[AZ-Observing] Friday Observing at Antelope Park

Well, three weeks after the Mormon Mtn Star Stare, I finally got a nice 
transparent night for an observing session at Antelope Park. During the drives 
to 
and from the site, I saw 20 or so elk along FR 132 and a small herd of 10 
grazing in Antelope Park when I arrived at 8:30pm.

Over the course of the next four hours, I continued work on a project to 
re-observe and make new sketches of several objects in the Herschel 400. Last 
night's list included NGC 5466, NGC 5557, NGC 5676, NGC 6401, NGC 6426 and NGC 
6517 (see hotlinks below). I also made a first-time observation of the 
beautiful 
open star cluster IC 4665 in Ophiuchus. The brightest dozen or so members are 
assembled in a pattern reminiscent of a fireworks display starburst. It's a 
fairly easy naked eye object from a dark site and well worth examination with a 
telescope.

Around 11:00pm, an itinerant coyote at the west edge of the park began 
yapping and yelping. I'm sure he had in mind trekking across the park on his 
nightly 
rounds but was PO'd by the vehicle and humanoid blocking his way. By 12:30am 
this morning, I was packing up for the drive home. The Milky Way was getting 
very high in the east, nicely marbled and quite bright. I enjoyed 10x50 
binocular views of the North America nebula and of the major components of the 
Veil 
nebula before heading out.

Tonight should be just as good.

Regards,

Bill Ferris
"Cosmic Voyage: The Online Resource for Amateur Astronomers"
URL: http://www.cosmic-voyage.net

URLs for Recently Observed Objects:
http://members.aol.com/billferris/n5466.html
http://members.aol.com/billferris/n5557.html
http://members.aol.com/billferris/n5676.html
http://members.aol.com/billferris/n6401.html
http://members.aol.com/billferris/n6426.html
http://members.aol.com/billferris/n6517.html
http://members.aol.com/billferris/ic4665.html
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