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[AZ-Observing] Re: The Up and Down of It

From: "Kevin Bays" <bayskevin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2003 17:56:40 -0700
Sam,

I had a gap in my work/school schedule, noticed the weather was clearing,
and went east last night to the Echo Canyon parking area in Chiricahua Natl.
Monument.  Got in a quick hike before observing a few NGC galaxies through
the C-8.  In Canes Venatici, I saw NGC 4244 and 4111. Also saw NGC 3432 in
Leo Minor.  These all looked edge on, as indicated by my references.  I had
not seem any before.  I suspect you've spotted these in your big scopes too.
4244 in particular seemed to beg for more aperture.  Looked a little like
4565.  Long and thin.  4111 had an intriguing bright, almost starlike core.

I spent the rest of the night going after Messier stuff again.  I had
forgotten that M56 and M71 were such pretty globulars, sitting as they are
in a rich Milky Way star field.  I also went after M10, M12, M27, Harvard 20
(open cluster), Jupiter, and Mars.  Seeing was in the 4-5 range, but
transparency was nice . . . probably in the 8-9 range.  There were just a
few whispy clouds which didn't really seem to come in until I left at about
3.  The wind was minimal, and diminished as the night went on.

Other hi-lights (lowlights?):  Found a fly in my salad in a Benson
restaurant.  :(  And on the return, my car started sputtering and missing.
Once or twice I thought I'd be calling the tow truck.  I limped home, so
I'll call it a very enjoyable evening under clear, starry skies.  Sorry
others' efforts didn't pan out.  Better luck next time.

Kevin

----- Original Message -----
From: balinka <pegsam@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2003 11:26 AM
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: The Up and Down of It


> I got a late start out of Tucson on Friday and managed to get stuck on
I-10
> for about 1 1/2 hours waiting for an accident to clear near Riggs Road. I
> resigned myself to showing up late on Cherry Road and having to set up in
> the dark. Skies were fairly clear up until Black Canyon City and then I
> started to get a good idea of what may be in store at Cherry Road. By the
> time I got to SR 169 it was raining pretty hard and there was no clear
sky -
> anywhere. There were about 10 people there when I arrived at NASP and we
> spent most of the evening chatting. We all turned in around 11 PM and I
set
> the alarm for 1:30, convinced that this stuff was going to blow off. I got
> up only to see some very small sucker holes and light sprinkles. Back to
bed
> for a good night's sleep. I woke up the next morning to sprinkles and
> overcast skies. The sun didn't make its first appearance until about 1 PM
> and then the exiting cloud layer dissipated and was being replaced by a
huge
> storm cell to the east. The rest of the skies looked promising so we
> fastened everything down and waited for the cell to hit. Fortunately,
> nothing but a bit of wind and then it basically traveled north - towards
> MMSS I assumed.
>
> The skies cleared up by 7 PM for some substandard Az viewing, but given
the
> previous night's record nobody complained. Seeing was about 4 - 5 and
> transparency was about the same, becoming a little worse past midnight.
> Steve Coe showed up around 11 PM, verifying the accuracy of Clear Sky
Clock,
> at least with respect to the Flagstaff / Cherry Road forecasts. Not a
great
> night for viewing, but the company was good and I at least got to set up
the
> telescope and do some viewing.
>
> BTW, the ants were a little more numerous than some of you reported, but
> they were very well behaved and did not bother anyone.
>
> Sam Rua
> Tucson
>
> --
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> send personal replies to the author, not the list.
>

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References:

[AZ-Observing] Re: The Up and Down of It
From: balinka
[AZ-Observing] Re: The Up and Down of It

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