[AZ-Observing] Re: Last nite's observing at Flatiron (was: Cherry Rd)

Thad opined:

//M20, 24, 17, 16, 8, etc w
// ere all just stunning at lower powers, though I'm positive that Matt =
and
//crew had a MUCH better view at Flatiron due to Cherry's extremely poor
//southern horizon.  :-)  (Sorry Matt, you'll have to get even =
sometime.)
//Mars was a waterlogged button of light, but every once in a while, =
dark

heh heheh, as a matter of fact M8, et al. were awesome last eve in
shirtsleeve weather (74F at 1am) at Flatiron. In my 14-1/4", M8 and=20
it's surrounding nebula overflowed the FOV with a 31 Nagler + Ultrablock
filter.

Lynn noted that at 8pm the temp was 84F, an amazing thing in the desert =
at
summer solstice.

At 2:30am, Mars showed (fleetingly) a wealth of surface detail, =
including a
prominent dark band along the SPC melt-line and markings in the =
equatorial
zone identified as Syrtis Major and Sinus(s) Sabaeus and Meridiani, as =
well
as definite limb brightening on the following edge of the fast-growing =
disk.
360x (Nagler 7mm)+ UV/IR filter provided the best view.

I was intrigued to find that my new Baader UV/IR filter, purchased to =
use
with a ToUcam, improved the view visually. Any ideas why? Does the
performance of the eye/brain system get degraded by light/radiation =
outside
it's detectable frequency range? I was very surprised by this result, =
and
intend to try a full with/without comparison on Mars this week.

I attribute this good seeing to the pristine low-desert skies we =
experienced
last night.

As for the southern horizon, we had a decent view of Omega Centauri only =
a
few degrees above the horizon. Again, I am sure this was due to the =
amazing
clarity of the low-desert skies at Flatiron.

I swear, I even thought the light dome to the east was a little smaller =
than
usual.

All in all, a nice night in the desert.

Matt

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=20

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