[AZ-Observing] Observing report, Flatiron, Saturday night
- From: "Matt Luttinen" <mluttinen@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "AZ-Observing mailing list" <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 May 2003 13:40:53 -0700
Hello all;
A small group comprised of myself, Lynn B. and Glen N. made the trek out
to Flatiron last night. What we experienced is a reminder that tenacity
is a desirable observing trait. Upon arrival at about 6:30pm, the
weather was iffy but promising with a light and variable breeze out of
the SW. However, by 8pm the wind had risen to a sustained 25mph+ howl,
with gusts quite a bit stronger than that. I began to worry about my
scope, which of course I had just finished setting up and collimating.
Fortunately, it is a stable weather vane, orienting itself against the
wind direction with a ponderous slowness that is easy to control.
We stood around, uneasy, unable to observe. By 10:00pm, Glen had enough
and packed up and left.
Lynn and I huddled on the lee side of my car and watched cloud
formations form overhead, organize themselves, and march off toward
Phoenix. It was fascinating to see them materialize "out of thin air"
and rather quickly coagulate against the reletive darkness of the starry
sky beyond. It definitely felt as if a "front" was moving through, and
the barometric pressure was probably changing big-time. We waited and
watched the meteorological show.
Luckily, our perseverence paid off. By 11:30, the gale had subsided a
bit. At first I thought it was a tease, and that the howling would
recommence at any moment. But, right at midnight, and rather suddenly it
seemed, calm descended on us.
We got some good viewing in under steadily improving conditions until
about 3am.
Highlights of the evening with the 14.25" f7 Newt include:
The region about M 84 and M 86: Talk about galaxy alley! My favorites of
this area are NGCs 4435 and 4438, a close pair just east of M 86. 4438's
shape seems "distorted" to my eye, and looking at notes confirms that
there may be some galaxy interaction going on. Several times I could
barely make out hints of spiral structure in 4438, but it was tough to
tell.
I can report that many night's observations are a scope bump or two away
from M 86.
M 8 and M 20: OK, so these are completely obvious objects. What is
noteworthy is that last night was the first time I viewed them at this
aperture and with a UHC filter. Both were glorious, particularly the
Lagoon, which exhibited nebulous billows and tendrils beyond the 100x,
51 minute FOV that constitutes "low" power for me. With the UHC, a 3-D
effect kicked in, something I have seen before only in M 42.
Outstanding!
All-in-all, enduring the forces of Nature (deserving of the capital "N"
last night) turned out to be well worth it!
Matt
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