was like another public night with nearly a dozen people showing up. We were able to show them a number of globular and open clusters, and a few nebulaes. Of course I had my green laser going to help show off the sky better. (Sure wish I had that narrow band filter for the nebulaes)

During this time we tried again for comet 177P, but after a false identification, we convinced ourselves we only saw M92. (Too bad on the comet, but another Messier for me.)

Later I swung the scope towards the north east and started after a few Messiers around Cassiopeia. We found the double cluster pretty easily. Jackie mentioned Kemble’s Cascade so I gave it a try and found a very neat string of stars leading to a small open cluster. After a false identification of M103, which turned out to be NGC457, I did eventually locate M103 and then followed shortly afterwards by NGC663 – all very nice little open clusters.

Regrettably the waning moon was now getting high enough to be a nuisance for observing. I decided to look at M31 anyways, but as expected it was washed out by the moon glow. Having given up on other objects, Jackie conceded defeat and swung her scope over to the moon with a filter. Impressed (and I guess also admittng defeat), I decided to do the same. Way too bright in the scope initially – even with the moon filter. Brett suggested a red filter which made it look like Mars, but it did help bring out some new details. Inspired I tried several filters including the yellow. Remembering reading something about stacking, I stacked the yellow and moon filters and it made observing quite pleasant. When Jackie started trying to identify regions on the moon, I flipped NightWatch over to the moon chapter and we picked up quite a few of the larger features including the Tycho and Copernicus craters, and the Apennine mountain range. The rays emanating from Tycho were amazing.

Thus ended another fun night of observing with good company and good skies.

The forecast is looking good for our Public Perseid Party, Friday night. Gail and I will be there for about 8:30pm and will set up the slide show in the pavillion near viewing area “b”. We’ve already had calls about the event so are anticipating a good turnout.
See you there!