[AZ-Observing] Sentinel - this past weekend
- From: AJ Crayon <acrayon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: AZ Observing <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 19:06:13 -0700
Well, like many have said before, this was a weekend we were long, long
over due for. My original plan was to leave just after noon with Steve
Coe, but a customer began having troubles and forced me to spend the
morning to make him happy.
Fortunately I was able to leave the house around 3:00pm and arrived with
clear skies and a slight breeze for Friday. After some chatting and
getting setup and more chatting, darkness fell upon us and the breeze
disappeared. There were about 12 vehicles - if memory serves me correctly.
Steve Coe, Ken Reeves, Matt Luttinen and I started our observing with
Eridanus, a constellation we hadn't visited in several years. It was
good to hear there were also folks at Vekol Rd doing the same.
Saturday, during the day, Richard Payne discussed his battery charger .
. . solar panels! Amongst others I spoke with were Charles Whiting and
Tom Conner.
Saturday night the vehicle count went to 30! The 14" gave me some
problems tracking and, while taking a break Al Stewig, suggested
pointing the telescope at Polaris and comparing is position on the
equatorial platform. As it turned out there was about a 20 deg
difference between the two. Not sure how this happened as the platform
alignment was checked when disassembling Sunday morning and it pointed
north.
Continuing with Saturday night's observing, Steve, Matt and I worked on
clusters in Monoceros.
My challenge observation was to find Mayall II, aka M31-G1, the
brightest globular cluster in the Andromeda Galaxy. Unfortunately the
finder charts weren't enough to get even close, besides by that time it
was well past the central meridian.
Regardless of all what happened it was another most enjoyable weekend
and I look forward to more this year.
Clearer skies,
aj
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