FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Report from Hovatter Norte

["L Knauth" <Knauth@xxxxxxx>]

Friday night started off fairly decent, but clouds moved in early and =
stayed all night.

Saturday night started off clear but not especially transparent. I =
couldn't see comet Holmes naked eye, but it was a huge diffuse cloud in =
10x80 binocs.

The coyotes cut loose with their one minute of horizon to horizon barks =
and howls about an hour after moonset.  That usually doesn't occur until =
after midnight, but maybe they knew it was their last chance that night =
to establish territories or whatever it is they do. A front came through =
right after that accompanied by about an hour's worth of clouds followed =
by a noisy, howling wind that blew until just before dawn. I had to tear =
down the superstructure of the 25" and cover up the base. Battened down =
he hatches of the trailer and rocked asleep all night in the wind.

Going out to western Arizona and setting up a 25" for a 2 nighter is a =
lot of expense and work for about 2 hours of decent observing.  However, =
the whole trip was worth it for the view I got of NGC 2403 in CAM!  That =
is one gorgeous sight in the 25".  The spiral structure is easily =
visible as is a wealth of mottling and detail. My notes show this a =
great object in a 12.5", as well.  This is one Messier apparently =
missed.=20

I was also amazed again at how easy the UGC galaxies are in the 25". You =
would expect a faint fuzzy in any aperture to be a faint fuzzy. It ain't =
the case.  I can't put my finger on it, but these really faint fuzzies =
take on the appearance of discrete objects in the 25" unlike the faint =
fuzzies I see in lesser apertures. They are not just faint, =
uninteresting wisps.  For some reason I haven't yet figured out, they =
are faint, INTERESTING wisps.

So, this weekend I felt like that test pilot in the movie "The Right =
Stuff" that guns his jet straight up to record altitude until it =
stalls---and, in fulfilled amazement, he sees the stars appear for a =
brief moment.  Like him, I gunned it last weekend with all those =
logistics for just a brief view.  But what a view of NGC 2403! I'll =
always remember it.

Paul Knauth
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