[sac-forum] Report: Saturday night at Hovatter Rd...
- From: "Chris Hanrahan" <chris.hanrahan@xxxxxxx>
- To: "[Sac-Forum]" <sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:08:01 -0700
Surprisingly, those who ventured out to the Antennas/Hovatter Rd site
Saturday had a great night. In attendance were Joe Goss and Steve Coe, both
of whom arrived mid-week, Steve McAllister, Paul Knauth and myself.
Cumulus clouds ruled the day but as the sun sank lower in the west large
patches of clear blue sky began to develop. Right about this time the
cirrus clouds moved in. No one said it but I think we all thought this
would be a bright double star kind of night. Once the sun set the zodiacal
light blazed to near zenith. Venus was annoyingly bright and had a
significant ?nebulous glow? around it. Thankfully, this story has a happy
ending. By 9:30pm the sky was quite transparent and the 5-7 mph breeze we
had been contending with ceased. The seeing also improved as the night went
on. Joe and Steve were splitting close (2 to 3 arc sec) doubles. Later
there was some dew as moisture settled out of the sky. Joe Goss? corrector
plate dewed over by around 11:30pm and many of us noticed our papers feeling
damp.
The view of the night had to be M42/M43 through Paul?s 25?. Although I was
unsuccessful in picking out the subtle color explained by Paul, the
filamentary details were mind-boggling. I still see it ever time I close my
eyes.
Hope to see more folks out observing in February.
Chris Hanrahan
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- » [sac-forum] Report: Saturday night at Hovatter Rd... - Chris Hanrahan
