[AZ-Observing] Re: All Arizona Messier Marathon

Hello everybody,

Due to my recent auto accident I was forced to sit out this year's
marathon.
However, that does not mean that this star-hugger was inactive--oh no,
quite the contrary. From the friendly, alley security light-illuminated
confines of my back patio in Glendale, I bagged 30+ M objects before my
body presented it's opinion of the repetitive ladder climb to reach the
eyepiece of my new 14.25" f7 Newtonian. Had I been able to continue, I
estimate that
60+ would have been do-able given my severely limited "horizon" (I
hesitate
to use this word to describe how little room I have to maneuver the
scope).
Luckily, my principal exposure is to the Southwest, which helped with
the southern M objects. Here are a few impressions of the evening:

Transparency: you've got to be kidding
Seeing: 5-6, light winds, calming after midnight, some improvement

Lowlight:

M1 was not visible. I was hoping that 14+" of aperture would tease it
out of the light pollution, but no luck.

Highlight:

M 84, M 86, and NGC 4438. These galaxies were surprisingly bright, three
glowing pearls strung in a row together comprising perhaps half a
trillion stars, all visible in a single field at 96x. I was stunned at
how many faint NGC's were visible from in the city. What a glorious
mess, the Virgo cluster: I got lost three times in its depths and had to
retreat to Epsilon Virginis to re-orient myself each time. What a
wonderful problem to have.

The M objects I viewed seemed bright considering the mag 3 skies.
Perhaps it was the aperture speaking, but the background at "low" power
was light gray at best. Contrast was nowhere to be found. Even so, the
views were enjoyable. 

I look forward to Sentinel next month with great anticipation. Virgo and
Coma galaxies await. I will be the crazy person unpacking my creation
out of a 1986 Nissan Sentra. And yes, it fits.

Matt
star-hugger


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